shopping

Today was productive. Even though Dave got paged every 17 milliseconds from work, and we had a soccer game, a little league game, and a tennis lesson to cart the spawn to, we still managed to get over to Lowes and pick out most of our remaining accessories. We have to go back to Lowes with the van tomorrow to pick up the vinyl tile, vanity and sink top for the laundry room.

And did you ever wonder who actually buys carpet from Empire Today, the company that comes to your house with all the carpet samples and installs the next day? On a lark I called them a few days ago, and they came today. And we actually bought our carpet from them. They had a limited selection but we were looking for standard goods - basic (but durable) plush carpeting for the kids's rooms in blue and gray. We got a good deal - at least a little cheaper than Lowes/Home Depot and they're basically on stand-by for installation with a 24-hour lead time. You can't beat that... as soon as the walls are painted we'll have the carpets installed so we can shave days off our move-in date.

week 11 - faxes, carpets, other stuff

Our architect faxed the letter today (I should have known he would - he is very quick). Now I wait for the building department to call me and give me the tentative OK.

Meanwhile, the rocker guy came this morning to measure. That was reassuring...

This weekend we're buying carpet. Sara wants gray, Ethan wants blue (after I talked him out of RED), and Dan wants zebra stripes. Since they will probably be all out of zebra stripes I am thinking he will get gray too. At first I refused to put gray in Sara's room, but after weeks of trying to agree on a color, I realized that gray offers a lot of decorating flexibility and I'm acquiescing.

We also need to get the sink and vanity. We choose a maple vanity at the home depot a few weeks ago, we just need to go order it and pick a vanity top. We're putting a vinyl floor in the laundry room and we should order that too, so we can be ready to put it down the minute the sheetrock is done. We'll also order the hardwood flooring for the hallway.

So lots o' shopping this weekend for me and Dave.

ughhh... failed the insulation inspection

Who fails an insulation inspection?

Well we did. The insulators put R30 in the ceiling and R13 in the walls, but the architect drawings specified R38 and R15, foil faced. We failed - not because R13/R30 isn't good enough, but because the installed insulation does not match the architect's speficications. So to fix this, our architect says he'll write a letter to the town saying it's ok to use the R13/R30.

The sheetrockers are scheduled to come on Tuesday, so if he faxes the letter they'll give us tentative approval and we can still keep to that schedule.

perfect match

The siding is done. As you can see it is a perfect match to the existing siding. It is impossible to detect where they patched the old air conditioner holes.

week 11 - wednesday.. siding almost finished

The siding is not quite done - the scaffolding is still up and they have a bit more to do - but I figured I'd share.

10 am - cruising along

More siding pics...

And here's Louie removing our wall air conditioners and patching up the holes so the siders can fill in the spots while they're here.

Week 11 - siding! and insulation too!

The siders rolled into Dodge at 7:35 am and they were up on their scaffolds by 7:55. I have no idea what they're saying (what's Slovenian for "oops"?).. but whatever they're saying, I'm sure glad they're here.

The insulators joined the party a few minutes later and they're almost done already. Insulation inspection should happen later this week and the rockers should be rockin' the house early next week.

Week 10... vicarious siding

Rob and Erica have siding on their addition.

Our siding is sitting under our overhang, in boxes.

*sigh*

oh I should mention

... that we sort of passed our framing inspection yesterday. Well, we got approval to go ahead and insulate. Should be happening any day now...

Week 9 ....... *crickets chirping*

Not much going on. We failed our framing inspection last week because the HVAC joints were not taped. The HVAC guy came yesterday and taped them, and the plumbing inspector is coming friday to re-inspect. Then the framing inspector has to come back and re-inspect the re-inspected taped joints.

Earliest date for sheetrock is next week or more likely, the week after next. The sheetrocking schedule is what determines the ordering of the flooring, which is what determines how quickly the spawn move upstairs and take all their STUFF out of my living room...

The siders were on vacation last week so they didn't come. They are supposed to come "later this week". Siding is not time-critical for anything though. It would just be nice to have.

But just to keep you all entertained, here's a picture of Bourbon.

And siding too? It's like Christmas!

The siding arrived today. It will be installed next week. And they took a piece out of the box to make sure it matches the existing siding... it's perfect.

more windows....

All the windows are in now. How cool is this?

Week 7 - grilles

Louie and Mark are making fast work of those windows. Only, we do have a problem. The grille pattern on the new windows doesn't match the old. Louie made a bunch of calls and we're considering a few different work-arounds at this point. One possibility is having custom windows made with the 6-over-6 pattern instead of 8-over-8, , then swapping them out when they come in.

Meanwhile I hear Scott is on vacation this week. See Scott, this never would have happened if you were here! (ok, maybe it would have... :)

Week 7 - Thursday morning... Windows from Wisconsin!

For those of you who thought our windows would never find their way to NJ, here's proof that they have. Louie sat in his truck this morning, waiting for our windows, and found out the driver had gone to his home address instead. But eventually they arrived here, and now Louie and Mark are installing windows as we type!

Week 7 - inspections

We had our fire, plumbing and electrical inspections yesterday and passed them all. Woo hoo!

Now if we could just get some windows..... *sigh*

Week 6 - no windows this week

The long-awaited windows were supposed to be delivered today, but they've been postponed by a week. Apparently the manufacturer in Wisconsin didn't have enough windows to deliver to NJ to make a full load, so they postponed delivery. Louie's problem is that the mechanincal inspections can't be done till the windows and siding are on. So even though the mechanicals are almost finished, the inspections will be delayed, unless he can talk the township into being flexible.

It's a bit of a monkey wrench for all. In the long run it won't set us back much, if at all. But I'm sure the men would really appreciate some windows up there.

Week 5 - metalic space creature invades attic

I was admiring the addition yesterday when I happened to look up and spot this metalic alien slithering along the ceiling joists. He had been lurking there, silent and motionless... I snapped this picture and started to run for my life, until I noticed that his giant metalic tentacles extend throughout the addition and even down into the ceiling of the original house.

But he seems to be friendly enough and I think we can co-exist once he's safely behind sheetrock. I'd even say, he's "cool"...

Week 5 - Wednesday

It's a party over here. The electricians, carpenters, plumbers and HVAC guy are all here. It's amazing to see all the mechanicals going in. There are 8 guys up there, walking around each other, stepping over each other's power cords - the efficiency with which this project has been handled so far is impressive.

Today we talked about where to put light fixtures, outlets, switches, and radiators. Now I can actually imagine living in the new space.

Week 5 - Monday

The HVAC guy spent the day here, installing the ducts for the new AC. He's done with the first floor and just has put in the second floor registers and hang the air handler. He did accidentally cut through an electrical line but he spliced it back together.

Tomorrow the plumber comes, and the electrician gets started later in the week.

I wonder when we should start to shop for light fixtures...

Week 4 - Wednesday... dumpster mayhem

To share with Erica the joy of having a dumpster, I thougth I'd take some pictures as the dumpster company took away our dumpster this afternoon. Good thing I was out there, too - because I was able to alert the driver that he was backing the dumpster up into the column that holds up the garage overhang, and was about to knock it off its footing completely. As it was, he only dislodged it a few inches, and Mark was on the scene immediately to bang it back into place.

It looks like the only harm done is the dented-up aluminum on the column, which they will replace.

Erica, see what you're missing?