Interim Arrangements

So the floors are being redone in the bedrooms and tile is going into the bathrooms.  That doesn’t mean that life stops, though, and internet connectivity is crucial.

 

So essential that even a few minutes interruption is potentially a major crisis, especially with the kids in summerschool.

 

But the modem and other little blinky boxes that make this possible were previously located in the office downstairs, which is getting ready to be a major construction area.  We’d planned them into the renovation – they are moving into the new bookcases that will surround the HVAC changes next to the fireplace in the den.  Those things aren’t ready yet, though, and the system needed to move.

 

That meant we needed a temporary fix to hold things.  Fortunately, we have about 200 feet of wire shelving that had to be removed from assorted closets.

 

Problem solved.

Floors and Doors

Updating and improving means you get to get rid of those minor annoyances that you otherwise live with, because, “. . . . as long as we’re here. . . . “ we may as well.

 

The patio door in the master bedroom is one of those annoyances.  A sliding patio door that was a good unit in the early 90’s, it had lived out its usefulness.  It no longer opened or closed without a significant amount of effort and opened onto a deck that the carpenters immediately condemned when they saw it.

 

New French doors and a re-designed (read “smaller”) deck with a set of stairs that go down, providing an alternate exit to the second floor of the house.  It was supposed to be a window seat, with the deck going away.  But then the realization hit that nobody thought to put in the support beams for that, and it would have required ripping out both the electrical and HVAC that was just installed.

 

This prompted (a) a minor meltdown by some of us and (b) a re-design of the plan, keeping the deck in place and modifying it to let a bit more sunlight in through the patio door directly under the one in the Master Bedroom.

 

Turns out this wasn’t a bad option, as the new French door lets in lots of light and gives a really updated look to the bedroom.

 

It was also time to move forward on refinishing the floors in the bedrooms.  Drywall dust and floor dust aren’t all that different – they sift into everything through the entire house.  Imagine going through your house with a 10 pound bag of flour and a leaf blower, and you’ve got the idea of what a mess it is.

 

The floors got an updated color, too – the center one in the picture – and take some planning because as the polyurethane dries you can’t walk on them.  

 

Not even a tiny bit.

 

Not a single step.

 

This can be a hard message to get across to some folks.  It takes tape and signs and threats.

 

In the bathrooms, drywall is followed by tile.  Well, first there’s a bit of concrete poured in the shower floor to create the base for it, then tile goes in on top.  That’s when you can understand the entire vision and how it all meshes together.

 

And, in the midst of all this, we got ready and left on vacation.

Drywall

Nothing starts to make you realize that a project is truly happening like drywall.

 

For most of us, you can measure things out, do drawings, put tape on the floor – and all of that is essential so you can start to conceptualize what’s happening, but until the studs go in and the sheetrock starts to go onto the walls, you can’t tell a whole lot about what’s happening.

 

We started seeing major differences when the  new closet was formed in, and realized, “Hey, the bedroom really didn’t shrink that much.  We just took all the dead space and put it in one place and made it useful.”  It works both ways, though, because then you realize that the new closet isn’t that huge expanse that you thought it would be.

 

It’s big and will be wonderful – but it’s not unlimited space.  Organization will help, though, and the master bedroom will now have “his” and “hers” closets which, stereotypically, puts the “hers” more than twice as big as the “his”.

 

Similarly, it’s a lot easier to visualize the bathrooms once walls start going up.  What looked to be an enormous shower turns out to be generous, but not oversized.  They have blissfully high ceilings (which is important when the orthopedist says that your son will top out at about 6’7”) with the shower head actually up close to the ceiling, so nobody has to duck to wash their hair.

 

There are also “nooks” built into the shower to hold shampoo and soap and all the accoutrements that seem to collect in the shower so there will no longer be any need for those spring loaded metal units that fit in the corner to spread rust stains all over.

Electrical Update

Electricity is crucial.  Of all the conveniences available in 2013, this is one of the foundational ones upon which we rely.  That also means that we use a LOT more of it than we used in 1968 when this house was built.

During a period when Building Codes were, going through a bit of a change, and some innovative products were approved for use.

One was “orangeburg pipe” which is essentially the cardboard center out of a role of carpet dipped in wax and installed as a sewer pipe.  Think about that one, how long it’s likely to last, and the consequences of failure.

Now you know why it wasn’t used for that purpose very long, and why it’s mostly been – or surely will be – replaced.

http://www.sewerhistory.org/articles/compon/orangeburg/orangeburg.htm

We didn’t have that – good ol’ cast iron, which also has a useful life and was replaced since we hope to never see the inside of these walls again during our lifetime.

How does this relate to electricity, you ask?

There was a time when aluminum wiring was all the rage in homebuilding.  Unfortunately, it only carries about 60% of the actual electricity that the same amount of copper wiring carries, and it’s kind of brittle after a time and it reacts with copper and corrodes out where the two touch.

Like where you install electric outlets or switches.

So take that outlet that’s only working at 60% capacity and plug in a breaker bar or extension cord with 5 or 6 MORE plugs on it and fill them up to power our Televisions and cable boxes and DVD players and X-Boxes and all that other stuff that didn’t exist in 1968 and you can imagine that a thermal image of the house on a typical day when everyone is home and all doing their different activities would look like a NYC subway map.

Of course, you can’t disburse more electricity through the house than you can bring in, and building inspectors just kind of laugh at the old box in the basement with all the breakers.

The one that shoots sparks out occasionally because it is so full of wires that they start vibrating and jostling each other, and which, by the way, lacks an emergency “MAIN” cutoff to shut down power to the house in the event of an emergency.

So we expanded.  Our 150 Amp Service (which, apparently, only carries 90 Amps on a good day), is simply inadequate.  So now we get a new 200 Amp service and a shiny new box with lots of COPPER wires that actually have LABELS so that trying to turn something on or off isn’t just a random act of flipping switches and listening to the assorted screams of anguish throughout the house until someone finally yells “that’s it”.

Shower Schedule

Just because you rip the house apart doesn’t mean that the rest of life stops. It just means that you spend more time looking for clean underwear. And your car keys. And your shoes. AND EVERY OTHER THING THAT YOU NEED TO LIVE.

It also means that, for Mr. Caleb especially, the Eagle Scout Project is not on hold.  It is, in fact, on a very tight deadline for completion before vacation / start of school / 18^th birthday. 

So resources had to divert and details are here:

http://cornerat8th.blogspot.com/2013/07/eagle-project.html

How does it tie into house remodeling, then? 

You have to plan a shower.  In Caleb’s case, that means that you go down the street to your friend’s house, where the basement door has been conveniently left unlocked.

It’s a lot like camping, or maybe living in a very, very large dorm where you have to drive to the bathroom. 

Which is more important for some of us than others when you have bathroom needs in addition to a shower on your mind.

Closets, closets, closets.....

Needs change over time.  That’s just the way of the world, and what was chic and trendy in 1968 – well, not-so-much in 2013.  It’s tired and dated, despite attempts to update it along the way.

Like an 60 year old getting botox and trying to pass for 30.  It may have a slick surface and glowing skin, but the bones and muscles are still 60, and you can only fool folks for so long.  Sometimes, if you’re really going to try to keep up the illusion, you got  to go under the knife and have a full lift and tuck.  And while you’re asleep, “. . . . we may as well.”

The Master Bedroom had always been kind of awkwardly set out.  There were two closets that were adequate by 1968 standards but which were pretty insignificant for today.  Half of the wall on one side of the room was blank because it backed up to the brick fireplace chimney from the basement.  Placement of the door from the hallway into the room meant there was an area about 5 ft wide – to big to waste but not big enough to be useful – behind the door.

All this meant that the room could be set up ONE way.  Which, after 20 years, was also in need of an update. 

So the chance was there, and a decision was made to move the bedroom door from one end of the room to the other.  That also let us put a wider door in, so getting furniture in from the hall will be easier.

 

Oh, and while we’re at it, that also meant there was a logical space to expand one of the closets into a true “walk in” closet to keep from having that same kind of dead space at the other end of the room.  Plus, we could actually have access to the attic through a new port cut into the closet ceiling so there isn’t a need to try to cram someone through a 12” x 14” hole after having ripped all the shelves loose in one of the boys closets.

Whew.  Change is exhausting.  But exciting.

Bathrooms

Just a quick note and a few pics – the Bathrooms are taking shape and you can actually see how they’ll function.  The new tub is in place, the shower outlined and the floor pan ready to go in (there’s a liner, topped with a concrete-like substance, and then the tile goes on top of that) and the “backer board” – ¼ inch stuff that the tile sticks to, which goes down over the subflooring) is going in place.  This is important because you have to have the plumbing all laid out and holes drilled in it EXACTLY.

 

Probably the only surprise in that part of the job has been the need to build a new chase for plumbing in the office.  There was a space about 8 inches deep and 24 inches wide next to the closet door that will accommodate the drain pipes from upstairs and let them go to the plumbing downstairs.

Remember what rolls downhill, after all.

Doing this lets us avoid cutting lots of holes in the new support beams that were just installed and make the building inspector happy.  In reality, we’ll never miss that space out of the office and most people won’t notice that it’s been added in.

Except for the OCD types who’ll now see that the closet isn’t centered on the wall any more.

Bedroom Relocation

As we’ve discussed before, the most expensive words in home renovation are “As long as we’re here, we may as well . . . . “

In this case, we knew that the wood floors in the master bedroom would need to be redone. It makes sense, then, to do the other bedrooms as well.  Then that entire half of the house will be all shiny new and updated.

Especially since the bedrooms are all due for paint and closet repairs, and let’s not forget those interesting little 1969 wall outlets that have a tendency to crumble apart and shoot sparks out, potentially leading to a firey death for the inhabitants.

That means that they have to be emptied.  Not just “moved around” or “covered for paint”, but floors mean the rooms have to be absolutely 100% vacant of any items.

When you’ve already crammed most of your worldly belongings in half the house, finding out that the remaining 40% has to go in there as well, all while being available for use, can be problematic.

Ferreting through our own basement, I found most of the needed supplies.  Some 5000 pound tensile strength cable, eyes and turnbuckles (OK, I didn’t have all that – it took a trip to Lowes).

Incidentally, when the people at Lowes ask “Where’s Stitch” or “Where are the dogs”, you’ve been there a LOT.

A few holes and engineering in the basement and we have about 30 linear feet of hanging space, which is enough to accommodate everyone’s clothes.  Folded items will go on the air hockey table, desks, etc.

Beds are stacked on top of each other, “Princess and the Pea” style and everything else is crammed in wherever possible, all while leaving a clear path to the electrical service and the water cutoff.

Especially the water cutoff.  You don’t want to be climbing through / around / over things to get to that when you need it.

The trigger date is return from vacation on August 9, when walls and ceilings are to be painted, floors refinished and at least one (1) bathroom fully functional with a shower, toilet and sink.

The Exterminator

Well, the termites didn’t abandon the house entirely.  They just moved to a different place to get fresh food.

And exterminators aren’t much more responsive than HVAC guys when it comes to calling back.  One finally did show up, though, and $2,000.00 later, we’ll be drilling holes in the floor and spraying toxic chemicals around the house.

Well, under the house to be more specific.

They’re also going to treat for the bees in the attic.  They found the nest (hive?) and will do something to contribute to the death of a local ecological system and eradicate them from the attic as well.

They warned us, though, that the house will need to be empty for about 4 hours. 

Not because of the chemicals, but because the bees are going to be really, really pissed off before they die and, figuring they’ve bit the big one anyhow, they’ll be looking to extract vengeance.

And they can get through a pinhole, much less the gaping areas we have opened to the attic right now.

So they’ll treat, and then everyone takes a really, really, REALLY long lunch.

Inspections, Redux

One of the biggest issues in any construction project is that you have to do something and then call the County to get it inspected.  Piss off the inspector and your life is miserable.  Appointments aren’t kept and projects that ought to pass are failed.  You want to group all the inspections together so you inconvenience the inspector the least (“inconvenience” being “making him show up to do his job”.)

So we needed HVAC to be approved so the drywall guys can come in and work toward closing things back up to actually keep the conditioned air inside the building rather than outside.  The carpenters and plumbers sent word that they would be ready for inspection on Friday.  I started calling the HVAC guy (the boss, not Igor) and couldn’t get him on the phone to coordinate his inspection.

For two days.  I called his cell and the office, both.

When I finally heard from him, I got some BS story about his cell phone dying.

Here’s a hint – when a piece of equipment is how you make your living, if it dies you GET ANOTHER ONE IMMEDIATELY.  If it’s being repaired, you have an old cell activated so you aren’t out of touch with your customers, who get increasingly ticked that you aren’t returning the calls that you don’t know about.

And if the person who answers the phone at the office isn’t passing messages on, you need to have a “come to Jesus” meeting with them.

Eventually we made contact and the HVAC inspection was scheduled.

Except that the other trades had changed their timing, but nobody told me.  So we had an inspector coming out to check just one thing, and then he’d have to come back again on Monday or Tuesday to do the others – just the thing that will annoy them and result in delays in the future.

So when the electricians called in a panic – they weren’t involved in the mix – it wasn’t good.

We got an inspection and HVAC passed.  And everyone else knows that it can’t happen again.

Contractors

CONTRACTORS - #18

Trying to coordinate a building project is a lot like trying to herd cats.   Or maybe  it’s more like dealing with toddlers – except these toddlers have power tools and aren’t afraid to use them.

For the most part, the guys working on our project have gotten along and cooperated – with the exception of the HVAC guys.  I am intentionally not identifying the company here, because there are still a couple of things they need to do to finish the job and I haven’t yet gotten their final bill.  No point in shooting myself in the foot just to make a point.

We had such high hopes in the beginning.  This HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) company had a couple of good references from people that I personally knew.  Besides, they were the ONLY HVAC COMPANY OF ALL CONTACTED that actually kept more than one appointment.

Only one other even kept the first appointment, and I’d used them several times in the past.  They never showed for the second, though.

So I went over what we wanted / needed with the owner of the company.  We settled on a plan.  Then 2 days later, he called back, wanted to meet and had “re-thought” the proposal and had a better way.

That’s actually fine.  It’s very much a “design-build” project that is reworked as things change.  I should have heard the alarm, though, when the company owner went underground for a couple of days.

We eventually made contact, though, and the project started as agreed.  Staffed by Igor, who seemed to have a real chip on his shoulder because he was being asked to – GASP – install an HVAC system -- and his silent minion.

It didn’t make a lot of sense.  I would talk with Igor and his boss, we’d have a plan of action.  Everyone would seem to understand what was going on.  Then I’d go by to check on progress and it was as if the Borg had appeared and built some bizarre variation that we’d not even contemplated, much less discussed.

There needed to be a new duct that went from the den, up through the ceiling and a closet to the attic over the bedrooms.  We talked about where that vent would come out on numerous occasions. 

All of us.  Together and separately.  It would go by the bathroom door.  At one point, I got wind that Igor was going to put it in the middle of the hall.  I talked with him.  I talked with his boss.  Problem averted.

I walked in the next morning to see the vent in the center of the hall.

Similarly, the duct going up there wasn’t back against the basement wall where it could be hidden in a closet, but was put out so that it would be an industrial decorative feature in the room.  That had to move, and I ‘splained it to Igor.

Who moved it.  And cut the new electrical wires when he did, because they were in the way.

Didn’t ask the electrician, didn’t try to work around it.  Clipped ‘em right in half.

Then, when he wired the new system into the electrical box, he did it in a way that (according to the electrician) would likely have burned down the house.

You’re ahead of me.  Relocating would be a significant ordeal, too, though.

But we do have air conditioning again, and it does seem to work as promised and airflow is improved.

But that particular contractor hasn’t endeared me to their company for future business.

Plumbing Changes

At the same time the downstairs bathroom was being rebuilt, things were happening upstairs.  First, the wooden flooring in the old dressing area in the master bath was ripped out courtesy of Mr. Caleb, who had to pull some back from the trash pile (the dumpster being gone for a few days) to repair a couple of places where we anticipate some floor re-working as a part of this process.

What had originally been a closet, dressing area, shower and bath serving the master suite will now be one ginormous room with twin sinks, new storage and cabinets, an expanded shower and a re-oriented toilet.

The old toilet operated under “don’t ask, don’t tell” and we were never sure of orientation.  Now there’ll be no doubt. 

There’s also new plywood that’s nice and solid taking the place of the old spongy floor.  All the old cast iron drain pipe is gone and nice new PVC is replacing both it and the old copper pipes that weren’t apparently doing as good a job keeping the water contained and transported where it was supposed to go as we had believed.

Most exciting, though, is that the one design element that was non-negotiable not only remains, it’s been expanded.

Specifically, the laundry chute from the upstairs hall bath into the laundry room below has not only been protected and preserved throughout the changes, it’s been expanded from the prior dimensions.  It will be hidden in the base of a new linen cabinet in the bathroom to allow for easy deposit of soiled clothing to the service area.

Madam was insistent- other things could change. The laundry chute could NOT.

And, as everyone knows, if Momma ain’t happy, ain’t NOBODY happy.

Surprises

So the last shower came out and had a surprise.

Seems that at some point in the last 45 years termites came to visit.  They weren’t there any more, probably because they ate all the good stuff and starved.

It seems that the downstairs shower was about the only thing keeping the upstairs shower in place.

It lends a whole new meaning to “sunken tub”.

So when we went to check the progress that evening we found a new support wall right in the middle of the downstairs bathroom and lots of stuff cut away.  It improved the next day when that wall was rebuilt, but the other wall – along the garage – that extended behind the washer and dryer was gone and the temporary support wall had moved.

This meant, of course, that an exterminator had to be called to be certain that the termites had, in fact, vacated the premises.  This led to an unforeseen issue – it’s vacation season, so our usual pest control guy is gone and his “manager” has not been especially concerned about calling back and arranging a time to come have a look.

The potential calamity of this fact was brought home when the electrician reported “buzzing” in the attic.

Hornets, bees, wasps --- whatever has a stinger – is not something that any of us want to meet up close and personal.

So finding an exterminator is somewhat urgent now.