Things You Might Overhear at the Tiu Home
Domingo: We're not building a watch (Swiss watch...).
Eastman: I don't KNOW... I'm just asking.
Julie: No...no...no...
Abby: Stop yelling.
(I guess Mom has her two cents in, but it's usually when I'm at work.)

Everyone (including tradespeople): You can make it a wine cellar! (In reference to the open space underneath the front porch due to the mistake in excavation.)

The basement slab was poured yesterday, and Project Engineer Eastman was quite interested in the operations. Here is his log from yesterday.

"Basement poured and looks great! We put up a fence in front of the porch hole and sprayed the front of the garage too. Pops dropped the paint cap (flipped out of his hands when he was taking it off actually) and it fell into the basement. It was before they were doing final smooth out though, so it's all good. BTW, they used cieling tile dividers as control joints, and they put them under the slab so the slab is actually all smooth. No visible control joints."

Rain Delay
Ah... no basement slab pour today due to the rain. Perhaps tomorrow.

Almost Out of the Ground
The foundation walls were poured a week ago today, and from many onlookers we've received many compliments. Dampproofing is all set also, and the backfill inspection went without a hitch. Amazingly enough, the spot survey showed that the foundation was right on the money; within .01 feet of where it should be.

Husband and father-in-law are doing one heck of a superintending job. Will definitely be more difficult once school starts up again and we lose our "project engineer".

These are pictures of the foundation walls as it stands today. More pictures are on our online albums - by invite only.

An Impressive Operation
The foundation work has finally begun this week. Tomorrow they pour the foundation walls. Our concrete subcontractor has been great to deal with thus far, and we're looking forward to seeing the basement walls stand on their own. Had a bit of a logistics problem when the conveyor was having a difficult time getting under the power lines.

Floor trusses are in production and should be available in a few weeks. Underground plumbing and electrical service will start as soon as we get get the basement walls dampproofed and backfilled.

It's been tiring, but exciting for the field superintendent and project engineer (my father-in-law and husband, respectively). Wish I could be on site a little more often.

Will post pictures soon.

Dirty Work
Excavation ended this past Wednesday. Were supposed to start forming the footings this morning in anticipation of an afternoon (concrete) pour. Well... the foundation hole was dug a little too close, too tight. When I got the call, it didn't even phase me. My father-in-law/site superintendent/architect wasn't too surprised either. On the other hand, my husband was pretty frustrated.

The excavator will just come back tomorrow, and we'll try to pour again on Tuesday. I keep thinking, we just have to get out of the ground and we'll be up and running! (Right?) Some friends have commented that things will just get worse as the days go by; that's probably true.

Well, onward and upward... we'll meet with a stair contractor tomorrow morning. See what other cans of worms we can open up!

What a Start
Excavation started today, and a live gas line was hit. Nice way to start. Dumb me, I should've thought about calling the utility locators again.

NICOR is out there now. Of course, in a non-emergency case, it'd take probably two to three weeks to get the gas utilities to the site. So, maybe there's a silver lining after all.

FINALLY
Just received the permit on Friday - exactly one year from the date we went to the Appearance Commission and received our approval. I'd like to think we took eight months to work out design and four months to get paperwork and contractors in line. We haven't even figured out all the interior selections yet. Argh.

Excavation should begin on Wednesday. It hasn't rained in what feels like all summer, and wouldn't you know it... the weather people are forecasting rain this week. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Now the madness REALLY begins!

Coordination... coordination...
It's been several days without rain here, and there has been no construction yet. Sort of a waste of good weather, though the temps have been in the high 90s. Guess the crews could've been working early in the A.M.

We don't have permit yet, only because we don't have everyone contracted. Argh. You'd think the City could let us have a "foundation only" permit. Called the floor joist suppliers and they won't be able to deliver anything (realistically) for 4-5 weeks. Have to get them on board too. Kitchen cabinets has been quite a trip as well.

Lastly, our interior consultant has just notified us that she's moving to Atlanta in two weeks (less than that at the time of this post). We've barely begun working with her, which is a good thing, I suppose. However, I was really looking forward to having her help.

Maybe it would've been easier hiring a GC?

Now you see it... now you don't!!
There's a big void on Austin Avenue. The demolition is complete and we're just a few papers away from getting our hands on the building permit. Actually, the City has been great to work with and it's really in our court to provide the necessary proof of insurance for some prime contractors.

Things are really going to start moving quickly. I almost feel like we won't have time to think - quick decisions will be needed to keep the pace. We've also considered hiring someone to be our site superintendent. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea.

The Orange Fence
The orange fence in a residential neighborhood signifies the start of some construction project, usually. In our case, it means demolition will be starting any day now. Doesn't it look official? The demolition will commence as soon as NICOR (gas company) comes out and disconnects the gas main. They were supposed to do this last Thursday, but got called out for some emergency. Utilities... they're the hardest people to coordinate. (That's another blog for another time.)

The drawings have been approved by the City, and now it's in our court to provide them Certificates of Insurance from some of the prime contractors, who aren't quite under contract yet. So in the meantime, we had an asbestos company come out and remove the asbestos-laden ceiling tile in the basement. Fortunately for us, nothing else in the house tested for asbestos.

We're meeting with our kitchen designer this week, and we've set up a meeting with an interior designer to see if she can help us with coordinating the selections - and not just pretty colors. Doors, hardware, bathroom fixtures, flooring, etc. How about this doorknob throughout the house? Maybe this is why we need help.