Back Patio

Well the patio didn't get poured on schedule (NO....Really???) Just a day late though.
This kid had quite a challenge ahead of him...the concrete truck backed up to the front porch, he laid down plastic & had to wheel barrel each load, dump about 3 in the site, take off his sneaks, put on his boots & spread the concrete. Repeat the process & then smooth what had been spread, float it, then brush finish. Repeat-I don't know-5 or 6 times....; unfortunately it was quite warm-90 or so- the pour got away from him & it's not quite as smooth or as level as the front porch.
At the end of the pour, he asks Tom for a check... "James"-Tom says-"would you really be happy with this patio on your brand new home"?
Should never have been a one man job in that heat. So..he'll be back with a grinder to smooth the finish off before , of course, he gets his check.
But I'll tell you, it sure it nicer than walking thru the dirt & stones to get in the house.

Posted by Tom & Martha at 7:49 PM

Painting Begins

The painter (please note singular) arrived as scheduled on the 19th. YIPPEE! Well actually it should only be a YIP; since only one of the crew of 3 showed up. The one that did show, apparently is not the sharpest tool in the box.....In the upper left picture you'll see a removable tension shower rod the drywall crew & I used to clip a light on, since there are no lights in the master bath yet. Well it's obviously at a strange angle & shouldn't be a permanent part of anyone's decor.....right?
Yep~you guessed it, he left it right where it was & painted around it!!!!
When I politely shared with him the next morning that it was a removeable rod & he could have taken it down, he replied "Oh, I didn't know, I thought it belonged there." "Don't you think it's a kind of strange angle for a shower curtain" I asked? "Well I didn't want to ask" he said. "Next time ,if you have a question please do ask-it'll will save you from re-doing the work" I replied.
Honest, I'm not making this stuff up-real life is definitely stranger than fiction! The scariest part is this guy does this all summer & holiday vacations, when he's not
TEACHING SCHOOL!!! In fact, he'll be in late on Fri because he has a job interview at West Genessee school district (Cheryl-FYI) & in Cleveland, NY (Rick & Steph-FYI). We'll let you know who's alma mater he ends up at.......
So the stairs are obviously covered, we have enough primer & paint to start our own store,
the ceilings have been taped & the priming begun. They expect to be finished by next Thurs or Fri.

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

Scares me !!!!! BUT got to give credit for showing up !!!! The rest of the crew probaby just got lost en route to the Water Front (or what ever they call it these days) I like the M&M idea.... little round chocolate covered red and green for Christmas decor...OH...the other kind of
M-n-M....... Looks good

9:33 AM

Front Porch has been poured!

The forms were laid on Wednesday (upper left), the stone was supposed to be delivered on Thursday, but as usual, (& just like everything else on this project) the stone never arrived until Friday.

It came bright & early on Friday & I mean early! The upper right picture was what I saw out our bedroom window....A dump truck load full of stone heading for our bedroom!!!Good thing that truck driver knew what he was doing!
So the stone is spread, 3 truck loads full (took til about 2 pm) & we're ready for the concrete. Should have been here between 2 & 3. 3:30 Tom calls-it'll be here in half an hour. Concrete company calls Tom-truck's there no one's outside???? We're standing & waiting, they're at the wrong house, about 3 miles down on the other end of our street. Obviously a guy driving, didn't ask for directions...at least he didn't dump & run!

We had the concrete dyed this beautiful brown, it'll look terrific with the stone we'll install on the front of the house. Finished off with a light broom finish. Then we had them chip out a 6'x6' square in front of the entrance door where we'll install porcelain tile. (OK-figure of speech-not so much "we" as more Tom & Mandy. I of course have Eva...)
I thought a large Italic M M in the tile for Medaj Manor would be kinda cool~what do you think????

Not the greatest shot of the front porch, but you can see it starts at the side door on the right & wraps around to the side door on the left. Tuesday we're scheduled to pour the concrete pad for the patio in the back of the house. We're getting there!

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

I can't wait to see it all when I get there....It looks marvellous darling......just marvellous... LYL

9:34 AM

THE DRYWALL IS DONE.......

Well, you've all listened to me bitch & piss & moan since the 31st of May, but none more so than my husband...(all together now....) "Poor Tom".
OK, enough with the sympathy..
Here's the scoop, I haven't bothered you because; well, who really knew when they would be finished.The plastic went up over the pantry entrance & curtains up over the door ways to minimize the dust on the 9th of July; cause they were coming to finish any day now!
Our expectations vs. when they felt like completing the job.
But damn...when all is said & done, they do fine work. They pay attention to detail.

Was it worth it???? I don't know, right now I'd say "No".

When the painters are done & there are no shadings from tape lines 'cause they took the time to skim coat over them, I'll grudgingly say "Yes".
They utilized a sand vac, which vacuums up the majority of the drywall dust while they sand. There's still plenty, don't get me wrong, it permeates everywhere, but it could have been a lot worse.
So, off & on from the 9th of June, it was frustrating, one of us having to stay home & wait , not knowing if & when they would show.You'd call & get an answering machine, never talked to a live person unless THEY called you.
We were a fill-in job, they primarily do new construction & we were not top priority on their to-do list. (Amazing, the things you find out at the end.)
Obviously their new home contractors are their "bread & butter", but it would have been nice to know where you are in the pecking order.
So the painters arrive on Wed the 19th, had to push them out a couple days.
As always, we'll keep you posted.

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

WAY COOL...... Maybe I will get in that guest quarters after all !!!!! Looks wonderful from what we can see in the photo's...LOVE IT LOVE IT !!!! Now for PAINTERS.....do you know any dependable ones ????? Love ya !!!!

4:04 PM

DRYWALL UPDATE

On the 7th day of the 7th month @ 7a.m.(believe it or not)
the drywall crew actually showed up for a grand total of 3 1/2 hours!
So when I went grocery shopping that afternoon I bought
5 Lucky 7's Lottery tickets and won a whopping $22.

Not quite enough to pay the drywall bill.

On Monday the 10th the crew showed up about 11:30 and Tom had a little chat with them.
On Tuesday the 11th they again arrived @ 11:30.
Drywall should be finished by Friday & the painters arrive Monday the 17th.
If all goes as planned (and I don't understand why you're all laughing at this point),they should be done painting by Friday the 21st.
We will as always, keep you updated!

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

YEH......Coop who ??????? I was just shredding some of the old paper work from when Mandy was still living home and thinking how lucky she is to have found such a loving support group and family..You and Tom demonstrate how much you love her and her family every day....and that makes me so happy and at peace...I am only too happy to share them all with you both !!!

8:22 AM

Where, Oh Where have the drywallers gone?

Where, oh where have the drywallers gone,
Oh where, oh where can they be??
With the drywall sheets unhung, well they've done me wrong,
a check they'll not be gettin' from me....

At least that's the game plan .....
Let's see-the drywall was delivered on the 31st of May; Oh how excited we were!!
Called on the 6th of June, we're ready anytime. They're coming on the 9th, they arrived on the 14th! OK, they hung all the ceilings. YEAH!!! (Misplaced excitement)
Came back (finally) on the 19th & hung the walls; well 3/4 of them anyway.
Apparently the owner miscalculated the amount of sheet rock needed, so they couldn't finish. The BOSS called, he's coming on the 29th to measure the remaining amount. NOPE, maybe the 30th. Nope...well it's the 6th of July now, still no show.
For the most part we're pretty easy going people, taking things in stride...but what do you do
to get things moving without pissing off the people who are helping you build your house?
We'll keep you posted...

Posted by Tom & Martha at 7:26 PM 3 comments

Well you know, things have been challenging

Well you know, things have been challenging, there are days I actually question my sanity.
Your house is not your own as a rule at this time, you share it with the people who are trying to help make it yours; follow thru on what your desires & wishes are.
Think about always having someone in your house every day...they're not family; some you adopt & fall in love with (Mandy & Brian, their 2 older boys; B.J.& Collin Eva; (the beautiful baby you've all come to know, love & watch grow); some are a challenge
( Coop-our framer, who we haven't heard from in at least 4 weeks); but between them & the transients, we'll get this house done before I turn 50! Remember, I turned 46 this June. So we have a good 4 years to persevere. I'm having one hell of a party for that!! And your all invited! It's the least I can do for making you all suffer with me thru this!
There are days I wonder what we signed on for.
Then there are days I stand here laughing at myself, as I look at the environment we're living in, our kitchen has nothing in it after 9 months but a fridge. The fridge has been there actually from month 2, but the water & ice line just got hooked up about 2 weeks ago, before that we bought ice at the grocery store & dumped it into the ice maker....( Rick & Cheryl, you understand...)
There are trash cans in our kitchen, family room & the loft. By trash cans, I'm talking the size you put out to the curb...... these are throughout our house.
I have found over the past few months that my cleaning tendencies are much more relaxed...
how often can you clean unsealed concrete? It creates it's own dust & it's every where.
We can't paint yet, dry wall's not finished...(surprise, surprise) we're still living in the same 3 rooms that we started in over 9 months ago.

A friend sent this to me& I thought I'd share it with you.......
It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time & this should get you started.
During a visit to a mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criterion was which
defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.
"Well", said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup & a bucket to the patient & ask him or her to empty the bathtub".
"Oh, I understand", said the visitor, "a normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the teaspoon or teacup."
"No" said the Director, "a normal person will pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?"

So....how many of you are going to be checking in with me?
Who wants to be in the bed next to mine?

But seriously, as we sit outside on our partially finished deck having coffee this morning; watching the Hairy woodpecker feed it's babies from our suet feeder; watching a Great Blue Heron land on our neighbor's lawn, hear the shrill cry of the kingfisher as it dives for food, see the hummingbirds flit from one feeder to the next or actually watch the Hummers teach their babies to eat, we watch the baby ducks grow, see the geese interact with the ducks & try to take over their territory; then we sit & look at each other & remember why we just love our home on the river. And all this during two cups of coffee....
Then of course there are the happy hours & fires in the evenings with the neighbors....boat rides we haven't taken yet (boat's still not in the water, but we'll get there).
And as so many of you keep reminding us...(over & over again)...."But it will be beautiful when it's finished".

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

LIVING on the river....It just does not get any batter than that..Remember that from us who have, and when you have those "troubled" moments remember there is a rainbow at the end of the storm..... Love ya Colleen

8:20 AM