Morningside Renovation

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

Tag Archives: Home improvement


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We Have a Problem

We have a problem, after being framed I knew that it would look a little smaller but I decided to measure the room sizes anyway.  Somehow we lost 2′ 6″ from the depth/length of our basement/flex room.  Our downstairs bedroom is smaller and the stub for the plumbing is in the bedroom, not the bathroom.  Just one huge mess.  I sent our GC an email letting him know that it wasn’t acceptable and that we would like to meet with him ASAP.  Also noticed that the carport is smaller than what was noted on the plans.  GC wrote back that “we lost some space from the plans”.  No Shit!!  A lot of space and we’re having to bring it to your attention, I would think that you would have brought this up to us as soon as you discovered there might be an issue.  Were you not going to tell us?  Amazing!!!  His reasoning is that the elevations in the plans are wrong.  Ok, doesn’t make sense to me but I’m willing to listen, plus doesn’t it say on the plans to field verify all measurements and to notify the architect if the existing field conditions are different from what’s on the plan?  We’re meeting him on Saturday and I am beyond pissed.  This portion of the construction is new and we’re not constrained on any side for our footprint – we shouldn’t be that far off, a few inches I understand but 30″, no way!!

Update, just spoke with our architect, he said that our GC never called him with any questions or concerns.  He said that is quite normal for our GC and that he keeps telling him that if something doesn’t make sense to call.


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Game Day

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.


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Shingles aren’t all the Same Color?

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!!!


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Foundation is Poured

They poured the foundation today and it looks great!!  Max had the best time watching all of the big cement trucks as he made me stay to watch all 4 of them.  Thankfully he didn’t make me sit to watch it dry.  Next up, FRAMING!!!


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A Schedule

A lot of rain is schedule for this week however our GC told us that they’re planning to slab plumb today (Google), inspect Tuesday, slab prep Wednesday, inspect Thursday and pour the slab on Friday.  Yes!!! A schedule!!!


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He Wants Some Money

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”.


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Way Way Off

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.


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Step Forward (baby steps count don’t they?)

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.