We sent our comments back to the designer today with regards to the kitchen layout. We’re getting closer, just needs a little more tweaking.
More importantly, Framing began today!!! Julie stopped by the house on the way to her office and was a little concerned. To her it seems as if our GC was a little flustered. Maybe but everybody gets a little nervous before a big game and this part of the renovation is probably equivalent to the kickoff.
Our GC emailed to let us know the framing material will be delivered today so they can begin tomorrow – we can’t wait!!!
He also needs to know the color of the shingles that we want for the house. I’ve never really thought about it, I guess I’ve always just assumed that they were all the same charcoal color. Of course Julie already knew exactly what color she wanted for the roof. Thank you Julie!!!
So we got a message this morning from our GC which was quickly followed by an email that he wanted a check for his first draw. I tried to narrow him down on a date on when the framing would begin however he stated that he had no idea. Ok, so when will they finish the foundation? Answer – “I have no idea on that either but I’ll let you know… when can I get a check”? We’ve been trying to reach you for 3 days and you call not to return our messages but to say you need money to buy materials? My answer, “tomorrow”.
Being a fairly optimistic person I’m going to view the following as a positive step. They came back and re-graded today being that they were a little off in the needed depth of the foundation – 34 inches off!!! How in the world does this happen? Whoever is doing the measuring should be fired or find a new job. At least it was caught.
Received a funny call from our GC today, he wanted to know if we could let the plumber into the house, seems as if he can’t get his key to work (Julie at best is 104 lbs and has no problem, while he’s easily double her size). During the conversation he said that he’s only been inside when we were with him – that’s only twice and for whatever reason this seems concerning to me.
Yeah, our GC said the plans were approved today by the city and are to be picked up tomorrow. Only a 10 day delay, we can handle that.
We’ve had a lot of rain lately and unfortunately some is accumulating on the hardwood floors in one of the bedrooms. Seems that it’s coming in from the area covering what they demo’d. Definitely concerning to see but when I told the GC he said that he would have someone fix the tarp and not to worry because it won’t hurt the floors, also that it’s common in these types of remodeling jobs.
He also said that they’ll check the depth of the grading tomorrow (thank you), I’m curious to hear back about this because I truly don’t think that it’s deep enough for an 8′ finished ceiling which is noted throughout the plans and has been discussed numerous times. He still can’t tell me when they’ll pour the foundation or lay the plumbing, my hope is soon.
Remember, originally we were suppose to be in the house in May, then July – now that isn’t looking too promising. Are there really no schedules or timelines in residential construction? This is starting to become pretty frustrating.
Good news, our revised plans were submitted to the city today (a day later than we were told) so hopefully this holdup won’t last too long. Still trying to get use to the residential construction world, it seems as if it’s more of a “it’ll get done when it gets done” mentality, a little different from what Julie and I are used to.
Get this, we were informed today that we’re already $2,000 over budget on cabinetry. We haven’t even picked out our cabinets nor have we added any additional linear feet. GC said that we will have to get creative on the kitchen cabinets; meaning get cheaper cabinets or we have to come out-of-pocket to get the quality of cabinets which were originally budgeted.
How could this happen? Oh, it seems our GC forgot to include the cabinetry in what is to be an office. But those were in the original drawings and we’ve talked about them 100 times and you even stated in an email that you included them? And didn’t we just talk about surprises? A big reason why I wish we had gone over the plans and budget in more detail a week ago instead of being rushed through it. Of course I asked him to double-check everything again to make sure that there are no additional surprises.
I just wonder if this extra expense should be our responsibility? I’m thinking no and Hell No!
Ok, by now you can probably tell that I’m getting a little antsy about how everything has gone up to this point… as well as us getting in on time. Originally we were supposed to be in our house by May, then June and now possibly July… so much for our July 4th party.
One problem, per the agreement with our bank it needs to be completed by mid-July. I’m sure they’ll be amenable to modifying the original agreement (more $$) but still… I mentioned it to our GC and he says that “we’re on schedule” and that we should be in before our deadline.
Trying really hard to have confidence, really really hard
Ok, I’m trying to put the developments from the last few days behind me and focus on the big picture; the revised plans have been resubmitted to the City Planning Department so my hope is that it won’t be another 4 week delay. We need to get this going, our GC hasn’t been very responsive and moving in by June is looking more doubtful – it kills me to see that nothing is happening at the house – it’s just sitting there with nothing be done.
Plans are to be submitted tomorrow, per our GC, so my focus needs to be on the overall objective and trying to keep Julie’s spirits up after all of the recent setbacks and delays.
Morningside Renovation 