Morningside Renovation

Our Journey Through The Renovation Process Of Our Future "Forever Home" In Morningside (Atlanta,GA)


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I Hope He Understands

Today I sent an email to our GC letting him know that we want to stick with the construction plans as drawn.  Further, that I wasn’t comfortable with the way the carport slab was poured, being that it slopes to the house and that there isn’t an elevation change between it and the basement slab, both noted on the construction plans. I’m also wondering if the supports he put up for the existing structure are permanent or temporary – I hope temporary. 

All of this is starting to make me curious if there are other issues with the work that he has already done and we just aren’t knowledgable enough to know about it?  I would love to know all that Mike Holmes would discover – although I think even he would be overwhelmed.


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Poor Pour and Not the First Time

I asked the architect today about his initial plans with regards to the foundation pour and would he be concerned about the carport foundation slab being flush with the basement slab.  He was very quick to point out that it was a poor pour.  YIKES!!!!.  He said that he’s unsure how to handle this – I do, rip it up and do it correctly.  Also, found out that this isn’t our GC’s first time to have foundation problems and even more concerning is that he is currently dealing with the same issues at another house. 

I need some help, someone who can give me some guidance without having an agenda but is knowledgeable about construction.


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Counter Top for the Kitchen

I went with Julie this afternoon to go back and look at a few slabs she had selected for the kitchen at Bottega Stone.  Definitely not something that I find very interesting but I love what she picked, Mountain White Danby marble.  I’m a little concerned about the fact that it’s marble and we have two boys but it’s supposed to be less porous than traditional marble.  It’s more expensive but we saved money on clearing the property so that will help to make up the difference.  Plus I love to see Julie getting so excited about the house.  It’s been a hard year for her and even though we have been experiencing some pretty significant setbacks with the construction it’s great to see her having some fun.

They were going to pour the slab today but for whatever reason they didn’t.  GC couldn’t tell us why but said that he’s “anxious to get started”.


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Like the Attittude

I received an email today from our GC basically saying that he agreed that the current pour of the carport wasn’t correct and that they will figure something out.  Possibly add a curb to it – I’ll need to find out more about it but hopefully this will achieve what was in the plans.


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I Don’t See How This Could Be Good

So I went by the house today after work and besides the fact that the retaining wall for the carport is in the wrong spot, I also noticed that the carport foundation is even(flush) with the basement foundation, plans call for it to be 1″ – 2″ lower with a gradual decline to aid with channeling water away from the house.  If that wasn’t bad enough, the carport foundation slopes toward the basement, basically channeling any water towards the house.  How does this happen and why am I the one catching it?


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Fix a Wrong

Our GC informed us today that tomorrow they will remove the carport retaining wall which was  poured in the wrong location and then they will start excavating the area closer to the house as well as install pier pads and posts to support the existing structure.  Hopefully this will help us achieve a footprint a little closer to what was shown on the plan. Not sure why this wasn’t done originally but I’m just happy that they’re finally doing it.


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Hope this Helps

Our GC informed us today that because of the issues surrounding the pour they are going to dig closer to the existing house to try to gain more square footage and hopefully achieve what was written in our plans.  He said that his engineer is working on the plans now so hopefully we’ll be able to come closer to achieving what we wanted.


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Counter Tops

The 4 of us (family) went up to Norcross today to look at slabs for our kitchen and bathroom counter tops.  Gorgeous stuff, amazingly beautiful but somewhat overwhelming.  I will say though, Julie knows what she wants and has a great eye.  The boys and I started to get a little bored at the end, Julie had fun though so that is what ultimately matters.