Saturday

T and I headed out this morning to visit the supplier of the garage window and doors (manufactured by Lincoln) to select a trim color. We first stopped by the store through which we are purchasing the sunroom windows and doors (manufactured by Marvin) to get a color chip for comparison. The objective of this morning's sortie was to select a standard color offered by the manufacturer and avoid any premium for non-standard colors. Once accomplished, we can get the order for those doors and windows placed. Unfortunately, we found the Lincoln supplier closed on Saturdays. We'll come back on Monday.

We went back to the store through which we are purchasing the higher-end Marvin windows and doors for the sunroom and went over the order with "Salesman" Mike. He had previously talked with "Our" Mike to confirm that we are indeed ready to place the order. The only outstanding issue from "Our" Mike's standpoint was the windows on either side of the south entry door. The size of these windows does not match the drawings, which show the top of the windows to be the same elevation as the top of the entry door. "Our" Mike told "Salesman" Mike that he would get an answer to him on Monday. In reviewing the order with  "Salesman" Mike, the question of which direction we wanted the casement windows to swing surfaced again. T is considering the matter. We also talked about the window above the south door. This is the window in which we have considered installation of a stained glass Gothic arch. "Salesman" Mike has several questions to ask of Marvin regarding this and T is considering a couple of options as well. We went ahead and made the down payment on the Marvin order to get that out of the way. By far, the cost of the windows and doors is the largest cost of the project. The current delivery estimate for the Marvin windows is four weeks. "Salesman" Mike said they would hold the windows and doors at their shop until we are ready to install. These guys have been very easy to work with.

I sent an email to Tyler (architect) again questioning the garage floor level. From the drawings, it appears the floor level to be essentially at ground level. In reality, this is not what appears to be happening. I requested that Tyler assure us that he is confident that the construction is following his design. That's what we are paying him for.

It started to rain today. They are calling for 100% chance of rain tomorrow, perhaps an inch. We don't hold out much hope for any work to be done next week. Hopefully, we might get a little more accomplished between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Ooops III

"Our" Mike and crew returned today to resume work on the sunroom framing. "Bobcat" Tom also showed up along with the electricians to continue with the buried utility line work. Earlier this week, Mike had the locator service come back out to mark any underground utilities in preparation for Tom's continued trenching. According to Mike, this location exercise is only good for ten days, then needs to be repeated. Tom was finishing the trenching across the alley to the power pole when he "found" the AT&T cable. Not a really big cable, but lots of really small wires. According to Tom, it was not where the locator had marked. Ooops! I think this is our third Ooops and they all were during excavation work. They contacted AT&T, finished the trenching and laid the electrical conduits. They refilled the trench over the alley and tonight, AT&T is out there working on the cable. At least one our neighbors reported losing their internet connection. Sorry about that!

By the end of the day, Mike, et. al., had the walls on the bay area up. It is starting to take shape and it looks good.

T arrived home safely about 2:30 pm. Before Mike left, we talked about several issues that were outstanding. One of these was the recent electrical scope of work proposal. I gave Mike my written comments and he will take these up with Rob. Tomorrow we will go over the Lincoln window supplier and let T select the trim color for the garage. Hopefully, there will be an acceptable standard color. I also sent an email to the fireplace dealer asking to go ahead and place the order for our fireplace so that we can capture the rebate that expires at the end of November.

Snow is Gone and Work Resumes

This morning, Mike and crew arrived to resume work on the sunroom framing. While cool, it was mostly sunny and dry. The new section they raised on the south wall is the south entry door frame. They also started laying out the framing for the bay area.

The Mike told me that, in response to my previous question regarding the slope of the garage entry apron, he could drop the floor level 2"-3". This will help. He said the only thing they would need to do is to add a couple of 2x4s to the top of the doorway openings to adjust for the height of the standard sized doors. The windows openings will not be impacted. No further word on the status of the garage trusses they measured two weeks ago (Nov 7).

They wrapped up their work for the day around 2:00 pm and departed. Don't know if they will be back to work tomorrow or not. When I talked with Mike yesterday, I requested that he plan to visit with T and myself on Friday (she will be back from Texas early tomorrow afternoon) to discuss some of the outstanding issues. I assume he is still planning to come by for that meeting.

The opening above the door is where the Gothic Arch shaped window will be located. The design for this window was the subject of our September 10 post in which we requested help on the design. I believe we made a decision on which design to use, I just cannot remember which one it was.

This afternoon, John (solar) stopped by. He brought the Company-signed change order and the utility-approved Net Metering Agreement (NMA). I had requested both of these documents, first from Eric, and then from Betsy. I received no response from either of them. I suggested to John that we needed to do a better job on communications. He agreed and promised to do so. He also told me that, going forward, he will be our primary contact with his company and he will be checking with Mike periodically to follow progress of the project. He also said he would forward an electronic version of the NMA approval to us.

Yesterday morning, I received several quotes and invoices via Mike. One of these was the electrical quote which we have been requesting for 3+ months. While it is much closer in scope than the original, it still has several missing and/or incorrect items. The quoted price also went up about 60%. I have gone through it and made a list of omissions and errors.

Now What?

John finished what he could on the boiler for the radiant floor heating. No word from anyone else on what may happen next.

First Snow Accumulation

This morning, it appears we got about one inch of snow here at the house yesterday. The weather today is dry, cold and windy. Wind chill reportedly around 10F. Forecast for the remainder of the week is dry and brisk.

This morning, John showed up to continue working on the boiler. On his way out, he said he hoped he will have completed this part of the project as far as he can by the end of the day tomorrow.

We got an email today from Tyler (architect) saying that he has talked with the truss people and determined that they can safely eliminate one of the horizontal truss members in the sunroom. In doing so, Tyler says "the ceiling would appear taller and it will save a little money too in the process". Sounds good to me. I ran it by T (still in Texas) and she likes the idea as well.

No word from "Our" Mike on what to expect this week. I sent another note to Betsy (solar) asking again for a copy of the approved Net Metering Agreement so I can proceed with the next payment. I also requested a signed copy of the change order I sent back to them on November 5.

We will need to contact the fireplace vendor about getting the fireplace ordered before the end of the month in order to capture a rebate being offered by the manufacturer. A couple of months ago, I did not believe this deadline would be an issue of concern, but it has become one.