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.

Maybe Tomorrow

It's still muddy in areas, but there is no standing water. Its been dry, sunny and cool today. The forecast for the next 24 hours shows a 40% chance of light rain between midnight and daylight tomorrow. Then dry until Tuesday morning when there again a chance of rain. They are saying the rain will not impact the ball game Monday night in Busch Stadium, so maybe the posting tomorrow will show our foundation footings in place.

Patience Is A Valuable Commodity

As predicted, it rained off and on throughout the night, stopping by daylight. We had a good puddle in the trenches. Mike showed up and set sump pumps in both the sunroom and garage trenches. He said he would be back later to move them around. The trench surfaces were relatively firm, but it was pretty muddy and Mike had a hole in one of his boots. We are going to try again and schedule everything (forming, inspections, concrete) for Monday. The forecast is dry and cool for the weekend. Mark (indoor plumbing) also told both Mike and me that he plans to scope and, if necessary, cable the downspout drain laterals on Monday. Greg did not show up to work on the basement plumbing today. Maybe Monday?

In the early evening, when Mike was back to relocate the sump pumps, we were discussing what else needed to be done before we can back fill the trenches. The main item is the re-installment of the new downspout drain laterals for the garage. These had to be previously removed due to interference with the installation of the foundation footings. During our talk, I realized that Vern's boys had installed two laterals corresponding with just the northeast and northwest corners of the garage. There had been nothing installed for the south side of the garage. This seemed strange since the ridge of the roof runs east-west. Mike got out the permit drawings which implied that the guttering on the south side of the garage was connected to the guttering on the north side via gutters along the east and west sides. Mike stated he did not believe this was correct and was another issue that he will bring up with Tyler (architect). In the mean time, we agreed we should go ahead and, when the north side laterals are re-installed, have them extend these to provide downspout drains at both south corners. Not a big deal since we can run the lateral extension piping in the trench excavated for the footings. Just another 50'-60' of thin-wall 4" PVC piping.

I took the opportunity today to remove the remaining lath and plaster from the ceiling in east part of the basement, hauling it to, and completely filling, the dumpster. That took most of the morning and wore me out. But, at least now we won't have old plaster continually falling and making a mess. I found a number of mouse nests up in the floor joists (no one was home however).

Before

Before

After

After

Frank (HVAC) also sent a couple of pictures of the NTI boiler he is proposing for the radiant floor heating. Fancy, but it looks like you have to remove the front panel to see the blinking lights. I like blinking lights!

Have a good weekend!!!

Go Cardinals!!!

Singing In The Rain

Yep, it finally happened, the weatherman was right. It rained last night and into this morning. Right now, it is sunny and the standing water isn't too bad. It is enough however to cancel any thoughts of working on the foundations today.

According to the current forecast, the rain is over until later today. However, between 5:00 pm this afternoon and 7:00 am tomorrow morning (Friday), the hourly rain probability ranges between 50% and 100%. By noon tomorrow, the chance of rain is back to zero and stays low (<20%) for the next week (slight increase to 40% next Monday). This morning, Mike said he would plan to bring out his pump tomorrow to pump the water out of the trenches and let them dry out this weekend. Hopefully, we will try to pour the foundation footings on Monday (weather permitting).

Frank and John (HVAC) met with Mike and I early this morning to go over Frank's latest proposal for heating, cooling and water heating. It was a two hour meeting, but we got to the point of my signing the proposal and Frank ordering the equipment. A lot of our discussion centered on where to place the inside heat pump element and how we are going to generate hot water. I went over all of our deliberations with T on the phone later in the morning (she is still in Texas). She had enough concern about the specifics that we got Frank on the phone with both of us and we discuss everything again.

The final answer for the water heater was with a dedicated 60 kBTU/hr on-demand unit for the sunroom radiant floor, circulating a water-glycol mixture, and a separate 200 kBTU/hr on-demand unit to supply domestic hot water for the whole house. Frank told me he sized the unit for the radiant floor to be sufficient to heat the sunroom without assistance from either the heat pump, the fireplace or the heat from the hot tub. We should have plenty of heat in the sunroom on the coldest of winter days. This proposal eliminates the originally envisioned twin 50-gallon conventional hot water heaters. Previously, Frank had proposed one 150 kBTU/hr on-demand unit to perform both the radiant heating and the domestic water heating tasks. This changed after our last thorough discussion of our hot water demands. He has a lot of confidence that the current proposal will deliver everything we require. T is still not as confident, but we have an option to supplement the heating capacity later if necessary.

For the sunroom HVAC, we are going with a 2.5 ton heat pump. Frank had previously proposed a 3.0 ton unit, but now believes a lower capacity unit will do a better job on humidity control. The exterior condensing unit will be located on the east side of the house with the other two existing condensing units. The interior unit will be mounted on the west gable above the hot tub glass roof. The location of this interior unit is a late change from the previous, long-held, plan to place it in the wall cavity on the east gable. John came up with this alternative placement after we had concluded that, in order to place the interior unit in the east gable wall cavity, we would need to modify the roof trusses, build a mounting bracket in the wall cavity and find an aesthetically correct wall grating to hide it. It would also be asymmetrical, with the camouflaging grate on just one side of the chimney. T did not believe this would be a big deal, but it bothered me. The interior unit can be painted to blend in to its surroundings. The interior unit is not trivial in size, measuring 47" in length, 14" in height and 10" depth. Frank believes we will get better performance if located on the west gable. I also like it there as it will be easier to monitor as opposed to be hidden away in a wall cavity, not that anything could go wrong.

Interior Wall Mounted Heat Pump Unit

Exterior Heat Pump Condensing Unit

Mark (indoor plumbing) stopped by for a few moments this morning to drop off the bill for September and to say that "Pipefitter" Greg may be here tomorrow to finish in the basement.

A Major Letdown

The plan was to complete the foundation footing forms, get the inspection from the City and pour the footing concrete today. It was also a possibility that "Pipefitter" Greg might be by to finish the basement plumbing. What actually happened was...nothing.

I expected the form guys would be here bright and early since Mike said the Inspector was scheduled to be here at 11:00 am. When no one showed up by 10:00 am, I called Mike. He said he tried to call me last night, but could not reach me. My cell phone does not have voice mail. Anyway, he said he could not make arrangements for the concrete pumper for today and he rescheduled everything to take place tomorrow, Thursday. He said completion of the form work will be done immediately before the inspection. Mike said the City Inspector did show up today (I did not see them), even though he had canceled and rescheduled for tomorrow. Mike assured me we would not be billed for their showing up today.

Hopefully I am wrong, but with thunderstorms forecast to start tonight and continue through most of the day tomorrow, I don't have much hope that anything will be done tomorrow. If we get the 1" to 2" of rain they are predicting, it may take several days to get the trenches dried out sufficiently to continue work.

Really a letdown. This was going to be a milestone day. I don't even have any new pictures to post, unless you want one of Spenser (sleeping) and I (reading) in the parlor. I estimate we will end up losing about a week. Too bad since the last two weeks have been perfect for outside construction work. We were only able to capitalize on two or three of those days due to resource availability.

Oh yes, Greg did not show up either. Maybe tomorrow.

We will endeavor to persevere and we will be successful. If I was not being so faithful to my diet, I might drink heavily tonight. Tomorrow morning, Frank and Mike will be here to go over Frank's amended HVAC proposal.

Almost forgot, we did get the updated landscaping drawing (showing just hard surfaces) from Bob late this afternoon. This was based upon our meeting yesterday.

We're Being Framed!

The framing guys showed up this morning and began the process of installing the forms for the foundation footings. Mike is estimating 10 cubic yards of concrete will be needed for the footings and it will go in quickly. They are forecasting rain Wednesday evening (60% probability) and Thursday (70%), so the plan is to pour tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, we'll be lucking and get it done before the weather turns against us.

Mark (indoor plumbing) stopped by to say that "Pipefitter" Greg may be back tomorrow to finish the installation of the toilet and laundry sink in the basement. I need to go down to the hardware store and get longer water hoses and vent ducting for the relocated washer and dryer. I need to mention to Mike that we need to have Rob (electrical) relocate the 240V power outlet from the south to the west wall to support the dryer.

Bob (landscaping) arrived a little after 9:00 am to go over the revised landscaping plan. T joined us from Houston via Facetime. We had a good discussion. We both like the design, as does everyone with whom we have shared it. I love the second pond, the flagstones, the pergola and the stone retaining walls. T loves her 16' x 16' chess board. Unfortunately, the price tag is just a bit too steep. Since our previous revenue raising attempt, selling engraved pavers, did not generate enough money (in fact it raised no money), we are scaling back our landscaping plans. The pergola is history, the second pond will be deferred, the flagstones will be curtailed and the retaining walls will be reduced. BUT, we will keep the chess board. Bob will revise the revised plan this week and reissue for approval. We also toured the backyard. Bob said there is more dirt to work with from the excavation than he expected and he may be able to reduce the amount he had budgeted to build the 5' berm. I also introduced him to Morgan (east neighbor) and talked about the plan to replace the fence along our east property line, drainage and how to eradicate the day lilies that have, over the years, encroached from our yard into their flower bed. I also got to introduce Bob to Kent, the neighbor behind us.

A little after noon, the framing guys disappeared. I thought it was just lunch time, but Mike told me later that they ran out of forms, which he found incredible since they were out previously to scope out the job. Anyway, that is it for the day. The framers will be back in the morning to finish. The inspector will be here around 11:00 am tomorrow to approve the forms prior to pouring.

The soils engineer came by this afternoon and poked several holes in the ground. Neither he nor Mike said anything to me prior to leaving, so I assume we passed the test. I heard Mike tell the engineer that in the area where they excavated for the new sewer line (the earth is soft there) they will install additional rebar in the footings.

It is starting to take shape. While the yard will not look any worse than it does right now, you can see the outline of the hot tub bay. Considering how wide they trenched for these footings, we were wise to take out the two maples just south of the sunroom. The trenching would have doomed them.

I need to warn Bob (landscaping) that a significant amount of the excavated dirt will be going back in the hole. Or, I may just surprise him!