"Interruptions"

The siding process continues... punctuated by a few welcome interruptions (and a few unwelcome as well).

For example:
-SNOW! - saw my first snowflakes from up on the staging two fridays ago.  A small hint that I need to get this thing wrapped up soon.
-RAIN! - Grading is still not complete, so the last rain storm resulted in a big sink hole and pond against the foundation.  Nothing like a little mud in the mouth when starting a siphon to drain it.
-WIND! - Spent 10 minutes digging through wet leaves today to find my dad's glasses and one lens that got blown off his face by the air discharge from the nail gun.


The good news:
-Meeting with Jeff tomorrow to go over final grading to be done this week.
-Meeting with geothermal guy Thursday to locate wells.
-Heating ductwork starting on Wednesday.
-The end of the siding is in sight thanks to a huge amount of help from dad.  Just the back peak, front dormer, and under the porch left.  Should be done by Thanksgiving (except for the caulking and painting - that may wait till spring - much to Amy's dismay).

Some pictures, including this past month's "interruptions":

Did I mention how much I like being able to lock up the house at the end of each day?

Power center.  No generator anymore, but I'm still running the entire house from a single outlet.  The siding has taken my focus off electrical.  Back to that soon, hopefully.

The inspectors.

A welcome interruption.

The trip to the pumpkin show in Norman's Winnebago.  The first in a series of Halloween related "interruptions."

At the Pumpkin Show 2010.  A welcome night off from siding.

Ella's last weekend soccer game.  No more excuses to take a break on Saturdays...

What passes for quality family time these days.

A quick look at the new trophy before heading back to the house.

Mary D. Stone Halloween parade.  A better way to spend an afternoon than on a ladder.

Dr. Berg: Brain Surgeon

Trick or treating with the ladies.

Elton John in his scrubs.

Trick or Treat at Gramma and Papa's.  Okay, enough fun - back to work.

The master bath tub was delivered!... to the garage... it's still there.... still in the box....  I hope it's actually the one we ordered....

A few of the hundreds of pieces of siding pre-cut and painted.

The effects of cutting all that siding on the garage floor.

The effects of cutting all that siding on my hands.

An add for Dickies?

The 1,459th time climbing out the front window onto the porch roof.

Is this safe?

Dad B. hard at work in the attic - cutting siding and passing it out the window to me on the staging.  A good system.

Thank you dad!

Every day it gets colder, and every day this looks more enticing.  Can't wait to break it in.

Siding

Plugged away at the siding most of the week.

Construction loan inspection and disbursement were supposed to happen Tuesday.  By Wednesday, still no money in the account.  Called Thursday - they forgot to put me on the schedule...  Luckily, there's enough money to carry us over to this Tuesday.

The mason came Saturday and finished the fireplace, hearth, and chimney.  Looks great (forgot to take a picture). 

Met with the geothermal HVAC guy.  Just need to finalize a few details and that can get rolling.

Plumbing rough inspection passed on Thursday.

Went to the house on Friday in the pouring rain and couldn't work on siding.  I wandered around aimlessly for an hour shivering before deciding to just go home and do nothing.  I think that's the first time that's happened.  I felt much more productive on Saturday though.  But Amy and I did get in our Friday date night: a trip to Home Depot after the kids were in bed.  So romantic.

Doors were delivered and installed on Friday.  I put the locks on on Saturday.  We can finally lock the house!  This may not seem like a big deal, but it means my car is no longer a traveling tool chest.



Pictures:

Got the front of the garage done over the course of the week.  Notice the white strap hanging on the wall near the top of the siding.  I am very proud of my invention.  May be patentable...?

Siding in the dark is tricky, so I finally put up the porch posts.

Got LOTS of help this weekend from Dad.  Started to set up to do this gable wall on Saturday, but the wind blew the ladder over as we were setting up staging.  Opted to hold off till Sunday.  The telescoping plank is a godsend.

With the weight of all the stuff hanging off my belt I have almost mooned the neighborhood on more than one occasion.

Paul came to help today even though he's still recovering from knee surgery!  He can barely walk, but he was still going up and down ladders and lugging cement planks around.  Good physical therapy?

Nearing the peak.

Vertigo anyone?

Amy's attempt to nail a clapboard from the top of a ladder.  Notice both hands off the ladder to use the nail gun and siding gauge.

Shortly thereafter hugging the ladder for dear life.

Smiling because she's still alive and because she knows she won't be going back up the ladder again...

And a special thank you to Amy and Sarah for coming back after dinner to bring coffee and help me finish up a section of the back in the dark.

He's Aliiiive!!!

Wednesday...
Me: The roofers want to know when you'll get the chimney done so they can waterproof it.
Mason: We'll come do the fireplace today since it's raining, then do the chimney Friday when things dry out.
Me: Great.  So the ledgestone you ordered came in?
Mason: Ledgestone?  They just gave me "Strip".  @%&#.  I'll have to reorder it.  But I'll still be there Friday to do the chimney.

Friday....
No mason.
Saturday...
No mason.
Sunday....
No mason.
Monday.... giving up hope
The mason showed up out of the blue and did the fireplace AND chimney in one day.  Well, almost.  He ran out of stone for the fireplace and didn't have the hearth stone or chimney cap.  But we're making progress!

National Grid connected our electricity!  No more generators!  This is what an electric meter looks like when you've used 00000 kWh of electricity.

Plumbers finished the rough in today and are ready for inspection tomorrow.  This is the the copper pan for the master bath shower.

Thanks to two consecutive 12 hour days put in by my dad, we were able to side a good chunk of the front of the house.  I started the day Saturday by falling through the porch joists when a board flipped up.  Luckily my feet his the ground before something else hit the joist...  Got a good bang on the knee though.  The last course above the porch went up in the dark on Sunday by the light of the LED on the front of the electric drill.  Thanks, dad!  And thanks mom for giving him up for the weekend and bringing us lunch!

Started siding the bay today.  Decided to give up on painting all the trim for fear I'll run out of time before the winter.  Just prepainting the sides of the trim.  I'll get to the rest in the spring...

He may take a while to get here, but his work looks great! 

Tuesday - Dig well trench.  Wednesday - well company calls to say they aren't coming because it's raining.  Friday - bail out well trench.   Monday - Install water line and electric power to well pump.  Tuesday through Thursday - rain fills well trench again (can't be bailed out by back hoe since there are pipes in it now).  Friday - siphon the majority through dad's borrowed garden hose.  Saturday - nearly pass out trying to start a siphon to empty the last of the water.  Sunday - trench finally filled back in.  No more water, hopefully.

Panel installed.  Power turned on.  Some rooms wired.  Now what?

A sighting: the mason hard at work. 

When it rains, it pours

With the massive amount of rain this, the entire lot turned into a muddy mess.  Good timing for the electrical service inspection, plumber to start, stone to be delivered, siding to be delivered, mason to finally show up, garage doors to be installed, well to be connected, etc.  No workers on site at all last week.  This week was crazy.  When it rains, it pours...

200A electrical service trench with conduits for electric, telephone, and cable.   You can see the fully shingled roof too!

Service entrance.  No meter yet (waiting for national grid): one week and counting

Garage doors are in.

Mason finished the stone veneer behind the wood stove today.

Plumbers roughed in the drain lines earlier this week.  Couldn't get up the driveway to do water lines today due to massive amount of mud.

Speaking of "mud," this thing better work...

I successfully wired one bedroom then Steve gave me some tips.  Did one more tonight.  Lots more to go.

This gives the "water service trench" new meaning.  Hopefully I can drain and prep it by Monday so they can hook up the well.  It takes A LOT of water to fill a 4' deep by 100' long trench.

Today

1. Came home from work to meet electrical inspector.  When I got there Jeff (Boisclair) and I tried to get the electrical main into the service box before the inspector got there.  The inspector pulled up after we have pulled the conduit out of the trench and were wrestling with the 5-point 3/4" bolts on the box cover (by the way, you can't buy a 5-point 3/4" socket, so I'm guessing National Grid doesn't want us tinkering around in there...). 

Inspector: I thought you were supposed to be done by Saturday.
Me: We ran into one little snag.
Inspector: Let me see if I have the socket you need

(digs through his car to try to help us open National Grid's box).

Me: Let's look up at the house end.

(He looks at the meter socket then in the basement at the panel.)

Inspector: Is your ID number the one Sue called in about?
Me: yeah...
Inspector: I'll call National Grid in the morning to come hook you up.

(Thank you Sue!)

2. Ran to Sears to buy the 5-point socket.  Not there.  Tried a 12-point metric mickey mouse job.  No good.  Jeff will try tomorrow (hopefully BEFORE national grid shows up to hook things up).

3.  Upon return from Sears, Steve is there and shows me how to wire a room and lets me borrow right angle drill.  (Thank you Steve.)

4.  Dad shows up at dark and helps me string up temp lights, build shower wall and curb, and clean up basement in preparation for plumbers starting tomorrow. (Thank you dad.)  I built the shower the wrong size, but it may work.  I'll see tomorrow when I'm not too tired to think.

5. Stone yard delivery truck broke down and couldn't deliver the wood stove and chimney stone today as planned.  Had to call Mason back (who finally got back from his week "vacation"... "other job"?) to tell him that he may not be able to start tomorrow.  Masonry is turning into the biggest headache.

6. Siding is in and ready to be delivered.  Scheduled that for Wednesday, but may postpone till later in the week due to weather.

7. Finished last three sections and final paper for the course I "started" in May and is due in 2 days.  Submitted that, so now it's of my plate.

8.  Meeting with the financial adviser for the first time since we started this whole crazy process tomorrow.  Can't wait to see what he has to say.

Sewage, Landscaping, and Electricity

Lots of developments:

1. Picked up the "poop pump" on Wednesday.
2. Jeff and Tom knocked down the dirt piles, graded the yard, connected the sewer line, and started digging the utility trenches.
3. The roof is shingled.
4. Plumbing fixtures have been picked out.  I need to pick up the valves tomorrow to give to the plumber on Saturday when we meet to go over the locations of the fixtures.
5. Joe is coming Saturday to level the low spots in the floor/beams.  If the doors are in we may install a few as well.
6. Steve came over tonight to measure up for the electrical service.  Shopping trip to the HD tomorrow.  6AM Saturday we run the service line.  He also managed to fix my generator in about 30 seconds while he was there.
7. Things to do tomorrow: make sure trench gets dug so I can run the electric line Saturday, call the electric inspector to come on Monday, pick up the shower/tub valves for the plumber, buy the electric service supplies, make a few changes to the grading in the back yard, call Maki to see if the doors are ready for delivery, call Chace to check on siding delivery, finish milling the trim that I was just starting tonight when the generator ran out of gas - I can't wait to have real electricity!

More pictures by the end of the weekend I hope.

Busy Weekend

Besides the pictures below -
The roof will be shingled by tomorrow (Dick Prefontaine works Saturdays AND Sundays.  I love it!)
Finished grading should start tomorrow and utility trenches in by the end of the week.
Plumber should be starting mid week.
I'm sure there's other stuff I can't remember right now.

The windows are in.

The mason is through the roof.

My poor car.

One post is up at least.

One window trimmed out.

My mill shop.

What happens when you make 7 cuts on 100 pieces of PVC trim.  The "saw dust" filled a large trash barrel (about 25 shovels full cleaning it up).

The mass-produced window trim pieces.  Now I just have to put them together and put them on the house and fill the nail hoes and paint them.  THEN I can start the siding.

I see the light!  Amy is so excited I can work at night now too.

So excited she fell asleep on the lumber pile in the driveway.  Or is this yoga?

Major Cleanup

No pictures this time. 

Lots of balls in the air currently. 

This week:

1. I spent Sunday uninstalling and reinstalling the windows that weren't in correctly.  The french door still needs to be removed and redone.  Ugh.
2. The framers finished up their details. We still have to fix the mysterious 3/4" sag in the center of the house.  But otherwise mostly done.
3. The roofers started, and should be done tomorrow or Monday.  But, one fell off a ladder and might have broken his foot yesterday, so they're slowed down a little.
4. I met with the mason finally.  We talked over the veneers and made our decisions.  But now he's on vacation for the next week....
5. The masonry decisions were not easy.  Any and I went over the house last night just as it was getting dark and were trying to measure and lay out the fireplace and wood stove in the dark.  After a minor "disagreement" and then moving the car so the headlights were shining through the studs we were able make our decisions.  We also had a "disagreement" over the placement and swing of the upstairs bathroom door.  To be continued...
6. After a minor panic because our plumber walked off the job (before he really started) last week, we lined up a new guy.  It would have been done by now.  As it is, the rough plumbing will be starting later next week (which means I need to drive to Rockland to buy the sewer ejector pump before then).
7. I started talking to Mass Energy Star New Homes raters.  It turns out you can have your house tested and if it passes their standards (15% better than code) you can get $$ from the Energy Star program.  The inspections are free and they will provide CFLs for the entire house for free as well.  Cool!
8. Met with a garage door guy.  Will order those on Monday.
9. Need to pick up lacquer samples from Nal's to give to Dean to test on our new cabinet doors before we make the final decision on color.
10. Spent the day on the phone with the lumber yard trying to figure out how to do a "historic sill" in PVC for the exterior window moulding.  The pre-milled version is wicked expensive.  Luckily, I ran across a youtube video of Tom from This Old House making his own.  Now I have an excuse to buy a table saw and mill my own.
11. I met with Jeff to go over the grading and utility trenches.  That will start Monday. 
12. Amy and I spent the afternoon cleaning up the trash piles in preparation for the grading to be done.
13. Exterior trim will be delivered tomorrow.  Time to get my mill shop set up in the garage and start building stuff!

Speed Bumps

The standard refrain from The Money Pit, "Two more weeks...," is starting to hit home:

The mason finally came and started the chimney/wood stove/fireplace.  However, he was delayed because of an elbow infection that put him in the hospital and has put in a total of 2 days work in the past 2 weeks.  Without the chimney through the second floor we can't frame in the bathroom upstairs.  Without the bathroom framed we can't locate the plumbing, without plumbing we can't do anything else inside.  And without the chimney through the roof, the roofing will get delayed as well.

Since our plumber is a pumpkin head like my brother the delay puts us too close to Halloween, so he's off the job.  The hunt for a new plumber begins tonight.

Called to order the siding today.  The color we want is a special order (but only in the size we want - 4" exposure) so we have to wait 3 weeks or that and will have to order extra since it only comes in full pallets.

Called to order exterior doors.  Also a special order.  Figures.

Called to order the sewer ejector pump today so it would be ready when the plumber does get going.  They won't be getting any in for a couple weeks.

Roofer, or materials, weren't there today.  Hopefully this week.

On a positive note- the framers have continued to be excellent.  Basement stairs went in.  Mud room was built.  Closets were framed in.  Mudroom doors and landings were built.  Exterior sheathing was completely nailed and taped.

The girls enjoying the newly framed mud room.

2 days of work: the chimney foundation was built, the fireplace and wood stove thimbles were built.  Since then, stalled.

Tub and shower delivered.

Rain.  We're not completely waterproof yet with the ridge vent open.  Need shingles soon.

Does whatever the older sister does... whether it makes sense or not.

The result of 5 unsupervised minutes in the back yard.