Photos from Week of Sept 24th - 30th

Sunday September 30th, 2007


Just a few shots...



A big pile of wood in the back yard.



Blocks -> view to the back; yes there is a gap above the back window on purpose!





Pipe trench shots before (above) and after (below)


This one looks like snorkels




Then there was this inconspicuous pile on the front lawn...we peeked...it was the new joists and some other wood inside (Andreas reading it). I sense some impending framing :)

It's really a full time job

The start if this week went a little like this for Andreas.

Monday: Got a reminder to order windows. Since we didn't yet pick a door, we decide on one. Double check the window quote; Rick missed 2 windows so we call to speak to him - he's apologetic and asks if we picked a door. We say 'yes of course' , pleased that we have something done. He says 'and what about the transom'? We frown, and say we'll call him back. We pick three in 15 minutes, and as Andreas is heading out the door I say 'this one?' and point and he doesn't disagree.

Tuesday 7:45am : Marat (builder) calls Andreas to come over to talk to the plumber. Andreas says he'll be there by 10:00am

Tuesday 8:15am : Marat calls again, Andreas is forced out of bed and over to the house he goes
Tuesday 8:45am: Andreas discovers the plumber has the wrong (outdated) plans but they look and point at things anyway for a couple of hours.

Tuesday 11:00am Andreas goes back home to discover the Aluminum Guy has started work at the crackhouse but the work order does not include everything. Andreas and the Aluminum Guy discuss this with the Boss. It gets sorted out.

Tuesday 12:00pm Andreas returns to the house to talk again to the plumber and witnesses Marat actually working! However, the plumber was not there.

Tuesday afternoon: Revised window quote comes in, Andreas emails it to Lianne. Email exchange goes on. They discuss plumber via Blackberry instant messaging.

Tuesday later afternoon: Andreas hangs out with the plumber again. Things take time to discuss because Andreas is sometimes always right and the plumber's first lanquage is Russian. We think his second might be too.

Tuesday evening: Lianne and Andreas don't even cross paths as Andreas is working at a client until 1:00am

Wednesday (early but not that early): Lianne gets ready to go to work and mentions to Andreas (who is still asleep) that new plans ought to be printed up. Andreas disagrees. Lianne tries to convince him, however instead has a snit fit about the house being built while she is at work with the wrong plans and she missed it all. She is late to work which does not help, and heads off with a big gray cloud over her head.

Wednesday 10:00am Andreas calls Architect, who obligingly says the drawings will be ready by 2:00pm

Wednesday 10:15am Andreas and the Alumimum Guy chat about Aluminum. We suspect the Aluminum Guy worked while Andreas chatted.

Wednesday 11:30 am Andreas heads over to Elmsdale to, once again, chat up the plumber. He discovers his name is Slava. Now we are getting somewhere! The plumber is only putting in the main house drains at this point, however Andreas still has thoughts on these.

Wednesday 12:45pm Andreas drives across town to the Architect's to pick up the drawings. While there, Andreas' parents call from Germany, where they are on holiday. They would like to know the postal code of the house we're living in at the moment please.

Wednesday 1:30pm Andreas goes back to Elmsdale with the new drawings and actually sits down with Slava to review the plumbing for the whole house.

Wednesday 3:30pm Andreas drives back to the crackhouse to check on the Aluminum Guy. He'd gone home on account of rain.

Wednesday 4:30pm Andreas decides to pick Lianne up from work, so she can go to Elmsdale and witness the actual construction (with the right plans)....here is Lianne, standing in the drain trenches!



And so it goes...in between, he juggles calls and requests for support from his clients!

Almost like LEGO tm

Saturday September 22, 2007

We just blinked and there were three rows of blocks up the side of the house. Saturday we stopped in to see the block progress and also got clear shots of the smoothed-out basement dirt floor.

Ouch! Tree!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

We have, as you can see in just about every picture of the house, a beautiful magnolia tree right out front. On Thursday, a rogue dumpster driver dropped off a bin in front of the house. He put it backwards and in the wrong spot. The guys on site called back to get him to move it and it ended up on the front lawn, taking out a few branches of our beloved tree!

Andreas was notified by Neighbour Bob, next door, when he phoned early in the morning reporting the incident. He had almost ended up with the bin in the middle of the houses, right on top of the mutual drive. The driver said he was told to drop it there because someone said the tree was going anyway. Neighbour Tehnaz, on the other side heard the whole thing, and it was definitely a bad driver. We found limbs in the way back of the backyard, looking suspiciously hidden out of the way. It was a case of Colonel Mustard, in the library, with the candlestick.



In the end, Andreas fined our builder not protecting the tree despite us emphasizing *several* times the need to protect that tree. It now has appropriate orange fencing around it, and a huge bare side!




Also on site that day was the 'block guy' (I've yet to get any names!) - he will be putting up the 2 or three rows of block that add height to the brick walls, that support the second floor.

In the end, the bin was filled with the dirt from the basement and taken away (note: huge chunk of lawn also missing). Our basement is scraped out and ready for...we think the main drains are next!




Blocks waiting and me showing how high the basement is now...or at least for the time being!

The rest of the floor came down

Wednesday September 19, 2007

Once the main floor was built, the guys took out the rest of the original floor.





Here is the new floor, over top the old floor



Tomorrow the bin comes to take the dirt away out of the basement.

Windows and Doors

We now have, in our possession, a catalogue of doors to choose from.

Had anyone mentioned to us, off hand, let's say, that you get about a week to choose your windows and doors, we would have started much earlier! Remember, these are the windows and doors that you actually live with for the next bazillion years.

You have to choose the colour (thanks to Kris in Taipei for long-distance colour advice!), the style, the opening, the grills if you want them...the list goes on.

Luckily, the "window guy" Rick is not only patient, but offers great advice. I think he's done this once or twice before...

Bachs Senior check it out

Klaus and Donna, Andreas' parent stopped by on their way out to Germany. They hadn't seen the place at all, except via this blog, so I think they liked the real-life version.

Klaus was on video and Donna was mentally decorating I think ;) however it was a good chance for them to see the place, plus a reference for any changes that may happen while they are in Europe for three weeks!

Now the Basement Ceiling comes down

Saturday September 15th, 2007

With the new floor in place, the demo crew moved to the basement to remove the basement ceiling ~ which is, of course, the existing main floor.

It was odd to see our kitchen tiles and dining room wood floor drooping down, part suspended as it was only partly demolished for a couple of days.

Nina and Jesse on tour as well that day, we saw the house & I just jumped around explaining where all the new rooms will be!

New Main Floor

Wednesday September 12, 2007

Here they are building the new 'raised' main floor! Andreas went by in the middle of the day, and Lianne saw it when they were done, after work. This is the new floor of engineered wood I-beams that are a clear span across the 22' width of the house.

In progress



Lianne standing beside the window that used to be in her office - she looks much taller than normal!




Here Andreas points to the hole left for the stairwell.

Lianne's Mum makes a visit

Friday September 7th, 2007

Lianne's mum was in town and since she was here last (helping pack the week before the move) the house looks a *little* different!

This week the concrete from the basement has all been taken out.

Mum in the middle of the house, where the wall in the living room separated it from the kitchen


Here is Lianne, pointing to where she thinks the new 1/2 bathroom will be


Looks a bit like the Parthenon


Is this how high the window will be?


Basement concrete has been removed.

The first "extra"...

Tuesday September 4th, 2007

We met up with Marat (the builder) on Tuesday night at the house. It was progress payment time, but also we had an issue with the architects plans vs. the actual building.

Our plans show that after construction, our basement ceiling height should be 7 ' 1" high. Originally they were 6'5" so while not a huge difference, it still helps make the basement more liveable.

Good news is that our footings are good. We had heard of similar housing projects that discovered missing footings (that which holds up your foundation walls) to the tune of $25,000. Our bad news was that the concrete floor of the basement was a mere 1 -2" or less and built directly on the dirt & sand. If Marat repours the concrete as per building code, he needs to lay 4" of gravel and then a 4" layer of concrete. That leaves us with about 7" of lost head room, and that also means our final ceiling height would come out to about the same as it was when we started.

Needless to say, we don't want that! The way to correct the situation is for Marat to dig out 6" of the dirt (as much as he can without underpinning the foundation) and then lay the gravel & concrete. But then it can ONLY be done if the exisiting plumbing is set low enough underground. Which we expect it to be, however you never know.

Estimate is about $2500. We said OK, but need to get confirmation on the plumbing situation.

Now I think you can see the "gut" part

Monday September 3, 2007

After a 11pm drive by on Friday night with the H-Clan, we went back on Labour Day Monday to take pictures of the house without the interior walls. Wow!

Main floor walls come down

Friday August 31, 2007

We had an opportunity to swing by the house to see the main floor wall studs being taken down.





Front and back.