Inspection on Monday

Friday, "Jackhammer" John finished for the week and left a note that said the City inspector would be out Monday afternoon. He has routed all the new drain lines, but not the new vent line from the bathroom. Once the inspection is complete, he will start back filling and repair the cement floor. We had him put a new drain in the floor of the bath to accommodate a future shower. He also reconnected the washer and dryer for us to use over the weekend.

For some reason, the floor in the bathroom area never got a second layer of cement as did the rest of the laundry area. When he repairs the cement floor, I have asked John to bring the new bathroom floor up to the same level as the rest of the laundry area. To facilitate this, Saturday morning, I removed the walls of the bathroom. I recovered as much of the ribbed wall paneling as possible for T to use at her country estate.

Bathroom with walls and door

Bathroom without walls and door

I also broke up more of "the bulge" in the cement floor under the conservatory. It appears there is sound earth below it. No cavern was found and, it appears, we'll just pour a new cement floor. That is a relief.

Update on "The Dig"

The indoor portion of the sewer replacement effort has turned into a project in itself. As expected, Mark (indoor plumbing) came by early this morning to discuss the path forward. The cast iron laterals to the east room sink drain, the bathroom and the washer drain are all kaput. Looking at them this morning, all that is left of the piping is the hole itself.

Laterals to washer drain and east room sink drain.

Yesterday, we told "Jackhammer" John that we wanted to replace the line to the bathroom and were willing to abandon the east room sink. In place of the east room sink, we wanted to have provisions installed to install a new laundry sink in the west laundry room.

Sink in the east room (to be removed)

Mark's concerns this morning were in the bathroom. Replacing the lateral line to the toilet, sink and bathtub in the bath will require complete excavation of the bathroom floor. Due to the scope of this work, he felt certain the City would classify this as a "remodeling" project and not just a "repair". The distinction is significant. A remodeling job mandates that the completed facilities meet current code requirements. In addition to the unbudgeted costs associated with the underground piping replacement, we would also need to modify existing the bathtub and the vent piping to meet code.

Basement Tub

The tub is an ancient, ~ 300 pound, enameled cast iron, claw footed vessel. It has a water inlet nozzle only a couple of inches above the bottom of the tub. This was common in the tubs of this era, but it is completely illegal today. The decision we came to is to abandon the tub and make it disappear. We will probably replace the current sink and toilet at some time, but for now we will just re-install the current fixtures, moving them westward, along the brick wall, to conform to code spacing requirements. We will also have them install provisions for the future installation of a shower stall. I suggested T consider a sauna as an alternative to a shower.

Now, concerning the vent line. The current vent is 1-1/2" PVC pipe. That's fine except that current code requires the vent pipe to be at least one-half the diameter of the drain line which, by code, can be no smaller than 4". The current vent pipe ties onto the vent line at the washer drain, which goes up the interior of the south wall all the way to the roof. To meet code using this current route, we would have to replace the entire vent line through three stories to the roof. An alternative would be to tie the new 2" vent from the basement bathroom to the 2" vent coming off the first floor powder room. Yes, the same powder room we just finished remodeling over the past weekend. The tie-in would need to be at least four feet off the powder room floor. The only way to make this tie-in is to cut a hole in the wall, make the tie-in and then make repairs to the wall and T's new wallpaper. That's the plan for now.

The guys reconnected the main sewer line before they left so we can flush again. The house is full of the sickening sweet ketone stench of PVC cement. Tomorrow, they will be back again to work on the bathroom lateral and vent piping.

One further event in the basement today was the initial break through of "the bulge" in the concrete floor below the conservatory. "Jackhammer" John took a sledgehammer to it. There is definitely an air pocket under the bulge, but until more is broken out, we don't know how much of a project this will turn out to be. At a minimum, we will be pouring a new concrete floor. This may wait until the work on the bathroom is completed.

Learning New Stuff Is Fun

We got a call from Christine Ingrassia (our City Alderwoman) this morning. We had sent Christine an email two days ago asking her what approvals, if any, we would need if we wanted to pursue the paving of the alley running along the back of our property. She called to confirm she had received our email and was working to gather the appropriate records to determine the current status of the alley. She said her search of readily available records did not indicate the City had ever "vacated" the alley. But, she wanted to go back into more distant records to ensure that has never been done. If the alley has not been vacated, she said we could either initiate the process to do so OR we could look into steps to improve the City's maintenance of the alley. In our email to Christine, we had mentioned that several of the property owners adjoining the alley, thinking we were responsible for its upkeep, had previously contributed money to have new gravel laid down. The prevailing belief, among the property owners, is that since the property boundary markers meet in the center of the alley, the ownership of the alley is split between the property owners on either side of the alley. Hence, the alley running along the back of our property is half on our property and half on the property behind us. If this is not the case, and if the City is responsible for its maintenance, we will have to rethink our proposal to pave it. To our knowledge, this is the only alley in the surrounding neighborhoods that is not hard surfaced. If the City is responsible for its upkeep, perhaps we can petition them to surface it. We'll wait to see what else Christine discovers.

A Spurt of Activity and Some Disappointing Findings

Other than Tony's (the best [tree remover] there is) stump removal work on Monday of last week, nothing else happened during the week. Mike called yesterday afternoon to say that Mark (indoor plumbing) will be here today to continue with the sewer replacement effort.

At 7:00 am today, Mark did indeed show up with "Jackhammer" John (he will do the actual work). The plan is to replace the sewer line, from where Vern (outside plumbing) stopped outside, to the indoor drains. That will entail chipping out the concrete floor in the basement to get to the original cast iron lines. They plan to do the chipping today and finish with the new PVC line installation tomorrow. They will also make tie-ins to two known lateral drain lines (they may find more). One lateral is from the basement bathroom and the other is from the sink in the southeast basement room. The scope of their work may expand if they find additional laterals and/or the ones they find are in bad order and need to be replaced. Not surprisingly, soon after John began chipping on the basement floor, he identified another old concrete floor beneath the visible concrete floor in the laundry area.

Mike also showed up and we all discussed the routing of the utility lines from the main house out to both the sunroom and the garage. The original plan was to run all the utility lines (hot water, cold water, purified (RO) water, power and natural gas) through a chase running beneath the porch connecting the main house to the sunroom. This would require electrical heat tracing to prevent freezing (thanks global warming!). The alternative, which we all agreed is a better approach, is to bring the utilities out through the basement wall at a depth of 42"-48" (well below the frost line), with draining provisions in the basement. We will run a separate cold water line to the garage so that it can be winterized independently from the sunroom. The garage will have its own hot water heater.

I reminded everyone that we intend to run purified water from our existing basement RO unit to both the bar ice maker as well as to a separate bar sink tap. I believe the existing RO unit has sufficient capacity to satisfy the demands of both the main house as well as the sunroom. Mark suggested that we consider putting in a new under-the-counter RO unit in the sunroom bar. Otherwise, by code, he would have to run 1/2" copper tubing to the sunroom from the basement RO unit. I vetoed putting in an under-the-counter unit, because it occupies so much space, I hate the thought of doing plumbing maintenance work under the counter and finally, I do not believe a new RO unit would be cost effective compared to cost of a 1/2" copper line.

Then there is the basement concrete floor under the main floor conservatory. This concrete floor is buckled upward. This was the condition when we moved in back in 2003, and we do not believe it has worsened since then. Previously, Vern expressed his opinion that this buckling was probably a result of a poor installation job. However, to be sure, we are going to have them chip it away, ensure there is solid earth underneath, grade the earth and pour a new concrete surface. It will cost a bit, assuming that they do not find a sink hole underneath concrete, but we feel we will be more comfortable knowing for sure.

I told Mike that I had spoken with Kent (neighbor behind us) about the potential of extending our new concrete drive across the alley to connect to his driveway. Kent was very enthusiastic about the idea. I also sent an email to Christine, our City Alderman, asking her what approvals would be required (if any) to pave over this portion alley. While waiting for her response, I asked Mike to find out what the additional pavement would cost.

I mentioned to Mike that we were still debating where to locate the solar panel inverter panels. The options are: 1) inside basement wall; 2) inside garage; 3) outside on the east side of the main house. Of these three, we are leaning toward the outside option. The east side of the main house is where we are intending to relocate the two AC condensing units and our two trash cans. Hence, this will be a "utility" area and seems to be a good place to also install the inverters. Drew (solar) said he could build a metal frame on which the two inverter panels could be mounted. The frame would be roughly 6' wide, 6' tall and, with the inverters mounted, about 1' deep. Therefore, I told Mike that the slabs we need on the east side of the main house need to accommodate this inverter frame as well as the two AC units. Plus, I suggested we would want to provide room for a future AC unit as well.

Mike said he has scheduled the foundation to be laid during the week following next (that would be the week of Sept 29). Therefore, he will schedule to have "Bobcat" Tom back next week to do the excavation for the foundation. If this all happens, Mike will have gotten pretty close to his target of having the foundation in during September. All could be influenced by the weather, but right now, it looks promising.

Mike did not mention the schedule for trenching and burying the incoming power and communication lines.

As the day progressed, the basement sewer news got worse and worse. The cast iron lateral pipes tying into the sewer line are paper thin and cannot be used. We have decided we are willing to abandon the lateral connected to the sink drain in the east room. We will have Mark install a new drain and water taps on the west wall to accommodate a new sink next to the washer and dryer. The lateral to the bathroom will have to be excavated and replaced. While this is unfortunate, it is not a surprise. We are paying for 120 years of use plus some dubious decisions made over those same years. This is why we have a contingency in the budget, and it is something we would need to do sooner or later, regardless of the backyard overhaul project.

On the brighter side, over the weekend, we finished the rehab of the powder room off the butler's pantry on the first floor. T did a nice job. Looks good.

"Jackhammer" John will be back in the morning to continue the effort. Maybe our luck will change and he'll find a buried treasure while burrowing into the basement bathroom.

.

Rain Rain Rain

We have received a lot of rain this past week. Last Friday we had a vicious wind storm, with heavy rain, during which we lost a limb (about eight inches in diameter) from our only remaining silver maple. The limb landed in the neighbor's yard, between their pool and their parked cars. Near miss!

I have continuing concerns about the near term viability of the remaining silver maple. While still healthy, and despite our having it pruned heavily earlier this year, it is showing its age. At least, it is in a location in which its further maintenance demands can be addressed once our construction project is complete. The other three maples, which we removed, would have created much more of an access challenge.

The ground dried out sufficiently over last weekend for Tony ("the best [tree mover] there is") to come in on Monday and remove the three maple stumps. Then it rained (torrential at times) both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. While this rain has helped settle the ground, due to all the excavation and trenching activities, the back yard is now a quagmire. The weather is supposed to be cooler and drier for the next week.

Bob (landscaping) arrived this morning to show us the product of his efforts over the past couple of weeks. Before we even started the review, I told Bob that, although I had not seen the estimated cost, I could tell him that it was two times too much. Turns out that I was closer to being correct than even I imagined. Overall, T was very impressed with the vision and the detail. T got her patio chessboard (each square in the board is 2' x 2'). I got two koi ponds (with an interconnecting trout stream) and my crepe myrtles. After discussing the details for awhile, Bob said he would go back and work on it some more. It will turn out very good. We just need to scrutinize the options and determine how to phase the execution. Bob gave us the following image which looks east from the roof of the sunroom. The northeast corner of the garage is seen at the right.

Please Help Us Choose a Window Design

T has suggested that we solicit input on the window design for above our south entry door. This window will be a Gothic Arch shape and approximately 24" (61cm) along the base and 20" (51cm) overall height. Here are the three proposed designs, what do you think?

A

A

BB

CC

Below are the samples we supplied to the shops showing what we already have in the house.

Do you prefer "A", "B" or "C"? Your input will be appreciated.

Another Quiet Day

Nothing happened today other than a couple of guys came and looked around. One gentleman, who came out at Bob's (landscaping) request, wanted to look at our water supply situation for the irrigation system. The other person just wandered around in the back yard for awhile with one of those distance measuring wheels. He did not come to the door and did not stay long enough for me to go out and talk with him, so we only speculate of what he was doing.

We received a couple of design proposals from Preston Art Glass for the window over the south entry door.

Either would work. We now have three designs to chose from.

Stumps Gone

Tony (the best [tree remover] there is) showed up this morning and began removal of the three maple stumps. Due to the sewer trenching work from last week, and all the rain over this past weekend, the yard was very soft. It was a challenge to gain the proper position without sinking into the soft ground where the trenches were dug. But, true to his reputation, Tony and crew, did a nice job and were very quick. They arrived at 10:00 am and were gone by 4:00 pm. I thought we would be left with some significant craters, but actually, it looks better it did before they started.

Before

First Stump

Second Stump

Last Stump

After

Mike dropped by and said we may see Mark (indoor plumbing) this week to complete the basement portion of the sewer line replacement. We also may see the trenching done for the underground utilities. Mike is still hoping to have the foundations done before the end of September.

Sewer Complete

Work on the new sewer line completed today and the backyard looks less like a WWI western front trench works. Mike says next Monday he expects Tony ("the best [tree remover] there is") will be here to pull the three stumps. What happens after that, we are not sure.

Bob (landscaping) is has set up a meeting for next Thursday to go over the landscaping plan with us. He said he is still working on the water feature, but will send us drawings as soon as he has them ready.

We received today one proposal for a stained glass window above the south door from Art Glass Unlimited. We just visited them yesterday.

A relatively simple design which mirrors the inside of the existing stained glass window in our stairwell.

We also received from Tyler (architect) the details of the window which we have forwarded on to the other glass shop (Preston Art Glass). They responded that they should a couple of designs to share with us next week.

T and I discussed the location of the solar panel inverters today. We sent a note to Betsy and Drew (solar) proposing, as our first choice, to locate the inverters in the garage roof trusses. Our second choice would be in the basement of the main house between the existing breaker box and the exterior access door. Have not heard back yet from them.

For Want of a Glass Roof

The hot tub area will be covered by a conservatory-type glass roof. This roof is being engineered and fabricated off-site and will be delivered and erected by our local crafts. Last week I sent out an email to all the companies from which we had received quotes for the glass roof, informing them that we had selected the company with whom we were going to work and thanking the others for their participation. Since then, we have received (not unexpectedly) requests for the factors what went into our decision. The following is the email I have sent to those requesting that feedback. As detailed in the note, this was not an easy decision for us since we know very little about these structures. Therefore, this note was not just for the unsuccessful bidders to learn from, but also to remind us how and why we made the selection we did make.

Here are the elevations from the construction drawings of the successful bidder.

Dear Sirs,

I appreciate your interest [in our decision process] and it gives me an opportunity to reflect on what has, thus far, been one of the toughest decisions we have had to make in our project (and admittedly still makes me nervous). The decision was especially tough since we received so many viable proposals. While you probably don't really want this much information, While you don't really want this much information, I am going to document the thought processes that we went through, more for posterity than just for your benefit.

We approached seven companies regarding our project. One of these companies quickly declared "no interest", and they received our sincere thanks for promptly letting us know and not wasting our time or theirs. Another company repeatedly declared interest but never submitted a proposal, thus delaying the whole process. I think if I had not closed the bidding, we would still be waiting for their proposal. This company, while they have an appealing web site, will not be considered for our next project (and there is another one coming). The five other companies, "L", "R", "T", "G" and "S" all offered timely proposals and were responsive to our followup questions. While it made the comparison of proposals more complicated, we were happy and impressed that we had so many.

We evaluated the five proposals, taking into account all the subtle, and not so subtle, variations. This evaluation began with the thoroughness of the proposal itself. At one extreme, we had the proposal from "T" that was very voluminous, showing specifications, typical construction details, options to consider, photos, references, inclusions, exclusions, terms and conditions. It was confusing and far too much information for an initial proposal. On the other extreme was the "L" proposal, which contained not much more than a price. There was not enough information in the "L" proposal to even formulate an initial impression. While this did not eliminate either "T" or "L" from consideration, it was not helpful to their cause.

We had originally specified an all-aluminum construction as our preference. "L" and "R", both stated that they did not have an all-aluminum option. We therefore expanded our request to include a wood option from those who had previously offered all-aluminum. This lengthened the evaluation process a bit, but allowed us to make more of an apple-to-apple comparison.

There was a wide variation regarding the issue of installation. All of the companies proposed delivery of a "knocked down" product, leaving the assembly, glazing and final installation to be accomplished on-site. A couple of proposals, "L" and "S", did not offer any installation option other than that performed or arranged for by the customer, while both promised phone consultation, if needed. The "L" web site left us with the impression that their products are essentially kits and, considered by some to be, DIY projects. On the other extreme, the "R" proposal, stated that the warranty would be voided if installation was done by anyone other than their company craftsmen, under company supervision. "T" offered full installation using company employees, or, if we wanted to use our own local crafts, they would consent to just provide on-site supervision. "G" offered full installation using their employees, but, they also said that "most skilled contractors...can handle the installation with a lick of common sense and no fear of glass". They also offered to provide consultation support via phone, if we opted to use our own crafts.

Cost was, of course, a major consideration. Initially, company "S" was, by far, the lowest cost. They offered an all-aluminum design, as we originally requested. When we asked for a wood option, the "S" proposal essentially matched the price quoted by "L". Compared to "L" and "S", the "G" company proposal was about 50% higher, the "T" company proposal was about 100% higher and the "R" proposal was roughly 250% higher. The "R" company proposal (wood only and company installed) was well beyond our budget. While they offered a beautiful product, "R" was the first proposal to be permanently set aside. As we learned more via interactions with the companies and reviews with our architect and construction manager, the low prices from both "L" and "S" raised some doubts. Our architect also identified some particulars in the construction details, provided by "S", that caused some concern.

Other factors that we took into consideration included estimated delivery times, location, materials, warranty, perceived followup support and the interpersonal chemistry we developed through our interactions with the company, both in one-on-one communications and with their web site.

The competition ultimately boiled down to "G" versus "T". Both offered either wood or aluminum, but we found it impressive that "G" showed the initiative to make a suggestion that they could offer a combination of aluminum and wood. This would capture the look of wood but do so at a lower cost. We also found it interesting that "G" was the only company to request the actual CAD drawings (not just the PDF excerpts I sent out with the RFQ) of the building on which the roof would be installed. They also found the "right" amount of persistence in their followup (without becoming an annoyance) and showed the kind of enthusiasm that led us to finally award them the job.

Our final decision was to go with the "G" all-aluminum product, to be assembled and installed by our local crafts.