Scaffolding was delivered

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Scaffolding was delivered on the 21st of August! On the 30th of Sept., Gene-the contractor hired by Erie to repair the trim work, finally finished! He showed up that morning to give the drywall repair the final sanding & he was taking down the scaffolding. As I stood there watching this process, I'm thinking I'm not overly impressed with his finish work. Then I notice that the nail holes in the molding aren't even caulked!!! The drywall repair needs to be painted!!! "You need to leave that scaffolding right where it is" I told him. "The nail holes aren't caulked" "That's the way the old trim was when I started" he said. Oh Horse shit! I sure do not want him to finish the trim work, a finisher he's clearly not! "Just leave the scaffolding-I'll have Mandy caulk the holes" I told him. I'm tired of fighting with this crap!
So, on Monday, Mandy (trooper that she is) filled the nail holes, sanded & repaired the piss poor drywall job & painted. Then the three of us came up with a game plan on how to finish the trim off, Tom called Erie & they sent out another contractor on the 3rd to complete the repairs. They were on the ball, did a nice job.
On Friday I attempted to climb to the top of the scaffolding to wash the windows. I assembled my tools & carried them up the ladder, I swung my butt from the ladder to the scaffolding edge & am now sitting there. Tom, who's safely on the ground mind you, asks "why don't you just wait for Mandy?"
"Because I'm stubborn, anal about my windows, she's never used a squeegee & dammit I should be able to do this!"
Well there I sat, not a very wide space, nothing to hold on to, but I just need to stand up right? What's the big deal? And still I sat. I thought we'll just start with me getting on my knees-OK-that's a damn long way down.....I'm now sitting again.....then there's this noise in my ears....
MANDY'S knocking at the front door with Eva. Too late-I can't wash windows-I have to take care of Eva! That's my job! I just need to get my butt off this scaffolding & back down the ladder. Even that took a bit of mental talking into, but I made it. Safe on the ground again, a baby in my arms. Mandy started her Monday off washing windows, learned to use a squeegee while Eva & I coached. Did an awesome job, looked just like a pro & climbed around up there like she was on terra firma.
They finally showed up to take the scaffolding down on the 6th of October!
I knew I should have charged for storage!
We have a painted, trimmed, geometrically correct window & are closing this chapter.

Posted by Tom & Martha at 4:45 PM 0 comments

The Ongoing Window Saga

Well the replacement for the broken window arrived on the 19th, along with the replacements for the windows that had flaws. The 2 guys from Paradigm were great. They tackled the main window first, removed the broken pane, & installed the new one. YEAH!!!
NOPE!!!Tom said to the poor guy on the roof "the grids don't line up, did you install it upside down?". "No, why would I?" Apparently no one communicated to him that was the whole problem last time.
So he removed the window, had to scrape all the 2-way stickum (my term) off, I did however warn him at this point I was going to take his picture & to please not break the window. It has been installed, the grids line up & Gene the finisher is here ready to get started!
All the rest of the replacement windows were installed & they took the defective ones back with them (darn), so no asylum for Tom.
So, it appears we're done other than the trim work. Somehow seems anti climatic....

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

It looks AWESOME !!!!!! I am feeling relief already !!!!!

7:18 PM

Busy, Busy Day

On the 13th Tom & Mandy tackled the back patio. We're (don't you just love it when I include myself in this manual labor thing & all I'm actually doing is playing with an 11 month old & shopping?) going to stone the upper & lower back patio walls & the front porch. They are starting on the lower back patio & neither one has tackled this type of project before. So this is a good starting point.On the 13th they stapled up all of the felt paper & a small section of the lath.That's the screen mesh that goes on top of the felt.
Then we took a break-life happens.
Come Monday, Danny's here to help (he has Monday's off & loves his sister), Mandy comes to work & brings Eva, she also brings with her a 4 week old kitten that she rescued from a burned out building next door to her. Mandy is bottle feeding him (we think it's a him) until he's weaned & trying to talk Dan (along with everyone else) into adopting him. Don't hesitate to speak up if you're interested. Dan is wavering, the kitten sells itself, a phone call to Louise has Dan refocused.
Mandy & Dan name the kitty Frankie-after old blue eyes himself-never saw such a coal black kitten with such intense blue eyes.
Who me? Never even touched it, much less picked it up! You'd be proud Aunt Cruella Deville.

Tom's here, "Can we get to work...?" OK, OK, we're movin..

Mandy sorted & arranged stone pieces, laid them out like fitting together pieces of a puzzle, for the size wall they were starting with (a 10' x 3 1/2' section) on the ground.

Dan stapled the remainder of the lath (which is the screen mesh that the mortar is applied to & holds the stones in place) onto the felt, it was an all day process & the constant hammering of the staple gun & the compressor kicking on & off -well, I'll be honest-at times I thought about shooting a staple or two thru him. Doesn't the picture of him kinda remind you of Hannibal Lecter?

Tom & Mandy mixed up the type S mortar (don't know if you care, but he specifically said type S mortar-so that's what I type). We had an unusually warm late summer day, the stones Mandy had been sorting were quite sun heated, along with the black felt paper, not to mention all the heat enclosed in the patio area since it's a southern exposure.
The application of the stone begins & they maybe get about 8 stones applied. It's too hot, the mortar is setting up too fast , it's drying before the stones adhere...call it quits & start fresh tomorrow-projected to be cool & damp.

In the mean time Coop & Larry are here starting the siding. That's Right-They Are Really Here!! They have installed the fascia & soffit around the garage & part of the side of the house.

While all that was going on, Tom's brother Jim was here helping to hook up the electric. We have lights, it's just that they're limited & my concern as the sun sets earlier & earlier is that we'll begin living like the farmers of old , rising & setting with the sun. At least we know we now have exterior lighting for the front porch. Prior to this we had one porch light that was a beacon to the pizza delivery guy. All we had to say was "on the side of our old house pull into the stoned driveway & knock on the door with the one side light."

In addition, the contractor that Erie hired to finish the trim work on window #5 was here to
assess the work. He'll be back tomorrow to start the job.Gene is his name, nice guy, about 55 or so, also wants to bid on the siding job. That's another story.
But then again, aren't they all?

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

I WILL vouch for the kitty kitty....Bluest eyes I ever saw on a cat....Frankie is SOOOO appropriate !!!!! Oh and the stone looks real nice too !!! Looks like WAY WAY too much work !!!!

7:26 PM

Not Even A Year & We're Bustin Up Walls

You have absolutely no idea how it feels to live in a house for almost a year with on going construction, be under the impression your finally getting somewhere and then experience those freshly drywalled & painted walls cut into!!!!
Well hell, we have windows leftover & can't just throw them away or auction them on e-bay! Since the window company screwed up (again????), we have extra windows. The only place we have grids in the windows is the river side of the house, second story.
They sent gridded double hung windows for the first floor family room.
The company says,"no problem, we'll just ship you new windows, you just pop the gridded ones out & pop the new ones in."
Now we have these perfectly good windows with no frames.
So we decided that the upstairs loft,(the one we weren't having, cause it was a one story house & we were downsizing ) needed the extra windows on either side of the slider to open up the view.So we ordered frames to put the windows in.
Then, we hired Coop (the on again-off again framer) to cut holes in our newly painted walls & install the new windows! Now we have drywall & paint repairs.( Oooohhh...Mandy....???)
I have to admit though, they look great!

Posted by Tom & Martha at 5:51 PM

The First Hardwood Floor!

Tom & my brother Dan laid our first hardwood floor. It was installed in the office & looks absolutely spectacular against the yellow walls (that Tom wasn't too happy with, but really how much time does he spend in the office?). The pic on the right is the most accurate color wise. They started in the office because it was the smallest room, which was a good room to experiment on & to get the feel of it.
So we're getting-there little by little, day by day, step by step, inch by inch....
OK, OK so I'm milking it~and no-there were no major problems with this project.

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

I have seen the finished product looks marvellous darling.... simply marvellous !!!!!

7:24 PM

And The Winner of the Laundry Pool Is????

On the 28th of August, if you remember , the washer & dryer were moved out & not usable "just for a few days". The final touches to the floor for the laundry room were completed on the 7th of Sept. They were "usable" by that date but not able to be tucked in where they belong-gas line for the dryer was too short-did get all the laundry done though. Finally replaced the gas line on the 14th, did a load on the 15th.Threw it in the dryer-just towels-
went to get them out on Sunday (17th) & some were still quite damp. Oh-Oh....
come to find out ,they just forgot to turn the gas on after hooking up the gas line.
I have a working laundry room!

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

What wonderful tile.......You have to give me your installers name and number ?? I just LOVE their (her and him) work !!!!!

7:23 PM

Window #5-Does It Fit?????

The fifth window was delivered today & the installer showed up to check things out. Eva & I stood there holding our breath while he un-crated the window (Tom figures they crated it this time so we couldn't see it) and measured it. "This one isn't right" he said.
"Holy #%$&^*%"I said, (of course I cleaned up my language, I had Eva).
"In fact,"he said ," window #4 was closer in size than this one."
(Just a reminder, if you left click on any of the photo collages, it will enlarge it, left click again & it will get enlarge it more.)
Well they decided to remove the offending window & install #5 (probably so they can bill for their time).
The company is going to leave the frame in & just replace the glass with the grids between the panes. OK-why couldn't they do that in the first place? (I'm so confused) So, the grids aren't off that much; only a 1/4 of an inch on each side. What would it take to settle??
"We won't charge you for the window."
Tom says,"The lower window that has been replaced is the minimal cost of all of this. The geometric window is the focal point of the view from the water side of the house & the rest of the windows are designed off that focal point. What's in it for me to settle for "just OK"? The view of the house from the water was specifically designed to be aesthetically pleasing & geometrically in line."
And I said "Isn't he awesome? Yes Suri, he's my baby!"
Needless to say the sales rep didn't have an answer, but he's going to get back to us.
So, offending window #5 is installed, I'm inside on the second level with the camera (because I'm the camp photographer) & to me it doesn't look bad. Hey, it's minimal enough that I'd definitely cut a deal & get this over & done with. Until the guys put the level up to the window (remember I'm inside) & shift it. The grids once again don't match up...not to worry I'm told, they'll be replaced. So, I head back downstairs & outside with Mandy & Tom.
Damned if the center of Window #5 isn't off a good 3/4" to 1" !!! This is quite obvious just from standing on the deck looking up. Mandy, (God Bless Her)-diplomatically says as she's standing there looking up..."Is it off center or an optical illusion?" At this point, Gene the installer, calls the sales rep....The saga continues.
But hey, just so you know...the windows that are not correct, they keep leaving here. We've already decided that the first addition on The Medaj Manor will be a sun room compliments of Paradigm Windows. Although, honestly, after today's discussion over lunch, if we need to build Tom his own asylum, Mandy & I decided it would be done with leftover Paradigm windows & we'd leave the stickers on.

Posted by Tom & Martha at 5:06 PM

The siding sales quote saga

The Three Hour Tour...The Three Hour Tour...
The ships aground on a shore like this uncharted desert isle....
O.K., All right,..
but you didn't have to listen to this guy's 3 hour tour-I mean spiel.

So the estimate we rec'd from this salesman on siding (vinyl siding mind you), shouldn't have taken more than an hour. From the time he got here to the time he left; THREE hours!
He measured, went back & measured again & again. We finally sat down for hard $#'s and got a whole spiel on the company, how long they've been in business, how no one can compare to them, etc., etc.. Not a problem, it was worth it, for a mere $98,000.00 ; they will install our vinyl siding (it was extra because I chose a premium color) & install all our gutters & down spouts providing us with a seamless house! As an added bonus....the siding is guaranteed not to fade!
He then made this big show about calling the company VP since we had a BJ's club membership & they're affiliated with BJ's (don't cha know, although he never asked to see our card),to get us this great pricing & left a message for him to call us back at our home # (he wasn't in the office).If the VP OK's it, we'll only have to pay 66,000.00 with our BJ's discount plus of course an additional 15% for the premium color I chose. We can easily have the job done for 76,000.00! Don't forget now...that did include gutters & the fade free guarantee!
The remainder of the estimates came in between $18,000 & 23,000.
Well Tom finally decided to hire Coop (the original framer) to frame in the chimney & install the fireplace, install 2 windows (that's another whole story...) & install the siding in the house.
As of this evening we're still vacillating back & forth between Hardie board & Vinyl for a siding choice.
By the way-the 3 hour guy couldn't leave us any color samples (he checked to make sure I didn't steal them, women do you know; to use for decorating color matches), nor a brochure (it was his last one & the company really rations them). He was here on the 25th of August & we still haven't heard from this mysterious VP as to whether or not we would receive the discount.

1 comments:

The Fudos said...

does he know that most people's houses don't cost that much??? Who is this guy and where did he come from??? I think he should be reported to the better business bureau!

5:14 AM

Window Update

The window saga continues-On Tues the 29th of August, Gene, the installer for the replacement window showed up to start working on the new window.
"Where's the window", he asks Tom? "Don't know, haven't heard it's here yet" he says.
Gene had been contacted by the distributor to say it was here.
Well-get this...the new window was apparently delivered to the distributor the week before last, they contacted the installer to schedule a time to install. No one let US know... OK, no big deal, have the window delivered in the afternoon, Gene will be back later to install. OK-Looks like it's gonna happen!!!
Wrong! The next day we find out that the 4th replacement window was built wrong, apparently they figured it out when it got to the distributor, which is why they never sent it here to be installed. I guess they'd rather we thought it just wasn't here yet.
So window #5 is currently under production! As always, we'll keep you updated!

Posted by Tom & Martha at 4:16 PM

The Final Blow

The last of the insulation has been blown in the attic 43 bags of "cocoon"
has disappeared from the front porch & been pumped into the attic thru the hose.
So we can finally close off the hole in the ceiling for the upstairs guest shower & maybe finish off the guest bath, not that there's any reason to have guests since we don't have a guest room yet.

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

Hey....I thought I was going to get the royal treatment ?????? insulation is good...helps keep out "ole man/woman winter" and I would rather be too hot than too COLD any day...see ya soon !

6:15 PM

Framing for the fireplace!!!

A 2x4 box was constructed for the chimney for the fireplace.This needed to be done before the siding could start. So we needed a framer to box in the chimney, Tom's been procrastinating; mainly because we couldn't make a decision on the siding we were using. But it's Upstate New York & our window of opportunity is short from a weather stand point.
He really wants the framer we had build our house to do the siding (I know, I know-don't bother to reiterate the pitfalls of this). The siding he wants to use is called Hardie Board, which is a fiber-cement substrate but has the appearance of wood, & it's maintenance free (well almost-it may require repainting in 15 yrs). He'd like Coop,(the framer) because he knows the house & really when he's here does an excellent job.
"When he's here", is the operative phrase. But we don't know if the framer will come or when, so we're getting other estimates on other types of siding. We'll keep you posted on the on-going process & the final decision .....

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

I think I know that framer guy.....He has done work for a lot of folks I know.....same saga.....BUT he does do good work....slow & other issues ..
Hope it works out.....

6:26 PM

Front Yard & Retaining wall

The first load of sand came in to start the landscaping process. Since we have to have both, an aerobic & a septic system installed, we need a layer of sand prior to covering the ground with topsoil.The retaining wall is my fault...there were a few trees that had to be removed in order to demolish the house that was here & start construction on the new house.
The tree in the front yard is the only one left in the front. I begged to not have it removed. In order to preserve it, a retaining wall needed to be installed, since the ground level needed to be raised for the septic systems. But raising the ground level that much around the tree would have killed it. So, Tom (my darling husband who spoils me) plots out what we need to do to make it all work. But some digging is involved for the retaining wall & now I'm worried about trauma to the root base. Doesn't the Handy-Dandy pay loader operator say to me..."If the tree dies, you can plant another one in the same spot!" Right, after we spent all this money on the retaining wall & ramped sidewalk (for someday). I tell you though, double click on the photo grid...Tom & Stan did a helluva a job on that curved retaining wall..
(not quite the same as when U dbl clk on the Mandy & Tom tile show though). Sure is nice to see ongoing progress. I tell you though, I'm itching to get my hands in that dirt & start planting. BUT...What I keep getting is..."you need to let the dirt settle, then we'll come in & top it off". Next is..."you don't want to plant there, they'll trample all over your plants when they put the siding up on the house." I'm thinking perennials are 1/2 price now...even if they trample one....I'm still money ahead & I know what I want. We'll see what happens, keep you posted.

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

I can not wait to see all your NEW stuff. Seems like a lot has happened since I saw ya'll in August...See ya in a couple days... My turn to baby sit for a break for Auntie Martha !!!

6:27 PM

Laundry Room Cabinets & Floor!

My brother Danny helped Tom move the washer & dryer out of the laundry room on Mon the 28th of August. "Just for a few days" I was told.
Tom & Mandy hung the cabinets in the laundry room. YIPPEE! They look great, although even I'll need a step stool to get to the top shelves; good place for long term storage.
Tom & I had talked about placement of the cabinets that morning over coffee on the deck. We had discussed dropping the cabinets down from the ceiling enough to sit most of my smaller teddy bear collection on them. Since the room is open, bright & sunny; it was a perfect place to display them.
Apparently he wasn't quite awake yet, or he thought my bears were quite a bit smaller than the 5" clearance from cabinet to ceiling.
Personally, I think he's just hoping the whole bear thing will go away.
But when you paint your laundry room "Puppy Paws" brown, what else could a girl who collects bears possibly put in there?
So....maybe a little focused lighting to draw attention to those poor small bears who would otherwise not be in the limelight...what do you think??
OK, OK, I digress , the cabinets are in & the floor has been cleaned.
Oh...speaking of the floor...who do you think cleaned it???
Right! I had to go online to find out the best thing to use to clean a concrete floor prior to laying porcelain or ceramic tile. A "mild acidic wash" was strongly recommended on multiple sites. Now, I ask you...why the hell couldn't they just say vinegar & water????
To properly clean the floors I had to get down on my hands & knees with a putty knife & scrape all residue dropped from the drywallers off the concrete floors (umm...just drywall residue). You live with the mess & don't focus on most of it (actually you try to ignore it) until you have to clean it! Cheese & Crackers! What a mess they made! Some of those drywall gobs were as big as cow pies!
To make matters worse, I had to finish this on the weekend so Tom & Mandy could start tiling on Monday.
And Bob & Judy (Our Neighbors) Had All The Relatives Up From The Big City!!!
And they were laughing & drinking & having fun & going out on the boat and I had to stay home & clean. I felt like the ugly step-sister (which, of course I'm not), but the floor had to be mopped 3 times before it was ready to tile (and I really wanted to go play instead). Do you have any idea what a concrete floor does to a mop head?
So the floors are ready! It's the weekend of the 12th of August and we can play now.
And the neighbors took damn good care of us at the end of the work day-damn good food-lots of good red wine, great conversation, lots of fun-and did it for the rest of the weekend!
Good thing because the floors were ready on the 14th & Tom & Mandy didn't start tiling until the 28th!!!
I must say though, the wait was worth it. The two of them make an awesome team....Mandy sets up the pattern, actually looks at each tile, selects & places it based on color flow, Tom has cutting the tiles , especially the ones with the funky corners down pat!
Can't wait to see the Foyer!
Oh-by the way it's the 2nd of Sept & the washer & dryer are still not hooked up. Shall we take up a pool on the date?

1 comments:

Grama Colleen said...

That is MY beautiful baby girl tiling that floor (oops I mean OUR beautiful girl !!!) TEAM work go TOM and Mandy !!!!

6:23 PM