Last week of our "Indian Summer" and More Renos ... Week #7

Yesterday we received a phone call late afternoon that our crew will arrive at 7am instead of 7:30 to pull the 3 patio doors in preparation for the torch-on crew. Hopefully not as cold as Sunday morning at 1C. Turned out to be 3C ... not much improvement.

Spent the afternoon out at the campfire and ate hot dogs. Definitely reminded us of the years camping down Alberni Inlet. Our neighbour Pat came over for a few minutes, introducing us to her mom, Betty. What a beautiful day.

Monday, our construction crew arrived on time at 7 am. It is going to be a cold morning in the house. They  puttered around setting up until 7:30 and then started working on removing the patio doors. Roger and crew took extra care to not damage them and it took about 2 hours to get them out.

Our crew continued to work on the pad under the deck, doing the final prep for concrete next Tuesday. Our electricians crew came to run the heavy wire for the hot tub.

Once again, after "digging to China" for the 3rd or 4th time, the area was flattened out using a laser level for grade and then Bernie once again, used the compactor. The side of the house was fixed again, as well.  Ray here.... I can't believe this all wasn't done at the same time when the machines were here, as they just hand dug for the hot tub, but they've known the placement all along.

So the side of the house went from this again ....

To this.

Nice grade now for drainage and ease for a possible walker for Ray.

The torch-on guys did not arrive until around 10 am and seemed to do nothing until 11 am where they started nailing the first layer on the deck.

At 12:30 they stopped for what seemed a longggggg lunch and started back up and continued. They quit at 3 to have an hour for "fire watch" and then left, apparently to finish the deck tomorrow.

Applying the second layer

We were told our doors would be back within the day.   However, they were not put back in so I suggested to our crew that they needed to put up some plastic so we were not exposed to the outside all night and the furnace does not have to do double duty.

We did manage to stay warm in the house last night as there was no wind.

Both Ray and I were up early again ... with all this stuff going on we are hard pressed to stay in bed after 5:30 am. Cold and foggy again this morning but the fog was dissipating by 7:30 am when our crew arrived. Today they will continue with prepping for the concrete pad and sidewalk, placing all the rebar. The deck crew arrived at 10 am but did not start anything until after 10:30 am. Hopefully at this rate they actually finish today.

.... they did not get finished. My patio doors are still not put back. Good thing they are on contract, not an hourly rate.

A big, black pond! lol

The tar is up some of the posts preventing the bottoms getting wet ever again. The rest will be done tomorrow.

Our construction crew worked on putting the rebar in for the patio pour next Tuesday. 

They also got part way up the sidewalk and will finish it tomorrow.

Earlier this morning we met with David Coulson and his assistant Donna. They came at Ray's request to get some design decisions nailed down and get our "Budget Spreadsheet" with the plus's and minus's for costs so we know where we are. We were supposed to be supplied with this document at the beginning of the job but did not. Ray made sure that they know we expect supplies are ordered well before certain jobs in the house start so the guys do not have any delays. Ray was extremely upset as he'd been concerned about ordering our deck tiles early, they were never ordered  ... now you can't get them. They have ordered new tiles from Italy as a replacement and will supply them at the old price so we don't have to absorb their mistake.

Roger is hoping that the pour next week will also get both the stairs and sidewalk done as well. I hope so as the weather right now is stellar and probably is going to go downhill with rain soon.

Wednesday, a lovely sunny day again. The roofers did not arrive again until 10 am ... seems they only work 4 hours a day! I spent the morning in Duncan purchasing vanities, bathtub etc.

Once I was back at 1 pm, the roofers told Roger that they had another job to go to tomorrow so they wouldn't finish, so our patio doors could go back in until Monday! This is day 3 of an "open house". Roger gave them $$XX!!! so they completed the door landings and then left. Too bad they have another job, they should have finished our job first instead of leaving us this way until next Monday! We were delayed a day because they were late finishing another job before us. If they would work more than 4 hours a day they would not be behind! They even had an extra guy today.

Third layer on ... more like an asphalt  roof now.

Rain scuppers are in.

But our doors are still not put back until tomorrow.

Our construction crew spent the day putting in rebar and help forming the sidewalk transition from the driveway. The plan is still to pour on Tuesday in the rain!!!! and cover with plastic. Bernie also checked and caulked all the gaps in the siding on both sides of our house and window trim. He made sure everything is snug and secure. He also put in caulking and made sure the siding is tight where the bats were getting into the house. They have all left in their migration now, so we were able to button up the house so they can't get back in next year. Here's hoping. We still have to get the front entry over the door enclosed so they can't roost back there either.

A little tricky forming a nice rounded corner and forming up to the fence only. This is so if the posts rot down the road, you can access them from the neighbours side to replace them. Good thinking Roger. All edges have been chaulk marked for the level of the concrete.

And today is graduation day for our driveway ... we can use it! Yeah! The slopes are perfect and tested with water so it all drains into the drains with no puddling ... a job well done.

Thursday, this morning less fog on the water. It is going to be another beautiful day. Hopefully the patio doors get put back in this morning so we can have the inside floor properly cleaned by our housekeeper this afternoon.

Our 2-man crew spent the morning getting the doors back into their perspective holes. Chris spent the rest of the afternoon putting in the insulation and caulking them while Bernie built one of the new kitchen walls downstairs.

Our son-in-law Jason pointed out the 2x4's aren't treated for moisture and we know this is a flood zone. We are designing everything so if there is a flood, remediation costs are minimized.  So Ray called up our dock guy and asked what they sprayed on our dock to preserve it. The stuff they use is called Eco Wood Treatment (completely earth friendly) and can be used for inside applications without any off-gases. So once the framing is done, we will have his guys spray the basement before they insulate and gyproc it.

The torch-on guys never did show back up so I guess they went to the other job and will be back on Monday.... who knows. Roger removed our bedroom and bathroom doors, so they can be drilled for proper door latching hardware. Currently they are all just little push latch all the dogs take advantage of, while in I'm in the shower.

The Lazy-Boy guy arrived at 12:30 pm and filled our chair backs with more padding. Feels much better.

At 12:45 the cleaning crew showed up. Unfortunately everyone here at the same time. Oh well at least the bathrooms will be clean and the upstairs done up for our next guests. lol It ended up working out ... had them clean upstairs first. By the time they came to the main floor the Lazy-Boy guy was packed up and gone and Chris just finished caulking the last patio door so they could clean up. Yeah. Nice to not hear gravel crunching all over the floors. I have been vacuuming the hallway daily to try and mitigate the mess but it was hopeless with the 3 doors not installed and the work crew walking in and out constantly. As my Aunt tells me "this too shall pass!"

Friday Ray and I went to Nanaimo for some shopping. Needed to pick out some glass to have etched over our front door ... to keep the bats out. lol While we were gone our crew finished up the final prep on the side of the house for the concrete and put up 2x4's to hang tarps from if it rains for the concrete pour on Tuesday. The door trim for the patio doors was put back so the house sealed from the weather.

Yeah ... doors are back with their trim so I am not heating up the outside with the hot air ducts.

Downstairs a little more framing is complete in the bathroom. They added to the studs to bring the wall out even with the concrete footers.

Bathroom wall.

It did not feel that much was done this week ... but when I look back at my blog for the week I can see quite a bit did happen. :)