Another update

The stone went up last week and was acid washed on Monday. Heating Jim finished the HVAC upgrades yesterday so the drywallers are here today. They are still working on the siding. It seems like it is taking them forever but there are so many details. Lots of measuring and cutting. So here are the latest pictures:

Putting up the stone, the tarp was keeping things dry as it was raining.

The back of the house with the soffit, siding and trim work finished.

A close up of the stone finished. The window still needs trimming out.

A picture taken this morning of the front of the house with the siding so far.

Big picture view.

A view of our street. Our house is around the corner on the left. I counted 11 cars parked up and down the street from the 4 crews here today. Our neighbors must love us!

April 26, 2009

Only 2 more days until Emma's Birthday. We are counting down until she is 8!

Since I updated the trades have come and gone. The electricians did a nice job and we ended up adding some extras since they were here. We put in 7 can lights in our office -- it is so nice to be able to see everything. And we added additional ceiling lights and outlets in the basement and put them all on a switch. Another huge improvement. Never knew how much you could appreciate outlets and lights.

The plumber routed the plumbing and gas connections for the new bathroom, new laundry room, and 2 spigots for outside. Chris now even has hot water in the garage for when he washes the car in the winter.

The HVAC didn't install the new furnace yet as he waits until the end, but he ran the new ductwork to the new spaces in the house and connected those. We have to make a decision this week whether we want to redo some of the duct work on the 2nd floor and add a central return.

They finally took down the wall between the kitchen and the new family room on Monday. But put up a plastic barrier/wall in its place, so I haven't had a chance to see what it is going to look like all opened up. We only had one day of cold with the wall removed before the insulators came after the trades inspection and insulated everything, including both garages, which we weren't expecting. Things should be nice and cozy in there in the winter.

Last week the siding crew also started. They have most of the soffits done around the house. We upgraded to beadboard soffits and they are turning out great! Good decision. We also had a change order to have all the windows on the first floor which have brick around them wrapped in the new soffit/trim color instead of white. This looks much better with the brick.

And two weeks ago we had some drainage added in the back of our lot. We are hoping this will help with the waterfall we get when we get these 2 inches in an hour bursts. They ran 4" drain pipe along the back of the whole lot and tied into a storm sewer in the back corner. It worked with some success today when we got alot of rain, but it needs to be tweaked.

This week the Miratek (composite material) trim boards and window trim be in and installed. And they probably will start on the siding. Finally! They are going to tear out the garage floor on Monday and saw cut the new opening. They also are going to pour the front porch floor. And by the middle of the week, they should be drywalling. It should be a busy week!

Fireplace/TV

New family room

Looking from new family room into "dinette"

Garages

I know... I know... Finally updated pictures

I have been "a little" delinquent in my blogging. I just have had a few other things on my mind lately.... Things have been moving along here, a little slow at times as they pulled half the crew off to start another job. But every time it rains or looks like rain we get the whole crew as they are putting a 2nd story on a ranch and like to keep that tarped.

This week they moved inside and took out the 1st floor bathroom and closet and opened that all up. They also finally opened up the wall in Sarah's room to the new addition too. The foyer is huge -- 14' x 9'. But it looks really nice and opens up the front of the house nicely. As you can expect Chris is loving this, but he left today on a business trip to Mexico and won't be back until Saturday. They have left the walls surrounding the kitchen up next to the new family room -- probably because those rooms aren't sealed up against the weather and that is a big area to open up and have all that cold air coming in.

The roof was reshingled a couple of weeks ago and they are coming to put up fascia, soffit and gutters the end of this week or beginning of next. I am most anxious for the new siding to go up as that will make a huge difference to how the outside of the house looks.

Last week they did quite a bit as they tore down the family room wall with the old fireplace and rebuilt it completely and added the three smaller windows, boxed out. They framed the walls for the new garage storage area in the old family room. They also tore out the old roof from under the new roof since it was now all waterproof with the shingles on.

The mechanicals are going to be coming in starting tomorrow to move some of the plumbing, put in new duct work and probably do some electrical work. I am really enjoying this all while trying to work from home. There is no place safe from the sound as they seem to be everywhere now that they are inside. Panera Bread has become my new home away from home!

Well, here are some pictures.

Destroy and rebuild

Tuesday they built and put up the walls for the new half bath. They also discovered that the 2nd floor joists were running the opposite way than the architect thought. So we are going to have to do a little redesign in the front, nothing major, maybe just change some of the trim work.

Yesterday the crew was busy tearing brick off the front of the house and building the support system for the addition to Sarah's bedroom on the 2nd floor.

Today they tore down the garage wall facing the street where the new garage door is going to be. But they built a temporary wall to support the old roof before they did that. They told me that they are going to build the new garage roof over the old garage roof and then tear out the old roof. They are doing this to protect everything from the elements. I can see where it is much more painful to remodel rather than building new!

It is pouring here tonight and things are going to be soaked. Chris is outside right now trying to rig up the sump pump hose and bring it to the front of the house as we have a lake in the backyard. We also have a mini waterfall coming over the wall in the back which seems to happen everytime we get more than 1/2 inch of rain. We are supposed to get this fixed come spring when they put in some drain tile, but for now, what a mess!

The crew is off tomorrow. They are expecting to get the roof on everything next week. Hopefully we don't get too much more rain before then!

New garage

Chris took some pictures last night of the new gargage. It was later in the afternoon so the pictures are a little dark. Don't worry, they are tearing the room off the current garage and rebuilding it so the walls won't stick up above the current garage in the front like it is showing on the first picture. The walls are 10 feet tall in the new garage but the ceiling will rise to 11 feet about a foot in from the front and back to accomodate a lift -- some day. Chris says he won't have any money left to either buy a new car or do things like he wants after this project is done.

The window in the back is a little different than I thought, a little longer. The plan was to put our garbarge cans back there under the window. I guess we will see how that works.

They are busy tearing off the roof of the porch this morning and waiting for the excavation crew to come back and pour the floor in the crawl space for the new half bath so they can build the walls. They tore the screen on one of the windows above but that can be fixed. At least the window is okay as the plan is to move those into the back bedroom to replace the one set up of windows that have not been replaced yet in the house.

Today we need to make a decision on our fireplace. We really like this one by Mendota, but of course it is the most expensive. So I am working to get a better price by calling around to some different dealers. We also need to decide on one furnace/AC or two. We are actually over the limit for one, but we are going to have 3 zones and a 60,000 BTU fireplace. The AC part is what I am worried about.

I am working from home today which so far is a little noisy. I am giving my leg a rest after going to the office yesterday all day. Tomorrow morning I have to be downtown Chicago by 9:00. Not sure if I am taking the train or getting a ride. It should be interesting!

February 23, 2009

The crew was AWOL on Friday last week, so nothing new happened. I am not sure if they are on 4 day work weeks or not, but will find out so we (Chris) don't bother with moving cars out of the driveway in the morning on Fridays.

But they are back today. They were busy starting to frame the walls for the garage when we left this morning. I will update later today with pictures if Chris gets home before dark tonight.

See you later!

February 19, 2009

The crew pretty much took the day off yesterday except for coming at 7:00 and spending 45 minutes pounding brick off the side of the house and then left for the remainder of the day. It was a pleasant way to wake up. But it was really damp and misty out so they must have headed to another job. Below is what they got done on Monday and Tuesday with put in the subfloor and ledger boards for the family room and bathroom bumpout.

But they were back today and extremely productive. They put up the far wall of the new family room and also the two side walls. They had to bring in another crew from another job site to lift up the tall wall as it was quite heavy. They other walls they did with just two guys. I imagine they will start framing the roof tomorrow. I think the size of the room is going to be just right. We could have gone bigger but then I didn't want it to be out of proportion with the rest of house. We also had to worry about the height of the peak so that it wouldn't peak above the roofline for the front of the house.

Also, I had some really awesome news today! For those of you who didn't know, I broke my right leg and sprained my ankle on Monday night when I missed the last step on the stairs while carrying my new rangetop down the basement. The emergency room staff told me I would be in a full leg cast for 4-6 weeks. I went home in a temporary full leg cast one until the swelling went down. And let me tell you, the last few days have been interesting. Especially since I don't consider myself the most coordinated person in the world. Not being able to bend your knee is a big inconvenience.

Today I had my followup appointment with the orthopedic specialist, expecting to come home in a permanent full leg cast. But instead I have come home in an aircast! I can bend my knee like normal, I can take the aircast off to shower, I can drive if I want (without the aircast on). And I should be able to go without crutches within the next 10 days. I will have the aircast on for 5 weeks, but who cares -- I can drive!!

I have been fairly calm and tried to keep looking at the positive until last night in bed and I broke down. The next few months just looked impossible for me, but also with Chris having to do everything and help me. But I just laid there and prayed and prayed for God to heal me. I am so thankful to Him for His mercy in making this a much more tolerable situation. I am also so thankful for Chris and the girls and their support in this situation. I still am going to need it but hopefully I will be back doing my normal things within the next week!

February 17, 2009

Sorry for being delinquent in my blogging again. We had no activity for the last week and a half as they had to have a spot survey done and approved by the village. But they are back at it as of yesterday. They put in the ledger boards and put down the floor joists and plywood for the family room and for the bump out for the bathroom in the front of the house. Today they started framing out the far wall for the family room. We are expecting rain/snow here today and tomorrow so they wanted to get everything under cover.

It has been quite noisy with them removing the brick off parts of the house and lots of hammering. They also dropped off a dumpster yesterday and a port-o-pot so we know we are finally here. And there is a big pile of wood in the driveway. So the machinery is gone but we have other material to take their place.

Chris and I cleared out the family room of everything and Sarah's bedroom this weekend. We relocated the living room furniture to the basement and the family room furniture to the living room. It is actually quite cozy with the new setup and it is working out nicely. We moved Sarah's furniture to the guest room and everything fit very nicely.

I think I have finalized my kitchen plans and am just waiting to get the final quote for the cabinets. I ordered a Wolf rangetop at a huge discount off of eBay and it was delivered on Monday.

The GC said that things should go quickly now. Still not ETA on when we will be done though. I don't think they want to commit yet until they get into the major construction and see how things go.

I will post pictures tomorrow!

Michelle

January 29, 2009

The crew has been busy working this week. They set up the forms for the new garage foundation walls on Monday and had the cement poured. They skipped work on Tuesday. But have been back at it yesterday and today.

On Wednesday, pulled the forms out and backfilled most of the new garage area. Then they moved to the front door area of the house and tore out the concrete stoop for the front porch using their jackhammer on the front of the skidster. Chris worked from home that day and said that was pretty loud.

Today, Thursday, they started digging out where the stoop was and then further out a couple of feet. I was gone all day again but there appears to be wing walls already there and they are currently digging out the dirt within the wing walls. I don't know if they have to move those further out or not, but I guess we will see. There will be a crawl space under where they are bumping the bathroom out.

They also busted the outside spigot off this morning. Luckily Chris was home and they could get in the house to quickly turn the water off. They decided to cap it off in the basement instead of putting a new one up because they are going to be tearing off the brick there and installing stone.

I am anxious for them to start framing, but I imagine that won't be for another week or so. Partly so we can look like we are doing something rather than just building these big piles of dirt in the yard as we now have another one by the front porch. Our neighborhood must wonder what the heck is going on -- they are on their third area of digging. I did have one neighbor call me when we first started and were digging for the family room. She thought that we must be having sewer problems to be digging in the winter. I filled her in and apologized up front for all of the trucks and dirt on the street. Hopefully this part will get improve when they stop excavating.

Good night!

Jan. 24, 2009

Sorry for being deliquent in my updates lately. There hasn't been anything really exciting going on. They finished up with the foundation last week for the family room and then this week they insulated it, put drain tile around and backfilled around the new foundation walls. They also poured a layer of gravel on the floor. They will have to wait to pour the concrete floor until things warm up.

The guy in this picture below is here every day working, even when it has been 5 degrees.

The new family room backfilled and ready for framing!

On Wednesday they moved on to the garage. They started digging for the foundation and when I talked to one of the crew, he said they were still hitting ice 2 feet down. So the ground is pretty frozen. With the start of the garage foundation, we lost use of the garage this week and now have to park our cars outside. Now we can deal with frosty windows in the mornings.

It really seems to be slow going as they seem to keep having equipment issues in this cold weather. Plus they ended up having to go deeper than 4 feet for the garage footings in certain areas as they didn't hit solid soil at 4 feet. This will be our first of I am sure many change orders. They were able to pour the footings yesterday. I think they were hoping to pour the walls today but they had trouble getting one of the tractors started and they broke the digger bucket. So then they were using a jackhammar attached to a skidster to break up the soil. There is a lot of clay where the garage is going.

Our front yard has looked like a dirt yard this week with three tractors, a big dump truck and trailer, and a large mound of dirt piled in it. I am sure our neighbors are loving us! Especially with the mix of snow and dirt dragged out into the street.

Last Sunday Chris and I went to Great Indoors and picked out a nice Blanco stainless steel sink, kitchen faucet and door levers. I also met again with my kitchen guy and narrowed down the design. I have the colors and door style -- which I custom designed, all taken care of. Now I just need to finalize the layout and pick out appliances.

Also, we did have one casualty this week -- our mailbox. I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later seeing that we have a mailbox on either side of our driveway. At least it was ours and not the neighbors and the post was left intact, so our GC just had to replace the mailbox.

Here is the latest and how they left it today!

January 13, 2009

We were hoping the excavation crew was going to come back on Saturday and plow the driveway with the skidster, but they didn't! We got over 10 inches on Friday night into Saturday. Fun, Fun! But the crew came back this Monday and has been busy. They dug all of the snow out of the hole and got to work setting up the forms for the walls on top of the footings they poured on Friday. Today they had the inspection and then poured the walls. It was only 10 degrees today, but they still poured. With the additional snow expected tonight and tomorrow and potential blizzard conditions they won't be working tomorrow. And then Thursday we have a high of 2 so I doubt they will work then.

The next step is for them to move onto digging out for the garage and addition in the front of the house. So that means we won't have use of the garage for much longer and then the cars will have to sit outside for the rest of the winter. Bummer! It also means the only way to get in the house will be thru the service door in the current garage. This should be interesting.

Also on Saturday, Chris and I traveled thru the snow to a stone place to look at stone for the front of the house and scope out stone for the new fireplace. I think we narrowed it down to two. We really need a larger piece of siding and a few bricks to make the final decision so we are waiting on those.

Stay warm everyone! Except for Jim and Barb who are in Florida where the temperatures are in the 50s all week.

One more thing today!

We have a nice 5 foot long oak mantle shelf and beautiful brass fireplace doors available. And we will throw in the gas logs if needed for anyone interested.

January 9, 2009

The excavation crew has been pretty busy. Yesterday the slab for the sunroom was finally removed, by bringing in a skidster with a jackhammar on the front of it. Then they pretty much excavated the rest of the crawl space yesterday and were bringing in big dirt haulers to haul all of the the dirt away. They really know what they are doing and how to operate those machines. The crew is back at it today again and are finishing the digging and starting to frame the foundation. They are supposed to pour the footings today. Chris bet me a $1 that they wouldn't be pouring this week, and I guess I won that bet.

On Wednesday I went and looked at a couple of houses in Arlington Heights to check out the siding color I was interested in and I loved the color -- it is Cypress! So that is one decision down. Now onto the stone, trim, fascia and soffit and roofing!

Below are some recent pictures of the hole in the ground. I know, exciting huh!

The first picture is of the fire they were burning the other day. It had pretty much died down by the time Chris took the picture:

The concrete crew was finally back at work again today. Chris came home at lunch and they had a fire burning in our backyard, burning some plywood. I think they must have been trying to warm the ground to dig. The ground that was under the patio they removed last week had frozen in the last week with the colder weather.

When we got home they had dug out a small area, but still have not removed the concrete slab where the sunroom stood. They left a large air compressor parked in the yard, so maybe they are going to jackhammer the slab out. I guess we will see tomorrow! The GC said they should have the foundation poured for the family room by the end of the week and will start on the garage and front of the house next week.

On Saturday, Chris and I went to look at fireplaces. Of course, the one I like is 300% more than was in the contract. But I knew the allowance in there was low to begin with.

Tomorrow I am going to look at a couple of houses in Arlington Heights to check out the siding colors I like. Hopefully the color will be what I want or I start over.