Roof is finished ... or at least, "topped out"

Today was a nice milestone, the roof of the addition is complete. Well, they've done all the work from the outside. Inspection will be tomorrow and they plan to start putting the shingles on. We'll try to match the existing shingles, but may be a little difficult. So we will have to make do with the best match possible. If it looks really bad, when we do the next addition, we will re shingle the whole thing.

As you can see from the pictures, the "new" part blends really nicely with the original house. with the paint and shingles in place, it should look like it was all built at the same time.

The new roof is currently adorned "island style", apparently this is a common "tradition" in construction ... I like it ... maybe we should keep it.

Tomorrow they will start "inside", so we spent a bunch of time discussing the options for what we want. In particular, we are having tray ceiling installed that will raise the ceiling from 8ft9in to almost 10ft. This will give everything a very large feel.

Steady progress ... probably 1 more day Another great day of progress, I guess that we have been lucky with the weather, and I really appreciate the sense of urgency that Steve has to get the whole thing closed in. Sept and October are the worst storm months, and being covered in, will give us great abilities and protection. Started working on details for the electrical, this requires a little visualization as to what will go into the room. I'm hoping to have that done for early next week. Once we have the electrical roughed in, I will "install" the data wiring and the alarm system cabling.

A walk on the new roof ...

Great progress again today, lots of guys here, always the same, which to me is a great sign. They all say good morning and don't seem to mind me just standing and watching (I probably would ).

More of the roof got done today, and I climbed up at the end of the day to take pictures. I think the whole thing will look really nice.

I have to say ... I really like the fact that at the end of each day, they clean up the work site and tidy everything. It doesn't look like they just heard the buzzer and went home.

Oh yeah, had another run-in with the raccoon last night. We know that there are at least 2 left from the "gang" that terrorized us. At around 1030 we heard a trash can fall. Let me point out that it was full and had a construction block on top of it. We step out to look ... the raccoon, was 12 ft away, he'd push the block off the top, and then pushed the can over. He stared at us, like saying "what do you want" ... I yelled, he looked, I yelled more, he looked more ... I did the yell/charge ... he ran off, well about 80 ft away. I started to pickup the can and trash, he started walking towards me. I yelled again, he looked. I put the block back on ... he was gone.

They got the trash today ... so I don't expect a visit tonight ...

The roofing progresses ...

All the trusses are up and they are starting to put some of plywood up. They are also having to do a bunch of hand framing to tie the roof into the existing house. As part of the strategy to "overbuild" the house, we are installing plywood that is one size larger than what is spec'ed (required). This should provide more strength and allow the roofing nails to get more bite.

It's very nice to see such steady progress, the project is progressing at a great pace, I am very glad that we have gone with Steve to do the work. On Friday, they had 10 people working, and although we were not at the house on Saturday, they made much progress. Based on this progress and hoping the weather holds, the addition should be "enclosed" within the next week.

We are starting to figure out about electrical placement, lights, outlets, etc ... as we will need these decisions within the next 10 days. We have everything drawn up, but once the walls are up, it is easier to imagine where things would go and what we would need to put (in terms of power) throughout the rooms.

I'm a believer that small things count, and I must give my kudos to Steve and his crew. They have built a small wooden bridge over the dirt that connects the patio to the pool. They also swept the whole area and graded the dirt around the project. This allows our girls to move in/out of the house without tracking in stuff.

A concrete "bunker" and the roof begins ...

Yesterday, they poured concrete into the walls. Basically, we now have solid concrete walls, like they find in a bunker. The idea is to give them strength. Steve suggested we do it, and at an additional cost of around 1% of the project, this didn't seem like a bad investment.

Today, was a major new milestone ... the roof. This morning, we just had walls, this evening ... we have the beginnings of the roof. Steve figures that roof will be done in just a couple of days.

The masons also dropped by to complete the work and install the window sills.

Kate and Jaci spent a bunch of time "cleaning" their playroom ... they said it was a little messy and dusty :) ...

Critters, prep and water ... a collection of bits

Its been very hot here for the past 2 weeks, and very dry, which is a little rare, as we usually get afternoon rains. The net effect is that our yard has been looking very sparse, very yellow and almost dead. When we started the digging, we cut the lines to the sprinklers. Today when I got home, Steve and crew was connecting them beck up so that we could water the yard.

We spent some time talking about the electrical stuff, and they expect to pour the walls solid tomorrow or the day after. The trusses are on their way and the plan is to be "dried-in" within 2 weeks.

I'll also use this post to share our raccoon experience, or should I say nightmare. Over the last 2 weeks, we have been terrorized by a home invasion ... we started noticing that the cat was eating a great deal. The trash cans had been vandalized as well. We put it together and figured that something was getting in the house. We locked the cat door one night and thought we'd solved the problem.

Next morning, all the cat food was missing ... and the door was open. Again, I locked it, and made a small barricade outside with constructions blocks. That night, we heard something banging on the door trying to get in. The raccoon was persistent, he stared at us through the door and banged away to break the cat door open. He had already moved the blocks out of the way. When he stuck his head in, I attempted a kick ... with my athletic prowess, I missed him... but he got the point.

We called a trapper the next day ... $250 later, he had trapped 7 raccoons on our property and 2 opossums. The picture is of the last 2 he caught. This was 4 nights ago. Last night ... the banging started again at the cat room. I may have to buy my own traps.

I can tell you first hand ... these things are persistent and seem to be fearless.

The roof gets cut back ...

Today they started to trim the roof back. From what I can tell, there seems to be very little visible "bug" damage ... yay! I was very concerned that it would look awful, as they started cutting into the roof.

I'll try to catch up with Steve (been at work before they get here, and home after they leave) tomorrow.

Apparently, lots of banging and noise today, so the girls at home had to be in the other side of the house.

Walls are done ... now to pour them solid Over the weekend and today, they completed all the block work at the house. All our walls are up, our windows are in the right place and we seem to be ready for the next step. It's looking like a building and with the openings completed, it is easy to see what the view would be like from the office, the playroom, the "outdoor kitchen" and the area by the garage. I think the plan is to pour the walls solid some time this week. I'll be working with Steve to identify where any "outlets" or "switches" need to be in the wall before they get poured.

Walls and more walls ... getting closer and closer.

I think that they will be done today with the walls. You can see from the photos that they have finished the back wall of the playroom. It looks like the only thing left is to cut out a small part of a block.

They have started to take the wall apart to move the window openings on the side wall, and it looks like they are starting to finish the walls in the office area.

If all goes well, we will be done with walls and be ready to pour them solid. While not in the initial plan, we have decided to pour the walls solid with concrete. This should give a very strong structure. The cost of doing this is less than 1% of the project. We've agreed that this will be a time and materials effort with a "not to exceed" amount.

More walls ... and holes in the wrong places

Well, more progress on the walls which puts us about 80% complete. Unfortunately, we have a little set back. The window openings that you see in the first picture are in the wrong place.

Apparently the masons, which are doing the job, didn't "read" the plans correctly.

Both windows are about 8" too high. The thinner "transom" window is also about 3 ft too far over. So ... tomorrow, they will take part of the wall apart and move the openings.

If all goes well, we should be done this week ... trusses next week ... maybe the roof within 2 weeks.

Steve's trying to get the place "framed" in, as September and October are active storm months and it would be nice to have the whole thing dry.

In renovations there are always some surprises ... Well, we knew that the house had previous terminte damage, and we figured that we would come accross some of it during this project. As it turns out, it wasn't hard to find. It might be hard to make out from the picture, but the end of the wood (the one that looks eaten) ... is. This is old damage, as there is no sign of active problems. We will have to make repairs as we uncover these issues. We've agreed with Steve that we will discuss all repairs before they are to be done and that he will charge us time and materials.

Walls ... they're going up

Quick post, as I'm still trying to catch up from the vacation trip last week. The mason's have been working the last 7 days to get the walls up. I'd say they are about 60% complete. They are missing the back wall in the playroom and need to complete the office.

We are using 4" block, so it matches the original house. They are "striking" (the concrete between each block) in the same pattern as the original house.

Should be finished this week. It is going slower than they expected, mainly due to weather. The last week was near 100F and no breeze. Truly brutal to work outside.

The slab is poured ... it looks bigger now! On Friday they poured the concrete and completed the slab for the project. You can see in the photo's that it is at 2 heights. The playroom and office are easy to discern, as is the "kitchen" area between them. This process took the morning, involved about 4 of them and seemed to go painlessly. By the late afternoon we could walk on it. They polished the concrete in the rooms (which will have wood floors) and put a broom finish on the outside area (which will likely have tile). The broom finish ensures that even when wet, it isn't slippery. The whole thing looks bigger than it did before, I know it isn't ... we think it'll be a great size. Steve tells me that if the weather holds for the week, by next weekend all the walls will be up.

Window and doors ... small issues test the waters Last week, while I was at work, the window contractor came in and changed our front door and a couple of windows in our living room. Our plan was to replace the original front door with one that had a lot of glass and was hurricane proof. For the windows, the plan was to replace the original windows with casements (also hurricane proof). Well ... we did get our new door, and we did get the windows replaced. Unfortunately, it wasn't what we had expected. Let's do the front door first; might be hard to tell from the picture, but we were very disappointed with the finish and quality of the trim. The mitre joint on the trim (which is aluminum) had enough of a gap to put a quarter in it. The other thing (much more major, which isn't in the picture), is that the door is 3" shorter than the original. Apparently, the original door was not a standard size. The door contractor made the decision to shorten the opening and put a standard height door (without our consultation). Now the windows ... this is another example of a decision made (by the window contractor), without any consultation. It turns out (so he says) that you cannot have windows that open that are taller than 72". The original windows are 75". To resolve the problem, the contractor added a blank (see photo) at the bottom of the opening, and maintained the windows at 72". We have other windows in the house that are 75", but they do not have opening glass. I spoke with Steve (our prime contractor), and explained our concerns and issues. Unfortunately due to my travel schedule, this took a couple of days. Steve spoke with the window contractor, and we all agreed that this didn't meet our expectation and it would be fixed. The windows will be replaced with non-opening, to conform to the code. While not ideal, we rarely open the windows, as the salt air causes a great deal of harm on everything inside. We have a couple of options on the door; 1. They will replace it with the correct size or 2. They will repair the trim and we can use it elsewhere (need to think about this). The only reason we are considering #2, is that we have been talking about getting a custom wood door. Once we saw the door up, we realized that it was quite plain ... not bad, but not "impressive". Steve suggested making a solid mahogany (or other wood) door. One that was made to our spec, with our design (he's made others). So, the idea of a "custom" door that brings fine details to the entrance is very interesting. In the end, while we had an issue, it was quickly resolved and we remain happy and with our expectations met. I never expected this project to go without issues. This likely isn't going to be the last ... and we hope they all are handled the same way. I'm a huge believer that you can judge people not by the mistakes they make, but by how they handle them.

Bugs, plastics and papers ... Well, we have passed inspection without any issues and are ready to move on. They've leveled the ground again and had it treated for bugs. Apparently (I didn't witness it), the guy who came out to do was in the equivalent of a hazmat suit (a little different from when they treat the house, flip-flops and t-shirts). Once the ground was pre-treated, they started to put down the vapor barrier (plastic). This will be completed today. It'll cover the entire slab area and all seams will be taped. The plan is to pour the slab tomorrow morning. Steve only wants to do a morning pour, as our afternoons are plagued by the typical summer thunderstorms. The blueprints called for a 4" slab, Steve will pour a 5" slab instead to provide better strength. The concrete will have a fiber-mesh, which will further increase the strength of it. The plan is to finish the "outside" part of the slab in a light broom finish (nonslip when wet), and the inside slab smooth. The plan is to cover both with tile or wood floooring.