building for our future

It was a busy week...so busy that I just have not had the opportunity to work with the pictures I took. But in general, the rough plumbing is completed and it appears we may have gotten inspection approval on that. Mike the Plumber did a wonderful job and if I ever need to call a plumber, he’ll be the one on the other end of the phone. The HVAC team is nearly done with their work, too, and Mike the Electrician starts on Monday with his work. The stair specialist will also be stopping by to see what’s in store for him! Oh, and the septic folks completed their work on Thursday...I’ll do a full post on that when I get the opportunity. (Work is going to keep me running for a few days, unfortunately)

Michael’s carpentry crew started on the exterior trim work on Thursday and wow...incredibly good work. They essentially set up a workshop in the driveway (coincidentally just outside my own workshop) and got cracking on the fascia boards, returns and soffits. Rather than use cheesy moldings to hold the soffit material, they literally put a groove to fit in the back side of the fascia boards for an outstandingly clean look. Here’s just one picture of that work now...more to follow later.

Mike the plumber has now finished up the waste lines and spent the latter part of the day doing pressure testing. He’s confident that the work will pass inspection once we are able to get one. I have to say that his routing and neat work has been a asset to this project. The HVAC folks were also back and have the majority of the work in the crawlspace completed. Once they are able to build the stacks up to the attic, they pretty much will not have to go back into the “depths” other than to run the gas line from the existing structure into the new one.

He and I were also talking for awhile about the possible route(s) available for getting the cold water line up to the second floor laundry room where our tankless water heating system will be located. The local inspector is loath to let any of the micro-lam beams have even small holes in them, so we are going to need to use some creativity to get from point A to point B and C beyond in an efficient manner. But if it can be done...Mike will figure it out!

Alison and I also visited the plumbing supply today to pick out our bathroom fixtures. Two toilets, one prefabricated shower (for the guest bath) and a whole lot of “chrome” should begin arriving in the near future. And we did it in about 45 minutes...not something that happens with all of Michael’s clients apparently. While we did go to a local tile place afterward, we pretty much have settled on green slate for the bathroom floors, master shower room and the foyer floor. The cost is actually about the same as ceramics and the natural character is well north of mundane! Assuming we give the go-ahead, it will be ordered direct from Vermont where it is quarried and will be installed by the master tile crew that Michael uses on his jobs.

Tomorrow (Saturday), the roofers should be back to work toward getting the addition and connector bridge fully, well...roofed. (It’s what they do I hear :-) ) That will be good because it will be a mad-house [sic] around here next week with the septic folks taking up the whole driveway and then some for a few days. I warned some of the trades today that there would likely be some very creative parking opportunities for a good part of next week.

Here are a couple pictures taken today...a slow photo day, but an important milestone, nonetheless.

The theme continued over the past few days, with Mike the plumber getting the waste lines and vents fully installed and the HVAC crew doing their initial register and return placement and starting to get the main trunk under the first floor installed. Mike is nearly done with the waste system, only having to tie into the main line just off the future patio. He should complete that tomorrow and then begin to rough in the copper cold and hot water pipes.

The roofers should be back tomorrow and I suspect they will knock out the two addition roofs as well as the back side of the existing great room fairly quickly. My septic folks are (finally) starting on Saturday with taking down two large Tulip Poplar trees that are located where the two additional trenches need to go. Those trees will not be wasted...the trunks will be cut into 8' sections that I will have milled into lumber for my woodworking projects and everything else will be chipped and used for landscape mulch on the property. They should complete their work retrofitting the absorption field (a pressure dose system...much like a sand mound but sub-surface) by mid-week next week. Dan, the mason, will also be back next week to put up the block retaining walls that will protect the structure that is located below grade. Unfortunately, all this is also going to produce a nasty parking problem for all the trades that will be here at the same time.

We are also working hard to get some changes made to the approved plans to satisfy the township regarding our foundation drain. Sadly, there has been a real communication problem on this issue. Hopefully, we have it “solved” soon so we can back-fill for a safer site and so we can move things along.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today, starting with some HVAC work.






And some plumbing...

Tuesday was another beautiful day for working outdoors. Mike the plumber was back and concentrated mainly on getting all his holes cut for finishing out the waste lines. A local power failure due to an auto accident somewhere did curtail some of the work time, but tomorrow he should get all the waste lines completed and be able to move on to the copper water supplies. (my original intention was to use PEX for the water lines, but the township has an ordinance, believe it or not, that requires copper...no way around it)

The HVAC folks also got started today with placing supply termination plates and doing some of the initial air return work. Michael, the GC, uses these folks on a lot of his jobs and it’s very nice to see that they know how to work well together as quite often in construction, there can be clashes between the trades over things like who gets to route what where...not a problem on this job!

Well, we can name this officially “plumbing week” as our friend Mike the plumber got to work bright and early Monday morning with a good start on getting our waste lines installed. I like how Mike works...he’s a problem solver. The “problem”? What is the best way to get our main drain line efficiently through the structure and hooked up to the existing septic system as well as how to best route the various drains and vents so they minimize disruption to the structure and other trades...such as the HVAC guys? He’s good. And a pleasure to have on-site.

Our rough plumbing should be, well...plumbed...by the end of the week, more or less. And we have an appointment on Friday to fondle fixture options at the supply house. (I hear the dollar bills dripping out of our wallets already...)

John, the HVAC subcontractor also stopped by to physically check out the structure and talk about our chase between the attic where the heating/cooling system will live and the crawl space two “floors” below. He’s equally a problem solver and I am looking forward to working with him on this project!

Today was a down day for any work on the addition. The framers have moved on and the roofers will be back as soon as they are free. But I did have a visit from the plumber today to look over the site and prepare for his work that will be starting on Monday.

Now, you may recall that my GC's name is Michael. He has a young man named Mike on his staff working as a carpenter. The framer’s name is Mike. The plumber who was out today...Mike. The electrician? You got it. Mike. I suspect there is someone on the roofer’s team that is also named Mike or Michael. We seem to have a theme going on here! (The HVAC guy lucked out...he’s a John!) Sheesh!

And with that humorous thought, I’ll leave you with a quick picture of one of the master bath vanities. (the right side unit) They are ready for final finishing so I can move on to the next thing on my list; likely, the cabinets for the “toilet room” in the master bath. Don’t be concerned by the light and dark portions you see...some components have not been oiled yet...all will be that rich natural cherry color that appears darker in the photo.

Perhaps it was fitting that today was a little rainy as it gave Mike and his framing crew a break from the hot, hot, hot that they have been working in. And by 2pm, they had essentially completed the framing for our addition, sans the porch that cannot be done until that area is back-filled and engineering the connection to the second floor of the existing structure. These guys were great...and I’m so pleased that they were the ones to build this structure. They do great work and are such a pleasure to be around. The also didn’t create a huge about of waste which is very appreciated by the “finance manager”...moi...

So I expect to see the roofers on-site next along with a few other folks as we get ready to move onto the next phases of this project. Here’s a set of pictures from today, including a few more “tour” shots.

Ah...another Monday. Unfortunately for me, it was also a “back to work after being off for two weeks” kind of Monday! Life is like that.

Over the weekend, I took a few minutes to scavenge the trash pile. These framers are remarkably good at using material efficiently. But I did pull out some stuff that will come in handy for a lumber storage project I have planned...no sense in putting usable plywood and lumber into the landfill if it can be put to good use!



On the construction side of things, Mike and his crew finished up all the remaining “heavy framing” today with the completion of all the roof rafters, gussets and partially sheathing the roof. (They ran out of material and will finish that up tomorrow) Remaining framing includes the knee walls in the attic, some minor changes to window rough openings and a few other odds and ends. Mike also will need to work on the upper level tie in with the existing loft-library over the great room once the roofers do their thing on the, well...roof.

Friday was a pretty exciting--and long--day for the crew. The roofers had ripped off the last of the remaining shingles from the existing great room roof and it was time to frame the new roof over to the ridge and joint the old with the new. Because there was the potential for rain on the coming weekend, they needed to get the roof over the entire connector bridge of the addition and fair it into the old roof line so it could be made weather tight. Hence, the long day...the sun was going down by the time that Mike got some tar paper on the new roof and the tarp secured over the older roof area so there was no chance for water to bleed through onto the drywall ceiling of the existing structure. And the not-so-friendly local bees were, umm...not so friendly again. (They are now ex-bees in the spirit of Monty Python)

I will also add that joining the new roof to the old presented a challenge on the side that abuts the existing middle section of our current home. But Mike is a very smart man and engineered a nifty arrangement that placed a shed roof (also serves as the ceiling for the interior join) under the 6 over 12 rafters in such a way that water will not be running along against the house wall. I have not been able to get a good picture of that yet, but will continue to try!

Mike and his crew were back on Thursday and started to reduce that brand new pile of lumber fairly quickly. In my view, this was one of the most intriguing days on the project so far as four men...actually three, because one fellow doesn’t prefer heights...managed to put up the end rafters and ridge pole without the use of any mechanical lifting systems. Just muscle and working smart, putting the laws of physics to good use.

Wednesday brought more interior framing work on partitions and some additional sheathing installation. Mike, the owner of the framing company, had another job to deal with, so two of his men took care of a lot of the odds and ends that needed dealing with. And another truck load of lumber was delivered...all the roof framing stock for the work scheduled to start tomorrow, bright and early.

Monday was the US Labor Day holiday, but Tuesday managed to arrive at the appointed time and so did the framing crew. So we pick up where we left off after vacation week with the exception that I was going to be home all week...on vacation some more. (“Use it or lose it” time at work) So with camera in hand, I got to observe how it’s done by the pros...and these folks are pros. Outstanding in every way, including being personable. Today’s photo installment gets the second floor outside walls up plus some of the interior partitions.

Go figure...this past week we were on family vacation to Mont-Tremblant in Quebec Canada...just when all the “real fun” was to begin. But that’s how timing is sometimes, especially when the “Peoples Republic of {township name}” takes great pride in delaying the start of projects like this multiple times! Fortunately for us, our wonderful neighbor, Beth, cheerfully agreed to take pictures each day with the camera I left with her. Which means we all (you included) get to see at least some of what happened this week relative to the start of framing. We also had the roofers here working on replacing the existing structure’s aged cedar shakes with new 50-year asphalt shingles from Elk...I’m not going to include any pictures of that work for a number of reasons, but the job looks great!

That said, I did have to start things out with this particular shot of the south-west corner of the existing master bedroom area. It appears there originally was a window in this spot...when the old siding came off, there was just a gaping hole with some naked studs in place. No insulation. No sheathing. Vally ingtalesting! Yet another place that the previous owner got, umm...“treated to the finest contractor work”...

The rest of these photos show the progression of the framing. Most of this work was done in just a couple days...I may have the dates incorrect. And I did include some brief labels on the interior shots of the first floor at the end. So here is the week of 27 August...while we were “living it up” north of the border, the framers were having a ball!