Clean Up

"Concrete" Mike's crew showed up early this morning to complete the haul off of the remnants of the foundation framing materials. Next week the back filling and leveling will begin.

No further work on the basement water systems today. They should be back next week. The domestic hot water heater continues to work well. We have both noticed that it takes significantly longer for hot water to "arrive" at the kitchen sink. Something we will get used to.

Now the surprise of the day,

We received an email from Betsy (solar) this afternoon warning us that she would be sending us a Change Order (CO) for approval along with the cost associated with that CO. She explained this was due to our decision (made about a month ago) to locate the inverters outside, instead of in the basement. She went on to say that "the increase in price shouldn't be too bad". The last time I was told something like this, and from this company, the price increased by 15%. I therefore was slightly perturbed. I sent a note back to Betsy asking how there could be a change order when the contract did not specify the inverters were to be located in the basement. I strongly suggested that we needed to talk....soon. She called shortly thereafter and we talked for quite awhile. Overall, it was an open, honest and amiable conversation.

Betsy stated that the initial proposal, while it may not have specified, assumed the inverters would be located somewhere inside (either in the garage or the basement). She went on to state that locating the inverters outside would result in an efficiency reduction.

WAIT A MINUTE....TIME OUT!

I reminder her that when we were originally discussing the location of the inverters (a month ago), we were not informed that locating them outside was even an option. We only found this out by doing our own on-line research. Once we became aware of this option, we initiated an email discussion with Drew (their project manager) regarding its feasibility. Betsy was copied on these emails. Drew stated that locating the inverters outside was rarely done because "most people don't want to see them all the time". Since this was not a concern to us, we responded that, "We are leaning toward an outside location" and "If there are other considerations which need to be taken into account concerning the general location of the inverter panel or the required slab, please let me know as soon as possible". Finally, upon deciding on the outside location, we told Drew that "When we get closer to the point of pouring the slab, we'll be in touch with you to ensure it is acceptable". Late last week, I sent a note to Betsy and Drew informing them that we are close to being ready to pour the slab, on which the inverters will be mounted, and that they must ensure their requirements are known to "Our" Mike.

Now, a month after the decision was made to locate the inverters outside, based upon the information provided to us, we are learning that there ARE other issues, namely cost and efficiency. Betsy also acknowledged that, despite my previous requests, their company had not communicated with either our general contractor or our electrical contractor. Our project had "fallen through a crack". 

Betsy said she would develop information regarding the following: 1) any additional costs of locating the inverters outside; 2) any impact on the equipment durability or efficiency associated with the outside location; 3) a review of the interface of the solar electrical system with the rest of the project's craft contractors. I told her that with this information, we will be able to decide whether we will continue with the solar part of the project at all, and if so, where the inverters will be located.

Before we signed the contract, we had warned the solar company that we would not tolerate foreseeable "surprises" during the course of the project. While Betsy acknowledged this issue may have "fallen through a crack", her company "was not trying to screw us" (her words). I assured her that we wanted to follow through with the solar part of our project, but it is a discretionary part of that project. If they lose our confidence, the solar portion will come to a quick end.

We're In Hot Water Now!

Today was a good day. The weather was perfect...cool and sunny. "Concrete" Mike sent a crew of three to load the foundation wall frames and haul them off. "Our" Mike said "Bobcat" Tom will be here on Monday to begin back filling the trenches. We now have a better view of the layout of the buildings. Once the back filling is complete, we will really be able to envision it! Mark (inside plumbing) stopped by and said he was expecting to run utilities out to the garage next week. We have a good chance of really nice weather for the next week to 10 days. Hopefully, we'll take advantage of it.

Vern's boys finished the new incoming domestic water line. They will  be back probably Monday to remove the steel cover plates in the street. The City is responsible for application of new asphalt.

New Shutoff Valve

Tap into Water Main

New Basement Shutoff Valve and New Line

John and Tim finished the new on-demand domestic hot water heater installation. T has already tested it, filling the tub for a delightful soak. It seemed to work well.

Frank joined John and Tim for awhile today and we talked about the new boiler, to be installed next. Frank gave me a piping drawing and a sketch of the floor plumbing for the radiant floor heating. There will be three zones and will include heating of the connecting porch between the house and the sunroom. The floor loops are on 8" centers and will be embedded in the concrete floor slab.

Lot's of Noise Today

As predicted, there was light rain on and off throughout the night. By day break, it had stopped, but continued to mist throughout the day. Tonight, the clouds are supposed to move out of the area. The forecast is for no rain for the next several days with clear, sunny skies. Good weather to cure concrete.

"Concrete" Mike's crew of two arrived just after day break and began removing the foundation wall forms. It appears they got most, if not all of the forms broken away from the new walls, but they still need to load up the panels and haul them off. Maybe tomorrow. "Our" Mike showed up and said the concrete looks good to him. Our architect (Tyler) warned me that the building footprints will look small once the foundations are in place. He was correct.

John and Tim (HVAC) arrived and continued in the basement on the water systems. When John left for the day, he told T that he expected to complete the domestic hot water system tomorrow.

The big event of the day was the return of Vern's crew (outdoor plumbing) to begin running our new incoming domestic water line. We will abandon the existing 1" lead line and commission a 1-1/2" copper line. They dug one hole in our yard down to the shutoff valve while chiseling out a "window" in the stone foundation of our basement. The cover to the shutoff valve in the yard was buried about 8" under the lawn surface, between the sidewalk and the street. Excavation down to the valve itself revealed that the ball valve was only about one-half open. Probably has been that way for decades. They then proceeded to bore a hole from the basement "window" to the hole at the street using a pneumatic "mole". They jack hammered holes on both sides of the street. The one on our side was to expose a natural gas line and another City water line. The hole on the other side of the street is where the actual tie-in to another City water main will be made. The entire process should be completed tomorrow and will represent the last major infrastructure upgrade mandated by the City.

Chiseling the "window" in stone foundation

New Copper Water Line

The Mole and the old lead line

Between the jackhammers in the street, the chiseling, drilling and hammering in the basement and the pounding in the backyard, it was a very noisy and nerve rattling day. But, T is home after almost three weeks absence. I have missed her.

Slow But Steady

Other than "Concrete" Mike showing up to pump water out of the trenches, nothing happened outside today. We had a cool and misty day. Little or no measurable rainfall, but not conducive to drying out either. While I have not been told it will happen, I am expecting "Concrete" Mike to have his crew back maybe tomorrow to remove the foundation frames. "Our" Mike told me that they had to rent some additional narrow gauge frames to use around the bay foundation, so I'm sure they are anxious to get those returned.

John and Tim (HVAC) returned today to continue work on the water systems in the basement and will be back tomorrow. Still not finished with the domestic hot water heater. They installed the framing for the radiant floor boiler today. I expect they have several more days of work ahead of them. T is arriving home late tonight from Texas. I was hoping to have time to test the domestic water heater before she arrived so, if it didn't work well, I could leave town. However, I am more and more confident it will work very well.

This afternoon, "Our" Mike forwarded to me an email from Vern's company (outside plumbing) with their updated plan to start the incoming domestic water line tomorrow (Wednesday), weather permitting. The forecast is improving with only a 30% chance of rain tonight and dropping to 0% tomorrow. The forecast starting Thursday, and through the next 10 days, is for clear, dry and cool weather. If true, next week we should be able to get the trenches back filled and level out the back yard. We also still need to re-install the garage downspout laterals that weren't properly located initially and had to be removed for the foundation work.

A Milestone - Foundation Wall Poured

Yesterday (Sunday), "Concrete" Mike stopped by and looked over the backyard. He did not stay long. The weather forecast for today (Monday) was (and still is) 100% chance of rain with possibly strong thunderstorms after noon. Therefore, I was amazed when "Concrete" Mike and his crew showed up at 7:00 am this morning. The pump trailer showed up at 8:00 am and started laying the transfer conduit and hose. By 9:30 am they had completed the remaining framing work and were pouring concrete. The weather cooperated with only a couple of light showers during the morning. By 1:00 pm, they were done and gone. They should be back tomorrow or Wednesday to remove the forms.

Talking today with "Our" Mike, with the weather forecast being fair and dry beginning on Thursday of this week, he is arranging to have "Bobcat" Tom come next week to back fill the trenches. Tom will also be trenching for the power and utility lines and excavating for the slab on the east side of the house for the relocation of the existing AC condensers and the solar panel inverters.

John (HVAC) showed up around 7:00 am also to continue the installation of the domestic hot water heater. Tim arrived later to assist. They were not able to complete the installation today after all. They will be back tomorrow. We have a new air intake/exhaust outlet vent on the west side of the house. It can be painted.

Over the weekend, I did a test of filling the tub with hot water. Bottom line is that I am now estimating we consume energy at the rate of 150,000 BTU/hr when T fills the tub (60 gallons over 6.5 minutes with an initial hot water temperature of 127⁰F, an incoming water of 67⁰F and a resulting tub water temperature of 101⁰F). Since this is half of what I had estimated before, if correct, the new heater (rated for 200,000 BTU/hr) should do fine. 

Vern (outside plumbing) was expected to start the replacement of the incoming water line today, but did not show up.

Over this past weekend I sent a note to the Betsy (solar) regarding the Utility Net Metering Agreement application we signed in the first week of September. Approval of this agreement, by the utility company, is the first step in getting the solar system connected to the grid. My understanding, when we signed the contract, was that the solar company would take care of filing the application and we could expect to hear directly from the utility company in a couple of weeks. We have not heard anything yet, hence my email. In response to my email, Betsy wrote back indicating that they have not filed the application, and were waiting for us to decide where we were going to locate the inverter panels (why this would impact the application, I don't understand).  I reminded Betsy that several weeks ago we discussed this issue with Drew (copied Betsy) and indicated our desire to locate these panels outside on the east side of the house. I noted that we are expecting to be trenching for the utility lines and pouring slabs for the inverters in the next week or so. I also reinforced to her that we expect them to stay in contact with "Our" Mike to ensure the requirements of the solar part of the project are addressed and folded into the scheduled. They also have access to this blog.

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.