Days 38-42 (16-22 November)

The pace is starting to pickup, but it will be only temporary as work will stop mid-day next Wednesday for the Thanksgiving break. 

The good news is that the framing inspection was finally completed satisfactorily.  With all of the steel reinforcement that was put into the framing, I know where I am going in a big storm.

After numerous tries, a door was delivered for the main entry.  The door itself is just a temp door, but at least we have the final frame in place.  Having that door in allows us to wrap up demolition, removing the vestiges of the old back wall as well as the windows that lead to the family room and the master bedroom.

All of the insulation is up.  I asked how long it would take to insulate the whole addition and I was told a couple of hours.  Surprisingly, one guy did hang all of the insulation in just over two hours.  I was pretty impressed.  Once the insulation was up, it became apparent that we needed to move the LV speaker wires so the installers could find them when they cut the ceiling open for the speakers.  Not a big deal.  We also cut a hole in the old (now covered) roof and ran a service tube from the preexisting attic to the A/V room.  This will allow us to get CAT 5 cable and Internet to the A/V room along with the DirecTV feed.

Sheetrock started going up today.  They will be working tomorrow as well in an attempt to finish early before the Thanksgiving break.  They think that the they can be done hanging drywall by the close of business on Monday (giving them the rest of the week off).  I had not realized earlier that the guys who hang sheet rock are not the same folks that mud it and prep it for painting.

Monday is the final inside spray for termites (at the joint between the old and new foundations and up in the bathroom.  Work on the bathroom starts in earnest Monday.  I am sure that it will be hard to jump start the process a week from Monday, but I am sure that it will be a challenge.

Days 34-37 (November 11-15)

This week took on more of administrative tone.  We had several inspections--Rough Electrical, Rough Mechanical, Rough Plumbing, and Framing.  There were no problems on Rough Plumbing and Rough Electrical.  There was one minor hit on Rough Mechanical that took less than 15 minutes to fix.  A reinspect the next day cleared the issue.  The Framing inspection revealed two issues, one administrative and one actually requiring work.  The plans for the extension failed to identify some of the hurricane mitigation straps that were installed by the framers.  The plans needed to be revised to reflect this for the county records.  Additionally, because of the large upper window and the lower roof pitch, the inspector wanted additional steel strapping installed for hurricane mitigation.

Unfortunately the architect is on vacation until Monday, so the revision to the plans and the ensuing reinspect will be delayed until next week.

The slower production period gave us plenty of time to get all of the low voltage wiring in for the Audio-Visual system.  It became apparent quite quickly why the installers were charging $100/wire for the prewire.  What I thought would be a half day job turned into a two full day job, most of which was spent on a ladder. 

Doors!  You would think that after building structures for centuries that had doors, getting the right one delivered at the right time would be a no brainer.  Not so fast.  The outside closet door frame and the main entrance door frame have been delivered twice.  Of the four frames that arrived only one was correct (the outside closet door).  As for the doors themselves, they are lost somewhere in the logistics chain.  Hopefully they will be found soon.  Until then, there is a dummy door on the closet and nothing on the main door.  At least the barn doors for the master bedroom arrived as scheduled.

Day 29-33 (3-9 November)

Although not counted as work days on the initial schedule, there is quite a bit happening on Saturdays.  Last Saturday, the roofers laid down the peel and stick on the roof to make it water tight.  This Saturday, the roofers are back to complete the fascia and the shingles. 

In between roofer visits, we have gotten quite a bit done--especially when you consider that Monday was basically lost due to another Nor'easter (the 5th one that we have had this Fall--very unusual).

We also came to a couple of places where the blueprints met reality and reality won.  As a result there have been a few design changes.  The biggest changes took place in the A/V closet.  The original plan was that there would be nothing in that closet when the project was completed other than breaker box and the A/V gear.  There was to be a drop ceiling to allow running of services like internet and alarm wires if needed.  There was also going to be a mini-split A/C unit in the main room above what was the pre-existing wall.

As the electricians progressed with the rough electrical, the drop ceiling began to look less practical.  Keeping the vaulted veiling through the A/V closet gave more room and allowed bringing in services through the upper wall of the closet.  This became the obvious answer when we spoke with the A/C installer.  He was opposed to the mini-split because of the location.  In that location, cooling coils would have to be run on top of the old roof to the outside for the heat exchanger.  In the even of a leak, they would be inaccessible.  He proposed putting a conventional system in with the air handler in the back corner of the A/V room.  Doing so would take away the noise from the main room, allow the cooling coil run to be short and back through the outer wall (all easily accessible if required).  The tipping point was that the price was the same, the proposed unit removed humidity, and the warranty was 5 years longer.

The windows are in but the doors have not made it yet.  The contractor is having problems with the distributor.  He is continuing to work that issue, but in the mean time, waste doors will be installed so that we can enclose the space and start working on the insides of the extension.  This weekend Kate and I will be doing the prewiring for the A/V system.  The A/V installers have been real good helping us prepare for the system install, but it was obvious from the pricing that they did not want to do the prewire (at $100 a wire).  We should be able to knock it out of the way in a day and get out of the critical path.

We could be into insulation and drywall by the end of next week if we can closeout a few minor issues.  That would put us on schedule.

Oh--that's right.  There is a bathroom renovation in progress also.  The bath tub is in place and the rough plumbing is complete.  There is more rip out to do before we get to rough electrical.

Day 24-28 (28 OCT - 1 NOV)

The week started VERY slowly with no action on Monday or Tuesday.  However, we did get a commitment to deliver lumber on Wednesday morning.  It looked like we were doomed to fall farther behind schedule.  But wait--Wednesday morning at 0745 the framing crew showed up followed shortly thereafter by the GC.  Almost immediately, things started to happen.  Out came the sawsall, and off went the back eaves.  Just as the framing crew was finishing up the demo that they had to do and getting their air and power lines in place, the lumber showed up.  This framing crew was composed of the pros from Dover (well, St. George, Georgia actually).  From the time the lumber arrived to quitting time at 5 PM, the saws, nail guns, and tape measures were flying.  This team was a well oiled machine--one guy measuring and yelling, one cutting one running and one nailing.  The frame started to take shape very quickly.  The architect went overboard to ensure that this structure would not blow away--steel rods, glu-lam beams, 2X6 lumber, etc. 

We ran into two new problems with the plans.  The West wall is not large enough to accommodate all four windows shown in the plan.  After reviewing all of the options, we made the decision to scale down to two windows.  We did this because all of the windows on the adjacent existing structure are single windows vice double windows, and by reducing the West wall windows, we reduce the afternoon heat load in the summer.

The second issue was that, even with a lower pitched roof, the margin to the solar panels is too small for the roofers to do their jobs.  As a result a "Boston Hip" was constructed at the peak of the roof where it intersected the existing roof. 

Day two of framing started an hour late due to a series of issues, but the framers worked until dusk with the intent of finishing on Friday.  We were hoping to make the roof waterproof by close of business on Friday because of rain expected on Friday morning.  We got close but not quite.  There was a small amount of water that got inside the house as a result, but no apparent long term issues.

The roofers were called in on Saturday to attach the peel and stick to the sheathing and to scope out the work required on Monday.

All in all, we clawed back about 3.5 days in the schedule this week and we are only about two days behind schedule.  Windows and doors are next.  That should start as soon as the roof is finished.  The building is really taking shape as the pictures show.

We have decided to defer the concrete work on the driveway as it is not critical path and it could inhibit the flow of trades workers.  It can wait until the end of the project.  We also decided to extend the flooring from the extension into the current living room as the wood floor in the living room was pretty abused by the renters over the years.  Might as well get it done while we have the trades on site.