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December, 2005

Today was a busy and productive day again.  I was at the job at 7:30.  Harry was the first to arrive after, and he started right away on the kitchen window.  by the end of the day he was finished with that.

The electricians arrived about 8:00 and also got a lot done today.

I laid about two-thirds of the insulation in the attic, and cut the hole in the roof for the kitchen exhaust and installed the roof cap.  I still have to seal around that with some roof cement.

The second dumpster arrived today, and Tristan started filling that.  He also cleaned out the rafters in Marie's garage.  Those rafters were filled with old lumber and miscellaneous junk that Marie inherited with the house when she bought it.  I know she's finally glad to be rid of it.

Today at Marie's, the electricians continued - and we have lights!  Wow.

I finished installing the ductwork in the attic for the kitchen and bathroom vents.  For the kitchen, I like to use 6 inch round duct from the roof, and make a transition to the 3-1/4 by 10 inch duct just above the ceiling before it goes through the cabinet just above the range hood.  the 3-1/4 by 10 takes up a lot less space inside the cabinet.   I have to go back up there next Monday, and seal around where the kitchen duct goes through the roof, with some expanding foam insulation.  I forgot to do that today.

For the bath, all that is needed is 4 inch round duct.  All my ductwork is screwed at all joints with sheet metal screws, and then all joints are taped with metallic all-weather duct tape.  That way, there is no air leakage into the attic space.

The attic of the main house is now fully insulated with 8 inch (R-25) unfaced fiberglass attic blanket.  That will give me a total of R-38 when combined with the 3-1/2 insulation that is already in the attic between the joists.  R-38 is now the minimum village code for attic insulation.

Electricians will be back on Monday, bright and early at about 7:30.  I'll be there at 7:00 to open up and get at a lot of little odds-and-ends.

This week:  Yesterday (Monday) the electricians finished with their rough-in.  I called for my rough-in inspections and they're set up - tomorrow for the plumbing and electric, Friday for the general building inspection.

Today I installed the ductwork for the floor heating register on the porch, and then had to leave to go to a meeting with an old architect friend, Walter Sobel, (for whom I'm putting together a little web site to display his work - I'll get more posted there in the next month or so).  Walter is 91 this year.

Tris was at the job all day.  He got all the cleanup done and polished off a pretty good list of chores that I left with him this morning.  He was also around for the delivery of the appliances - fridge, stove, dishwasher.  They are now standing in the living room waiting for installation.

The rest of the afternoon on the phone for me, mostly returning phone calls.  I spent an hour or so talking with a Park Commissioner about a preservation issue in Oak Park and think we had a productive and promising conversation.   I'm trying to schedule the next couple of months of my life, and am eager to get this project completed - almost as much as Marie.

I have the drywallers scheduled for Monday the 12th, which means I can't get the floor guy in until the 19th.  He needs three days so I'll probably be installing cabinets (and maybe bathroom tile) on the 22nd through the 24th.  The windows and door are expected to be delivered around the 19th.

I worked out a plan for the bath wall tiles and have to get that okayed with Marie.  These pictures give a rough idea.  The floor tiles will be a 3" hexagons, and the walls, three-by-five white subway tiles.

I'm going to try to build the outside deck and stairs (to the new back door) during the week the drywallers are here.  I hope it's not too cold.  Temperatures are supposed to be around zero to ten above this week.

No photos today because there is not that much new to show.

Yesterday the plumbing inspection was a breeze.  The same today for the electric.  Tomorrow is the building inspection when they'll look at my framing and other work, especially the two new headers where I removed the brick walls.

I rolled the fridge into its new space to make sure everything fit okay, just in case I might have to make some minor changes to the framing.  I don't want to have to make any changes once the drywall is up.  Assuming tomorrows inspection goes well, John will be here on Monday to start hanging drywall.  The fridge fit beautifully, the door swings are perfect - the left freezer door does not block passage, and the right door will swing completely open, just missing the countertop.  Well, I can't tell you how many times I measured everything beforehand!

I also left the overhead framing header to the passage between the kitchen and porch very high - at almost 8 feet.  This, combined with the layout will make the spaces seem much larger than they really are.  This next photo shows the open framing which will enclose the refrigerator once the drywall is up.

This next photo shows all the plumbing and electric ready to get covered up.  you can also see the duct for the range hood which will run through the cabinet above it.

Here is the extra space behind the tub framed in.  It will be tiled and the top will be a shelf made of a piece of Corian.  The sill of the window will also have a Corian shelf - the sides around the window will be tiled.

Here is the plumbing wall, and the framing into which the medicine cabinet will be installed.  I have yet to design and build that.  The pieces of plywood in the wall below are there so that the plumber will have something to attach to when he bolts in the basin.  I always use plywood for this, and not regular lumber, because plywood will not split when screwed into and holds screws and nails much better that regular stock.

You can see in these photos that the attic insulation is all laid in on top of the joists.  There will be additional insulation between the joists.  That will all be done tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday - has to be done before the drywall.

This next photo shows the new electric sub-panel which will hold dedicated circuits for the kitchen outlets, lighting and appliances.  The bath will also have its own dedicated circuit - all protected by a GFCI.  You can also see the new laundry sink and plumbing in this picture.

One last photo:  This one shows the area under the porch.  The newly bricked in area is where a window used to be.  That had to be filled in, because the new door opening is right above it and needed more structural support.  The duct running across is for the new floor vent, to heat (and air condition) the porch.

I have a lot of anticipation about my building inspection tomorrow, and know I won't get a very good night's sleep.  Well, I'm sure I'll have to get up early anyhow to shovel my car out of the snow.

I can't wait for Monday and the drywall to start.  Now that the really important work is done, having the drywall up will really transform the place.  It will seem magical.

Had my building inspection yesterday.  The inspector did not find some of my framing to be to his liking, so didn't pass me.  I had to fix two things and now wait for another inspection next Wednesday.  It cost me an extra day-and-a-half's work. 

His major issue was this:  The wall where the kitchen window is, I framed in to basically accommodate insulation, plumbing and electric.  It is not a structural wall.  However, Three of the new ceiling joists I installed partially rested on that wall over the window opening.  My mistake, and I'm glad he caught it.

The easiest and best way to correct that minor problem was to just "sister" up new joists and have them rest on the brick - which I then did.  But the inspector told me that I also had to install a double 2x10 header over the window opening to carry the weight of the ceiling joists above - which the brick wall is now already carrying.

So, long story short:  To not delay things, and, as I have no reason to bicker with a building inspector and hold up the job indefinitely, I installed the header.

Of course to install the header, I had to also reconfigure the framing of the studs to include a full stud nailed to a "trimmer" on each side to support the header.  Unfortunately, my plumbing vent and an electrical conduit already ran through the stud on the right side.  That meant that on that side, I had to remove part of the horizontal vent pipe and a short piece of conduit (and of course I had to pull out some of the wiring), so that I could put in another stud.  Then I had to cut matching holes in the stud which was sistered to the existing one, and then re-run my vent, my conduit, and re-pull the wiring.

So now we have a real nice, sturdy header (the big horizontal beam in the picture above) holding up, basically...NOTHING.  In the picture, it looks like the ceiling joists are resting on the frame wall, but they are actually resting on the brick wall behind it.  Well it was good practice.

The other issue was relatively minor and we took care of that in about an hour.  The inspector didn't like the blocking under the LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) header beam over the new back door resting on the brick.  He said I had to run a continuous sill from one side of the span to the other, for the beam to rest on - and that it had to be bolted vertically into the bricks below on each side.  So I did that.  It wasn't really a big freaking deal.

Well, now that I've bored everyone to death with these little problems, here's where we stand in the project:  Harry finished bricking in the old doorway opening today.  All the brickwork is now completed except for a few small details.

Tristan started to install insulation today.  John delivered some drywall today, and is going to get started Tuesday on other parts  of the rooms and the bath, that the inspector found to be satisfactory.

The new date that I hope to have Maria back into her house is about January 3rd or 4th.  After that it will be odds and ends, and putting together a punch list of little'r (I don't know how to spell that - or if its' even a real word, but I like it) items to finish up.  Not as quickly as my ambitious first goal.  but then, if I hadn't been overly ambitious in the first place, things may have have gone as quickly as they have so far.  Actually, this project is moving along so far at an exceptional pace.  I'm so glad.

So this weekend we had or first crisis.  Marie got a call from Menards, where we ordered our cabinets, and they told her that the cabinets had arrived and were ready for delivery.  Because there was a little mixup on the finish color at the time we ordered (Marie wanted the "chestnut" finish instead of the natural cherry which was printed ot on the initial order) she asked the salesman while on the phone to check the color.  He did.  In a nutshell, they finished the cabinets in the wrong color.

We determined that it was indeed the manufacturer, Medallion that screwed up, and they now have to remake our cabinets at their expense.  By the way, I really like their cabinetry, and the quality is excellent.  I've used them several times before, and this is first problem I've had.

Our problem, Marie's and mine, is the cabinets are now, again, three or four weeks out.  I strongly urged that they give us priority in their factory, as did our salesman, James, at Menards.  He was very sympathetic, and very helpful in ironing this out.  But this is going to be kind of a real pain.

Marie was upset, but I advised her that we can pretty much work around it, and we should just roll with punch.  If all else goes as planned, this whole job will be over before she knows it, and in a few months, it will just be like she just dreamt the whole thing.

I can get most of everything else done before the cabinets arrive, but it now puts the completion of the job at around January 16th.  It will take at least a week after the cabinets are installed to have the countertops in - and tiling the backsplash has to wait until after that.

At least Marie can get the place cleaned up, the bath will be done, and she can move back in - with at least some temporary kitchen facilities.

Today the insulation is done (except for where we still need an inspection around our headers).

I fabricated a medicine cabinet.  I still have to make the door though.

Tris also put in the rest of the felt around the tub/shower area.

There are four sheets of drywall which John delivered Saturday.  These 10 foot sheets of 5/8th inch drywall are sure heavy, and I'm glad I'm not hanging the stuff!

John is such a pro, Even though I don't really need to be there, I think I'm gonna hang around tomorrow for a while just to watch the show.  He and his guys are amazing to watch.

Today's story is all about drywall.  On Tuesday, John (John Worthman Drywall) and one of his guys "rocked" the ceilings.  That was the heavy stuff!

Wednesday, John was alone and finished hanging most of the bath, including the cement board around the shower area.

By the end of today almost all the rock was hung, and John will start taping and mudding tomorrow.

It is really exciting to finally get a sense of what the space will be like.  It's fun to see what was only an idea in your head begin to take shape just like you envisioned it.  And, of course, there are always a few angles and (usually pleasant) surprises that you did not envision.

As usual, this kind of work spreads to other areas of the house.  So we have another "might-as-well".  The old plastered bedroom wall on the opposite side of the bathroom wall is in such bad shape!  John originally bid to put on a surface coat of plaster (or "mud"), but we decided that it would be easier, and no more cost in labor and materials to remove the plaster and lath and hang new drywall.  It will also make a much better and more permanent job.  So tomorrow, we'll remove the wood trim for reuse and demo that wall

Okay, where to start?  Well all the big bad stuff is done.  Now all the fun stuff is left.  This past week, John finished mudding and sanding the drywall except for the patching in the two bedrooms.  The walls and ceilings in the kitchen, porch and bath are ready to prime and paint.

Our floor guy, Peter, had two of his guys come out, patch the floor and then sand and varnish it with a very durable conversion finish.  We decided to finish these floors natural, with no stain.  In the photos, you can see the difference between the maple floor in the kitchen, and the red oak floor on the porch and in the back bedroom.  There are a few deep stains that could not be sanded out, but we decided to leave them and call it "patina".  (the worst stains in the kitchen will fortunately be under the new cabinets and hidden.)  Over all, the floors look great!

No other work got done in the last two days due to the floor sanding and finishing today.  The fumes from that finish are lethal - literally!  Well, if not literally lethal, they can literally cause brain damage!  The guys wore no respirators, and when I asked them and their boss, he said "they are used to it".  After 5 minutes I was already getting a bad headache - and I was wearing a respirator.

They do very good work, but I think it is not acceptable that Peter does not educate his workers better, and insist that they properly protect themselves.  I will think twice about using him again unless we can come to some kind of understanding about this.

By the way, after Tristan removed the really bad, ugly wallpaper - under the paint - in the back bedroom, he exposed the equally ugly old red paint on the walls.  Once we just get up some primer, this room will be transformed.

I forgot to mention, the windows were delivered yesterday.  Tris and I popped them both in, in about 20 minutes and they fit just right.  I can't tell you how many times I measured and planned - and planned and measured - and even so, I lost a lot of sleep the night before!

The kitchen window lets a ton of light into the room.  With that amount of light streaming in, I'm now thinking about the art glass that I'm designing for the upper cabinets that will reflect all that beautiful natural light.  I have some ideas.

One of the next things on my schedule is to pull a permit for building the outside deck.  I hope the weather warms up a bit so I can get to that.  I'll do some priming tomorrow, and maybe one coat of paint somewhere.  Also I have to pick up - or order - tile so that I can get going on tiling the bath.  I think Marie has come to a final decision about the floor.  I'll confirm that tomorrow.

Well things have been moving along quickly.  To me, it seems like this job has been going on for months, but it's only been about 5 weeks since we started demolition.  Boy, we got a lot done.  Some kind of record for me I think.  If the damn cabinets had arrived on time - and been the right ones, we could have a functional kitchen by now!  Oh well.

The last two days saw the kitchen primed and painted, and the bath and porch primed.  I installed the fridge and put the stove and dishwasher into the kitchen to get them out of the living room, where they just don't belong.

I tiled the bathroom floor with all the full sheets of tile.  Monday i will finish with all the cut pieces.

The living an dining room were a mess and I just had to get them cleaned up because I couldn't work around the mess any more.

I'm taking two days for the holiday.  Even though I'm kind of a Scrooge and hate the Christmas holidays, Avey likes to celebrate them still.  I think I'll sleep in tomorrow - God I do miss that!  Sleeping 'til 10 or 11 in the morning used to be my habit, and I think it's still my biological inclination.  I'm hoping someday to get back in that mode.  Just sleeping late and playing my violin when I wake up.  No more of this silly construction stuff.  My body can't take it much anymore.

December 26

Finished setting the bathroom floor tile.

That was it.  I threw out my back last week and it got worse over the weekend, probably from sitting in the car for hours.  I just couldn't work any longer today, and may have to pretty much lay off for a couple of extra days.

For the last two days, I've been working on the doors.  Yesterday, I stripped the two-way door between the  kitchen and dining room.  Stripping the kitchen side was a bear!  It had several layers of paint, and the bottom layers were the original old lead paint.  That one side took about six hours to strip.  Those two or three bottom layers just barely softened with even the strongest paint remover, even after letting it sit for two hours and recoating.  Very labor intensive!

The bright side is that that durable old lead paint really protected the surface and the wood is beautiful and un-oxidized, as if the door was made yesterday.  I almost feel guilty about having to stain it later.  The inside of the bathroom door was the same deal.

The other sides of both doors, which were originally stained and shellacked - - well it was easy to strip the paint, and shellac finish underneath, from them.  Each of those sides took about forty minutes.  As you can see in the photo, I didn't make an effort to remove all the stain, but just to leave it even.

I reused the jamb for the kitchen door, since it was in good shape.  It is made from gum wood, as I guess all the old kitchen trim used to be.  Gum was often used (like poplar is today) when a wood is to be painted.  Both gum and poplar (and birch) are very smooth grained, and take a nice finish without any grain showing through.  The woodwork in the rest of the house is birch, doors included - except for the window sashes which are, of course, pine.

I hung the bathroom door this evening -- working late.  It was an easy decision to reverse the hinge side from what it was before.  It used to swing in (to the left) and hit the toilet.  I've seen this in so many old bathrooms, and it is so dumb!  Not only is it awkward for access to the room, the door hitting the toilet constantly loosens it and causes leaks and rotted floors and ceilings, and all that.  Now the door swings in against the wall (to the right), and out of the way, as it should.

So anyhow, I had to make a new jamb and after reversing the hinges on the door, and removing (by planing) the (now backwards) bevel on the handle/lock side, I morticed the jamb to accept the old hinges, installed the jamb in the opening plumb and level, and popped in the door.  It was sweet -- fit the first time with no adjustments needed.  There is a knack to it, and well, I've hung a few old doors in new jambs before, so not a big deal.  But it still was sweet.  I got to go home earlier than I thought!

I also grouted the bathroom floor yesterday.  I stood the sink in place just to see what it would look like, and to take this picture.

Picked up my wall tile today, started measuring and planning my layout, to be okayed by Marie on Friday.  Tomorrow no work.  Gotta get the car fixed and a doctor appointment.

Yesterday and today, bathroom wall tile was what was happening.  I set all the tile on the areas outside the bath/shower.  I also put in some of the casing around the door.

The shower/bath part has cement board as a backer, and it needs to be mudded and leveled before I can set tile there.  Even though he hung the cement board as well as the drywall, John only mudded and taped the drywall.

After we chatting about not having enough storage, Marie though it would be a good idea to build in another small cabinet for miscellaneous cleaning supplies and stuff that she could keep in the bathroom.  Since there is no linen closet in or near the bathroom, any extra little bit of storage is welcomed.  I thought it would work nicely in the wall behind the door.  I constructed the cabinet basically like a medicine cabinet, except this will have a wood panel door, instead of a mirror.

Anyhow, everything is set for the plumber to trim out the bath, which means we can get rid of the port-a-potty out in the back yard, and stop paying $85 dollars a week for the rental.  We'll all be thrilled to use indoor plumbing!

Happy New Year.

Go to January

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