This Week's Achievement....

Not much progress this week. I did realize that I did not put nearly enough contingency into our budget. "Our" Mike and Nate spent one day (Tuesday) on the sunroom framing, but there was no other outside activity. "Bobcat" Tom did not appear to work on the utility trench as predicted. Frank's (HVAC) John showed up to continue with the basement boiler installation. He was joined this afternoon by Tim. They will continue on Monday.

We did get an invoice from Tyler (architecture) for 10% of the charges for their construction phase services. That percentage represents his estimate of the extent of the construction progress at this point. Realizing (now) that we will pay for these services whether we use them or not, I called "Our" Mike and advised him to not hesitate to consult Tyler whenever possible. Mike, while disagreeing with Tyler's current completion estimate, said that he has only contacted Tyler to reconcile errors or omissions in the drawings. He doubted that he could use as much consulting as I am going to be charged for, but thought maybe he might be able to use Tyler as another carpenter.

While talking with Mike, I took the opportunity to express my disappointment with the pace of the construction. Mike assured me that he was doing what he could and asked for patience.

With respect to "Bobcat" Tom coming this week, he never returned Mike's call of earlier this week. I wonder if he will next week. Mike said that he did talk with Jim (glass roof), brought him up to date on the project status (Jim had requested an update last week) and requested an updated quote for installation of the glass roof. Apparently, Mike has decided that he is no longer willing to install the roof himself. That will increase the cost of the roof by about 20%.

Mike also said he has received an updated quote for the Lincoln doors and windows for the garage. Mike never shared the original written quote with us but told me the cost. While I have not seen the updated numbers, they are 20% higher than what he told me before. Still will be about one-half of the cost of Marvin doors and windows for the garage.

There has been no response from Eric or Betsy (solar) regarding my request for a copy of the Net Metering Agreement. Eric emailed me yesterday, saying the agreement was approved on October 31 and therefore our next payment was due. I replied that I would arrange for the next payment as soon as I got a copy of the agreement. No response...isn't that interesting!

Snow coming this weekend.

Stay warm everyone. Think how cold it would be if it wasn't for global warming...sorry, it is now referred to as climate change (that covers everything, including locust).

First Flurries of the Season

We will not have the project completed before the first snow fall...that was today. Just flurries today, but they are forecasting an 80% probability of some accumulation on Saturday. We really never had any plans based on being finished before the first snow, but we were repeatedly told that completion of the construction, by the end of this year, was achievable. "Our" Mike has stated several times that the pace would accelerate once the foundations are in place. The foundations were completed one month ago (October 15), but the pace does not appear to have accelerated yet. The current pace of effort does not appear to support the end-of-year completion objective. I hope to be proven wrong. We are anxious to put the new facilities to use and I am getting tired of defending the pace of work to our neighbors.

As was the case yesterday, there was no activity today in the backyard. Tuesday, "Our" Mike had told me that "Bobcat" Tom would show up this week to complete the utility line trenching. I guess that means we will see him tomorrow, right?

John returned this morning, as promised and continued work on the boiler system in the basement. He will be back tomorrow morning.

The only other activity today was an email from the solar company. Eric (a new name to us) wrote to say that the Net Metering Agreement (NMA) was approved on October 31. Hence the next payment for the solar system is due (an invoice was attached). According to their web site, Eric is the VP of Business Operations and one of the three founders of the company. The last time we communicated with Betsy about the NMA (on October 13), she had not even submitted the application. At the time, she explained that, since this step was not critical path, she did not want to submit the application too soon. This was to avoid us having to make the next payment any earlier than necessary. While, at the time, I was a little skeptical of her explanation for not submitting the application as she had previously said she would do, I thanked her for her thoughtfulness. When (or why) she finally submitted the application, she never informed us. We are not much closer now to needing this approval than we were a month ago when she gave me her (thoughtful) reasoning for not submitting the application at that time. We were also told originally that we could expect to receive the approval notification directly from the utility, and we should let the solar company know when we received it. According to the email I received today, that was incorrect. I responded to Eric asking for a copy of the approval to be forwarded to us. Once we get it, I will arrange payment. I want to be perfectly clear, I trust this company completely...I have just learned that is prudent to request documentation to validate their representations.

Sunroom Tour and HVAC Drama

A Tour of Today's Sunroom

The Bar

The Fireplace with French Doors on Either Side

The Casement Windows

It was chilly this morning, but sunny. High for today, and the remainder of the week, is forecast to be 35F. T is starting her journey to Texas today. No one showed up to do any outside work. When "Our" Mike left yesterday evening, he said he might be back later today. Did not make it.

Last week, Mike told me that Frank's (HVAC) crew (John and Tim) might be back to resume work on the new boiler for the radiant floor heating. I told Mike that was great, but that we still had the Stop Work Order posted on the front door. Mike assured me that the permits have now been obtained. I told him that, while I was confident that is true, we still had the Stop Work Order posted on the front door. He seemed unconcerned.

Yesterday, on his way out for the day, Mike said that Frank's crew would be here this morning to resume work. I told Mike that was great, but that we still had the Stop Work Order posted on the front door. Mike assured me that the permits have now been obtained. I told him that, while I was confident that is true, we still had the Stop Work Order posted on the front door. He seemed unconcerned.

This morning, John (and later Tim) arrived to resume work on the boiler system while I was helping T pack the car. After her departure, I went down to the basement and mentioned to John and Tim that their resumption of work was great, but, for the record, I wanted to remind them that we still have the Stop Work Order posted on the front door. John said he would call their office and make sure they were aware of this fact.

While eating my breakfast, John came up and asked me to call Frank. After finishing breakfast, I called. The points made by Frank were: 1) he requested confirmation that I was asking them to stop work; 2) the issue with the City permit was my fault for being truthful with the City Mechanical Inspector and permitting him access when he showed up to conduct an inspection on October 23; 3) Frank (who was still recovering from surgery at the time) had to go down to the City offices to complete "one more form", to obtain the required permit. I was copied on the email acknowledging the approval of this permit; 4) it was my responsibility to contact the City Inspector to inform them that the required permits had finally been obtained and the Inspector should remove the notice on our front door; 5) I should have informed Frank before the crew arrived today that I was not going to allow them to work due to the notice on our front door.

After all of this, I suggested to Frank that we were perhaps working with the wrong HVAC company. I won't go into all the rebuttals for, what I considered to be, the amazing list of absurd points he raised. The bottom line was that I did not accept any responsibility for the development of this issue and assured him that if another Inspector comes to the door, I will again respond with the truth to all their questions. Since Frank said he had never seen a Stop Work Order, I went down to the front door and read the notice to him. It lists his company, and named him individually, as the "Responsible Person...subject to immediate arrest" for violation of the Stop Work Order. At this point, Frank reemphasized that the permit has been obtained, but he could not remove the notice. I agreed and told him that I had no authority to remove the notice either. My assumption was that, once he had straightened the permit issue out with the City, the City would remove the notice.

At this point, we both took a deep breath. I emphasized to Frank that I brought this issue up (several times now) to ensure the situation is correctly handled and so that neither of us would encounter any other difficulties with the City. Frank said he would call the City and find out what needs to be done. A short time later, I received a call from David Bott. He identified himself as the City Mechanical Division Inspection Supervisor. He confirmed that the permits are now in place and work can continue. He also said that the original Inspector (M. Smith) should have come out and removed the Stop Work Order on October 27, the day the permit was approved. If I so requested, he would have someone come out and remove the notice. I told him that would be fine, or if he authorized me to do so, I would take the notice down. All I required was his name and title for future reference. He subsequently authorized me to remove the notice. I let John and Tim know that I had received a call from the City and taken down the notice.

This drama just doesn't want to go away. This afternoon, M. Smith (City Mechanical Inspector who originally issued the Stop Work Order) dropped by to remove the Stop Work Order from the front door. I informed him that his supervisor (Bott) told me to go ahead and remove the notice. I took the opportunity to ask M. Smith about the letter I received from the City condemning our lawless behavior and threatening legal prosecution. M. Smith seemed to not remember the letter (signed by himself) that was sent to us or what it said. I suggested to him that it would be great if the City would send me another letter acknowledging that the issue has been satisfactory resolved. M. Smith said he didn't know how to respond to my question, but he would ask about it. Otherwise, in his professional opinion, we would just ignore the letter. Duh, why didn't I think of that?

One thing I have learned (the hard way) from this drama regards the apparent relationship existing between the various contractors and the City Inspectors. While interesting, I hope this drama is over.

In the mean time, John and Tim worked diligently on the boiler system in the basement. Tim primarily was concerned with the air intake and exhaust lines. John was starting on the plumbing on the boiler. Despite the permit drama, I have enjoyed working with Frank's crew. John will be back tomorrow to continue his work.

Radiant Heat Boiler

Air Intake and Exhaust Vents

Happy Veterans (Armistice) Day - Happy Birthday USMC

Happy 239th Birthday USMC - Semper Fi

In Honor of Our Veterans - Thank You

Yesterday was probably the last beautiful day (weather-wise) we are going to have for awhile. A bit windy, but it was sunny and warm (high of 73F). Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, no work was done on the project.

"Our" Mike had implied last week that work would be interrupted by Veterans Day this week. Therefore, I was surprised to see Mike, Nate and one more show up around 7:30 this morning and begin working on the sunroom framing. We have a front coming through and temperatures will be falling throughout the day. The highs today will be near 40 with a slight chance of snow flurries. The high for Wednesday will be at midnight tonight with the temperature continuing to fall into the low 30's. No significant probability of precipitation until next week.

Mike and Nate worked on the sunroom framing throughout the day. Their third helper left for other tasks around mid-morning. They got the frames erected on the east wall, the north wall (bar) and the south wall.

Start of the Day

End of the Day

Can See Where the Windows Will Be Placed!!

Ended up not seeing any snow flurries during the course of the day, but it got cold enough for it to happen. Mike said that Frank (HVAC) will be back tomorrow. I reminded Mike that we still have the Stop Work Order posted on the front door. With T leaving for Texas early tomorrow morning, he would have to come down and bail me out if the police toss me in the slammer. He did not seem overly concerned.

Mike said that "Bobcat" Tom will be back sometime this week to complete the utility line trenching. He said he really did not need to have Rob (electrical) here to lay the conduit in the trench across the alley over to the power pole. He has the conduit and the glue. It will be nice to have that trench filled and a "level" yard for the first time in almost three months. I asked Mike about putting the electrical conduit in the same trench as the water lines. Despite what I was told previously, he said that was OK after all.

Mike said he talked with Rob about still not having received an updated electrical proposal. Apparently, Rob never received the drawings I sent to Mike on September 3...or at least did not realize he had received them. There were ten attachments to the email I had sent to Mike who then forwarded them to Rob. Anyway, at Mike's request, I have combined all ten drawings into one PDF file and resent it to him. He will forward it to Rob.

I asked Mike if he had seen the email he received (I was copied) last Friday from Jim (glass roof), asking about the status of the project. Mike said he did not, but said that he needed to call Jim anyway to discuss the installation. Apparently, Mike has been discussing this installation with some of his compatriots who have raised concerns in Mike's mind about his willingness to undertake this task. If you recall when we were deciding on the source of the glass roof, Jim stated that anyone "with a lick of common sense and no fear of glass" can handle the installation. At the time, Mike thought he qualified. Now, he is not so sure. If he isn't sure, than neither are we.

TGIF

"Our" Mike's carpenters arrived at 7:00 and got after it. The garage framing was completed, the plywood siding was installed and wrapped. They did some preliminary measuring and planning on the sunroom framing, but that will obviously not start until next week. The garage really blocks the view of the back of the house.

Before Work Started on Friday

End of the Day

Lots of Privacy Once The Roof Is Installed

Rob (electrical) did not personally make an appearance, but someone from his shop was here until late morning laying conduit in the trench. Three 1", one 1-1/2" and one 3" conduit. I am a little surprised that he put the conduit in the bottom of the trench along with the water lines. I thought I had been told that there was a code stipulating that the water and electrical lines could not be in the same trench. Hence, they dug the trench with a "shelf" for the electrical conduit. Obviously, I misunderstood. There is a new heavy box in the basement which I assume is the new breaker box.

Some time after he had departed, Drew (solar) showed up. The only thing I can see that he did was to commandeer one of the 1" conduits, anchor it to the garage foundation, penetrating the garage wall for the solar wiring.

Nate told me that the lumber company showed up and took dimensions for the trusses as Mike had predicted. I also noticed that John (one of Frank's [HVAC] crew) was roaming around. I was concerned that perhaps he was going to restart work on the boiler in the basement, despite the fact that we still have a Stop Work Order posted on the front door. I did not speak with John before he disappeared, but Nate told me later that John stopped by to check on the performance of the new domestic water heater.

That's it for this week. We actually got three days of outside work in during the week. A record! Hopefully the weather next week will cooperate. With the holidays coming, we probably have only four or five full work weeks remaining in the year.

Building Walls

While nothing much happened yesterday, the City did come around and repaired the holes in the street made during replacement of the domestic water line. It is a relief to have this accomplished. We been concerned about cyclists being surprised when encountering these holes. In addition, the noise created when errant vehicles would hit these holes, was disconcerting.

This morning is sunny, windy and cool. At 7:00 am this morning, I noticed three trucks sitting out front. Around 7:30, I went down to the basement and unlocked the basement door in anticipation (the carpenters had left some equipment in the basement on Monday). It was almost 8:00 am before one of the carpenters came to the front door asking if I could unlock the basement door. I told him it was already unlocked. The carpenter then asked if they could assume we would have the basement door unlocked at 7:00 am each morning. I told him that I would be happy to have the door unlocked by that time each morning as long as I knew they would be showing up to work.

Monday Afternoon

Thursday Afternoon

Mike and Nate also repaired the broken lateral from the east downspout drains over to the sewer line.

Spliced Lateral Line

Mike says tomorrow should be busy. Not only will they continue with the framing, but also Rob (electrical) will finally make his appearance to begin his work and Drew (solar) should also be here as well. The lumber yard people are expected to take measurements for the garage trusses. Mike predicted we would have the trusses within a week.

Mike also said that he had talked with Mark about the hot water line going to the sunroom. I had previously mentioned to Mike that we were concerned about the length of the water lines and hence the time it will take to realize hot water at the bar. He said Mark thought it might take about 30 seconds to get hot water to the bar. That may not sound like a very long time, but it is very a long time when you are standing at the bar waiting for it. Simple observation shows we could eliminate roughly 28 feet of 3/4" copper piping in the basement on the hot water line going out to the sunroom. I measured the full-flow hot water rate in the kitchen at 2 gpm. Assuming the same rate going to the sunroom, it will take about 15 seconds to displace that 28 feet of piping (which would hold about 1/2 gallon of water). Therefore, Mark may be close, if not a little optimistic, with his estimate of 30 seconds to get hot water to the bar in the sunroom. At a minimum, we need to eliminate this unnecessary piping.

Another Beautiful Autumn Day

As foretasted, it started raining after midnight Monday night and continued until Tuesday afternoon. It was not a heavy rain, but it soaked everything. While the carpenters told me, when they left Monday afternoon, that they would probably be back on Wednesday, I was not surprised when no one showed up today. It was a beautiful autumn day, sunny, dry and cool. However, it was pretty muddy in the back yard. There was a chance of rain tonight, but now that chance is only 10% or less. Should be nice for the last two days of the week. Don't know if "Our" Mike will have anyone show up or not. We are running out of time before the first snow. They were actually saying we have a chance of flurries over the weekend. This week is our three month anniversary of getting the construction permit. That permit expires in three more months. Without a doubt, we had hoped we would have been much farther along than we are now. Most of the needed stuff has not even been ordered yet. Some of those items, like the glass roof over the hot tub, we don't even know what the delivery time will be.

We did, finally, get an email from Betsy (solar) today. It has been a couple of weeks since she said she was communicating with all the appropriate players and would be getting back to us. She attached a electrical drawing, pictures and a change order for approval (finalization of the location of the inverters). There were some other changes included on the change order which I challenged and she subsequently recanted. Sad to say, we will have to watch this company closely.

Let The Carpentry Begin

It is supposed to begin raining after midnight tonight and continue into early tomorrow afternoon. Sunny, dry and cool for the remainder of the week. "Our" Mike and his crew (Nate plus two carpenters) arrived a little after 7:00 am this morning. Daylight Savings Time had been discontinued this past weekend, so there was a little more daylight at that hour. They reviewed the drawings for quite awhile before agreeing on a work plan. Prior to finishing for the day, they had two wall frames built, one of which was raised into position. With the rain forecast for tomorrow, probably won't see much more activity until Wednesday.

Yesterday, I sent Mike an email informing him that, over the weekend, I inspected the trench that "Bobcat" Tom had dug 10 days ago for the utility lines. In doing so, I noticed that Tom had "found" the clay lateral from the east side downspouts over to the sewer line. He not only found it, he dug out a three foot stretch of it. I confirmed this by running water into the downspout hub and, sure enough, it emptied into the trench. In the email, I suggested to Mike that we needed to get this repaired prior to refilling the trench. This morning, I asked Mike if he saw the email. He said he did and they would make the repair. Looks as if they are going to use a piece of the PVC lateral they had to previously remove when installing the garage foundations. Good thing I was lazy and did not throw those remnants away this weekend while cleaning up around the ash tree.

Go South Young Mosquito, Go South!!!

!!HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Tonight, we are promised our first hard freeze of the season. It is a little earlier than normal, but certainly not unprecedented. Yesterday, we brought in our tender plants that were surrounding the ash tree. We have a lot of room in the basement around the old bath tub and toilet (who needs a screen around the toilet?). I have ordered some full spectrum florescent bulbs to keep the plants happy until Spring. The culinary herbs were taken up to the kitchen and conservatory, for convenient access. Today we will harvest and/or bring in the peppers and tomatoes. I finished insulation of the hot water heater circulation lines in the basement and now we have very fast hot water delivery in the kitchen.

We had essentially given up on any project activity this week. Too bad, considering the nice weather. We had people show up Wednesday for meetings, but nothing else. I was surprised to see "Our" Mike and a lumber company truck pull up around 7:30 am. Mike told me this is the timber for the exterior walls. Forecast for the coming week is mostly good, with highs in the low 60Fs. Currently, there is an 80% chance of rain next Tuesday, but otherwise dry and sunny. Maybe we'll see some structure sprout next week.

The Ash has already lost all its leaves

 

Not too impressed with their delivery techniques

!!HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Cool Day

No work accomplished today, or yesterday, or the day before. "Our" Mike stopped by today. He had a coordination meeting with Bob (landscaping) and another with a couple of guys from the lumber company. Mike told us that he expected to begin the carpentry work next week.

Bob introduced us to Drew, who will be the field supervisor for the landscaping effort. Bob showed T the proposed Old Monroe aggregate paving material and the chess board color choices. T approved the aggregate and selected the board colors (while they all looked pretty much the same to me, I liked the middle one). Bob told us that, based on his conversation with Mike, they do not anticipate starting the landscape work until the end of the year. In addition to introducing us to Drew, Bob also said he wanted to get an update on the fencing plan. I told him that we have confirmed with our east neighbors that they will be extending their fence line north to a point coinciding to the corner of our two houses. I pointed out to Bob that the fence that will be installed from that point over to our house will need to contend with the sloping foundations on our house. Bob acknowledged that he had not previously noticed this slope, but they will discuss with the fencing company.

Before leaving, Mike and I chatted. When I asked about the electrical work, I got a vague answer. Mike also assured me that the issue with Frank's (HVAC) permit had been resolved and that they would be back to continue their work soon. I reminded Mike that we still have a Stop Work Order posted and I have a letter from the City condemning our criminal activities. Both need to be removed or rescinded prior to Frank's returning to work.

Mike also mentioned that, in his talk with Bob, it was established that Bob's company will be installing the patio, walkways (exterior flat work) and the steps to the sunroom. Mike had originally had these in the scope of work for "Concrete" Mike's company (they did the foundations). This means that the only remaining work for "Concrete" Mike will be to pour the interior flat work (slabs) in the garage and sunroom. As long as it does not impact the overall cost significantly, and considering the performance of "Concrete" Mike's foundation work, we are satisfied with this arrangement. "Concrete" Mike also had given us warnings against using the specific aggregate proposed by Bob. Therefore, letting Bob control the installation of that aggregate will help ensure it is successful.

Yesterday, John (solar) was in the neighborhood and stopped by to see how the project was going. John was with Betsy when they first came out to talk with us back in July. He asked if there was anything he could do to help. I told him that we had not heard anything from Betsy since she wrote to us last week. At that time, she announced she was communicating with all the parties involved to finalize the location and installation plans for the inverters. She promised to let us know the outcome of those communications.

Don't know what to expect to happen, if anything, during the remainder of the week. The weather remains perfect for construction work. Next forecast for rain is early next week.