Meeting about finishing

We met with James and J.D. yesterday to figure out how we can finish construction within our remaining budget. We started going down a path of talking through each line item, figuring out what we could ditch, which things we could skimp on, etc.

Then James went out back to walk through the addition. When he returned he said (I'm paraphrasing) "Look, I'd recommend, as your Architect, more than your Builder, that we don't start ditching things and giving you less than the original vision of your home. J.D. and I need to take a long look at the remaining work and find a way to get it to you within the budget."

This is more work for them, and we really appreciate it. It would be far simpler for them to go with their usual sub-contractors and high-end materials. But we can't afford that, and they are not the kind of firm that is willing to cut and run, or tell us "too bad, find more money".

Living through construction

We've been feeling the strain lately of living with construction all around us. It's little things, but lots and lots of them. They start to drive you slowly insane. For example, the photo here.

Was there any way the stucco guy could have dumped his bucket of cement somewhere other than a perfectly nice bit of our landscaping?

Could the threshold between our living space and the new space have been sealed up with a bit of plastic before drywall mudding, so as to avoid having our entire lives covered in white dust?

What about the speaker holes in our ceiling that coughed up chunks of prehistoric insulation phlegm until I covered them with paper plates and gaffer tape?

To be fair, we were warned about these things by everyone we talked to, including our architect and contractor, so we have ourselves to blame for not moving out. Nevertheless, I needed to vent.

Screwed

Erin writes:
My husband insists that this is a bolt, but "Bolted" is not nearly as compelling a title. Whatever it is, it's currently sticking through the floor of the second story. I'm sure it has an important purpose.

Once again our framer seems to be fading away. The tools are gone, as are the workers. It's frustrating, because they're really, really close to being finished. I'm sure they're moving on to another job, but it sure would be swell to get this one done first. I know, I know -- everyone warned us this would happen at various points in the construction process, but somehow it's easy to believe that somehow you're going to be the ones who miraculously escape it.

Fisticuffs

The heat here in Los Angeles (108 degrees!) has clearly slowed down the rate of construction. The framing looks to be 95% finished but it's taking a while to get that last bit done. We see the framer for a few hours in the morning and then he never returns from lunch. Is it the heat? Does he have another job to go to? Is he waiting on some part to come in? Or is it that his feelings are still hurt from the drama with the plumber?

We weren't home for this, but we've learned from a couple of sources that the framer and the plumber nearly got into a fist fight a couple of days ago. One of our neighbors said they were screaming profanities at each other with such vigor that she heard them from inside her house. She came outside and reminded them that there are kids on our block who shouldn't be learning that kind of vocabulary just yet.

Foundation poured

There it is. All dry. Ready for the slab to be poured next.

Reinforcement

Days 3 and 4

Dirt. I'm not a neat freak or anything, but whoah! Dirt everywhere. In piles. Tracked through the house. Coating the driveway. It's hard when you're a nesting pregnant woman!

Also, I have to give this crew credit. I thought construction types usually finished around 3:30, but here it is 5:40 on Friday and they're still working. I really hope they get overtime.

They're reinforcing the trenches with boards. I'm not sure if they planned on doing this, but JP heard something about the dirt being really soft. I think they're going to try and pour concrete (cement?) on Monday, and then get the inspector here. Things seem to be moving so fast! (Remind me of this in about 120 days or so...)

Day of destruction, pt. 2

(Erin posting this one):
Good things about construction starting:
-- We broke ground before my water broke. Whoo-hoo!
-- A Bobcat going up and down the driveway is pretty entertaining for a 2 y.o.
-- They got so much done! Check out the photos. I was really impressed.

Bad things:
-- At 7:15 one of the workers asked to use our bathroom. Grrrrr.
-- It was SO loud. As in earth-shattering, wall-shaking loud. I'm hoping it's not quite so bad once demo is over. I feel really bad for our neighbors. Unfortunately, there's usually someone home on both sides of us. We might have to ply them with Porto's Bakery goods this weekend to sweeten things up.
-- Our phone stopped working about an hour in, and was out all day. Ooops. I do have a cell phone, of course, but reception sucks inside our house so it isn't super-useful.

They are ahead of schedule (yeah, I know it's only been a day, but I'm optimistic!), so we'll have a couple days off (good for neighbor relations). At the end of the week they'll be marking for the foundation, and on Monday they should be digging trenches. Or pouring concrete. Or something like that. Stay tuned...

Interior demo clarified

We found out today that the interior demolition (blowing away the back wall/fireplace in the living room) has been rescheduled for much later into construction. Whew. They'll wait until they're ready to connect the new construction with the existing house. My optimism forces me to guess "October".

Poor asbestos guy

asbestos
Originally uploaded by japunto.

I feel bad for the asbestos abatement guy who showed up on Friday unannounced. He didn't really know the details of the gig and J.D. wasn't there yet. So, he did what anyone would have done -- he rang the doorbell. How could he have known that a very hungry and tired pregnant woman who'd just gotten home from a spectacularly lousy morning with her toddler would open the door? From what I gather, the ensuing exchange was not pretty.

J.D. did show up a few minutes later and they went about their business outside. Hope he didn't take it personally.

We are still trying to figure out what the construction schedule means when it talks about "interior demolition" beginning May 1st. We've been told that they wouldn't be doing anything inside the existing house until as late as possible. I'm guessing we just don't know how to interpret the jargon, but we're eager to get clarification on it.

Contract is ready

I've said "we're going to start construction in two weeks" at least five different times by now. This time, I may be right. Our contract with the architect is ready, so we ought to be really starting for real this time.

Meeting the builder

We met with James and JD (the builder) a couple of days ago. It went great -- we really liked JD, which is very important, considering he'll be the point man here watching over the construction, hiring the subs, etc. The structural engineer's drawings have been approved, so it looks like we'll begin construction in April.

Construction soon

We'll be meeting with James soon to discuss a construction start date. Should be sometime in March.
As I mentioned to reader barlo in the comments section a couple of posts ago, I'm starting to look into setting up a camera outside to take a few photos each day during construction so I can do a time lapse video. Why? I must have seen the Grid sequence in the Godfrey Reggio/Philip Glass film Koyaanisqatsi too many times when I was a kid.

Construction begins

Not really. This is a photo of a house being built with giant styrofoam/particle board ice cream sandwiches. They're called Structurally Insulated Panels. They are built at a factory to measure and then assemled on site -- no need for traditional framing. We're looking into this because we've heard that they can save on construction time/cost, as well as being very energy efficient.

Everybody Wow

James and Neha (designer on the project) came over on Friday to show us the plans. In three words: Greatly Exceeded Expectations. We are in awe of the design they developed. I'm going to post cleaned up versions of the plans and elevations based on the CAD files soon, but here's a grainy, stitched-together scan for now.

I love the incorporation of the existing house with the modern style of the addition. Clean lines, lots of light, tons of added functionality.

Everything on the left-hand side of the image beyond the chimney is new. Two steps down from the (larger) living room take you to the activity room, laundry, storage closet, small bathroom, and the guest bedroom. The guest bedroom will have a rear wall made of sliding glass doors that pocket into the wall, allowing for indoor/outdoor living. Please sign up early to stay with us in these lovely accommodations.

I'll write more about the interior once I post images. I'm also busy building a 3D model of the plans so I can shoot some QTVR movies or a flythrough to put online.

I recall James once saying that "this is the fun part" of doing a house addition, and I couldn't agree more. I'm sure the heady excitement we feel now will be neatly counterbalanced by the realities of construction. And paying for it. But for now our only job is to request small design adjustments here and there and start researching materials, finishes, hardware and colors. Yay us!

The freakout

I was waiting for this to happen. We were out walking the dog/strolling the child last night when Erin flipped out about the cost of doing the addition. I enjoy the benefits of being oblivious to the daily financial operations of our household. So I get to place my head firmly in the clouds and fantasize about brushed metal gutters and suspension bridge-like staircases. Meanwhile she's wondering if we should start looking into selling our house and buying a bigger one. I suspect this may have something to do with the six- to eight-month construction hell we're facing.
By the end of the walk we had wheedled the addition down to painting the door a fun new color. Well, not quite, but we've got to definitely watch out for feature creep. The ninja training center is right out.

Inspirational photo of the day:


This bedroom uses ropes and pulleys to reveal storage areas.

Neatly glossing over Erin's freakout, here are some additions to the wish list:

• Paint the house
• Fix up the sheds in the back yard
• Move the washer/dryer, turn that area into a pantry
• Gutters so snazzy that I'll weep whenever I behold them
  

Our first meeting with the architect

We met with an architect, James Meyer of Leanarch, today to talk about our home addition. He seems like exactly the kind of guy we're looking for. As Erin puts it, he's a proponent of the holistic, big picture approach. Someone who'll help us turn our small house into a slightly bigger, much more functional one. Oh, and with a dash of style and a pinch of modernity. Here's an example of their work that I like:





Our house is a 1939 three-bedroom, one-bath ~12oo sq.ft. bungalow. We've owned it for five years and in that time we've remodeled the kitchen and bathroom, added central air, new roof, new pipes, rewired it and a few other things. None of that changes the fact that it's a bit too small for our growing family.
Here's our current wishlist:

• add an entry way with coat closet
• new fence and gate for the front yard (Erin wants to have a place for our son to play during the lengthy construction process. Stay-at-home moms are clever like that.)
• blow away the wall / fireplace to make the living room bigger, better, faster & stronger; maybe adding built-ins for TV and related parasitic electronics
• add a project room for computers, filing, making stuff, romping, etc.
• add a small bedroom for some as-yet-unconceived (I think) child
• staircase going up to the...
• ... master bedroom/bathroom/reading nook/walk in closet/ninja training facility/deck

We'll add and subtract to and from that list as time goes by.