End of First Week of 2016

We expected a lot of people to show up today and a lot to happen. Everyone expected did show up, but most arrived so late that not as much got done as hoped.

Joe, the woodwork finisher arrived at 8:00 am. He asked what the problem was. Recall that Joe spent an entire day (December 15) filling in nail holes. I told him that he had missed numerous nail holes plus several gouges. I also asked if he would do the nail holes in the window frames. These should have been addressed by Jerry (painter) when he stained the window frames. But, for some reason, it was not done. As for the nail holes he missed, Joe wanted me to point out some. I did, even though they were hard to see in the dim morning light. I commented that he really needed a strong light to see the holes. Joe admitted he did not use a light when he was here back in December. He also said that he did not know he was supposed to address gouges in the woodwork. He said he could do the window frame holes if I wanted him to do so.

Joe did use a light this time and spent an additional six hours filling nail holes and gouges in the woodwork. Around 2:30 pm, he called me out and said he was finished and wanted me to look things over and agree all was complete. I easily found six gouges or flaws in the finishing that needed to be addressed. As I pointed these out, Joe agreed each needed to be fixed, and he did. Bottom line is that, while Joe did a good job, he was not diligent in his effort. He said he did not have enough time today to fill the holes in the window frame, but would come back if I wanted him to do so. I told him I would call him if we did. He said he thought it would take another one-half day to do the window frames. I think we may do them ourselves.

Steve (fencing) showed up this morning as well to trim the southeast gate. He came and went without communication. It seems that he did want needed to be done.

No one else showed up until 2:30 pm when Wally (irrigation and lighting), Todd (pond guy) and some of John's landscaping guys arrived. Wally worked until 6:00 pm and complained that he "just ran out of daylight". I had to bite my tongue not to suggest he show up a little bit earlier next time. Todd was here to see if he could stop the leak in the pond. He did not talk to me and did not stay long. It appears he lowered the skimmer so that the level in the pond will not be so high before the overflow is reached. He also pulled up the rubber liner around the skimmer. When John showed up, Todd had left. Not knowing exactly what Todd did, we don't know if it fixed the problem. We filled the pond to the overflow and we will watch it for a few days.

John's guys modified the back patio and laid out the stepping stones from the mound to the patio. They also were going to glue down the caps on the patio wall and pour sand in between the patio pavers. They did neither of these last two items due to the wet conditions. They did put more mulch down along the northeast fence line and along the walkway on the south side of the sunroom. Less mud!!

Landscaping Almost Complete - Phase I

We returned from our December voyage on December 28. Not much had been done on the landscaping since we left on December 1. The yard was still mostly mud, no additional plantings had been done, no lighting or irrigation work and the pond still leaked and was full of mud. The area got a lot of rain during the previous week. Not surprised, just disappointed.

While we were gone, we were informed that Steve (fencing) was installing our new fences. Sure enough, the fences were up, but no gates. Steve showed back up last Monday to install the gates. It did not take long. I did notice that the southeast gate needs to be trimmed so that it cannot scrap the walkway. Steve said he would be out Friday to do that.

Mike got the railings on the second floor deck and on the west sunroom porch. Look good.

Once the weather warms back up, we will stain them.

We took inventory of what else had been accomplished inside.

Mike got the following accomplished:

• one of the five door stops was installed (on the garage north door)
• the trash and debris removed from the garage and the basement
• the Tiger wood plugs sanded on the hot tub deck (need to re-stain),
• the ice maker has been shimmed so that it does not move around
• the bottle rack on the bar has been secured

Mike has the following still to complete:

• Move the garage attic access ladder
• Patch the hole behind the mirror in the main house first floor half bath
• Slate repair on the garage west gable
• Cutting "windows" into main house dormers
• Help move the Model A into the east bay of garage
• Install remaining door stops

Electrically, the following was accomplished:

• Garbage disposal wired
• Repair outlets on either side of the hot tub deck
• Repair exterior outlet on sunroom west porch
• Get Cupola exhaust fan to start
• Install garage to basement power cable for generator

Electrical still to be completed:

• Install a couple of florescent fixtures in the garage attic
• The Cupola exhaust fan does now run, but not as it should. This still needs to be resolved.
• We need to have the power outlet above the south door of the Sunroom taken off the wall switch

We have a very livable sunroom. I hope we can get the remaining items resolved before too long.

As for the landscaping, yesterday, John (landscaping) showed back up with a large crew. They did a lot, including starting to figure out we still seem to have a leak in the pond. Today they are back to finish putting in sod, mulch, compost and gravel (alley). It now looks so much better than the mud. They also planted the Japanese Zelkova and Japanese Red Maple trees and planted the shrubs which have been sitting around in pots since we left over a month ago.

This is essentially the end of the landscaping until later this year. The pond is still not fixed. John said Todd (the pond installer) will be here tomorrow to work on it. Since it is supposed to start raining again this afternoon, I will not hold my breath.

Yesterday Wally also finally showed up to do some work on the irrigation system. He ran the plumbing in the basement and installed the back-flow preventer. He told me as he was leaving last night that he would be here early today to test the irrigation system, install the electronics for it and get a start on the lighting system. He did not show up until 1:30 pm.

The other major event while we were gone was that Bob (cabinetry) had his expert finisher (Joe) come out to fill nail holes and repair gouges, including the mantel, which had a large "dent" in it. On December 15, when were were in Panama City, I actually saw Joe working in the sunroom on our security camera. I only saw him working that one day however. I sent a note to Bob to see if the job was complete. Bob assured me that, while he had not personally inspected the work, he was confident that we would be delighted with Joe's work. Bob has repeated told us that Joe was a perfectionist, almost to a fault. 

When I finally got around to inspecting the work, on New Year's day, it was disappointing to find numerous nail holes and gouges that were not filled and overall, the work seemed sloppy. The repair to the mantel was OK, but overall, not an impressive job. I called Bob on Monday and told him I was disappointed. Bob was very surprised and came out that afternoon. We looked it over together and Bob agreed it was not satisfactory. Joe is scheduled to be here tomorrow (Friday) to do some more. 

Final Inspection

On December 1, we left town for a trans-Caribbean cruise. We had a good trip in the company of our son and his wife. Instead of going home immediately, we joined our Texas daughter and her family to enjoy Christmas. We will be heading home between Christmas and the New Year. This evening, we got a note from "Our" Mike telling us that the final City inspection was done today. This means the electrical inspection, scheduled for yesterday, was also successful. It also means I can take down the building permit we have had hanging in our front window since August of last year. Mike also said the fencing is in process of being installed.

While we were on our cruise, Bob (cabinetry) had his finishing person come out to perform the final cabinetry finishing (filling nail holes, etc.).

We are finally reaching the end of a long journey. While it did take twelve months longer than expected, the resulting final product was worth the wait. There are several tasks remaining to complete (Mike has a list), including the landscaping, but we have a very livable environment to enjoy while those items are finished.

Best wishes to everyone. Feel free to stop by and see the results!

Second Thanksgiving

This is the second Thanksgiving of our project. Thankfully, we are almost done with the interior and not far from being done on the landscaping.

Early in November, while we were visiting the grandchildren in Texas, Mike and Nate installed the base boards, the bar rails and the south door portico brackets.

This past week, we finally got the remaining wood panels installed on the bar. We enlisted Bob (cabinets) to do this as Our Mike has been very busy with other projects. Mike did spend a couple of days working on installation of the porch steps and Tiger wood railings. This week, he built the railings for the second floor porch and said he hoped to be finished on Monday. We have started a punch list for things that still need to be finished before we wrap up his part of the project.

This past week the masonry people finally showed up and completed the work they started a couple of months ago. They mortared around the hearth and mantel inside and around the outside vent. They also ground out the red mortar between the sunroom limestone sills and re-mortared using a gray colored mortar which will blend in better.

While Mike was here on Tuesday of this week, he helped me mount the television into place above the fireplace mantel. It only took two attempts to get it right. I got the TV hooked up with the coaxial cable and the HDMI cables. While I still need to put ends on the Cat5 cable, so we can hook the TV up directly to the router, we have been using WiFi without any problems. A couple of weeks ago, we moved the cable modem and router from the second floor to the first floor butler's pantry. This improved the WiFi performance in the sunroom and garage significantly, but the performance on the second floor has suffered. I am considering installing a second router on the second floor as an additional access point.

Bar Rails

Portico Brackets

Final Door Panels Going Into Place

Bar Is Complete

TV In Place Above Fireplace

Outside Plants Brought In Before First Hard Freeze

Brugmansia Still Blooming

Tiger Wood Rails

The landscaping has been continuing erratically over the past month. Before we left for Texas, I told John that the pond had an apparent leak. While we were gone, he and Todd found a leak around the bottom drain. John said the pond nearly drained itself indicating a leak near the bottom. Since we returned, we refilled the pond and, while better, there still appears to be another leak. Within two days after filling, the level in the pond dropped about 2". Over the next four days, the drop was only about 1/2". This indicates there is still a small leak near the top. John said he would find it.

The Hornbeams are installed along the east fence, the Serviceberry, Hydrangea and Dogwood are on the berm, the Azaleas are around the red maple on the west fence, the Canadian Red Cherry is behind the pond. The areas to be sodded have been and a lot of walnut mulch has been put in. There are still a lot of muddy areas on the berm. We are still discussing just what else will be planted this year. We believe we will ask John to install some combination of Japanese Falsecypress, evergreen Azaleas, weeping Japanese Red Maple, Russian Sage, Karl Foerster (feather reed grass) and perhaps a red (and/or yellow) twig dogwood.

We have decided to install a Zelkova in place of the Red Maple at the southwest corner of the chess board. John has not found a nice one yet. This is a medium to large, slow growing, upright branching deciduous tree.

It does not appear that much, if any progress, has been made on the exterior lighting. John promised he would work with Wally to have it done before we return from our next trip toward the end of December.

We are also making progress on the plan for the area behind the pond and the sixteen surplus pavers left over from the chess board. T has decided on using them as a sunken patio. There are eight red pavers, seven beige pavers and one broken beige paver. She has decided on the following pattern,

It will be situated between the walkway on the east side of the garage and the neighbor's east fence.

Sixteenth Month

As we enter November, we enter our sixteenth month since construction started in August of 2014. We have not seen anyone other than the landscapers for the past two weeks. I called "Our" Mike yesterday morning and asked him what we could expect. We are so close to finishing the interior work, it is frustrating that no one shows up to complete the work. Mike said his plan was to get back over and finish. Of course, there was no commitment as to when that might actually happen. We know that Mike has been been under pressure to finish the large project he has going on over in Clayton.

I asked about the masonry people who told us they would be here two weeks ago to finish the work they started (and have been paid for) several months ago. Mike said he needed to call them. I asked about the electrical which is unfinished. Mike said that Chris was working with him on that day and he would talk with him. I asked about the cabinet facings that Mike had questions on their installation. Mike said he needed to call Bob to get the questions resolved. Mike also said he got the email I sent a couple of weeks ago about going with Tiger wood rails on the west and second floor decks. Bottom line is that our project has not gotten much attention for the past month. Not a surprise, but still disappointing.

Yesterday was a nice autumn day. A couple of guys from the landscapers showed up and started excavating around the valves from the pond pump up to the upper pond. I had mentioned to John last week that it appeared we were losing water and pointed out to him that there was water in the valve boxes. Over the past week, I guess we lost one to two inches of water from the lower pond. That is a lot of water. Thankfully, the guys found a small crack in the PVC tee. They shut down the pump flow and over the course of the day, the upper pond essentially drained into the hole they dug around the valve.

They did not attempt to replace the tee, but once they had found this problem, they turned their attention to making the holes for the Hornbeams larger along the east fence line. They left around 1:30 pm. We later got a text message from John apologizing for not being there and that he expected to be in tomorrow (today) with the Hornbeams.

The Second Halloween During the Project

A year ago today, the time of the first Halloween of the project, it was becoming very clear that it would take longer than we had hoped to finish. One of our neighbor's at the time reassured us that, "a year from now", everything will be finished and we will be enjoying the finished product. Well, while we have made a lot of progress, we are not yet finished. But, we are very close. If we can just get someone to show up to work, the inside work could be finished in just a few days. Weather permitting, the first phase of the landscaping will be done in a week or two.

No work at all this week inside. The stone masons were supposed to be here last week to finish the work they started several months ago. The electrical is still unfinished and the carpentry is unfinished. Once the carpentry is finished, we still have Bob's cabinetry finisher to come in to touch up all the blemishes. Again, if anyone would show up, this could all be finished in a week or so.

All the work this past week has been landscaping. Thursday and Friday were nice days. Scot worked on finishing the stone walls on the back side of the pond while John's other folks brought in trees and shrubs. It is really starting to take shape. Today (Halloween) it is supposed to be rainy all day but clear off tomorrow. By Monday, it should be nice weather again with the highs in the mid-70's and little chance of rain until Thursday.

Sod area and flag stone steppers

Beech Tree

Junipers along chess board, Service Berry and Arborvitae by pond (and Spenser)

Azaleas around Red Maple

Flag stone around bay

Wally called last night to say he will be stopping by today to present us with the lighting proposal.

Rain Delay

Throughout the day Monday, they feverishly worked on the water feature. It was the third and final day for Todd and his crew. I had my doubts, but they finished the day with a finished product...or at least one that John can now finish.

Basic Construction

Upper Pond

Masked the stone "wall"

Starting to fill pond

Full and circulating

Our initial impression was that there was too much water flowing across the fall and too much noise. We considered the alternatives and decided to install a valve in the line from the pump to the upper pond. They used the same type of valve (knife) as they used in the purge line. It was not an easy installation and they worked hard at it. When finished, they covered the area around the pond due to the pending rain and departed.

Later, I started closing the valve they installed to reduce the flow. Unfortunately, there is something wrong. I completely "closed" the valve but there is still a lot of water flowing. We let the water circulate, but I informed John that we needed to procure and install a variable speed controller on the pump. Turns out these are not very expensive and readily available.

On Tuesday, for the first time in over a month, it rained all day. It was not a down pour, but alternated between a drizzle and light rain throughout the day. Hence no work either Tuesday or Wednesday. It was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy our sunroom and the cool wet autumn weather.

On Thursday (today) John's crew returned. They worked on the stone wall behind the pond and brought in some foliage. T and I met John at a 100-year-old nursery distributor in downtown St. Louis to look at some trees and shrubs. It was very interesting and T has decided to alter the original landscaping plan.

The pond water has clarified nicely

Stone wall on back side of pond

Wally stopped by and we finalized the first phase of our exterior lighting plan. It will include ten path lights, a submerged pond light and a light on the water stream between the upper and lower ponds.