Renovation - Week 19

Finally - some progress has been made! The framing concerns have been addressed and we've passed all our inspections. (Our builder is rather grumpy though - the second inspector is much more experienced than the original inspector and says that the extra work was not needed. That means we've lost a week of build time and our builder had to lay out a pile of cash for no good reason.)

On the weekend I started laying a new subfloor over the old floor boards. This is an additional layer of 1/2" plywood over the entire floor to smooth out the rough spots and provide a better surface for the bamboo flooring.

Renovation - Week 18

Not much happened this week. The company owner is up to speed on our project and started to get the inspections done. The electrical has been passed, but we have a framing issue - it turns out that the helical pilings were not placed in the right position so the outside wall of the addition isn't properly supported. Fortunately, it can be fixed - all that's needed is to reinforce the joists that support the posts on either side of the large window.

So now we have to wait for the floor to be reinforced and then we need the framing to be reinspected. After that, the HVAC can be inspected (the permit has finally been reissued), and the natural gas can be roughed in for the stove and barbecue. With all the delays, we're now expected to get into the house to start painting by mid-March.

While all the big work has been mostly stalled, a couple smaller projects got completed. We finally have the right 16' window installed. I have also spent the last couple weekends screwing down all the floorboards (~2200 screws!) to address all the loose and squeaky spots.

Still no pictures since nothing has changed in how the house looks.

Renovation - Week 17

Unfortunately, we're still stalled. Our project manager had to resign suddenly for family reasons. Now the owner of the company has to come up to speed on where our build is at, make arrangements for the inspections and all that stuff. We're hoping that the inspections happened late in the week, but we haven't heard anything.

So nothing happened on the house last week, and there are no new pictures. Hopefully we'll be making progress again next week.

Renovation - Week 16

This week saw the electrical work completed upstairs. There's still some work to be done in the basement, and the city has to come and switch the power to the new panel.

Unfortunately, now we're stalled. The next thing we need is the framing and mechanicals inspection. The city has managed to loose our HVAC permit, however, so now we have to wait for them to re-issue the permit before the inspections can be done. Hopefully things will get rolling again next week.

Renovation - Week 15

This week saw a little bit of interior framing done and most of the plumbing.

The plumbing is getting a bit messy because in order to meet code, we have to have a floor drain in the mechanicals room. So this means they have to break up the floor and add in a drain. Of course, you can't just "add a drain" - you have to take out a big chunk of the old waste stack and rebuild it to incorporate the new drain. That's all been done - all that's left is to pour the concrete and then they can install the new boiler and complete the plumbing.

Renovation - Week 14

3 and a half months of renovation, and the end is in sight!

It's time for the mechanicals to go in now. First to go in is the HVAC, We'll have a hybrid system when we're done with both radiant (in-floor) heat as well as forced air. All the new areas, as well as the bedrooms will get in-floor heating. So things should be nice and cozy next winter.

We're also still having fun with the back window. While the big fat pillar is gone, there is now a skinny pillar in its place. However, the builder now completely understands what we had been lead to expect and is making it right (again). Unfortunately, this means we have to get an entirely new window system installed and that won't happen for at least a couple weeks. Fortunately, the new window isn't coming out of our budget, and nothing will have to be delayed while we wait for new window.

We're still on track to be able to start painting in the first week of February, so we're working hard on getting the finishings planned. We've chosen the flooring and the kitchen is being planned. Now we have to choose a counter top and figure out what colour to paint everything.

Renovation - Week 13

Skylights can be a pain in the butt. They let in all sorts of great light, but if they aren't installed properly, or are installed in the wrong location, they are a big source of roof leaks. As it turns out, our designer just stuck in skylights where she thought they'd look good, but didn't consider whether the location was actually practical. Fortunately, the framers know they're business and were very candid about the situation - if we'd insisted, they would have installed the skylights as shown in the plan, but given the low pitch of our roof and the number of valleys in it, we would be at high risk for leaks. So, after discussing things over with them, we've gone from 3 skylights down to 1 conventional skylight and a tubular skylight.

The skylight was installed this week, and the roofers installed the roof part of the tubular skylight. (The tubular skylight was a late add-on, so I did the rest of the install over the weekend. It goes into the bathroom since the bathroom no longer has a window.)

The framers also built the cover over the front entry. It also looks like they got a bit too enthusiastic gathering up their equipment because two of my ladders, a work bench, and two saw horses went AWOL. No real worries, our general contractor says they'll be replaced one way or another.

So we're definitely into the end game. All that's left for the outside is eaves trough, siding, and the back deck. On the inside, they're starting HVAC, plumbing, and electical. Once that's done, it's insulation and drywall and then we get the house back. Assuming no delays, our contractor expects us to be in painting by the first week of February!