KirklandZoo is Building

Testing on February 11th with Live Writer

2012-02-11T18:05:00.001-08:00

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Front of addition almost done!

2009-08-22T23:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess the photos says it all. So far I've been able to do everything from ladders. Thought I'd need a scaffold or a platform/lift, but not yet. That'll come when the cedar shakes are to be added over bedroom/office.

First pieces of siding

2009-08-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

Due to the fact that we are not doing just a "squarish" window trim (and caulking the hell out of it), it did take some time to get the trim in place, and then even longer to cut the first strip of siding (on the left side of the window). After that, it was fast to put up the remainder.

Notice that everything is screwed up with 305 stainless steel screws, and that makes it easy to adjust/move/replace pieces down the road. Hopefully not needed, but will the two runs of T&G siding (above and below the window), meet up at the same vertical line to the right of the window (so next full length strip will fit nicely)? This is of course the drawback with T&G compared to using a "board and batten" style of siding, where you can hide more or less any inconsistencies under the batten.
Wife wanted to have a "flat" siding, since she thought the "battens" made it look cheap (females sometimes have strange ideas...), and I really had no other option that to oblige... That "desire" does cost a bit in added installation time.

First section done

Notice the flashing and the angle on the top of the pieces that straddles the trim. Allows for water to shed, and also provides for a groove for the caulk (yes, I will caulk this horizontal section, but this is really the only one).
And possibly overkill, but I have pre-drilled all pieces of trim and siding. Prevents the screw from splitting the boards, and also for the (all visible) screw to nicely line up.

Double flashing over the windows

Asphalt paper and Cedar Breather

2009-08-11T23:16:00.000-07:00

First installation of asphalt paper. Under the windows, the asphalt paper is slid up under the Tyvek, to ensure that water can properly "cascade" down the water resistant barrier. Like stated in earlier posts, I assume that water will end up behind the siding, but once there, will be "managed" to ensure that it does not do any harm. So, there are also sheets up "JumboTex" slid up under the Tyvek anywhere the Tyvek has been cut open to allow for installation of metal flashing.

The "mesh" is the famous Cedar Breather that I bought down in Atlanta (being penny wise and dollar foolish).

JumboTex has replaced Tyvek as our "sponsor"...

Close up of Cedar Breather

Cascading "sheets", although not "Style Sheets", which is probably more common to find on a web site...

Asphalt paper, metal flashing, and a Craigslist find!

2009-08-07T22:15:00.001-07:00

Due to our Tyvek now been exposed to the elements so long time (20 months?) - and hence rendering this dwelling "the Tyvek House" - I felt it was best and prudent to complement the Tyvek with some good old traditional asphalt paper (60 minutes). And, some claim that Tyvek does not do well with Cedar siding, at least not when they touch. The tannins in the Cedar can break down the Tyvek.

DuPont sort of guarantees Tyvek for three months weather exposure, but even after 20 months no "ill" effects have been detected on our installation - apart from the Tyvek logos being bleached by the sun. No leakages, no rips, no tears. Seem to be holding up quite OK.

But since no one really knows how this Tyvek will perform in 40 years, traditional asphalt paper sort of clears up that issue. Been very thourogh and spent time on getting the new "paper" all the way up under the Tyvek and the flexible window flashing. If there ever will be water, at least it will shed/cascade down the membranes in the right order.

On top of that, the metal flashing under the windows also protrude up under the flexible flashing. Should add a little drawing to indicate how I solved it.

Tomorrow it is time to put up more paper, work on the flashing on top of the windows, and the staple up the "Cedar Breather". If all goes well, window trim should also come up, followed by the first pieces of "real" siding - a historic moment!

When running around for asphalt paper, also picked upo a bunch of 304 grade staineless steel screw at Tacoma Screw, with a handy location not far away from Fast Flashings. I like it when you can shop quality in the neighborhood!

And, instead of running to Lowe's or HomeDepot, I found a perfectly functional miter saw on Craigslist. Didn't even have to drive very far. Maybe not what you're looking at for making an elaborate China cabinet, but more than good enough for window trim and T&G siding.

Flashing maufactured and picked up

2009-08-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Scott at Fast Flashings in Kirkland, I got all my pieces nicely manufactured, to my specs, and in my colors., to just about the same cost that it would have been to drive to a big-box store and picking up their (sub par) stock flashing.

Scott and team did an excellent job, cranking out 24 gauge pieces instead of the more common 26 guage.

When it is time to attack the deck and put proper flashing over the ledger board, I know where to go!

Siding delivered!

2009-08-03T23:49:00.000-07:00

A tad early (no phone call alarting me, and I was having a nice cup of coffee, reading through the Sunday and Monday papers after a weekend "off-line out on the lake), the big yellow truck showed up with our new siding. Exciting to see how the color REALLY turned out. A small sample of only a foot does not provide any real guidance.

I had to move boat and trailer out of the way, but once those were gone, the truck had a very long boom on his lift, so he could place the package all the way up the drive way, just in front of one of the garage doors.

Spent the rest of the day sorting through the pile and matching lenghts, checking quality of the stain job, and moving everything inside the garage. Funny, the siding will see weather and water for the next 100 years, or how long the house now will stand, but it really should protected before it is "up there".

And the color - yes. Looks REALLY good. Semi-transparent "Redwood" stain is a winner, and with the green window trim, it'll also provide some character, far away from the oh so boring American middle of the road colors of "grey or creme". Colors that really does not stand out at all (no one likes them, no one dislikes them).

I just call them "bland"... Why are people so afraid of a little color?

And, when I must have had a moment of absence (coffee?), the UPS guy showed up cause when I opened the other garage door, two really gigantic boxes with my "cedar breather" had been delivered. The Atlanta effort finally paid off - even though it was more like "paid out"...
All said, UPS did a stellar job in packing these items - but they sure also charged for it, so it should be expected!

On drive way

Sorted and counted

Out of the weather, stacked in the garage according to length

Hmm, there's a lot of wood to be screwed up...

Cedar Breather - Big boxes of "just air"...

Flashings, small but needed inexpensive details

2009-07-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

Flashings, small sheets of (normally) metal, that are helping direct the water away from the wall cavity, preventing it from entering where you have windows, doors, decks, trim details, etc. These small pieces of bent metal are often overlooked in even very expensive new construction and the builders instead rely on caulk. Caulk might be easy and cheap to apply, but it never really lasts, shown in a very large number of water damaged buildings just because they cut out a small piece of metal that might have cost $10...

Looking over the flashings at Plywood Supply (my cedar siding supplier), and not finding what I wanted/needed, I was happy yesterday to locate a company litterally up the street, Fast Flashings, that can bend my small pieces to protect the house from the dreaded water intrusion.

At some of the neighbring houses, decorative knee braces are a popular and nice addition to the design, but they are rarely supplied with a small flashing (roof) to protect the flat piece that sticks out in the weather. Regardless how these are treated, Cedar, Redwood, Oak, they will eventually start to rot simply because someone decided to skip on the little piece of bent sheet metal, providing the o so neede weather protection.

Anyway, time to run up the street and order my metal now...

Capillary Break, ventilation of cedar walls, Interstate Commerce, or how to tax a friendship...

2009-07-25T23:54:00.000-07:00

I have an urge to do things right when it comes to construction. Only want to do it once, even if it takes some effort to do it "just right". Done right, a project, a construction, a design, will last a life time, and it is a good thing for me, for future owners, and for the environment we all live in as a whole.

Hence, I've seen far too many houses that have serious moisture and mold problems. All because they just been erected too hastily with little or no attention to water and moisture management. Water comes in two ways, from the outside in the form of rain (strait falling and wind driven), and trickier to manage, from the inside in the form of water vapor.

Every construction in a tempered/cold climate should have a vapor barrier on the inside of the wall cavity, to prevent the ever present vapor (=water) in the inside air to penetrate the wall cavity and condensate (form water) once it hits a cold spot somewhere in the wall cavity (happens of course mostly during the colder months when wall is cold from the outside, gradually getting warmer until you hit the nearly room tempered inside surface.

This is fairly simple stuff, but so often overlooked by shoddy construction, like believing that the paper on faced insulation actually will work. But no, you will need to install a properly laid out plastic sheet (no thinner than 4 mil) before putting up the drywall and also ensuring that you have sealed all electric boxes and - the worst culprits - bucket lights in the ceiling.

On the outside, people try to "seal up" the siding by applying liberal amounts of caulk in order to keep the water out. Good thinking, but most times it is really not necessary and it can also "seal" the outside, preventing it from being properly ventilated.

Instead of applying caulk all over the place, better is to allow the siding to "breathe", and correctly manage the water that happens to sneak by it. It is done by a water resistant (NOT water tight) barrier (Tyvek, felt, asphalt paper, etc) and flashing to ensure that water that gets behind the siding is allowed to "run off" in an orderly fashion, without ever getting a chance really "touching" the core of the wall cavity (the wood and insulation). Contrary to what many believe, the siding is not really the "water barrier", but instead the "weather barrier", there to protect (from sun and physical damage) the "real" water resistant barrier (normally not ever seen once a construction is finished).

In cases when you have a natural wood siding (Cedar, pine, fur, redwood, etc) it is always advisable to provide for a space (air gap, or capillary break) between the back of the siding and the water resistant barrier. Good installers use furring strips laid out on top sheathing (OSB or plywood) normally matching the location of the wall studs. This works relatively fine when you have the (dreaded) horizontal beveled siding. The vertical furring strips provide for an air cavity that both lets water run down and air to raise, drying the siding if/when it gets wet (actually, not if, but when, it always will).

If not providing for this air space, or "capillary break", there is always the chance that when the siding does get wet, moisture is trapped inside and behind the siding in such amount that it starts to overcome the water shedding capabilities of the water resistant barrier, Tyvek, felt, asphalt paper, etc. Remember, this barrier is NOT water proof, and when exposed to enough moisture, its water shedding capabilities are overcome and it will allow water to migrate from the outside to the inside. This is potentially a BIG problem if you used OSB boards instead of the (pricier) plywood for sheathing. OSB has so much end grain and it very easily (and happily) soaks up moisture, trapping it and eventually starts forming mold.

The drawback of the vertical furring strips can be that it may provide a chance for the siding to "buckle" since there is really no support between the (needed) furring strips. Buckling is however better than the alternative, a wet and soaked siding, allowing water to eventually get absorbed into the wall cavity, leading to moisture problems, and eventually mold and other nasty stuff.

A neat application of the siding, at a "real" distance from the "actual" wall cavity is referred to as "rain screen". Likely the best application since it provides for a true ventilated outer shell, but one sort of have to prepare/design for it from the get-go, and not everyone likes the style. It also can provide a haven for isnects and all type of critter to nest in the air space created between the rain screen and the sheathing.

When you are using vertical siding, furring strips can be used, but they will create horizontal cavities, really not ideal since water cannot freely run down, and air does not have the free space to raise as it gets heated.

There are a number of products on the market to battle this problem. One of them is Cedar Breather and Home Slicker from Benjamin Obdyke. Essentially a plastic "airy" mesh, that creates about a 1/4 inch air space behind the siding, allowing for water to run down and air to raise, thereby allowing for the siding to naturally dry out. For those who read this and are really picky, yes Home Slicker is for walls, and Cedar Breather is for roofs, but according to BO, Cedar Breather can also successfully be applied to walls (just not as pretty color...).

Now, this product is not cheap, it is probably cheaper to build a house with "true" water resistant plywood, than to apply the "mesh" (additional labor cost for the "mesh" not counted). But, in our case, the addition was already built using OSB, so there was little other choice - if wanting to do things "right", while using vertical siding. By the way, in my mind, vertical siding looks far better than the rather boring "beveled" siding and water sheds better when it is allowed to flow with the grain, instead of perpendicular to it.

I was happy to find a stock pile of Cedar Breather cheap at a building outlet store in the Atlanta area. Problem was, Atlanta is about 2,700 miles away. On the other hand, these "rolls" are mainly air so it cannot be that pricey to ship a few up to Seattle. Hence, here started an effort to investigate how to best (=cheapest) get "them rolls" from Atlanta to my project.

After looking for product specifications on-line once could find out that the rolls where about 10 lbs each, less than 45 inches long, and likely some 12 inches thick. 6 rolls would come in at less than 70 lbs, and that is really nothing when it comes to shipping. However, remember that these rolls are mainly "air" and therefore pretty bulky. Having suspicions, I checked with UPS on-line, I did go to the UPS store in Kirkland to inquire what the cost would be if one came in with 6 of these, asked them to be packaged and sent away. Cost estimate ranged from a shipping cost of about $40/roll to, roughly $100 if they were bundled together as one large (super large) package.

Still not too bad.

But, the store in Atlanta does not ship, so I needed a way to get these rolls from the store, to the UPS office less than two miles away. UPS would take care of it from there, package them, and more importantly, ship them to my garage. Had to get hold of some (friendly) friends in Atlanta that could do a little detour during their daily travails, pick up "some rolls" and drop them off at the nearest UPS office.

Tried a few of the past Ericsson friends and colleagues. All out of town on vacation, and some even out of the country. Why, is Atlanta that bad? After all they voluntarily moved from Seattle to Atlanta. Not really eager to ask, but into the picture comes a VERY dear and good friend, but I know she is busy, have tons to do with all her animals, and also a busy work schedule in the legal sector. In any case, I had not talked to her for a long time, so if nothing else, it was time for a call and a status update.

Long story short, she had no problems (at least she did not say so...) to swing by this store and drop off my "rolls" at the UPS store. By the way, this is TRUE friends. I sent her all the information and also before sending her out on a Saturday drive in Atlanta, I did call the UPS store where these "rolls" most likely would be dropped off and asked them (his name was Andrew) to double verify shipping costs. Even Andrew came up with reasonable cost, his idea was to package these rolls three to a package so I'd be looking at some $70/package for freight and under $30 for packaging material. Total cost about $200. Still not a bad deal, and after that I sent my friend on her way to pick up "them rolls".

But, even with a GPS she had some problems finding the store, and once at the store, she called me and said she was not sure she could get more than four rolls into her car (a Saturn Vue, so no skimpy sports car). I could be OK with four rolls, but of course six was even better. She promised to try and believed that she could get five rolls if she folded the front seatback. Hey, five is better than four...

I call her a while later to check on progress, and she is now at the UPS office where Andrew is helping her unload "them rolls". Upon being reminded on "Seattle" and "bulky" items, he did recall my call to him a few hours earlier. Good, he would not let me down, or more importantly, my friend with car-full of "rolls" she certainly had no use for. We ended the call and I went back to painting outside, something I'd been doing since early morning, and for the past week as well for that matter.

When I happen to be down in the garage to fill more paint in my pail, the phone rings. It is my friend, she really did not say much other then that I'd "better talk to Andrew directly". After having gotten the rolls out of her car (likely no small feat...) and into the UPS office, allowing for proper measurement and eyeing out proper UPS packaging, it turns out that these are becoming "massive". Weight wise it is still not much, but there's a lot of "air in there", maybe even bypassing the limit for size of package that UPS can accept on "UPS Ground" (UPS freight is not available on Saturdays). Andrew is estimating that the freight will be somewhere close to $700...

Yikes....

I ask my friend for a few minutes of "contemplation" before I'll call her back.

Now I have dear friend that stands at a UPS office in an unknown part of Atlanta with "some rolls" of mine, rolls that now are becoming so expensive that it might be better just to dump them "somewhere", and buy all new stuff up here. Bright idea; Wonder if the store will take them back? I call the discount store and of course the manager (Gary) who sold them is out and only a podunk (sorry, mean no disrespect, but you really were not able to provide any assistance) helper just keeps telling me to call back in "10 minutes" when Gary has returned.

Quick call to friend at UPS Store to briefly discuss ideas. She clearly remembers that "sales are final" and that the rolls cannot be brought back. And, although she does not say so, I know she has no intention/will to fight to get these rolls back into her car. Especially not with her bad back! Hugh, this is going to hurt, not her back but my already thin wallet...

I guess "Andrew" in the mean time has not been completely inactive and must have been fighting with "them rolls" and figuring out that 1) yes, they can be shipped UPS Ground, and 2) packaged in two large boxes, total shipping cost will end of somewhere closer to $550. OK, much better, but far from the "good deal" this was at the outset.

But, I have a friend in "dire", standing next to a lot of "air" of mine, so quick decisions are essential. It has already taken up much more time of her well deserved Saturday rest than (at least I ) planned for. Remember, a 20 minute drive to the store a 10 minute drive to UPS, drop "them rolls" off and away you go...

After biting the really sour apple (correction, I think it was grapes I had in the fridge), the only logical - and friendly - decision is to go ahead and ship these rolls the way UPS Andrew has advised. Out with the dear old credit card, let Andrew charge it all so he can get moving, on likely his best freight sale of the week, if not year, and more importantly, so my friend can get back home to house, hubby, and dogs (not necessarily in that order).

After a while, I get another call, he had missed a digit on my credit card, and I was also advised that I'd get a tracking number and invoice e-mailed to me. Good, this is finally on its way.

But, in an effort to save a few $$$ on a good deal, I ended up paying heavily for shipping and really taxing hard on a distant friendship.
Lessons learned:

1. Before engaging in Interstate Commerce, think twice

2. Before shipping UPS, have it all figured out in advance

3. Friends are great to have. Use them wisely and sparingly. You never know when they are needed for real...

"Not by name mentioned" friend in Atlanta - I owe you!

Chimney flashing bent and ready

2009-07-24T23:02:00.000-07:00

In an effort to properly prep the old fascia boards, I did remove the gutters, as well as the flashing that was installed with the new roof in November. Big difference when you actually have proper access to the work area.

However, I noted there was a little where the fascia board touches the chimney, and time had left a few marks there. A nice little bracket flashing solved that and should keep any water away from there.

Gutters - albeit temporary - go back up tomorrow, sicne one never knows how long we can rely on thsi wonderful and sunny weather.

After priming, COLOR!

2009-07-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

Priming literally sucked - big time.
The solid stain was fairlky easy to work with but in my case - primed white surface, required two coats to sort of make it look nice. Yes, maybe not the 100% correct product, but rather two applications of this, then working with something that would resemble Cabot's primer...

A little color (and a lot of elbow grease) makes for a dramatic change. Out with the boring neutral color and in with something bold!

Due to the unseasonal temperatures, painting has been reserved to very early mornings, and late evenings. Never apply paint to surfaces that are too worm, or in direct sun light.

Priming sucks

2009-07-20T22:19:00.000-07:00

As great as the Cabot stain was to apply on new wood, as difficult is their "problem solver oil based primer.

And I thought scraping and sanding was "hell". No, applying this primer was likely worse. Tempted to dilute it to make it easier to work with, but it specifically states on the can "do not thin", so I decided to fight it out.

Luckliy, there is not THAT much that need to be done this year (south side and over old deck), but it is more than enough. Had I known that it'd be this tough, I would probably have ripped the old (very dense wood, good quality) fascia boards off, and replaced them with new cedar boards. It would not had been cheap (why does it feel like highway robbery to buy cedar, very abundant around here...), but in retrospect, I would only have had to stain the cedar and could have left the soffit, overhangs, and rafter tails in their old boring cream color.

OK, this will look better for sure.

Pressure washing, scraping, and sanding

2009-07-19T23:05:00.000-07:00

For the past three days, I have been cleaning the old soffits, overhangs, and rafter tails. They've always been (American standard) a boring cream color, but sicne we have decided to have all our trim in an Evergreen color to match roof, these guys need to be painted/stained as well.

I guess there is just nothing as boring as scraping old paint and prepping it for a new coat, but everyone says that 95% of the success is in the prep work. I am just not in the mood to EVER do this again, so it'd better be done correct the first time.

Now it's done. Time for putting on a primer tomorrow.

New CATV cable

2009-07-17T23:45:00.000-07:00

After having lived off Comcast's VERY old cable for eons (it has an unknown number of splices in the yard, reducing the signal strength once in the house), and now with the chimney gone, ethernet and coax cabling properly routed throughout the house, and ready to be terminated on the new patch/interconnect panel, it was time to call Comcast and have a technician come out and "pull some cable.

Should be fairly quick sicne I have a 1 and 1/4 inch conduit running in the yard, all the way from their pole, to my "connection" closet. Also left a pull string when I put in the conduit so it should be an easy task.

"Marcus" showed up on Friday afternoon, seemingly happy that I had prepared more or less everything. He did not have any cable lubricant, and knowing the size of the conduit, the few bends, neither of us though we needed it. While Marcus prepped the new coax, I crawled in under the new addition, ready to start pulling.

It is normally very nice and tempered under there, but this day, it was blistering hot, and not any better by a very stubborn coax. It likely took us 45 minutes to pull in that cable, a job that should have taken no more than 5 minutes with some cable grease applied. I pulled so hard I even got blisters on my right hand since that was the "prime" hand in pulling in the very tight space under the addition.

But, once in, and Marcus fed some ice cold coke and water, it was a qucik job for him to termiate the coaxes and connect them to their respective splitters.

The unsightly mess is now gone from the basement, and when we have a rainy day, I'm going to take 30 minutes and just dress the cables nicely. Everything looks much better, works much better (=error free) and it starts to resemble the 21st centutry.

One can see the traces of where things used to be...

At least it's a beginning - out of the way in a closet - with cables still to be dressed behind the panel

All fascia new boards stained

2009-07-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

Since one never knows when the rain comes, decided it was time to stain all the new cedar fascia boards. Some are VERY high up, some are nicely placed over bushes and therefore hard to reach, but what they all have in common is that they are - thanks to our great weather - bone dry and therefore prime candidates for surface treatment.

Using only oil based products and a semi-solid stain from Cabot Stains. A great product that also is easy to apply, leaving a really nice "hue" to the wood.

At this run, I'll only do the fascia boards, even though it would make sense to also stain the plywood and rafter tails (ladders are in place), but I'd rather get the exposed fascia boards done while dry. The plywood and tails are well protected and can be treated even if it might mist a bit on a summer day.

Cedar siding ordered!

2009-07-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

Finally ordered all the cedar siding, cedar window trim and currently looking at fastners. Will attach siding with 305 Stainless Steel screws, since I really don't trust naling into the OSB board where there are no 2x4 joists to anchor. Managed to find a few places on-line so cost for SS screws should still be below $200 for the entire project.

Ordering siding pre-stained and we should get the samples on Tuesday so we can finally get the process rolling. They "soak" the entire batch in a bath in order to get as perfect coverage as possible. It does add a bit to the price, but was not really eager to do that work here at home, or jump up and down on ladders/platforms, after the siding has been put up.

I am a firm beliver in letting building material "breathe", especially wood siding. Hence, initially I had planned to put up furring strips to allow for 1/4 air gap behind the sidng. But, since we are going with vertical siding, the furring strips would have prevented air (and water) to feely move behind the siding, so thinking of putting up a product called "Home Slicker". Anyone out there that has used it?

Chimney is gone!

2009-06-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

Against the will of the wife, I did tackle the chimney removal today. She was not happy when coming home and seeing the basement full of crushed clay tiles and cinderblocks, but the tone changed when she got upstairs and realized I had finished up in the living area - and cleaned up everything.

Why remove the chimney? Well, first and foremost it was in a place upstairs we intend to open completely - removing the wall between living room and kitchen. Secondly, when we put on the new metal roof last fall, I was sort of about to keep the chimney, but it was clearly cracked (see earlier post).

With the chimney gone, cinderblocks out front to be used as hidden retaining walls later, one could see that the flashing had leaked. Water streaks on the inside of the drywall, but that was it. No mold, rot, or deterioration (space is always nicely heated and dries out quickly).

It was a dusty work, but still did not take a day, cleaning up included. With a new floor stud in place, the hole patched with plywood, we are at least ready to tackle the removal of the rest of the wall.

Added benefit is also that the entry to the basemnt will be much more :logical" and the basement area can one day maybe turn in to something else than "just" a basement.

And, with the chimney's gone, I can finally pull new coax and Cat5 cables the way they should have been the entire time (hidden agenda).

No photos on the mess in the basement, it was simply too dusty to even consider taking a camera out...

Prepping for tiling - Cement boards

2009-05-17T23:48:00.000-07:00

Spent most of Saturday putting down cement boards and prepping the floor for ceramic tiles. Apart from the normal thinset, a screw every 8th inch is needed to ensure that the we get a stable base for for the tiles. About 400 screws later and over 50 lbs of thinset, we were almost done, but for sure done in for the night. Hard work getting all the screw to properly sink in.
Actually, had to take almost every one out on Sunday and counter sink them in order to get a proper surface - even though Hardie's instructions tells you not to, but I refuse having screw heads being clearly above the surface - makes setting tiles impossible!

At least some is done

Just like a pro - hard to find good workers these days

Fixed the "hidden" corner

2009-05-12T22:39:00.000-07:00

Dad built this corner when he was here in April, but one can see his eye sight is not what it used to be (and, if that matters, neither is mine), so I decided to "straighten it up" and make it plumb before putting up the drywall.

Being plumb is important! Hidden corner with heating duct going down under the floor (in insulated box) to pop up under the large western windows.

Secret lines... (and mandatory temporary smoke detector, a tad low, but still better than nothing).

Yes, there is mastic underneath, and then the duct tape is secured with metal tie wraps to ensure it stays in place even it dries out over the years (cheap insurance).
Wires to three way light over stairs in background and control circuit to central vacuum haging down. In here (but hidden) is also Cat5 to a security camera, power to the same, wiring to a new alarm system keypad, and other goodies. Part of corner will eventually be an "odd" shelf, since there is room to "do something" with it.

Everything is sealed and nicely secured. Central vacuum pipes to be terminated as soon as drywall is up.

Home made weights work as well!

Heating and insulation underneath...

2009-03-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

With the duct extended and now terminating in the crawl space, it was time to route it to where it was needed - a floor outlet under the big westerly windows. I could have routed an insulated flexibled duct, a quick install, but they really do not last, and the last space I want to have (heated) air leak out of a duct is outside the heatid living quarters (do not care as much is a duct is leaking inside there, the air still heats the house).

Routing the rigid duct and mounting it was not too tricky, after that we insulated it and built a box around it. Also added an electrical conduit for futre outside lights (easier to do it now than to put an ugly one on the outside).

With box finished, really left to do was to insulate the floor with R-30 fiberglass batts. With dad cutting batts outside, I pushed them into place and it did not take ling until the entire place actually also started to look good. Since this is going to be an "active" stiorage area, we covered it all up in OSB boards and could carry in all the stuff (mainly firewood and lumber) that we removed in order to be able to work there.

Upstairs, one could note a difference in that the floor no longer had that "canny" sound to it, but a more dampened "thump". Insulation is not "only" for energy efficiency...

BTW, also added a conduit for a fire alarm/heat detector here. Not needed by code, but it can be a cheap piece of mind since there is a lot of wood stored under here.

Duct from upstairs

Running under joists

Insulation, insulation

Cranky two-dimensional bend since I wanted the duct hidden up in between floor joists where possible.

Mastic underneath and notice the metal ties that secure the duct tape. No leaks here - ever!

Stringer anchored to the contrete wall. Notice how the batts are allowed to fully fill the cavities. OSB will be put up here as a "Celing" since this is after all a "working" storage area, and insulation needs to be protected.

Box is taking shape

See, bend is gone, hidden...

Wanting something to do...

2009-03-26T23:42:00.000-07:00

Dad, visiting from Sweden, wanted something to do, so he was tasked with casing in the inside (hidden) corner. Sort of an odd design, but this is a remnant from the old (exterior) overhang. Earlier this was over the steps leading up to the front door, now it was at waist height inside the new addition.

After having pulled a new 6" heating duct, a new branch for the central vacuum, power, and alarm cables, it was time to close it up. Fairly simple task, but never the less needed.

Big saw for a small hole

Protection for the metal casing, and so no animals step on the sharp edges and cut up some paws (like in 2006...).

Taping and mudding...

2009-02-23T23:05:00.000-08:00

With me having an inherited disgust for drywall, I realized that the "finishing" of said products was not really up for me.

In comes Ben, who some long time ago had promised to give me a hand with the taping and mudding. Clearly an expert and it looks like a "whole different place".

Ben was rewarded with some beer and promises for future help when he needs a hand with electrical, mechanical, or carpentry stuff (+wife tiling his bath room floor).

In action...

...from a different angle, different profession

Scaffolding gone - drywalling done!

2009-02-11T23:25:00.000-08:00

With scaffolding gone, all of the T&G up in the ceiling, it was easy to work in a cleaned up area and put up the few remaining pieces of drywall. Sure, a lot of cutting around windows, but still not to bad.

Can't see it in this picture - and that is sort of by purpose - but did spend some considerable time ensuring that the vapor barriers seals as good as possible along each side of the ridge beam.

Painting - upside down

2009-02-04T23:23:00.000-08:00

With all the strips in place, all the trim and fitting done, I put on two layers of clear polyurethane since the wood otherwise has a tendency to rapidly turn yellow. It will do that eventually, but it'll take longer time if treated.

I thought about doing this before the strips went up, but I really did not have time - or room - and it wasn't too hard to put on these two coats - working upside down.

With the ceiling completed, time to remove the scaffolding so the final sheets of drywall on the "walls" can be hung.

Vaulted ceiling completed

2009-01-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

Wood is expensive in the US, and therefore most everyone use (the hated) drywall. Thought for a while to put up drywall in the ceiling, but I knew I could not do that myself (due to the sheer weight of the sheets and the tricky finishing) and I just do not like the look of it.

In comes knotty pine T&G. Not as cheap material wise as drywall, but it is sturdier, can be put up by myself, and it looks a lot better. Actually, adding all the finishing costs to a drywalled ceiling, wood problably still comes out ahead in this case.

After rigorous work with the vapor barrier to ensure as good as possibly moisture management, I started nailing up the T&G strips. Managed to get 16 footers, meaning they'd span the entire distance and no need for joints anywhere.
And, biggest help, apart from three small wooden strips with screws, came after a trip up to Harbor Freight and the purchaee of a cheap pneumatic brad gun (nail gun). W/o that one, this job would have been sheer hell, working alone (although still better than drywall).

This little piece of wood - and its two brothers - made solo hanging the 16 foot strips easy

No cheating on the vapor barrier!

Notice generous overlaps. Empty cavities will be filled with insulation.

Do not trust the "faced" batts, so a proper vapor barrier is to be added before the drywall goes up.

See the straight cuts!

Getting the ceiling up changed it all!

Insulation completed

2009-01-12T23:28:00.000-08:00

As much as it is NOT fun to work with fiberglass batts in a vaulted ceiling, as fun is it to say that the work is completed!

In order to reduce the chances of moisture penetration and following mold and rot damages, I probably worked on a few overkill solutions, but a vaulted ceiling is an area where you are better safe than sorry. Once it is up, you cannot get to it later. There's not attic to crawl into, or an exterior hatch for inspection. No, it has to be done with care, quality, and a proper design from day one, so you never will have to touch it again.

In order to allow for proper air flow and ventilation under the roof deck, I decided not to just "trust" that there'd be a void between the top of insulation and the underside of the roof deck. In order to ensure adequate space I put up 1x2" stringers, running along the roof rafters, from the bird blocks, all the way up to the ridge vent. On these stringers, I nailed sheets of masonite boards, creating a "plenum" to ensure unobstructed air movement from intake at bird blocks to discharge at ridge vents.

Did take a few hours and some added material, but after having seen what lack of proper ventilation and moisture management can do to a vaulted ceiling, it was really a no brainer.

Notice how the stringers meet up with the bird blocks at the soffit. A masonite board will be strung across the stringers, creating a continouos "plenum" from soffit to ridge vent.

Roof deck cut wide open to ensure proper ventilation under valley

Notice box and wiring for mandatory hard-wired smoke/fire detectors

Even cross members were "stripped" to allow for proper air flow

Torching down in the valley

2008-11-03T23:58:00.000-08:00

The valley is sort of a compromise. It only slopes 1/12 and is also an area where there is a lot of water congregating during rains, before draining down over the front door. But, w/o lifting the roof over living room/kitchen as well (no budget, nor weather this year...), this was the only solution. It was clear we needed some type of "hot mop" or torch down to ensure that we have a 100% waterproof membrane in this area.

On the other hand, the valley has done just fine with just our installation of Polyglass last year, so my concerns are probably just a tad unwarranted.

Felix put in a layer of asphalt paper to ensure that we do not burn down the house (or rather, damage the underlayment, he does not care for the house...) and then showed great skills in "torching" the top layer. Even managed to find a color that nicely matches the green metal roof.

Nice view from up here

HOT!

No missing any areas

Master of fire!

One has to be careful to not burn too much...

Warm even on a November day!

A nice "flaot out" is needed to ensure that the layers really seals together

North side almost done

2008-10-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

Monday again and Felix and crew started working on the north facing side. Since I did remove the chimney over the weekend, it was also time to cut a hole through the overhang just above where the (coming) B-vent is to exit the basement wall. Fairly quickly done, and Felix was prepared with a 4-inch flashing to install already now.

The bad thing of the day is that they realized they ran out of material. Someone had fouled up the order and missed one entire side of the tall and steep roof section. In other words, no more material to continue working on the south facing side until we get more in a week or so. Will our sunny weather hold up?

Still early morning

Safety lines at work

Since it is the north side, it takes a while before the morning dew burns off

Gorgeous fall colors!

Remove top of the chimney

2008-10-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

Getting to the 2nd (the smaller) chimney, it was time to decide what to do with it. It was to come down eventually, but removing it would not a smart move since the new spot for the water heater has not been cleared, nor has the gas line yet been extended. And, I really did not feel like making a mess down in the living room and kitchen at this time.

With Felix and crew eager to put down plywood and underlayment, decision had to be taken. I sort of decided to keep it for now, but with the old flashing gone, one could actually "wiggle" the chimney a few inches back and forth, so it was clear it was broken somewhere down in the house. Possibly always been like that, or it might have happened during the 2001 earthquake. In any case, since we were now working on the roof, it was easy for me to remove the section sticking up over the roof, put new plywood down and finish the roof. I could tackle the section inside the house later.

It didn't take long to cut and remove the upper portion of the chimney, and gently toss the bricks down in the front yard. When done, it allowed Felix to install a short rafter, put down plywood, and finish the underlayment on the East side.

I just now had to convince the wife that we'd be w/o hot water for a day or so, or until I had a new B-vent pulled out through the basement and up along the exterior wall outside the kitchen. Two trips to Lowe's and it was done, and hot-water was again flowing on Sunday evening. Actually, with a 50-gallon heater, there was likely still enough hot water for a few showers, even w/o having the heater connected to the gas line. Contrary to popular belief, an older well insulated hot-water heater inside a house is not that bad. The current trend towards (very) expensive (and complex) "end-less" hot-water heaters is somewhat of a fab. We have never run out of hot water, and I think few actually does. And, what are the true savings if you instead use the "end-less" hot water feature and take much longer showers? Just more hot water down the drain and a larger gas bill.

The new B-vent does not look pretty, but it works and it'll stay until hot water heater moves back to the more logical spot where it was in the early days (then an electric heater) in the 60ies. And when we are getting to that area of the roof, I'll make the roof penetration and put in the flashing for a new B-vent. Then the major thing (roof work) is done, and I can focus on just relocating the heater (90% inside work).

Re-roofing has finally started

2008-10-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

After far too long of a wait, Dick's crew showed up today to start tearing off the torch-down membrane and prepping the roof deck for our new standing seam metal roof.

Decided to go with a (very) local roofer and I hope it was the right choice, but he has been very poor in just being able to communicate a start day. Is a simple phone call that hard? But, I like him, I know where he lives (walking distance) and I really prefer doing business with neighboring companies - whenever possible. In this case, the price was in the ball park, so it should not be much to argue over.

In any case, today was a good day to start since the sun is shining and it is reasonably warm. Just hope that this will hold up...

After tearing off the old (but still amazingly good) torch down, and realizing that there are quite a few sheets of plywood to be replaced, see what one can find:

Why is it that Americans can not properly install insulation batts? OK, the house was built in the 60ies, but it is not THAT hard to cut them to fit properly. I saw evidence of same shoddy practicies all over when lifting old plywood sheets. In this case, really nog big deal since I will tear down the drywall, put in a dedictaed air/ventilation channel, and insulate the roof from underneath, the way it should have been done day 1!

Seems like wasps has been eating away on the insulation over the years...

Even some nice nests...

Does this really require a comment?

A few sheets that are to be replaced (or rather holes that are being overlaid with new sheets).

Sun beaten (but still VERY GOOD) Polyglass on the south facing side in the background.

Polyglass is the underlayment that we put on the roof in November of 2007. It has been holding up increadibly well, and yes, the sun has eventually burned off the green top layer, but the material (modified bitumen reinforced with fiberglass) is still rock solid (the green stuff is to improve adhesion between the layers). Polyglass is pricey (at ~$130/roll about 5 times more than #30 felt) but worth every cent (or rather dollar). Allowed us to do the roof at OUR timing, and not when the (normally installed) felt would require it. The Polyglass also survived a few December storms w/o moving an inch!

But, just to be 200% sure, Felix is putting a new layer of underlayment on the south facing side of the steep roof section, where you can see the sun has essentially burned off the entire green top layer on the Polyglass. Likely not needed, but better to be safe than sorry. A new layer also provides for an excellent integration with the coming torch down in the valley.

Upon further inspection and dissecting of the Polyglass, which is guaranteed for 90 days weather exposure in a Miami climate, I think it really could hold up as a roofing material for years in the Seattle area. Incredible stuff! Easy to put down, just ensure you have a clean roof deck, "peel-and-stick", and anchor with a few staples. Voila - waterproof membrane installed, a membrane that can handle water, wind, snow, and even a fair amount of physical abuse like walking, branches falling down, etc.

Another example of poorly installed batts. Is it that hard to make ONE cut for an electric wire?

New sheets placed and nailed down.

West side already covered with underlayment

And if I now have one common complaint about thss (otherwise pretty good) crew, that would be tha tis is imperative to ensure that nails/staples are well driven in and roof surface is flat/clean before putting on underlayment. I did spend some time going over the area, pounding down nails and putting on new patches. The underlayment is "peel-and-stick" so it is easy to do and holds up really well, but a "clean" and well prepared area is so much more important when putting on a metal roof, compared to the (much more) common ashpalt shingles.

If I would not have been up here, carrying the "hawk eyes", who really knows what it would look like underneath?

Wine Cellar cleaned up

2008-01-03T23:14:00.000-08:00

Today was spent fixing the old "wine cellar" and getting everything in the basement back into that "cubby". Apart from wine, this is also where bulk items such as dog food, cereal, rice, oatmeal, etc, end up.

Also prepared a new area for a "cross connect" panel where incoming cable and fiber will terminate, as well as a location for router, switches, hubs, and databackup equipment. This time I've planned it much better so it will look much different than the current set-up, a lay-out that sort of has evolved over the past 7 years into something more looking like a spider's nest. Long overdue to get that cleaned up and out of the way.

Sealing cracks

2008-01-02T22:11:00.000-08:00

With insualtion now in the attic, I spent most of the day temporarily sealing up cracks and crevices to prevent draft and air movement from the area that is still under construction. It looks sort of crappy, but it will all be covered by vapor barrier and drywall later on, so for now it'll just function. It should have a significant impact on the ability to retain heat in the house.

Insulation!

2007-12-30T23:36:00.000-08:00

Finally! After a tedious (and extremely dusty) removal of the old fiberglass insulation in the attic, followed by a thourugh cleaning up (removal of construction debris and vaccuming), it was time to seal up the house and get it properly insulated for the first time in well over 45 years.

The old batts were "on location" but what a crappy installation. I thought of actually keeping them, blowing in insulation on top, but it would have been the easy and wrong way to go. In order for insulation to work properly, one need to minimize the movement of air closest to the interior. The way the old insulation was laid out between the old rafters, there was no chance in hell it would have worked properly. So, after a few VERY dirty days, I had over a truck full of old insulation (filled with nails, roofinmg material, and other cosutruction debris) to take up to the dump. The trusy LandCruiser hauled it all away in style!

After several additional trips to Home Depot, picking up 40 bales of cellulose insulation, a new trip to pick up the heavy and bulky blower I finally managed to get a promise from the wife to man the blower. It was all done today!

But, man was it dusty up there. I would not even want to think what it would have been like, should we have decided to blow in fiberglass insulation instead. Wife, outside in the winter sun, complained about the dust, but I can guarantee that she saw less than 10% of what I had up in the attic.

Solid Waste

2007-12-21T15:44:00.000-08:00

Finally today got around to get the old roofing material off the drive way and on a trailer to the King County Solid Waste transfer station, down in Houghton. Since I was doing a run any way, I also took some stuff from neighbors. No point in having them doing a separate run.
A flush with the garden hose and an "ocular" inspection to make sure no nails were hiddin in the piles of discarded roofing, the drive way is now in its best Christmas dress.

Final Electrical Inspection + attic insulation

2007-12-19T20:47:00.000-08:00

Had called for an electrical inspection and expected "Art", our neighborhood inspector to show up, since he's been here from the very beginning and know what I'm up to, but this time he was just to busy. Instead "Walt" showed up and just as Art before, he approved of my work and signed off the final electrical inspection. Means that I can now start to focus on getting everything properly (insulation and drywall) covered up inside.

Also started cleaning up the attic (to be a third floor later on) in order to properly insulate over our bedrooms, craftroom, bathrooms, and office. It was originally done sometime in the early 60ies, and the insulation lists it as being 2 and 3/4 inch, but at the very best, it has been one inch thick. Add to that the very crappy workmanship when it was put in, it probably has done done much good. This time around, I'll add a solid layer of blow-in insulation. Hope to get all that taken care of just after Christmas.

Feeder runs

2007-12-14T23:54:00.000-08:00

A small concern have been how to get power to the new addition from the service entrance panel. First plan was to use some old and now decommissioned feeder runs that I disconnected earlier in the project. At the same time, even though these wires were in excellent condition, I really wanted brand new wiring all the way from the panel. Just "feels" better knowing that it has been installed correctly.

I needed to cut up the plywood sheeting in any case in order to get to the old wires and relocate them, and when that was done, realized that the old feeder actually moved fairly easily through the floor joists. Time to gamble and pull them out.

I attached a "fish line" to them and pulled them out. Worst that can happen now is that I have to hack up the drywall celing in the downstairs family room, but based on how easy the wires came out, someone when the house was built in the early 60ies actually planned a bit and did drill decent sized holes through all the joists.

With help from John (neighbor) I managed to get four brand new circuits pulled all the way to the SE panel, and that allows plenty of options for wiring up the new addition. It was sort of gamble, but this time it paid off. Final inspection of the electrical install can now happen early next week.

Cans over the garage

2007-12-13T23:19:00.000-08:00

In a construction project, or rather a remodel project, everything is sort of connected. You can't start B until A is finished, and C has to be done before A can be touched, all the while not until you're done with B. Makes sense?

We've had an area over the garagedoors open for a while, allowing COLD air in on top of the insulation in the garage ceiling, and thereby also cooling down the hardwood floor in the master bedroom. That open area was waiting for recessed lights (cans), but before those could be put in, had to drill all the floor joist AND get the electrical feeders run, as well as some rewiring of old outlets and outside lights. Everything takes time, and since all this had to be done from the outside, I was not eager until we had a few dry but not too cold, days.

It's all taken care of now and the end result looks good (wood paneling will be added in the spring), but most important is that we finally got this area better sealed up than ever before. When we moved in to the house in 2000, there was no insulation in the ceiling above the garage, nor were the garage doors insulated or sealed. All led to really cold hardwood floors, I mean REALLY cold, in the master bed room.

I took care of that in the fall of 2001 and it made a world of differcne but I was never totally satisfied with how the overhang over the garage doors was insulated or finished. That's now taken care of and should show a noticeable difference indoors.

Electrical, scaffolding, baffles, and insulation

2007-11-25T23:10:00.000-08:00

Past couple of days have been spent on running electrical wires (rough-in) and having that inspected (with flying colors), so insulation finally can be put in. It is starting to get cold outside and wife wants to turn on the heat...

A run down to Lowe's to pick up insulation filled the Cruiser to the brink, but I managed, dog in the passanger seat, to get everything I needed home in one run.

In order to reach up to the tall ceiling, I had to build a scaffold, or rather an intermediate floor, so I could put up the baffles and the R-30 insulation up between the roof rafters.

Modified drain line

2007-11-14T23:38:00.000-08:00

After a few days of contemplation, I decided that I was not totally happy with the way Tom did have the storm drain line put together. On top of that, we had to wait a little for the roof to dry off before going up and nailing down one of the final edges. And since we had left the trench open, I decided to attack and modify the drain line for better flow of water from the downspouts. Even with a good sloping yard, one does not want to hav to dig this up in a few years because there's an area with a bit of backwater where debris will collect over time and clog.

Never easy to work on a 4" pipe that is "immobile" at both ends but with some dedication and brut force, we managed to make it the way it sort of should have been built, with much better "flow".

Rest of the day was spent working on putting up the gutter over the deck (remind me that I HATE piecemeal gutters), cleaning up (showers), and then running around Eastside shopping since it was dad's last day in town. We were sort of lucky since the rain literally started just as we had pulled in all the tools...
Day ended with dinner at at Mexican cantina and a few margaritas. Well deserved I must say.

Sort of mazed that dad, at over 76 years of age, both is able and so interested in helping out with this stuff. Most people would just call someone and have it done, with far less final quality (guess that's the American way), but I really want this to be a HOME well built that can stand literally for centuries, not just a "spec house" who's sole purpose is to be "flipped" to the person one can trick the easiest.

Shitty Gutter System

2007-11-13T20:04:00.000-08:00

Gutters are no high tech items. They are simply a tray, diverting water away from where you do not want it (near or inside the walls) to a more desired place (drain, dry well, flower bed, etc). Simple, been done for centuries.

Bought gutters at Lowes. Both HomeDepot and Lowes carries the same system from Amerimax Products. Does look flimsy, overly complicated, and literally a pretty shitty system overall. Since I have good help (dad) will put up over the critical areas, but likely to review again when the spring arrives.

Get the hell out of there...

2007-11-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

The guys came early this morning, eager to finish up and finally "get the hell out of there", after essentially two months on location. In a way, it'll be empty without them.

Tom started putting Tyvek on the front with Mike's assistance. When he started (alone) in the back, I offered to help but he declined. It was sort of amazing to see how he managed to handle that giant roll, all by himself. But Steve eventually showed as well and now Tom eagerly accepted the help. Later I heard that Tom did take a spill into one of the bushes out back. I guess that changed his mind.

Mike added brackets on the inside that the inspector called out for, and then started gathering the tools and other miscellaneous material left all over. With my help, it did not take that long to load everything up on the trucks and get some time to relax. These guys might looks like they are from "the hood" (they aren't, staged photo) and they have proven to be a great group of skilled craftsmen, that really done an excellent job. Tom has been the one who has been here from day one (over two months ago), and he is an increadibly hard worker. Never leaving before he has made sure that he is happy, which most of the time is a more stringent requirement than what I or inspector is asking for.

With the guys now gone it sort of turned empty here and I started washing the drive way and getting all nails, saw dust, and other debris taken care of. Has not been looking this nice - nor been this clean in months!. Just the side benefit of now being able to drive on it w/o risking a puncture is worth "millions". Maybe in a while we can even get the cars into the garage as well...

Just as I finished the drive way, the sun came out in force and it was the perfect time to "tack off" the final loose ends on the roof. I had a number of runs that needed to be tacked down, as well as some longer pieces that needed to simply be cut off. This time, it was all done with harness and rope - properly secured!

We also folded up the gigantic tarps that we've used as weather protection (but really only needed one day). Tarps that are 26'x40' are not small, and just a little wind moves them with a lot of force. Despite late evenings, it looks like we've been able to keep these tarps w/o any ruptures or punctures. Time to put them up on Cragslist so they can be used on their next project.

Once all done, a LONG shower and later a great sushi dinner with dad at Salmon Creek sort of ended this hectic phase. I still have a hard time realizing that we actually have gotten this far (this late in the fall) w/o any major weather issues. It being November, we could have seen both wind storms and torrential rains, but we've been really, really lucky.

Sprint to the finish

2007-11-08T23:06:00.000-08:00

The rain we did get on Wednesday was thankfully shortlived and Thursday - after the morning fog lifted - came with decent and warm weather. It gave us the chance to do the leaking valley "the right way", even though it'd result in a real waste of this expensive stuff (Polyglass). Probably have four layers in a few areas, but better to leave it and make sure the top layer is "solid". The rest will eventually (summer heat) fuse together to form a solid mass of "hard core" roofing felt.

Mike dug up for foundation drainage and installed that with Tom's guidance/direction. This ended up being somewhat of a rush job, and I was not too happy with how the connection was finally done. The main gutter drain hits a sharp 90 and it'll eventually clog with debris up a little used pipe. Tom offered to redo it, but I declined. It was more important that he continued inside and finished the sheathing. I can always take care of the drainage later so I asked them to just leave it exposed. Need a few days to think about how it can be done better.

When the guys left in the late afternoon, essentially all the framing work had been completed. It was time for me to start cleaning up the drive way from the "big stuff". Dad and I went at it for a while, but it was not too long until I cursed and jumped high in the air: I had stepped on a nail, or rather on TWO nails! Both penetrated my clog, but only one got into the foot, just behind the toes. Luckily I'm still pretty fast and it really never got any chance to penetrate deep inside. Up to date on Tetanus shots, so I should be OK.
In retrospect, if this is the only incident (apart from sliding off the roof) we've had, I'm still pretty happy.

More rain - and a LEAK!

2007-11-07T23:04:00.000-08:00

Wednesday turned out to be a wet day, but only during hte morning hours. Never the less, we had a small trickle of water coming down along the newly installed beam in spanning the entry way. A leak in the valley we worked so hard on - while disputing the approach - yesterday. Thankfully it was not more than a small and short lived trickle. In one way, it was a good sign, allowing us to redo that darn valley the right way tomorrow - the way it should have been done from the beginning!

Due to the weather, the guys worked mostly inside today, finally getting the long awaited supporting beam into the kitchen wall. Originally the architect had placed this one in the basement, supported by two additional pillars, but that was all due to a drawing error, adding four non-existing feet to the span. Since it now was only 11 feet, one long beam would do it, and putting it upstairs inside the kitchen wall made it all much easier than pulling out floor joists and all the associated wiring.

After the beam was in, Tom continued sheathing the internal shear walls. He even managed to get the sheets to pass all the way past and behind the stairs, allowing for a much stronger shear. It also gave me the chance to finally properly insulate that wall since it is towards the garage. If nothing else, it does add to the fire protection as well.

Rain...

2007-11-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

Worked on the roof most of the day, at least after it heated up. Hopeless to be up while the morning dew is still present.
debated a long time how to do the "valley", and after having gotten too many inputs from too many people (sounds familiar), we decided on a compromise (which turned out to be a mistake). This Polyglass stuff though is good. With a little bit of heat, it melt (or floats) together to form a tights seal between rolls. And, it is guaranteed to be able to handle 90 days in Miami sun and rain, so it should last a long time in the Washington winter shade.

Very late Tuesday evening we got a few sprinkles. Of course we're not 100% done with the roof, but an "emergency patch" should be keeping the fort until tomorrow when we are supposed to at least get some dry (and potentially sunny) weather. Thursday looks decent, but after that fall/winter is arriving to the Puget Sound region, making any outside remodel work wait until we get into april/May. Will we be able to wrap it up? Really have no choice...

Apart from that, after me adding a layer of insulation to the front, the guys finished sheathing it and the house now actually looks finished, not counting siding. Left for them now is some shear wall work inside and adding another beam for reinforcement inside a kitchen wall. Add to that a little digging around the foundation for drainage, they are getting pretty close to wrap up this project.

Way behind - on updates...

2007-11-05T23:01:00.000-08:00

Been working 16-17 hour days for the past ten days in order to benefit from great fall weather, so updates are coming slowly. Apart from sunny skies though, we've had (and still have) a great set of contractors. Without them, nothing would have been possible!

It now looks like we'll be able to be "sealed up" and weatherproof by late Tuesday, just in times for the rains that are rolling in for Wednesday...

On the below pictures, you can see "a before" and "in progress". It is still the same house - on the inside.

Falling - off the roof!

2007-11-02T23:39:00.000-07:00

We started today putting on the VERY expensive underlayment (roofing felt). Normally you just put on a type of "tar paper", its thickness determines it durability, but since this is likely to be exposed for a while, I decided to go with something called "Polyglass". At about 7 times the price for normal "felt", it'd better be good.

It took a little while before we go the hang of it, but after a few laps, it was much easier. But as with everything new, it takes longer time than planned, and darkness started to fall. After having placed big flood lights and really only producing pitch dark shadows, we decided it was time to quit. But just as I was crawling to put in a few more "tacks" for the night, I suddenly started sliding backwards - towards the edge (and the abyss). With a small amount of moisture on the Polyglass, not even its sticky surface will halt a sliding person. It did not take long before I slid over the edge, went airborne, and landed perfectly in a large bush below. It was such a perfect and soft landing, still standing straight up, so my feet did not even touch the ground. Wow! If this would have been closer to the street, it could have ended really bad! Harness on from now on!

New roof almost on

2007-10-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

Tired, so it'll be just pictures for now. Will update more during the week, but the guys did an amazing job today in essentially finishing the roof sheathing and putting up all the framing for the front gable. So far, we've been doing OK with the tarps...

Gigantic Progress!

2007-10-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Just after 7.00 AM, Tom and Jim rolled in their big white truck. At about 7.30 AM, Pat and the rest of the crew showed up, for a total of six abled bodied men. The rains had subsided overnight, and the sky was cold and clear. You could see that these guys meant business. Forecast right now calls for good days at least into next week, so the goal is to get the new roof on the house - preferably today, but Saturday is the spare day.

I was the first one on the roof, pulling off the tarps. After having had a nice and properly prepared surface laid out on Thursday afternoon, it was now a breeze to pull these tarps out of the way. But man was it slick up there. I think it dipped below freezing for at least a few hours and a thin layer of ice had formed on everything up there. Not the least the old torch-down roof.

But this was a day of big progress. Plates were finished early in the morning and by 10.00 AM, the crane showed up and shortly thereafter the truck with the new trusses. Did they look small from up here? Would we even get standing room inside? It wasn't really until they'd been all lifted up on the "roof" and I could lay down inside one and "test", I realized it might be even better than expected. I can even stand with my arms straight up and not touch the ceiling (to be). As you can see from the pictures, so can my dad who's been enjoying (and being instrumental in helping me along the way) the progress and seeing American building techniques up close.

Before proceeding with the trusses, the guys they replaced the big beam spanning the hallway and extended it so the old closet can be totally taken out for a wide and open hallway. Just have to move one switch to make that happen.

Seeing Tom, Pat, Jim, and Steve work away was quite amazing. It did not take long until the first truss was up and one could see the profile from the backyard. The rest of them sort of popped into place during the day, even though Pat considered the pace a tad on the slow side. This is after all a remodel, and unknown issues are popping up all the time.

The best surprise of the day was the girder trusses. Instead of just allowing for a smaller opening above the existing hallway, these trusses now allow us to open EVERYTHING up all the way through. Something to consider when the inside is to be attacked.

Roof is off!

2007-10-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

After a day of heavy rains, today was followed by a beautiful - and for roof work - perfect day! We actually had a thin layer of ice on the roof this morning, but it melted away as the sun came out.

Tom and Jim worked mostly on the front, building up support for the new facia, while we continued tearing the old roof off. By late afternoon, it was all gone, and cleaned up (well, maybe not in a perfect sense since we tossed a lot of debris out of sight into the backyard). Managed to get the tarps up and anchored by 7.30PM so we almost got it all done by sunset. Just bracing for a cold night inside since there is nothing to trap the heat in the house and the forecast calls for bone chilling temperatures (considering Seattle weather).

Lots on the plate for tomorrow, so no lengthy update tonight. I'll let the photos here talk for themselves.

PS: Do not EVER - EVER - buy a Firestorm Powertool by Black&Decker. I did by a reciprocating saw (aka "sawsall") specifically for this project and it did not even last an hour. A real piece of junk that goes back to the store! I borrowed Tom's DeWalt saw (also by Black&Decker, go figure...) during the day today and if we would have had that one from the get go, it would have cut the roof demolition time by more than 50% - what a difference! :DS

First sun and record heat - then torrential downpour...

2007-10-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

Forecast for this week was great, with the exception of a minor disturbance for Wednesday. So we started early Monday morning taking the roof off, planning for it to take the day. It was MUCH more work than anticipated. Late Tuesday evening, still not completely done, we were forced to pull out tarps to cover the house up for the approaching cold front and rains.

Managing these gigantic tarps (1,040 sqf each, about the sail area on a very decently sized yacht) in the dark was no easy feat. Luckily I have understanding neighbors (+good help) and it was warm and nice. So warm that when I later took the dog for a midnight stroll to wind down, I could wear shorts and short sleeves. More like a summer night in July.

Was awake half the night, listening to every sound, listening to the wind pulling the tarps, and trying to detect the horrid sounds of water dripping somewhere. Finally fell asleep, still no rain and the wind seemed to die down. By 9 AM it was still warm, but the grey sky slowly started opening up. Not for sun though. It has rained on-and-off all day, sometimes very heavy, but luckily with very little wind. Tarps have kept water out of the house, but I cannot go many days like this.

Assuming sun Thursday morning, new trusses are now to be delivered either Thursday PM or Friday AM. Once here, a crew of seven will "attack" the roof and get us dried in again. This should finally give us an idea of what it'll look like from the outside.
Stay tuned!

PS: The weather was simply too miserable to even take some "elevated" pictures during Wednesday. Will have to be done tomorrow. :DS

Digging trench

2007-10-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Pictures tells it all. Had to dig a new trench to tie in to the existing storm drain lateral that runs along the south property border.
When it is all now done, I'm in a way glad it was not 95F and sunny like last summer, but instead overcast and pretty mild.

Now it only for Pat and his guys to dig the foundation drain and connect to my newly pulled line.

Break in the weather?

2007-10-18T23:55:00.000-07:00

After a few days of rain, followed by the first fall storm (broke a tarp, but nothing major), we've been working on preparing for sheer walls (moving cables and outlets, planning new electrical installations, etc), so they can be built before we put on the new trusses.
A small break in the weather Wednesday morning gave a chance to complete half the distance of the trench for drain lines. Need a few more pieces, but there's now less than half-a-days's work left.

Forecast tonight calls for a break in the weather starting Sunday and going through Friday, with a chance of minor showers on Wednesday. Maybe, maybe, we can get back to "normal" fall weather and this is the week when we can get the new roof up. Cross your fingers!

First stage completed

2007-10-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

Tom and Jim showed up early today, finished the sheeting and put on as many rafters as they could. Next step is coming when we are removing the old stick frame low-pitch roof from the house and build new plates for the new trusses. The pitch of the new roof will be almost as steep as the ones on the addition.

Since the weather is "fall like" (duh, it is after all mid-October) no one was eager to gamble and cut up the old roof too much until we know for sure that we have a few (4) good days that will allow for both roof removal (one day) and erection of the new roof (likely 3 full days). We managed for over 45 years w/o any water damage, it would literally suck if it happened now. New roof so close...

But, it starts to look good. We discussed the front windows a lot, and finally settled on two larger ones below (3'x7') and two smaller ones on top (18"x18"). I was eager to increase the top ones to 24"x24" but other thought the proportions would be a bit off. So I settled.
It sure looks better than the initial steep "portal windows". Would have made it look like a church (but with a great view).

First sheething

2007-10-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

First peices of sheething has been put up. Soon (?) we should be "weather proof". Just in time for a few good fall days. No rain until Sunday they now say...

Rafters are going up, drywall is coming down

2007-10-09T23:29:00.000-07:00

Tom and Jim continued today putting the rafters up and framed around doors and window openings. Still a bit undecided on the exact dimensions for the large front windows, but will decide overnight so Tom can frame it all Wednesday.

Inspected the temporary "seal" around the ridge beam and it seem to hold up water OK. View from up here is not too bad...

Rest of the drywall in the kitchen disappeared and most of the real "dirty" work is now done.

Will move a few electrical outlets and rought-in a few new ones (to prep for upcoming kitchen remodel), before we can put in a large beam at the bottom of that wall and then cover it all with plywood to create a shear wall (boxy structures are more prone to resist twisting, and subsequent collapse, in case of an earthquake).

Ridge beam and walls

2007-10-08T22:55:00.000-07:00

If Friday was progress, today was even better. Can start see what this is all going to look like.

Pat stopped by early in the morning and we discussed the height of the ridge beam and the eventual pitch of the roof. Put down a plate line everyone was happy with. Just the different aspects and options he laid out shows why it is money well spent hiring a skilled and good general contractor. They have the experience, but maybe more important the perspective that most "one time" self remodelers lacks. So it is good to be able to discuss "options" with someone that has "seen it all" and came up with a good final solution.

While Tom was doing a really nice job in cutting up our old roof and build a support for the new ridge beam, I was on the ground sanding it down. The pitch will be so steep so it can be tricky accessing that beam and sanding it once it is in location and the roof is up.

When I was done sanding, Tom had finished building a support on top of the (on Friday) newly installed beam that is spanning our old entry way. He was now ready for the long beam. A tad heavy and cumbersome, but it went up smoothly and it did fit! Now it is also properly anchored down.

We are also starting to be exposed to the elements, but I think I managed to seal up the cut with roof mastic. It is not to last that long, but it would suck if we ended up with water dripping down into the living room.

Since the sun was out I continued digging in the garden and finally managed to locate the power lines AND the needed storm drain lateral, so I can now focus on digging the desperately needed trench - w/o risk cutting either the gas or power lines in the process. Peace of mind!

We also got a visit from our little building inspector, Willow. She sorts of hangs around all day, not scared at all for noises or falling lumber, or the occasional visiting dog.

Drywall day

2007-10-07T22:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a rest day (pancake breakfast down at SCC), but evening was spent tearing down (and cleaning up) drywall. See our excellent insulation work from the 60ies...

Progress made...

2007-10-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Subfloor is in, the front doors are gone, the guys built a temporary wall to support the roof while replacing and extending the beam over the (former) front doors. We'll gain a few inches of height and will also get a nice exposed beam in the ceiling. They also "sealed us in" after finishing with the beam and we have a temporary dark stairwell - until we open everything up again.

Had a big blue tarp to cover the living room when they were cutting up for the new beam, but it was not really needed. It'll be dustier when I start taking down the drywall tomorrow evening.

The guys did a really nice job and we were also lucky in having a sunny day - but change is on its way...

I cleaned up the site, collected all the scrap wood, and covered everything up with tarps for the weekend rains. Normally not done, but the drier I can keep this, the happier/better off we are. Evening was spent cleaning the inside of the house as well and it is pretty sealed up behind these large pieces of plywood.

I also put a large fan in the crawl space to dry that out. Just after half a day, it has made a significant difference. Not at all planned from the beginning, but we'll get a really nice 4 feet tall storage area underneath. Perfect for all the "stuff" that is taking up space in the garage and basement (lumber, firewood, mower, wheelbarrow, tires, boating stuff, etc).

So one can now sort of start to see what it'll will look like. Getting rid of the doors and putting in the nice beam really felt like (and was) siginificant progress.

Tuesday came and went...

2007-10-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

Contractor never showed on Tuesday morning. I sort of figured it out, and yes, he got dragged in to working two 18 hour days up at the "Extreme MakerOver House". I'm OK with that, but a call would have been good. I had other stuff planned if no work was to be done.

But today we at least got started again, even though it was late due to miscommunication between general and sub-contractor. I cleaned up the site, we put down the sill plate, and anchored it with 5/8" bolts. Also added a foam strip sealer between concrete and sill plate (pressure treated). BTW, look at those bolts and washers. Needed as hold-downs in case of a severe earthquake, but likely unheard of in Sweden, or needed.

Also put up the skirt, but just before end of the day, Tom realized that we needed a pressure treated piece to put up as a girder for anchoring the floor joists outside the old entrance doors. Also need to tear down that old "aspha board" and replace it with plywood. It is a sheerwall and will need to be lined with plywood all the way through the house (along the stairwell and through kitchen) to the east side (drywall to be torn down this weekend - messy).

Our house, built in the early 60ies, is a rariry in that it actually has these hold-downs or anchors, tying the plate to the concrete foundation walls. What I understand, it was not mandated until sometime in the early 80ies and hence, very few house built before that time have them. Not to knock on wood, but we've done "OK" in at least a few relatively significant earthquakes.

The weather was great in the morning with sun, but mid-afternoon, the sky just opened up and EVERYTHING got wet. But, as it is up here in the fall, about an hour later the sun was out again and we ended up having a pretty pleasant evening.

I had "perfected" the anchoring of the sheets covering the denuded soil, so nothing blew away, and no erosion.

I started digging for the connection to the drainage line that runs westbound and out to the lateral that follows the street. Of course it runs parallel to both the power and the gas line, so one has to be careful. I managed to find the (plastic) gas line (close to where it was marked/supposed to be), but the electrical line (and cable + telephone) is yet to be found. Did find a piece of concrete drain pipe (same as used for the drain line) in the trench. It is possible that it is a cover for the electrical line, but after the "big dig" of last year, ones just have no idea really what to expect. Puget Power (as PSE was called in the 80ies) has cut more than one drain line when burying utilities as evidenced in last year's dig.

Contractor never showed...

2007-09-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe that's a bit harsh, but he was supposed to be here today to start framing. At noon I called him and got the news that he was working on compiling a crew for one day at the "Extreme MakeOver - Home Edition" house up in the Highlands area, actually just a few houses down from his.

I have no problem with that, it is a very good cause and also great networking/visibility for a builder, but he could AT LEAST have called and told me that Saturday would be a "no show" day.

Monday will now be spent at the "Extreme" house and they will start framing Tuesday morning.

Forecast does not look good for the roof this week...

Lumber delivered

2007-09-28T16:38:00.001-07:00

Early this morning (7.30 AM), got the first load of lumber delivered. Been raining all night and I guess this was likely sitting outside. But, inexplicbly the sun came out and it turned out ot be a really nice day - contrary to all forecasts.
Also stopped by City Hall (dog walking) to see if there was any redlines on revised permit. None, good!

The guys are supposed to be out here tomorrow morning, digging the drainage and starting framing.

Waterproofing done - and the rains are here...

2007-09-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Today was mostly cleaning up. Tons of concrete dust from removing the puke bricks, blowing it out and then washing the driveway, before washing the car as well.

Later a guy came and gave the foundation walls a "make over" with some heavy duty waterproofing. Very oily, very black. Amazing no cat managed to step in it since it took quite a few hours to be "dry to the touch".

Covered the dirt pile with plastic in order to control potential erosion. Should make the City happy.

Just before the rains started, we walked up to the Highlands and saw the final stages of the demolition of a house for the TV show "Extreme MakeOver - Home Edition".

A Kirkland lady with 4 kids has just been whisked away and where her old house stood earlier today, a brand new house, garage, and a pool will be built in ONE WEEK. Wow, just wonder how the building quality is at the end with such a pressed schedule.

In any case, she's likely happy. Getting a brand new house for her and the kids, all donated. Only happens in the U.S.

Walls can be seen

2007-09-26T22:56:00.000-07:00

The forms were pulled off today and the concrete walls can finally be seen. A few blemishes, but really nothing major. Can finally get a better feel for what this is going to look like. Up close it still looks like a bomb shelter.

Day was also stellar. One of those fall days when the air is so clear so you don't really think it exists. Need about another week of them, but forecast has the first fall rains coming tomorrow night...

Removed the remaining puke bricks over the garage door and started cleaning up. Concrete dust is not fun having to blow around (worse than drywall dust).
The old support beam over the garagedoors will come down and I'll put it up on Craigslist. No need for it.

Concrete Day

2007-09-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

Tom and Jim prepped the forms and also rected the last form for the wall by the stairs. Man, that'll be a tall one. Much taller when what one would have eye balled.
Jim also put in the ventilation blocks in the wall (crawlspace needs to be nicely ventilated).

LAter a GIGANTIC pump truck showed up. Seem that was what they had for us nearby, instead of the line pump ordered. Tom says it'll work as well, he just have to be more careful when filling the forms due to the potential for greater velocity of the concrete racing down the pipe from a much higher elevation.

But, this pump truck looks more like it belongs in a traveling amusement park...

After about an hour's wait (for everyone), the cement truck arrived as well. Activity kicked in.

Apart from a few blockages in the dump tube, it'll went reasonably well. A bit of an issue at the end when the pump guy accidentally cleaned out his tube in the yard, and then again in the cement truck. And they both want to charge for "off-site" clean-up. Go figure. Tom handled it well though and got a needed break from one of them.

Beside some patching and tifying it up, the concrete will now sit and cure overnight. Tom will tear the forms tomorrow and hopyfully start framing on Saturday.

And, also got the word that now it seem like trusses - and crew - are lined up for Thursday of next week. Good weather in the forecast?

Redesign has been "cleared"

2007-09-24T20:35:00.001-07:00

Got a call from the City today telling me that I could pick up the revised permit - to the tune of some $150. Good, that means the design and construction changes we did after lifting the entry way floor passed the muster.

Concrete is now on schedule for tomorrow afternoon, so having the paper work formally cleared adds a little bit of relief. Concrete is both awfully hard and expensive...

SEC Inspection cleared

2007-09-19T14:35:00.001-07:00

Tim from the City of Kirkland was here this morning and signed off on the Sediment and Erosion Control (actually both of them). Means that concrete can be poured, when it can be found, and we can backfill at leisure after that.

But a set back yesterday in that contractor did not carry his phone, missed my call and therefor delayed a call to the truss company. We missed our delivery slot for this Friday, so trusses are now delayed to next week.

Weather's great outside at the moment, but who knows what it would have been this weekend - or will be next week...

Weather forecast is not the best...

2007-09-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

Forecast for this weekend calls out for some drizzles Friday and Saturday, but no major storms. Really tough call, but since there are no guarantees that next week or weekend will be any better, I just gave the "go ahead" call to the contractor.

The Puget Sound "convergence zone" is a tricky place when it comes to weather forecasts. Fronts can sneak in south or north of the protective Olympic Mountains and weather is very hard to predict once the jet stream moves south and allows the low pressures off the Gulf of Alaksa to wander down the coast.

In any case, it'll mean I will be busy over the nex days tearing off the existing roof...

Trusses have been measured

2007-09-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

This morning contractor was here and also had a guy fro mthe truss company to measure and discuss the final design of the roof trusses. Interior height will be around 8 feet which is not that bad, considering the very strict height limit the City has for all buildings (maximum 25 feet above "ABE", Average building Elevation").

Plan is to have the a new plate built up on Friday during the day and the new trusses delivered late Friday afternoon and lift them up at the same. Contractor and his crew will then work over the weekend to line them up and sheet that new roof. Monday morning would then be the time for inspection of nailing pattern and hold downs (required in Earthquake zones).

I plan to take Wednesday and Thursday to tear the old roof off so all is ready for Friday morning. This past Saturday I went out a bought two gigantic tarps to be able to cover up the "exposed" area if needed, but I really hope that we can "swing" this during a good break in the weather. Been closely followign the weather forecasts...

Decision for go-ahead or not this weekend has to be made by Tuesday...

Concrete forms are up

2007-09-12T23:27:00.000-07:00

Tom and Jim put in two days of hard work to finish the excavation, level the site and build the forms for the concrete walls. All looks good and it'll be a while now before we see any more "heavy" equipment on site. Due to heavy demand for cement, earliest delivery sounds like Thursday of next week.

Also had the City Inspector out here to inspect the footings/setback, and foundation walls. Passed with flying colors! Now we "only" need that darn cement truck to show up...

11th hour Design Change

2007-09-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

Took some serious time over the weekend to discuss through what to do and how to proceed. Wife was now "OK" with current plan (entry at "slab/ground" level, but I was open for at least investigating the option to lift it up, or rather keep, the entry at the existing "split" level and build out addition from that point.

Benefits would be that you get in at a slightly higher level and get more of a view out, as well as more of a view "up and in" to the house. We also don't have to mess around with the stairs inside and I don't have to re-route a lot electrical feeders at all. No cutting through basement wall and less demolition on the inside in basement family room are other side benefits.
Lifting that floor from slab to rest on floor joists also provides for a 3 foot tall "garden shed" underneath new addition (mowers and wheel barrows), but just as it'll remove some cost in less concrete, it'll add new ones for the "lifted" floor and architectural changes.

After having made the call for at least investigating "spousal" option, we had a chat with the contractor and his crew early monday morning here on site. As they were OK with either option, I did a run down to City Hall to talk to the Building Engineer and the the city Planner.

Since there are really no external changes except that we would have a slighty taller concrete wall (only about a foot), Building Engineer was very accommodating and essentially said "I know, I've been married for a long time too. You only have one spouse".

Since that sounded pretty good, the run contiunued to the architecht's office. If he could do a quick design change and provide updated drawings to the City, we're rolling. He promised to squeeze it in, and after a few hours of further discussions at home, we gave him the "go ahead".

At the end, I'm more than OK with the change and think it'll look just as good, or even better than the initial plans. Just to bad it had to be in the 11th hour.

Even though we looked over these drawings so many times, I guess there is never really a final time. If you're heading up the project, you almost have to "force" the rest of the family to look at the design, even though it might be boring and uninteresting when it is "just" on paper. Lesson learned.

While contracor was on site this morning we also discussed options for the "darn" basement beam and pillars with the architect. Turns out that he had measured correctly, but indicated the measurments incorrectly on the drawings. So the structural engineer worked with calculations for a span that was more than 4 feet longer than reality. Therefore the intial need for the pillars in the basement. Now the decision was made to put the support beam inside the wall between kitchen and bedroom. Very slick and no need to mess around with all the electrical and ethernet cables in the basement.

Excavating and Spousal Melt-Down

2007-09-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

Tom showed up with his bobCat and took care of all the concrete and also did the rough excavation for the foundation.

Wife came home around lunch and later in the afternoon poked out and asked "why are we digging that deep?"

Anwser is given, "There's where the entrance is supposed to be, at slab level".

"No, it'll look stupid, no one wants to walk into a basement!"

Concrete is gone but you can read more here!

Now we REALLY need to take some time this weelend to look over things and options.

Excavating lined up

2007-09-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

Contractor showed up late today. Did review the site and what's needed to be done. Will be back Friday AM to start hauling concrete away and digging out.

Things are finally on its way. All is good - and rain is nowhere in sight...

And, even better, several neighbors commented that they really appreciated the little "heads-up" I sent them last week. Maybe something the "professional" developers could learn from...

But still no word from architect on support beams. Mental note to self to call him tomorrow (this is annoying to say the least).

Did we ever get rain?

2007-09-04T14:51:00.001-07:00

Did we ever get rain? Sure we did, but thanks to some good old prep work, no damage and no flooding after last night's downpour. And no erosion which the City can be very, very, picky about. They actually require 3 (three) inspections to verify that "SEC", Sediment and Erosion Control" is properly addressed.

This morning the contractor also called. He'll be in touch later today and plan to have a crew our for excavation of foundation tomorrow morning. Weather's supposed to be really good (again).

Puke Bricks Gone!

2007-09-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

Part of getting wife to buy into ANY idea (apart from lifting the roof which she stressed from the get-go) was to get rid of the "puke bricks" decorating the front surrounding the garage doors.
So after a little bit of labor of love (=hammer and chisel) the bricks are now gone. Some of the bricks were "wasted" in the process and taking the sledge hammer to tear down the entire wall was one option, but I sort of wanted to keep these bricks for future use, so they are now nicely stacked up for another project (garden paths, planters, you name it).

Also took off some of the old cedar siding as well and managed to put up a few drain lines for the rain that never materialized tonight.

And while digging around also came across the sewer connection and a small access hatch. Good, means I don't have to put one in. Looks dirty, but was amazingly clean and "odor free".

Concrete Steps are gone!

2007-08-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

Excavator (John Burke, Marshall Excavation) was here this morning. In order not to damage the street, he had to load up onto his trailer and roll the truck/tralier down the street. The tracks are called "street crawlers" but they still tear easily up city streets.

Once in location, the actual demolition did not take that long. The big steps were a bit tough, but once shaken a few times, the "cap" was lifted out of the way. As expected, only dirt underneath.

He managed to work both around the trees and bushes, even though it looked like close calls a few times, but he had the situation under control. Also broke up the large pieces into smaller ones so they can be handled by the Bobcat next week.

If you're looking for a good and cheap "digger", give John Burke a call; 425-941-6422. He is worth every penny!

Notice to Neighbors...

2007-08-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

Long overdue, but did today write a little courtesy notice to our (all great) neighbors, just informing them about the project. There's been so much construction going on in our neighborhood over the past few years, and most of it just starts, w/o any prior notice.

Try to do a little better, even though most neighbors are already aware...

Permit is in hand

2007-08-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

After paying the final fee today to the city, the building permit is finally released and official - and proudly posted in thw window (as required).

Only thing missing was that the contractor's license had expired. He needs to renew his insurance and pay a re-instatement fee (less than $60) to L&I in order to be "current" again.

Dropped him a voice mail and he called me back late tonight and promised to take care of it. Do not want to act as "general contractor" for the initial building and framing (liability and tax issues), but can take that role once we get to the electrical, and finsihing work (easy part for me), since I do not plan to hire anyone to take care of those tasks.

Excavator lined up

2007-08-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

They've been digging at a new construction site up the street for months now, but are getting closer to finish (after hauling some 1,500 yards of dirt away).

I managed to get the "excavator guy" to come down and look at my concrete steps. It just would be so sweet if he could take 15 minutes of pure hydraulic power to crack this up into chunks before he leaves the area.

He agreed to do this for $100. Deal - likely about what I would have spent on an electric jackhammer + two days of sweat equity. Maybe I can also get him to move the big yard rocks a bit out of the way as well.

Contractor's visit

2007-08-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Our contractor finally came around yesterday and presented a formal offer. We got a good ball park number about a month ago, but I really needed something in writing.

This might sound worse than it is, but he has he has been here a number of times over the past 18 months while we've been contemplating the project and is therefore pretty much up to speed of the actual scope, but it feels good to finally have this paper in hand.

Aslo agreed that I will take care of getting the concrete steps "hacked-up" and he will take care of hauling away the concrete and have it recycled.

Tentative plan now is to start to Tuesday after Labor Day.

Rhododendron

2007-08-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

Check this "sister blog" for more info on the removal of the rhododendron: KirklandZoo

But during the digging for the rhodi, I also found our old septic tank and (new) sewer line. At least it was good to find them, since the sewer line was nowhere close to where the "locator service" have put it. Only have to make sure the sewer does not get crushed by heavy machinery during the excavation phase.

Removed steps and cleaned up for concrete removal

2007-08-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

Took the past few days to remove all the steps and railings that were added sometimes in the mid-90ies. A LOT of nails to pull out, but needed in order to be able to handle all the wood and pack it up nicely.

A nice surprise was that the concrete top of the old stairs was already removed and be able to see that the big "hunk" of concrete is not a solid block, but rather just thin (well, 6 inches...) walls. At least it'll be easier to get rid of it.

No permit in the neighborhood

2007-08-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

A house I can see from our deck was nicely cleaned just a few weeks ago. They removed some trees and in general took care of the lot. The house now really looks good and is "visible" compared to before. They have also done some heavy work in removing all siding, interior walls, building a new porch, and other work.

But, the other day I noticed that there was no more activity. Thought I even saw a red note, but it is too far away to be sure. So when walking the dogs, we stopped by to take closer look. And, sure enough, the site has been "red-tagged" and a "work stoppage" order had been issued. The order indicated "no approved permit, no approved plans". Sort of daring to go that far w/o ANY paper work - in such a visible location.

In any case, they tried to cut corners by bypassing all the needed and boring papers work, but are dearly paying for that now.

Support beam in basement

2007-08-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

After never hearing back from architect, despite repeated calls, I managed to get hold of him today. Discussed the beam and he was to look at it.
Also sent him a "packet" of photos and current dimensions in case he'd forgotten about what the span actually looks like.

A bit "miffed" over this since this issue should never really have surfaced, nor should I have to "chase him" to have it corrected.

Paid HUGE architect bill

2007-07-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

Went to the architect's office to pay the bill. It was about $2,000 more than anticipated, but in the end, the design looks really good. And also taking in to consideration that most of the paper work with the City has worked smoothly thanks to a well prepared package, I guess it is a price you just have to pay.

However, I asked his admin to have him call me back once he got back to the office. He needs to review one of the beams in the basement. It had "grown" in size between the set of drawings I got handed to me, and the ones that were "final". I was told there were no changes, but this beam will not fit under the heating duct so it needs to be made lower but wider.

In any case, let's talk more about that when he calls.

Permit Ready to be issued

2007-06-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

Got today the call that the permit is ready to be issued (after paying some additional $700 to the City). Only now need to have the general contractor lined up and his license information.

First major hurdle (the paper work) is done!

Updated elevation drawings

2007-06-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

Finally got this drawing updated by the architect. Went straight to City Hall to file the revision.

Vacation

2007-06-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Architect was supposed to update our the site plan so the permit application did not stall at the Planning Department, but he suddenly went on vacation. Back Next week. Bummer!

Letter from the city

2007-05-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

Got a letter today from the city. Inconsistency in regards to the elevation curves. I should have seen that as well, but more importantly, it should never have left the architect in that shape.

Calling architect. He tells me he'll fix it quickly. Good.

Design finally done

2007-05-16T18:31:00.000-07:00

The architect was finally done today (after getting the drawings PE stamped) and after a quick review, I went to the city to file for a permit.

Intake fee of some $300 paid and quick review by Darrel Harmon who also granted the application "fast track" status (meaning that the entire process can take as little as two-three weeks compared to normally over eigth weeks).

Now it is just "wait and see"...

As a side note, I always wonder how the ones who are attacking remodeling projects WITHOUT filing for permits manages to get away with it. In WA state these days, on "Form 17", you have to indicate whether you have done work that was not permitted and inspected, and if you answer "no", and a later owner finds out that you had work done w/o permiting it, it will come back to haunt you.