Changing Seasons
Well, they say there are only two seasons in the Chicago (or Midwest) area: "going into winter" or "coming out of winter". We're in the winter phase for sure. The bottom fell out around Thanksgiving. The high was only in the twenties and by night we were at freezing or below. Though, my favorite weatherman, Tom Skilling on WGN, says that this will be a fairly warm winter, not so cold on the average...what does this mean for us?

We may have to wait for spring to finish the masonry columns at the front of the house, and the perimeter band of stucco may be delayed also. 40 degrees and rising is what we want, but those days are far and few between.

On a more positive note, the gas company is scheduled to be out next Friday which means HEAT! I'm going to try to borrow some can heaters from the equipment lock-up at work. Hook 'em up right to the gas lines and we can heat the house. Elevator should be arriving within the next two weeks, too. Rough plumbing abd HVAC is just about done; inspector should be coming next week. Rough electric and sprinklers will be complete shortly.

Eastman and I just noticed today that the recessed can lights are 6"... oops, we thought we'd be getting the 4" cans. Oh well, no big deal in the big scheme of things. 6" cans are actually less expensive than 4" cans.

I guess insulation and drywall are just around the corner, but really, it couldn't be soon enough. Can't wait to move in.

On the Inside
Well, it's been a long time now. Pictures of the exterior will look just about the same from last time. The masonry is almost complete. They just have to finish the front porch. Our neighbors to the east let us use their water. I still haven't seen a water bill from them. Stucco hasn't started, nor have we actually met the stucco guy. I suspect that our mason blew the budget for the stucco and is now having a difficult time finding someone who will do the work for only $3750.

In the meantime, rough plumbing (all the pipe work in the walls) and rough HVAC (all the ductwork in the walls) are just about done. Rough electric (easy to figure out now) and fire sprinkler piping are the last bits before we can insulate. I'm happy to report that since last time, we were able to have ComEd come out and hook up our permanent power. People at my office are scratching their heads and asking how we got the electric company to come out so fast... I have no idea.

In the meantime, the carpenters continue to come back to fix punchlist items. I think they're done on the inside now. Just a few items are left for outside trim.

Trials and tribulations
2:35 PM: Phone call comes in from the mason. The coursing beneath the second floor windows are goofed up. Wants to change the stretcher course and rowlock course into a soldier course. He says it'll be the easiest and cleanest thing to do. (Why does it have to be easy for the trades?)

2:36 PM: Call goes into our architect's office

2:37 PM: Call goes into Eastman's office. Hoping he can go to the site to see what happened. Can't be there until later in the afternoon.

2:45 PM: Julie calls the mason back. Directive is to STOP until further notice.

5:10 PM: Eastman calls Julie. There's a bigger mistake than the brick coursing. Have to meet Eastman and Abby at the site after work. "Make sure you bring the camera, measuring tape and the plans." (Two of three were already in the car.)

6:30 PM: Finally, at the site... all is confirmed. (I climbed the scaffolding... probably something I shouldn't have done myself.) The carpenters blew the location of the window at the stairwell. Yikes. It's too high by about 6". *sigh* We'll meet with the carpenter tomorrow morning. He better bring his tools.

Almost water-tight
There were six carpenters on site today waiting for the window delivery. Eastman called our supplier and I guess by that time (9:30 AM), they had arrived. All the windows and one door have been installed. The front door, one other exterior door and garage doors are all we need now. In the meantime, masonry will get going.

Lots of coordination going on between where the windows line up with the front door, the masonry coursing with the windows, the masonry openings for the doors including the ones at the garage... oy! It's amazing how anything gets built, sometimes. And this is coming from someone involved in construction...ha!

I wanted to add this little tidbit of a diversion from the house construction. I was getting ready to read a bedtime story to Abby this evening in her room. It had been a while since I played some music during storytime, so I went to the CD player/radio that is located on the floor just next to the rocking chair that sits in the corner of her room. I turned and saw something tucked behind the rocking chair. I asked her if she put it there, and she said, "Yes." Then she said, "I ate them all." There were four or five left! We were wondering what had happened to that box?!

Now for some interior stuff
So, we're looking at finishes. The kitchen door won't look like this one; not exactly prairie style. But, we do like the color against a darker floor finish. We're sort of split between the darker granite and lighter granite. I think we're leaning towards the darker granite. Our kitchen designer friend will be dropping off the actual door sample any day now.

Picked out all the plumbing fixtures, too. Toto toilets, baby. (Sorry, Kohler.) Cannot skimp on the water closets. Chose a few Grohe items. Kitchen faucet shown here. Still not exactly sure on the floor finishes, in particular, the carpeting for the second floor, but samples are on their way. Have to find something that'll handle some wheel traffic.

Here's one of my favorite pictures - the view from the second floor landing. I don't think we realized what an uber-large window was going into that wall. We'll see exactly what it's supposed to look like come this Wednesday. (Rats, gotta call the stair guy. Forgot to do that this weekend.)

The shoring holding up the garage slab will be coming out this Saturday. Hard to believe a month has gone by. Shingles are in, too. Domingo is also leaving on Saturday for some R&R. I'm sure he'll enjoy every minute of visiting his grandchildren in Seattle. I know he has some concerns about the mason (who starts this week)...Don't worry, Pops, we'll take care of the site while you're away!

Deliveries, deliveries
Shingles are on, and the windows arrived at the distribution facility yesterday! Hooray! The brick arrived at the site moments ago...two weeks early, but not so good. There's sewer work being done in the front yard, and there's nowhere for the brick to sit.

Hectic, hectic...

UPDATE from the FIELD:
Masonry : Bricks were delivered this morning, big surprise to everybody. (Mason) claimed he never told Illinois Brick to deliver today. when they arrived, plummer had already dug out the driveway for the sewer work. (Supplier) refuses to take the bricks back to their yard. at the end we were able to take out the orange fence between the driveway and the tree, they then use a folklift to get the bricks in. the bricks are now sit on the east side of the driveway.

Plumbing : they will finish the outside sewer work today in front, hole to be covered. Inspector came, approved the connection .
Tom wants to start plumbing rough-in next Monday. we need to get him all fixtures cuts and kitchen sink cabinet layout.
They started work this morning at 6:30am, the neighbor at the corner came by and complained.

Windows : I am still waitng for the exact delivery time, carpenter want them on next Monday morning.

Masonry : (Mason) will start also on Monday to put down the flashings, I gave him a check for stones and other materials, he will give as a detailed receipt, his masons will start work in Tuesday or Wednesday. He will use a regular scaldfolding which is 6'-0" wide. we need to talk to our neighbor for permission, they will put down protective cover on the ground. the stone will be deliver on Tuesday afternoon.

Superintendent Journal Entry
guest what, the (roofing) delivery truck arrived at 2:00 pm. pulled in the driveway, and blew a tire. so they are just sitting there waiting for the tire to be changed, it will take at least two hours, then they will resume placing the shingles on to the roof.

The driver (was) kind of upset with the 3 inch. gravel that may have caused punctured his tire. we both called Jimmy at the roofing co. When Eastman gets home, I will go back to see if everything is OK.

Our FAQ list
A few people have been asking similar questions, so I thought this might be a good time to post an FAQ list.

Q. When will the house be done?
A. Julie and Eastman say February or March (being conservative); tradespeople are teasing us by saying "maybe before the holidays or the end of the year".

Q. Who is your builder?
A. We decided to save some money and NOT hire a builder. Of course, everyone inherits the headaches that go along with that. Domingo dived right in as site contact, and all the subcontractors are contracted directly with Julie and Eastman. So, it's the "homeowner acting as general contractor" scenario.

Q. What's the square footage?
A. With the garage but not counting the full basement we are at 3365 sf. Fifteen square feet shy of the maximum allowable square footage of the lot.

Q. Exterior finish? Windows, brick, etc.?
A. Will be a brick and stucco facade. Marvin Casemaster - Aluminum Clad Wood Casement Windows; finish in Pebble Gray, Old Charleston Heritage brick by Sioux City Brick... you'll just have to see the pictures.

Q. Can we visit the jobsite?
A. SURE! Just call and let us know when.

Q. Would you recommend general contracting your own home to other people?
A. Maybe. Depends on the time you have to commit to your project, or if you know someone who can help you with the process. Can be a very arduous, exciting, crazy, nerve-wracking experience.

Q. Would you do this again?
A. I guess, never say "never", but let's get through this one first.

The lost week
The camera was misplaced for a week, and so, there's a little bit of a disconnect between the last blog and this one.

While I was away last week the concrete guys were able to frame and pour our infamous structural garage slab. Man, the amount of rebar in there is quite impressive! Pictures can only convey so much. I often wonder if it was overdesigned, and maybe, if I had paid more attention in Reinforced Concrete Design class (and if I actually did that for a living) then I might be able to figure it out. Of course, engineering rule-of-thumb is, take the answer you get from your design problem and multiply by a safety factor of 5 million... I jest. I can't remember anymore.

Otherwise, construction continued with the second floor deck and second floor walls. I don't remember if we took a picture for the record, but we had an extra joist left over and the carpenters were using it as a ladder into the basement. Yeah, really safe. Yikes! And they wear sneakers on the site. That makes me nervous sometimes.

So, our three-year old Project Assistant (see picture) is now referring to the house as her "new house" and not just "the big hole". It's pretty cute. We were able to point out the windows in her room, and she's quite excited about the idea of having a "princess" room.

We leave you with a picture of the front elevation with the roof sheathing completed as of Friday, 9/16.

We're Finally Building Walls!
One day, you've got the floor deck, and the next day you've got nine-foot walls! It's pretty cool, eh? For those who haven't seen the plans, we can all start imagining what this house is going to look like now. The four windows (right hand side) are looking from the dining room to the golf course. Eastman says if we were able-bodied we could set up a small table and chairs at the dining room and just look around. That might be fun, eh?

Anyhow, THIS is why I studied construction management... to be involved with building. I love the smell of lumber, watching the crew put all the pieces together like a puzzle... but somehow, there's still the day-to-day management of it that my father-in-law is handling brilliantly which if it were me... I'm not so sure it would be running as smooth.

Well, the project is smoother now than when we started. There was the surveyor who missed the building location, then the excavator...as Eastman said, the excavator knew how to dig, he just didn't have anywhere to put the dirt.

We'll take a small break tomorrow and start up again on Thursday. The second floor framing may be up by early next week. The biggest issue we have right now is pouring the structural slab for the garage. If we had just ordered the precast concrete slab for the garage when we started, it would've been delivered about now. Oh well, it was a crapshoot, I suppose.