The Windows!

October 30th, 2007

The windows are here the windows are here the windows are here the windows are here


Andreas went over today to check on the Window Delivery....yes, all there but one. YAY!...and of course no door. I would hope so considering we were charged, IN FULL, before even delivery...in fact before we had confirmed the whole order!

We complained and apparently the data entry person could read the mastercard number but wasn't able to see the deposit amount written beside the m/c number. {eyeroll}

Anyway, since the windows were delivered it wasn't worth reversing the charge.



More framing going on in the basement, as well as the "foyer" or front hall of the house - it's a sunken front hall so we have 2 steps up to the main living room. Right now it looks and feels awkward, however that's because the existing door is not the final place for the front door.




A little detail of the underside of the front porch roof.




Last but not least, a truckload of stuff went away from the backyard and you can barely tell because it's such a huge mountain!

Porch Roof!

Saturday October 27th, 2007

Seems like we always go visit on the weekend, this time it was late Saturday afternoon...

We now have a roof over the porch!


Concrete is also looking spiffy, I get to see it for the first time...also the framing is going up around the main floor walls, so it's starting to look less like a bomb went off and more like a house-in-progress.

You can see in the picture below that there is a ginormous opening for a front window & the porch roof has been made VERY tall as to not block the view!




Up Up and Awaaaaaayyy...this is why I keep asking for temporary stairs!

Concrete comes in

The roof still has a gaping hole at the back, where the carpenter has not yet finished. Seems he worked a little on Saturday but then was pulled away to some other 'emergency' work so all carpentry has come to a standstill.

Of course, that does not mean nothing is happening - yesterday inspection, today concrete pouring!

Inspector

Tuesday October 23rd, 2007

The City inspector came to visit. This time we knew he was coming and Andreas was on-hand for the walk-through. All seemed well, but a few minor things need tending to & Marat will take care of those. A couple of things require the engineer to sign off on, why they don't build to engineer specs, I'll never know, but as long as the engineer comes, looks and signs off, all is well. It's just a couple of variances in the way it's actually built vs. the specs vs. 'what he's seen other places'. It's certainly not going to fall down!

He also asked some questions that indicate he really is not a contstruction expert, he is just there to enforce rules. Example: 'is the sub-floor 3/4" or 5/8"?'. Seems to me that if you need to know you should have brought a tape measure, or be able to tell by looking at it. However, he took the builder's word for it in this case.

At the end, there was not really an resolution, just that some paperwork needs to be filed.

Will an island fit, or a galley kitchen? What about a pull-out pantry?!

Friday the carpenter ran out of supplies, so he quit early but came back on Saturday morning. We popped over, of course, to check on the progress. It was a nice day, but a bit windy in the house. The carpenter was working away diligently. I asked if I could get some temporary stairs put in. Every time we go there, we have to go up a ladder to the second floor. That's not so bad, except that the ladder is about 18 inches too short, so you have to climb to the very top rung, while twisting sideways to hang on to the 2x4 walls and then hoist yourself up, squeezing between the studs. It's a bit precarious. When I mention stairs, all I get is a shrug and a mumble about marat and materials but THEN I said, well, the Mothers are coming. Instantly he starts talking about early next week and putting the stairs in, no problem, no problem! I said, great, ok, we need them in 2 weeks, he says oh, okay!


Meanwhile, I have been wrestling with kitchen ideas. I could probably spend HOURS on this. I even booked an appointment with a certified kitchen & interior designer, however Andreas is not keen on the cost. I am now throwing around kitchen layouts, so while at the house on Saturday we laid out 2x4s in various configurations to see what might work and what might not. We are not really that much further ahead, however it was still fun to see it coming to life (so to speak).

Andreas also has squeezed in a roll out pantry behind the main floor bathroom, thereby squeezing the bathroom but it's still workable.

Here's a concept drawing:

Last I heard there was a motor and hydraulics involved...oh help me.


Mock-up of a galley kitchen, the view is as if you were looking in from the back of the house.

More shopping - Appliances and Skylight

The skylight is purchased, and we hit another appliance store last night. Seems that I have expensive tastes (ha ha) but I also have a good excuse for the 22,000 BTU per element, 48" professional range with 4 burners, a griddle and a grill for a ridiculous price that I want. I am a trained chef, after all.

So far I am looking at a BlueStar range from Prizer-Painter.

Before you ask: Wolf costs more, and Viking breaks down more. And if you buy three stoves, it's the same price as a new car.

Tonight we'll check on the progress of the house & then probably spend all weekend on crackhouse construction!

Roof UP!

Thursday October 18th, 2007

We've been at the house several times this week both together and separately. Two things this week that have been taking our attention - the skylight and the laundry room/main bath area. (among others!)

We still had lingering worries about the laundry being squished, so a chat with the carpenter on Monday ended up that he would draw it all out on the floor and see that it fit. The laundry room, main bath and front bedroom doors are all at angles. If one is off then they are all off. As well, there is a small linen closet between the main bath and the front bedroom. I felt better that we were able to see it on the floor first.

There was also a lengthy discussion about the skylight positioning, and the framing around it, how it would look this way and that way. Sergei points all over the place with his measuring tape and draws small sketches, but it still takes us a while to figure out what he is getting at. We just asked him to put the skylight frame where it says on the drawings and we'll come back when we have a frame of reference. And yes, we still had to go out and buy the skylight, which means Andreas calling up the place the builder recommends, finding out the choices, doing some research on the internet, discussing amonsgt ourselves, asking advice of people we know with skylights...and then still driving out to the showroom north of the city.

We are also still waiting for the updated drawings on the front porch details. Our drawings are not all inclusive and so we needed the engineer to visit, then the details redrawn by the architect before construction could start. A week later, we are chasing these down and the architect was still waiting on the engineer, but the engineer was waiting for specification on whether or not this would be a enclosed porch or not (which we had explained to the carpenter days back, it is enclosed) because the type of wood would change. It seems to be all sorted out only the drawings that were supposed to come today have not showed up yet.

Also this week, one next door neighbour complained he now has no light in his kitchen window (I can't help that unfortunately) while the other side neighbour phoned me at work because she was worried about the roof overhang and eavestroughs being WAY too close to her house. After much review and discussion we think it is an optical illusion, but this morning she made the carpenter climb up on her roof and bring a piece of wood and a measuring tape to actually show her that it would be okay. It is.

One more thing, the front door side and top window glass design that we picked would not allow for sandstone cladding to match the windows, so we said that's okay go with primed whatever and we'll paint it. Couple of days later, we get a call to say it was actually a discontinued designed, so we picked another one, only to discover that it is more expensive. We're still digesting what to do about that.

Also completed this week - inspection of the plumbing in the basement, gravel brought in to cover it all. Best of all, the roof sheathing is almost done, which means the house is practically completely enclosed. Next decision to be made - SHINGLES. Oh, and we better pick out the plumbing fixtures soon, because the builder reminded us to...

Basement gravel



Future home of the 4' x 4' skylight & the last of the sheathing going up



Front and Back

Sometimes you just need to measure

Saturday, October 13th, 2007

The carpenter mentioned that he would be working on Saturday. We had some things planned for crackhouse, however we went to Elmsdale around 5:oopm (just before it go TOO dark!).

Amazing, we have almost all the rafters up. I really like the coffered ceiling in the master bedroom, it's great to see the extra ceiling height. Now that we have rafters, you really get a feel for how the second floor will look. There is still framing of walls to be completed on the front 2 bedrooms, bathroom and laundry, but the master bath/bed & closets are in place.

After the week's experiences with the way the actual building is vs. the drawings, I suggest to Andreas that we measure out every thing to see what's up. Good thing we did, since the bathroom is now actually 9" longer than on the drawings - this is all due to whomever put up the main floor joists (LVLs)...and that explains why the Carpenter was talking about shortening the laundry room. So, once we laid out on the floor, we see that it's not really that big a deal because there is some flexibility in the main bath...but still, we are thrown off a bit by this. We shall have a word with the builder, but there is not much to do about it now!

I think more online research is required!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Friday was a day of Elmsdale...meeting first at the bath place, where you are inundated with choice and 'designer' options. These, of course come with 'designer' prices.

As we have limited width in the master for the bathtub, that narrowed down the selection somewhat. I am also of a limited size, so that helped. Despite having 6'+ room lengthwise for a tub, more than 5'5" is really too long. Who knew? It will give me lots of room plus there will be a deck around the tub. I'm ok with that...however I did wish there were more to choose from in that category.

Toilets: Andreas has already done the research and we have toilets picked out. Made by Toto. We just now have to choose elongated "right-height" or round-bowl regular height.

Then we started looking at all of the shower controls and shower heads and it was overwhelming at first...and of course because we have an eye on budget as well. The salesman at the bath place was very patient, apparently he's seen people scream at each other and even walk out while selecting these things! I personally eventually came to realize that the selection was not as huge as it originally seemed, and frankly, I wanted more options to choose from.

Having not actually selected anything, we left 2 hours later, brochures in hand and grabbed lunch. We decided to cruise by HD for alternatives. Of course, we have been in HD many, many times looking at faucets and showerheads, but now we have a different eye. At the end, we came to the conclusion that we should take the information gleaned from today's experience, and apply it to some serious on-line research.

Next stop: Elmsdale...just a few minutes at the job site to see what was happening...and woah, there are rafters going up!!!

\

The first venture to the Appliance Store

Thursday October 11, 2007

The pressure is on to get a kitchen design going. Let's not even imagine how much work that is. After messing about with some ideas of our own, I say to Andreas that we need to pick out appliances/sinks etc. He's not sure why, except that I say we just need to.

I, of course, have in mind some of the things I would like. Being a trained chef, my kitchen is uber-important to me!

Off we go to a local "appliance store". After wandering about for half an hour, eye-balling all the items on display, we have to approach the counter to get some assistance. The woman who helped us was less than enthusiastic, and seemed to only know the in-depth details about one particular brand. We suspect this brand is one that she gets a good commission on. After speaking to her for about 10 minutes and not getting great information, she begins to warm up...and then announces that the store will be closing in 15 minutes. My whole customer service background and experience revolts, considering that if she took a few minutes to ASK us anything she would soon realize we have the potential of giving her a $15,000 sale.

Needless to say, we are checking out the competition next week.

And if that wasn't enough

Wednesday October 10th, 2007

We had missing inches and now, if that wasn't enough, Andreas drives by during the day today only to have Carpenter tell him that he decided to move the master bathroom door over by about 4" to give us more toilet room (no no NOOOOO!) and also would it be ok if the laundry room is still a little smaller than the drawings because it looks like the beam across the first floor ceiling that frames the front of the stairs (and lies directly under the laundry room wall) is not exactly where it should be. Andreas announces these things to me as we are standing in the house last night; after climbing up an unstable wet muddy ladder in my work clothes and it's raining on us.

My two cents were this - put the door back where it goes, and by the way my laundry room seriously needs to the right size.

Just to double check, Andreas and I cruise on over to HD to measure washers & dryers. We see that, in general, they are about 28" wide. Therefore, taking into account space in between and on both sides, we come to the conclusion that if we lost a couple of inches on the 5' 5" laundry room it would not be the end of the world. However, it can be no narrower than 5' 2".

We've also been reminded by Marat that we must select some of the bathroom fixtures as the rough-in plumbing will be started soon...note to self, make appointment at the bath place.

The Master Suite Bathroom & Bedroom

Bachs Senior see the progress

Tuesday October 9th, 2007

After 3 weeks in Germany, the house is looking a little different. After work on Tuesday, we all scoot over to show Donna & Klaus the changes. Donna, unfortunately, is unable to scurry up the ladder to see the upstairs. Klaus, Andreas & I go on up and get shots of Donna on the ground.

They are suitably impressed with the changes... as am I, since it is really beginning to take shape.

Front of house with 2 side walls up on the second storey


Donna and Klaus in the trenches


Second floor - third wall up - the master bedroom bay window!

Found: Missing 5 inches

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Discussion consists of Builder telling us that Carpenter is a great carpenter, and he never makes mistakes…he points out all the very good things he did on our house…and then he talks about how the architect left off some measurements…etc, etc, however he is still embarrassed about the mistake. I just say, look, how are you going to fix it. If it was 2 or three inches, I would not care, however on the other side of the main floor there is a laundry room and I cannot lose 9 inches there because my washer & dryer won't fit!

We stand around for a while because Carpenter has the drawings and he is late… Andreas and Builder measure the overall distance to double check and it still looks like we are missing 9 1/2 inches. Builder wants to leave after he figures out he'll just bolt on a few extra LVL beams (1 & 3/4" thick each by 12" by 22 feet)…but then you have to wonder if the toilet & bath drains are going to be affected since you can't just drop a drain through these beams. Andreas insists Builder stay because we all need to discuss this together. Eventually Carpenter shows up with the drawings and he spends the next half an hour looking sheepish and embarrassed and quite upset. We all inspect the drawings and see that the architect has included the stucco on the outside measurements…this explains away 4" but still we are missing 5".

I take the drawings and say ok, start measuring as I want to see *exactly* each room's layout. Now, there are no interior walls up at this point, so they have to go through and mark each distance, plus every 3 1/2" in between for the walls & closets. At the end of it we see that in reality, we are missing only 3 1/2 inches. Back to the extra LVLs to which Builder mentions it will cost him $300. I just laugh and say at least we noticed now and not when it was finished! He agrees and apologizes again and again and I also say, don't worry wait until we screw something up and we'll be even. Carpenter mentions the windows being off centre & I think Builder told him off in Russian for bringing it up, but I said I was ok with it since they are only out by an inch or two. All's well in that respect.

What do you mean the drawings are 5 inches short?

Friday, October 5, 2007

This was a fun one.

Andreas and I go over to the house (I had not seen it since Tuesday). Much progress has been made on the framing! We are really starting to get a sense of the new second storey.

Main floor looking towards back


Looking towards front


The carpenter, Sergei, was going over some things and mentioned that the architect had drawn the house about 5 inches too long, so he had adjusted the middle room to compensate. (This is with a thick Russian accent, although he's easier to comprehend than the plumber!)

My first thought was, what? Then Andreas says something about the front overhang, to which Sergei says the drawings didn't say how big it was and he made it 3 feet, just like the back. Ok, it's actually supposed to be 4 feet so we lost a foot!

We start going over the drawings with a fine tooth comb. I point out that the exterior dimensions clearly show a 4 foot difference from the main floor to the upper floor. Sergei looks miffed and starts measuring and then says "it's impossible". Then Andreas and he get going and we discover that we're out by 9 1/2 inches, not quite a foot. I start wondering out loud about how this will be fixed, and are all the windows on the side wall now off centre...We call Marat & leave a message and then stand around while Sergei shrugs and packs up for the day. We then discuss other things that he needs that are also not on the drawings - such as the porch roof size & structural components of it. Also he tries to talk us out of the enormous front bay window, at the same time pointing out that the drawings are wrong about the bay window elevation...to which I say, no, and point out exactly where the elevation details are and yes, they are correct. Of course, I could probably rhyme off every measurement detail in that whole house but still I think the carpenter may need reading glasses.

Eventually, we all leave since there is not much else we can do at this point. However, we are not giving up on this one! I need those 9 inches!

Marat eventually calls, and at first doesn't quite understand (or believe) what we are saying so he says he'll call back...then he called Sergei and got back to us to confirm that yes, Sergei has made an error and he's terribly embarrassed. We agree to all meet at the house on Saturday morning to 'discuss'.

The house with the first 2nd storey wall added


The wall, as seen when looking towards the back of the house

Framing as seen from above

Tuesday October 2nd, 2007

Andreas climbed up to get this shot!




and more floor went up

The Framing Has Started

Monday October 1, 2007

The usual evening, at dusk, visit... the main beams of the second storey floor have started going up!

Here is the view from the back to the front :




This is above the kitchen/family room (Andreas old office)



Here is the overhang - it will hold part of the master bath, cantilevered out 3 feet.