Shocking

I awoke this morning from a bad dream. The scenario of the dream was that eight months after receiving the construction permit (and probably 9+ months after the construction drawings were released for estimates) the electrical contractor informed "Our" Mike that it was "not possible" to conform to the hot tub electrical requirements.  Unfortunately, this was no dream. Rob (electrical) has been out to discuss the project on more than one occasion over the past six months. It really seems strange that only now, these issue are coming up. I guess this might be their first wiring of a hot tub. On the bright side, it is good that these issues were identified and resolved now, before they did a lot of work that would not pass inspection.

There were two problems with the electrical as shown on the drawings. By Code, no electrical outlet can be closer than six feet of the hot tub. Outlets beyond six feet but within ten feet have to have GFI. Therefore, all of the three outlets shown on the hot tub deck would not be accepted. We can move the two located below the by windows just outside the deck area and equip them with GFI. No problem. The third one shown on the vertical wall between the hot tub deck and the sunroom will have to be eliminated.

The other issue is a bit stranger. Again, by Code, the electrical disconnect for the hot tub has to be at least five feet away from the tub AND it has to be in view of the tub. It is this "in view" of the tub that we had not heard before and makes the location of this disconnect problematic. Both Mike and I were aware the disconnect had to be at least five feet away and had assumed we would locate it in the basement. The basement location would not pass the "in view" requirement. Josh made calls to Bobbe (hot tub) to ensure he understood the requirements.

During the course of the day, I checked with Josh a couple of times and Tyler showed up in the early afternoon to consult. The solution is that they will install a breaker panel (not just a disconnect) in the connecting porch just north of the east window. This panel will be flush with the wall, visible from the hot tub and camouflaged to make it less inconspicuous. This breaker panel will feed all the electrical requirements in the sunroom, eliminating the external panel Josh had told me earlier he was going to have to install for all the appliances in the bar.

Location of Breaker Panel

I did not see exactly when Josh left, but he was gone by 3:30 pm. I assume he finished what he needed to get done to allow the pouring of the concrete, including the outlet in the middle of the floor. If so, then the remaining work to be done before pouring the floor is Frank's (HAC) installation of the radiant floor heating grid. Maybe next week? I had also asked Josh if he was aware of all the appliances that we intend to install in the bar. He said he was aware of what is on the construction drawings, showing an ice maker and dishwasher. I advised him that there will also be a refrigerator and a garbage disposal. I told him we could provide drawings with the locations of each appliance in the bar and information on the specific appliances we intend to purchase. He said he would need that information and was glad I told him.

Floor Electrical Outlet Box

 

The roofers did not show up again today. Bret told me earlier this week that they would finish the main house on Wednesday and do the sunroom and garage roofs on Thursday. Work was done on the main house on Wednesday, but they did not finish. They did not show up at all on Thursday. Today I realized that they did install some of the shingles on the south side of the sunroom on Wednesday.

Partially Completed Sunroom Roof

It has been three weeks since the roofing began on March 7. The main house is still not complete and less than one-half of the sunroom and about one-half of the garage are shingled. Don't know if they will show up on Saturday or wait until next week. I did notice that today another pallet of shingles and a box of ridge vents showed up in the garage. There appears to be about 30 packages of shingles. It took them 30 packages to do one-half of the garage, so it does not seem likely that this is enough to finish both the sunroom and the garage.

With Mike's approval, I called Brent (cupola) out in Salt Lake City. I told him I would be sending him a confirmation email but wanted to let him know that we wanted to get him moving ahead on the 48" cupola for the garage. While we have yet to finalize the size of the cupola for the sunroom due to lingering doubts on the ventilation, we want to get the garage cupola installed before we start the solar panel installation. Brent said they have a two to three week backlog right now and it would probably take about a week once fabrication begins. This would mean they would be ready to ship toward the end of April. If we are ready to start the solar panel installation by that time, we will be very happy.

Thursday Pluses and Minuses

Got a response from Jim (glass roof) this morning. Jim had previously estimated the glass roof would be finished by the end of March. Today, Jim states: "Frame is done, flashing kit for installation is next and we are waiting for glass to be ready to ship from our fabricator....It looks like best estimate of schedule is early-mid April at this writing....weather has not been kind".  Jim's company is located in Connecticut, while the frame fabricator is in South Carolina.

There is still light rain this morning, but as forecasted, the heavy rain and thunderstorms seem to have passed out of the area. "Jackhammer" John is back this morning as is "Our" Mike and Nate. It is very unusual for Mike to show up if it is raining or snowing or is cold. I guess they are here to meet the delivery of the garage windows.

By 9:00 am the rain had stopped. By 2:00 pm, it was perfectly clear and sunny.

The garage windows arrived and Mike and Nate got them installed. I sent a note to Tyler informing him that the windows had been installed and I could only assume they were installed according to the drawings. The response was "I will check". In other words, despite his assurance he would monitor the installation, he doesn't know.

Nate nailing Mike's pant leg to the wall

Mike nailing his hand to the wall

Too much irrigation

The roofers never showed up. We have not heard from Patrick (ME-ventilation). I may call him next week (they do not work on Friday) before I give up on him. I need to get the cupolas on order, but have been waiting for a final determination on the ventilation. Damn engineers, they are no better than architects!

Spenser and I were out walking this afternoon when Mark (plumbing) stopped us on the street to say that they were done and the City had inspected their work. The next step is for Frank (HAC) to come in and lay the heating grid for the radiant floor heating.

Northwest corner of garage

Northeast corner of garage

Bar plumbing

Hot Tub drain

In the afternoon, I noticed that Mike had the brick layers come in to survey their job. I also saw a note concerning electrical connections to the hot tub. I think it was from Rob in response to Mike's forwarding the electrical requirements. The note said it was not possible to conform to the requirements. Shortly thereafter I got a call from Mike. I told him, and subsequently sent an email to him, that the hot tub has been in the project scope from the beginning. If it was not properly addressed in the design (Mike said it was not) then we need to sit down with Rob or Tyler or whomever and determine what needs to be done to address any issues concerning it. What a cluster....

Roofers and Plumbers and Windows, Oh My!

Around 7:30 am, I noticed that "Jackhammer" John (plumbing) was out in the garage doing some shoveling around the sewer drain. "Our" Mike showed up before 9:00 am and, with drawings in hand, appeared to be mapping out the plumbing with John. A little later, Mark (John's boss) showed up and huddled with Mike to go over the drawings.

Later, I went out to the garage and chatted with Mark and John. Mark brought up the issues that he and Mike had discussed. Mike later called and we went over the issues as well. One issue was that the drawings show a hose bib on the south wall of the sunroom. It was pointed out that this cannot be done since there is no way to winterize the bib. It was suggested that the location be changed, putting this bib on the south wall under the hot tub deck. I agreed with this new location. The drawings also show a bib on the northwest garage wall associated with the sink located in that corner. They wanted to know if we also wanted a similar bib on the northeast wall of the garage, associated with the sink in that corner. This was not shown on the drawings. I told them "yes".

The drawings also showed a tankless instantaneous water heater in the garage. The question was whether we wanted to have one of these water heaters at each sink. I responded that some time ago we had decided to have a single small-tank water heater (~10 gallon) instead of the tankless water heater(s). Mark suggested that he could mount the water heater on a shelf on the east wall above the window. I suggested that they could even mount it in the trusses. Mark said that was not possible because the heater needed to be located in the "heated" area of the garage. This was an interesting comment since there are not going to any heated areas in the garage, at least not initially. Mark said he was under the impression that the garage was going to have radiant floor heating. While at one time that had been considered, after realizing the cost, it was dropped from the plan. Therefore, Mark said he would need to ensure they install provisions to winterize the water system in the garage. This is example of the problems imposed by the extended duration of this project. We are losing track of decisions made over the past eight months.

When Mike called, he said the garage windows will be delivered tomorrow (Thursday). I sent a note to Tyler (architect) advising him of the delivery of the windows. I also reminded him that he had previously cautioned that Mike needed to remember to install something on each window frame, as detailed in the drawings, to ensure the windows would be weather tight. Tyler responded that he had sent a reminder note to Mike on March 9, but that he would monitor the installation.

I also sent a note to Patrick (ventilation) asking him if he had had an opportunity to review the drawings I sent to him on March 17. By the end of the day, no response from Patrick.

I asked Mike if he has had any recent contact with Jim about the glass roof fabrication. He said he had not but might call Jim about the status as well as the availability of the installation crew. Earlier in the morning I had sent Jim a note asking for an update on the fabrication. Back on March 5 Jim stated he did not have an estimate at that time, but thought it would be done by the end of the month. That's next Tuesday. By the end of the day, no response from Jim.

The roofers showed up around 10:00 am. They left around 4:30 pm (an early departure for them). They did not finish the main house as Bret thought they would. They appeared to work mostly on the copper flashings and cleaning out the gutters. The south two dormers have not yet had their vented ridges installed nor have the shingles around the windows been finished. Inspection of the attic showed that the holes, through which I could see daylight, on the hip ridge were no longer there. That is good as they are now predicting heavy rain tonight. It is supposed to stop raining around 8:00 am tomorrow morning.

"Jackhammer" John worked almost exclusively on the drain lines in the garage. By the end of the day, he still had more to do. I thought I heard Mark tell John that he had a City inspection set up for tomorrow.

When I talked with Mike this morning, he stated that he hoped we would be ready to pour the floors within a couple of weeks. Prior to pouring the floors, he expected to have the windows installed (doors will go in after the floors are poured), the slate installed on the gables, all plumbing and electrical work that will be buried in the concrete floors (including the sunroom radiant heating coils). Considering our past history, this sounds very optimistic, but maybe our luck is going to change and the pace will pick up, as repeatedly promised.

I again asked Mike to ensure that the electrician (Rob) was familiar with the wiring specifications and requirements of the hot tub. Every time I talk with the hot tub people, they implore us to have the electrician consult with them to avoid mistakes. Mike said he thought Rob knew what he was doing. I don't doubt it, but I also don't want to pay for rework. I asked Mike if he thought he had the hot tub people's contact information. He said he was not sure. I sent him the information again.

Rain Out

We woke up this morning to a little rain, thunder and lightning. By daybreak, the thunder and lightning had moved on and a light rain prevailed. Forecast is for rain to continue throughout the day with more thunderstorms possible this evening. By daybreak Wednesday morning however, the rain is supposed to be gone and the sun should reappear. High tomorrow in the 70's. Only a slight chance of rain for the remainder of the week with the highs in the low 50's.

Got a call from Bret (roofing) while I was on the road this morning. He left a message asking me to look around for any roof leaks and to let him know. He said they were still waiting for materials. On this day last week, he told me that the materials might be in toward the end of that week, but no later than Monday (yesterday). When I got home I toured the attic and found no obvious significant leaks even though I could see daylight through one of the roof hips. I tried to call Bret (really only to ask about the latest estimate on when they would return), but as usual, I got the recording that his voice mail inbox was full and to call his office. I did not call their office, but shortly after noon, Bret called again. I told him that I found no apparent leaks, but could see daylight through one of the ridge hips. He said the roofers would be out tomorrow (Wednesday) to complete the main house and then back on Thursday with the needed materials to do the sunroom and finish the garage.

Frank (HAC) forwarded to us a copy of the extension of the mechanical permit from the City today. The original permit would have expired on April 20. It is now extended to October 27.

I did take the first opportunity we have had to park Kermit in the new garage.

Full House

Other than the roofers, the last time anyone was on-site to work (other than Mike's short visit last week) was February 11. Today, "Our" Mike had a crew of three others and "Concrete" Mike also was here with a crew of three. In addition, a couple of roofers showed up for a short period to do some repair work on the sunroom and garage felt. It was a noisy day.

"Our" Mike and crew finished clearing out the garage and sunroom so that "Concrete" Mike could level and rock the floors. While the leveling and rocking were going on, they added the three layers of 2x4 to the three garage french door frames and the three garage doors, effectively lowering these doors. We had decided months ago to lower the floor level in the garage by 4.5" to reduce the slope of the approach apron from the alley. I am glad they remembered this decision. They then proceeded to put more facial boards on the sunroom.

"Concrete" Mike and crew finished the leveling and graveling, including putting down new gravel on the alley.

We are hoping the roofers can finish their work this week. The forecast is for thunderstorms Tuesday and Wednesday. We are also hopeful that once the roofing is complete, we can get the other crafts busy and make some progress.

Have not heard anything more from our ME we contacted last week on the ventilation issue.

Sunroom Before Leveling

Garage Before Leveling

Sunroom After Leveling

Garage After Leveling