Happy Easter from the rebuilt house. We moved in on Thursday. The place is a mess but it's home!
We've spent the week painting. Most of the living space will be variations of grey and green. It's a very peaceful colour combination, and really brings the outside in.
One thing that had slipped my mind was getting the telephone and internet hooked up. Bell was able to send someone on Thursday, but the builders had lost the end of the line somewhere under the new concrete. So we had to get an "underground guy" to come out to find the line and bring it into the house. Astoundingly, Bell crews work on good Friday, and they got the line set up quickly. Of course, then we had to wait for the inside hookup, but they had someone here at 9 am on Easter Sunday! So now we're reconnected with the outside world.
While we were busy moving in, the crews were busy making the place liveable - finishing up the electrical, plumbing and heating, and providing a temporary railing so that no-one takes an accidental tumble down the new stairway. They also got started on our new deck.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Renovation - Week 23
Things are getting close to done!
The electrician was in and we have power everywhere. So now we're can work after dark!
The HVAC guys are getting the heating hooked up. The manifold for distributing the hot water is a totally cool bit of piping! What kills me is that the HVAC guys do all this plumbing and electrical work setting up the system, but they're not allowed to hook it up to the water or electricity because they're not plumbers or electricians. Gotta love unions!
The walls are primed and we're starting to paint. We decided to save ourselves a bunch of tough work and had the pros do the ceiling, but we'll do the walls. So far we've done our bedrooms. Emma wants a room with pink, purple, blue and white. We've settled on a pink ceiling with purples walls. The trim and doors will be white and we'll get a bunch of blue vinyl dots that she can stick wherever she likes.
For now we're only doing the pink and purple. We took her paint shopping, and much to our relief, she chose very light shades of pink and purple. Then we painted.... The frickin' room glows because the colour is so intense. It oozes into the hallway and tints everything you look at. Oh well, it is the room of a five year old, and she loves it.
As for next week - we move in! The house won't be ready, but we'll have power, heat, water and a roof over our heads. So it's a pretty good place to start.
The electrician was in and we have power everywhere. So now we're can work after dark!
The HVAC guys are getting the heating hooked up. The manifold for distributing the hot water is a totally cool bit of piping! What kills me is that the HVAC guys do all this plumbing and electrical work setting up the system, but they're not allowed to hook it up to the water or electricity because they're not plumbers or electricians. Gotta love unions!
The walls are primed and we're starting to paint. We decided to save ourselves a bunch of tough work and had the pros do the ceiling, but we'll do the walls. So far we've done our bedrooms. Emma wants a room with pink, purple, blue and white. We've settled on a pink ceiling with purples walls. The trim and doors will be white and we'll get a bunch of blue vinyl dots that she can stick wherever she likes.
For now we're only doing the pink and purple. We took her paint shopping, and much to our relief, she chose very light shades of pink and purple. Then we painted.... The frickin' room glows because the colour is so intense. It oozes into the hallway and tints everything you look at. Oh well, it is the room of a five year old, and she loves it.
As for next week - we move in! The house won't be ready, but we'll have power, heat, water and a roof over our heads. So it's a pretty good place to start.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Renovation - Week 22
This week saw most of the interior work get finished upstairs - they mudded the drywall and insulated the attic. All that's left is to finish up the mudding and then the painting can begin. (We've got our colours chosen and can't wait to begin.)
Downstairs they started doing the additional electrical work that is needed and prepared the mechanical room for hot water heater and boiler. The unit they're installing is a combi system - it has both on-demand hot water heating for the taps as well as a tanked boiler for the radiant heat flooring.
On the outside, they've applied the Tyvek house wrap. This will keep the rain from penetrating into the house until they get the siding up.
Downstairs they started doing the additional electrical work that is needed and prepared the mechanical room for hot water heater and boiler. The unit they're installing is a combi system - it has both on-demand hot water heating for the taps as well as a tanked boiler for the radiant heat flooring.
On the outside, they've applied the Tyvek house wrap. This will keep the rain from penetrating into the house until they get the siding up.
Renovation - Week 21
(Yeah, I know I'm a week late.)
The big change this week was getting the drywall up. We can can finally get a good feeling for the space, and we like it!
The builder fixed my oopsie with the radiant heat pipe from last week and re-pressurized the system. He also had the HVAC crew point out where I should be putting in any floor screws (that would have been good to know last week). So, armed with this new information, I successfully installed the subfloor. Even better, the system is still holding pressure!
The big change this week was getting the drywall up. We can can finally get a good feeling for the space, and we like it!
The builder fixed my oopsie with the radiant heat pipe from last week and re-pressurized the system. He also had the HVAC crew point out where I should be putting in any floor screws (that would have been good to know last week). So, armed with this new information, I successfully installed the subfloor. Even better, the system is still holding pressure!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Renovation - Week 20
Visible progress again this week. First the vapour barrier went up for the attic. It's amazing how much warmer a thin piece of plastic can make a house. After that, the spray foamers came in and insulated the walls and floors - with the temperature warming up outside, the house is almost cozy.
Of course, where would we be without drama? As I started to lay the plywood into the addition, the 6th screw I drove didn't bite into anything. Thinking I missed the joist, I backed the screw out. Now I'm hearing hissing air - that's not a good sound. They had pressure tested the water and radiant heat system earlier in the week so, given where the screw went in, I likely punctured a tube for the radiant heat. The builder doesn't seem too concerned and, as he said, at least the pipes were full of pressurized air and not water. All I know is that now I really want to get the plywood down before they hook up the water!
Of course, where would we be without drama? As I started to lay the plywood into the addition, the 6th screw I drove didn't bite into anything. Thinking I missed the joist, I backed the screw out. Now I'm hearing hissing air - that's not a good sound. They had pressure tested the water and radiant heat system earlier in the week so, given where the screw went in, I likely punctured a tube for the radiant heat. The builder doesn't seem too concerned and, as he said, at least the pipes were full of pressurized air and not water. All I know is that now I really want to get the plywood down before they hook up the water!
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