The guys got a lot more done today.
It's looking like a real house now, huh? A whole house.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Wow
Just wow.
The guys got a lot more done today.
It's looking like a real house now, huh? A whole house.
The guys got a lot more done today.
It's looking like a real house now, huh? A whole house.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Lots of progress...
and few blog updates. We've been too busy and tired to do much.
Let's see -- what happened? That new berm is keeping water away from the house much better than before. However, that was all a moot point when we had an ENORMOUS flash flood July 2, which gave us our second instance of water in the basement. 4 3/4 inches of rain in 90 minutes, according to some estimates.
Judging by the fact that the carpet we removed from the basement when we got the house had definitely not been wet before, this must have been its second flood ever. At least Jeff had everything picked up off the floor, so we didn't have any troubles with our stuff getting ruined.
Even more infuriating, a spot leaked into the bathroom ceiling. One of three ceilings in the entire house that were finished. Now with a big water spot and peeled drywall tape. So angry that I can't really even write about it any more, much less share a picture. I may even just hire someone to fix it to keep from having to think about it.
Anyhow. That stupid window well is now history. Hired a mason to block it closed.
Then today I had to coat the exterior with a heavy layer of portland cement to create a moisture barrier from outside. In the 96-degree heat, I had to lie down in the mud UNDERNEATH the deck -- a space of no more than maybe 14 inches tall -- while I troweled the cement on. Absolutely hands down, this was the most difficult task I've had to do in the house thus far. I could hardly believe how taxing it was. However, I feel better about closing in the window after spending time under the deck. Even if there were a fire, nobody would ever be able to escape from the basement underneath there. We'll have a proper egress window installed later in the north wall, where it will actually make sense.
Tomorrow I'll fill the hole in with dirt, and the possibility of flooding will be history. Two layers thick of cinder block and an inch of portland is more impervious than the concrete foundation itself.
At least I got to mow the lawn as soon as I was finished with the cementing. Joy.
Anyhow, this all sounds a little dour. Which isn't very representative of our mood, because this is what we returned to after our little four-day vacation to New York this weekend.
Yes, there's actually a porch on the front of our house now. I can hardly believe how much they got done so quickly.
The guys at KC Deck Builders got to work last week digging the holes for the piers.
We had a little worry when we tried to get the building permit, as there's a required 50-foot setback from the front of the lot for any construction, and ours apparently didn't quite qualify according to the boundaries of our lot. However, we are a good 57 feet from the street, and the building inspector was a really nice guy who agreed to let us go for it without a variance hearing. That would have been an incredibly awful experience for something that will so greatly improve the looks of the house and the whole neighborhood.
We're building this porch like a deck structurally, so we decided to go with Azek composite decking material. It's sort of like Trex, but has no wood products in it and seems to be impervious to the blotching and mold problems. And the coolest part: For a small upgrade fee, the builders are using the screw-hiding option, which pops a tiny matching plug into the screw holes, completely obscuring them for a seamless surface.
They're even taking the time to match the grain in the plugs to the boards, if you can believe it. These guys are very conscientious.
Which also goes for their concrete skills. Look at how finely this walkway is finished. They'll come back after it hardens to cut in expansion joints.
Later this week, we'll get the handrails installed. We're still waiting on the doors to be delivered, so we may have a bit of a lag while that happens. No big deal, since we have three rooms to clear out before we can let the guys put them in anyway.
Oh, and I also got the rest of the floor in the hallway upstairs done, so we have all nice, clean hardwood and rubber tiles to do our laundry on.
These boards demanded some major figuring and finagling on the top step, so I had to mill my own nose piece from an existing stair tread. It came out well, I must admit.
Much more to do, of course, but this is a major leap forward. Let's hope this heat breaks. It's pretty fatiguing.
But after that mow earlier today, I got to take my little PVC raft across the street and jump in the lake for a nice 45-minute swim. That puts things in perspective.
Let's see -- what happened? That new berm is keeping water away from the house much better than before. However, that was all a moot point when we had an ENORMOUS flash flood July 2, which gave us our second instance of water in the basement. 4 3/4 inches of rain in 90 minutes, according to some estimates.
Judging by the fact that the carpet we removed from the basement when we got the house had definitely not been wet before, this must have been its second flood ever. At least Jeff had everything picked up off the floor, so we didn't have any troubles with our stuff getting ruined.
Even more infuriating, a spot leaked into the bathroom ceiling. One of three ceilings in the entire house that were finished. Now with a big water spot and peeled drywall tape. So angry that I can't really even write about it any more, much less share a picture. I may even just hire someone to fix it to keep from having to think about it.
Anyhow. That stupid window well is now history. Hired a mason to block it closed.
Then today I had to coat the exterior with a heavy layer of portland cement to create a moisture barrier from outside. In the 96-degree heat, I had to lie down in the mud UNDERNEATH the deck -- a space of no more than maybe 14 inches tall -- while I troweled the cement on. Absolutely hands down, this was the most difficult task I've had to do in the house thus far. I could hardly believe how taxing it was. However, I feel better about closing in the window after spending time under the deck. Even if there were a fire, nobody would ever be able to escape from the basement underneath there. We'll have a proper egress window installed later in the north wall, where it will actually make sense.
Tomorrow I'll fill the hole in with dirt, and the possibility of flooding will be history. Two layers thick of cinder block and an inch of portland is more impervious than the concrete foundation itself.
At least I got to mow the lawn as soon as I was finished with the cementing. Joy.
Anyhow, this all sounds a little dour. Which isn't very representative of our mood, because this is what we returned to after our little four-day vacation to New York this weekend.
Yes, there's actually a porch on the front of our house now. I can hardly believe how much they got done so quickly.
The guys at KC Deck Builders got to work last week digging the holes for the piers.
We had a little worry when we tried to get the building permit, as there's a required 50-foot setback from the front of the lot for any construction, and ours apparently didn't quite qualify according to the boundaries of our lot. However, we are a good 57 feet from the street, and the building inspector was a really nice guy who agreed to let us go for it without a variance hearing. That would have been an incredibly awful experience for something that will so greatly improve the looks of the house and the whole neighborhood.
We're building this porch like a deck structurally, so we decided to go with Azek composite decking material. It's sort of like Trex, but has no wood products in it and seems to be impervious to the blotching and mold problems. And the coolest part: For a small upgrade fee, the builders are using the screw-hiding option, which pops a tiny matching plug into the screw holes, completely obscuring them for a seamless surface.
They're even taking the time to match the grain in the plugs to the boards, if you can believe it. These guys are very conscientious.
Which also goes for their concrete skills. Look at how finely this walkway is finished. They'll come back after it hardens to cut in expansion joints.
Later this week, we'll get the handrails installed. We're still waiting on the doors to be delivered, so we may have a bit of a lag while that happens. No big deal, since we have three rooms to clear out before we can let the guys put them in anyway.
Oh, and I also got the rest of the floor in the hallway upstairs done, so we have all nice, clean hardwood and rubber tiles to do our laundry on.
These boards demanded some major figuring and finagling on the top step, so I had to mill my own nose piece from an existing stair tread. It came out well, I must admit.
Much more to do, of course, but this is a major leap forward. Let's hope this heat breaks. It's pretty fatiguing.
But after that mow earlier today, I got to take my little PVC raft across the street and jump in the lake for a nice 45-minute swim. That puts things in perspective.
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