So Far, A Good Week

First thing this morning I called the roofer. Two weeks ago I arranged for the final payment to be made even though there are still a couple of small items to finish. At the time, I requested they send me a receipt and short description of the job so I could submit it to my insurance company and capture the homeowners insurance discount for a new roof. I never got a reply. This morning I called and asked again. I was assured they would do so.

I had something of a restless night thinking about the 2,500 bricks still sitting in our front yard. Where we left it yesterday was that we had convinced ourselves that, instead of giving away the unused bricks, we would hold on to them for use when we landscaped the front yard. I realized there were a couple of problems with that approach. First, the masonry people apparently bought over 50% more bricks than they needed. I believe they must have miscalculated and I did not feel right about having to pay for their mistake (not at $1/brick). Second problem is where we will store these bricks. The only place on-site would be in the garage. However, the reason we built the garage the size we did was so that we could move the workshop equipment we have in the basement out to the garage and make it useful. It may be years before we landscape the front yard. I do not like the notion of having the garage full of bricks. Lastly, keeping the bricks for future landscaping of the front yard forces us to design the landscaping around those bricks. Bottom line, I approached Mike this morning about going back to the masonry people about taking the unused bricks back and giving us a credit. Yesterday, he indicated they were resistant to doing this. When I explained my reasoning, Mike agreed with my logic and he said he would talk with them, expressing confidence they would do so.

We got a call from Ryan (building materials) this morning. Ryan has been very helpful to us during the project. We purchased the stone for the interior chimney breast through his company and he helped us select the replacement aggregate for the walkways. Two days ago, when we were still thinking about the LaGrange aggregate to replace the Old Monroe, I asked Ryan what the cost difference was. Today he finally got back with us. He said the concrete would be an additional $25/yard using the LaGrange. This was helpful, but it also got me wondering about the amount of the change order that Bob I (landscaping) sent to us yesterday. Bob assured me that they put no markup on substituting the LaGrange. However, they amount of the change order (using the cost quoted by Ryan) would represent 32 yards of concrete. This seems excessive for the walkways, but it also includes the east porch of the sunroom. Previously, Bob II had told me he thought they needed 18 yards of aggregate. Undoubtedly, the concrete will be more than the volume of the dry aggregate, but twice as much? Anyway, I put a call into Bob I to find out who they are buying the concrete from and how many yards of concrete they are buying. If we can buy it cheaper through Ryan's company, I will direct them to do so. I found out Bob I is taking a long weekend but he said he will cal me next Monday.

The landscapers were here today still working on the raised bed walls. They seem to have finished installing the caps on the west bed and a good portion of the east bed.

Jerry (painter) and crew finished the exterior painting.

Mike and Nate finished the decking on the second floor bedroom. They rail still needs to be determined and installed, but the Tigerwood deck looks good. This is the first time there has been a deck off this bedroom in many many years. They also installed the fan in the sunroom cupola. Looking up from below, the white louvers are very visible despite the nice painting of the grill. Frank told me that they are not finished with the fan installation. Before Jerry (painter) left for the day, I pointed this out to him and he said they would figure out something.

Interior View of Cupola Fan Inlet. Does Not Look "Bad", Just Too Noticeable

Frank and John (HAC) continued work on the new AC units. The until for the third floor of the main house is almost complete.

No roofing, guttering or solar work today. I will send a note to the owner of the solar company tomorrow and express my disappointment with their progress into the poor performance of our system. Earlier this week, Mike said he expected the masonry people to be here Friday or Saturday to start on the chimney breast.