Next Week Will Be Better

OK, I admit it has been a pretty frustrating week. I have confidence that next week will be better, or at least no worse.

We experienced a chilling, persistent, light rain all day. The forecast for next week is dependent upon which weather service you consult. All seem to agree that Monday will be wet. Beyond that, there is no consensus. Therefore, I am not going to speculate on when the foundation walls will be poured. Right or wrong, I don't believe all the delays with the foundation work can be blamed on the weather.

Frank (HVAC) sent John and Tim out this morning to start the installation of the water heating systems in the basement. John said he planned to be back Monday morning to finish the domestic water heater installation. The picture below shows it mounted on the wall. When that finished, they will start on installation of the boiler for the sunroom floor heating. I noticed John was taking the instructions with him as they left today. He said he needed to review it before Monday. I had hoped I could play with study it over the weekend. Oh well. I told T that I would run some bench mark tests this weekend filling the bath tub with hot water from the existing water heater. We can then compare its performance to the new one next week.

When I talked with Mike earlier, he said Vern (outdoor plumbing) is planning to start the replacement of the incoming lead domestic water line on Monday. That should be interesting as they will be boring under Russell Boulevard to tap into the City water main which runs along the far side of the street.

Rain or Shine?

The distant thunder started around 3:30 am this morning. By 4:30 am it was no longer distant. By 5:30 am a moderate steady rain was falling with thunder and lightning. The rain, thunder and lightning stopped before 8:00 am. While it appeared threatening all day, we had just a couple of periods of light sprinkles. The forecast is for off and on rain today, tomorrow and maybe Saturday. Another good chance of rain on Monday before drying out for the remainder of next week.

Bob (landscaping) arrived at 8:30 am, as scheduled, with the Phase I landscaping drawings and the contract. He will arrange a meeting between his project manager (Drew) and "Our" Mike to review the schedule and integrate the landscaping work into the overall project.

"Concrete" Mike showed up, by himself, around 9:15 am. Contrary to what "Our" Mike told me yesterday about pouring today "Rain or Shine", it was obvious that "Concrete" Mike had no intention of doing any pouring today. He did not have any of his crew show up and he told me that, while it would not hurt the concrete to pour in the rain, he was too old to be willing to work in the rain and mud.

"Our" Mike arrived and talked with "Concrete" Mike before the later drove off. Subsequently "Our" Mike who told me that they still had 3+ hours of work to do on the foundation forms. They will complete this work just prior to pouring, which I assume they have re-scheduled for tomorrow, weather permitting.

Frank (HVAC) showed up around 1:00 pm along with John and Tim to deliver the water heaters and to scope out the basement part of the job. While here, Frank got a call from his office telling him that the City permit for his part of the project has been approved. Therefore, they will be back tomorrow to actually get started, focusing on the domestic water heater.

Don't Lose Hope...Yet

"Concrete" Mike and crew arrived bright and early to continue with the foundation wall framing. I asked Mike if they were planning to pour today. He said the plan was still to pour tomorrow (Thursday). The weather forecast is for rain to move into the area after midnight tonight and to stay in the area through Saturday. Mike also said that they still had a lot of work to yet complete on the framing and would not be ready to pour today. As it turned out, they were finished and gone by 1:00 pm.

The City Inspector (Sharon) came at 11:00 am, as scheduled, to inspect the framing. As was the case on Monday, while they were not quite done with the frames yet, they were far enough along that she could pass judgement, which she did, and we passed. Our Mike (general contractor) arrived later in the morning and, while he also was surprised that we were not planning to pour today, assured me that they would pour on Thursday, rain or shine, unless it was just not safe to do so. I hope he is correct as he also said they typically allow seven days for curing before back filling the trench. Therefore, Mike said he would get in touch with "Bobcat" Bob about scheduling the back fill work for late next week.

Dare I hope that these are the last pictures of the foundation frames awaiting concrete? They did do a nice job around the east bay!

Our Mike told me again that the pace will really pick up once the foundations are in place. We'll see. I would like to be able to say that the pace could not get much slower, but I know that's not true. There is a roof replacement project in progress over on Hawthorne Blvd that was started before Halloween....of last year.

Last night, I got a response to the email I sent to our Ward 6 Alderwoman (Christine) last week. This was in regards to the status of the alley. Her response was puzzling and inconsistent with what she verbally told me three weeks ago which was that the alley may belong to the City. Her email included a quote from the City Street Commissioner who speculated that the alley may be a private drive. Interestingly, her email also suggested that we trust a commercial surveyor and not the City. I will call her to discuss either Thursday or Friday afternoon. I suggested to T that, before we go to the expense of paving over part of the alley, we should get a document from an official of the City stating that we can do this.

Late breaking news: Frank (HVAC) called this evening to say that all the HVAC equipment has arrived. All we need now is a sunroom into which we can install it. Until then, Frank suggested we could go ahead and start installing the stuff in the basement, including the boiler for the radiant floor heating and the on-demand domestic hot water heater. Frank wanted to know if I had any problem with them bringing the equipment out tomorrow and start the basement part of their work. I probably hesitated one-half to one full second before agreeing. Rain being in the forecast, it sounds like a good day to be working in the basement. If we have to shut off the hot water, this would be the ideal time to do it, with T out of town.

It Always Could Be Worse

I awoke at 4:30 am this morning to the sound of thunder and flashes of lightning. It persisted until about 5:30 am. At daybreak, it was apparent we had received a significant deluge in that short period of time. There was quite a bit of water standing in the trenches. The concrete guys ("Concrete" Mike and sidekick Josh) showed up at 7:00 am this morning and began removing the footing frames. The concrete was still very "green" due to the cool damp weather. "Concrete" Mike, in his customary doom-and-gloom manner, said there was no possibility of installation of the foundation wall frames today. He continued to say that his schedule to spend today and tomorrow building the wall frames and pouring concrete on Thursday was completely, absolutely, positively ruined. While I was at something of a loss on how to console him in his misery, I mentioned that the weather forecast, at least for the moment, was for clear skies the rest of today and tomorrow before the next wave of thunderstorms roll in late Wednesday and continue into Thursday. I'm not sure that really helped to relieve his anguish, but, with the potential that this work might otherwise extend into next week, he and Josh set about installing the wall forms. Soon, three others arrived to assist.

By noon, they had the garage wall forms complete and where attacking the sunroom with reckless abandon. The bay, or turret, portion of the sunroom was a challenge, as "Concrete" Mike said it would be.

After lunch, the rebar was placed in the garage forms and, before they quit for the day, about two-thirds of the sunroom frames were put up.

Also at 7:00 am this morning, "Pipefitter" Greg showed up with some mighty fine fish stories (but no fish). His team won a nice cash prize, but not nice enough to prevent him from coming back to work today. Mark had predicted he would be here Wednesday to finish the plumbing in the basement. I told him that T had decided to keep the old tub. He was relieved he was not going to have to try to haul it out of the basement. Greg was finished and gone by noon. We now have a functioning toilet and new laundry sink in the basement! Greg told me that "Jackhammer" John would be the one to haul away the old kitchen sink and other debris at some unspecified time in the future.

Here is the drawing that Bob (landscaping) sent yesterday with the latest revisions. We are approaching the landscaping in phases to take into account seasonality as well as costs. The first phase will include installation of hard surfaces, sod, some lighting, irrigation, the water feature, fencing, major trees and plantings for screening and soil stabilization. Subsequent phases will include the "other" plantings (ornamental shrubs, flowers, grasses) and will probably be done in the spring next year. Again, the timing of all of the plantings will be driven by the weather and the bank account balance. The drawing below is the same as the one shown on October 1, but includes the Phase I plantings and shows the extended walkway in front of the house. Communicating with T (still in Houston), we concluded this was a good starting point. I so informed Bob and he will stop by Thursday morning with a contract to sign and to pick up the down payment.

Sidebar: "Concrete" Mike mentioned to me this morning that our Mike (general contractor) had told him that we were planning to use an "Old Monroe" exposed aggregate for our walkways and patio area. He said he talked with two materials suppliers (one of which was the one the Bob had suggested) and both supposedly caution Mike that there were issues with consistency between batches of this specific aggregate. Mike said they suggested a couple of alternatives (Illinois Glacial and Iowa Glacial). I passed this information on to Bob who seemed dubious of this problem if the material is properly specified. Just something else to bear in mind.

Cement Shoes

The concrete footings were poured today. Hurrah!! It appears we did not get any rain over night so it was not too muddy. The framers showed up at 7:00 am and almost got the frame installation finished before the Inspector arrived at 11:00 am. Apparently, they were far enough along that the Inspector was satisfied. The concrete pump trailer showed up around noon. They laid the transport conduit and hose and were ready for the first of two concrete mixer trucks which arrived around 12:30 pm. By 2:00 pm, the footings were in place. It started raining at 2:30 pm. Tomorrow, they will frame up the forms for the foundation with a target to pour those beginning on Thursday. Should have the foundation walls finished before the weekend. We might get some more rain tonight, but as long as there is no standing water, I am told we should be OK.

Finished Sunroom Footing Forms with Rebar

Inspected Garage Footing Forms with Rebar

Concrete Pump Trailer and conduit

Concrete Mixer Truck Feeding Pump Trailer

Finishing Garage Footings
(forms for foundation are stacked alongside the footing)

Mark (indoor plumping) showed up to bore scope the downspout drain laterals. They shot both east and west side laterals and found everything is clear and structurally sound. This is the first good news we have had regarding plumbing. Mark said "Pipefitter" Greg will be back on Wednesday (hopefully) to finish up in the basement. Greg (who turns out is Mark's son) has been busy fishing in a tournament. It is easy to see that at least Greg has his priorities set correctly. 

Also got the latest version of the landscaping from Bob. 

Overall a good day. We can at least see the outline of the new buildings.

Maybe Tomorrow

It's still muddy in areas, but there is no standing water. Its been dry, sunny and cool today. The forecast for the next 24 hours shows a 40% chance of light rain between midnight and daylight tomorrow. Then dry until Tuesday morning when there again a chance of rain. They are saying the rain will not impact the ball game Monday night in Busch Stadium, so maybe the posting tomorrow will show our foundation footings in place.