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.
Tag Archives: morningside
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.
The Meeting
First, it is hard to believe that we’re spending so much money with someone to construct our home and this is the first official meeting that we’ve had. We’ve tried but he has repeatedly told us that it wasn’t necessary yet and has basically made it feel as if we were being unreasonable and somewhat crazy for wanting to do so. Anyway, our first meeting and it is to discuss all of the issues created with the slab as well as the framing. Where do I start?
I let him know that I was pissed(politely), and that I couldn’t understand how any of this could happen. As for the footprint of the slab not being correct, he said that it had to do with the elevation in the plans (he ignored my comment about field verifying) and that they couldn’t dig closer to the house. Not sure why? They did the first time they excavated. Then he admitted that this was the first time that he had ever connected an existing structure with new construction. What? Why didn’t he tell us this when we first met with him and asked him if he had ever worked on similar jobs before and his response was that he was quite experienced and comfortable with it. Also, if he didn’t know what in the hell he was doing why didn’t he at least enlist someone’s help that does have the needed experience? What have we gotten into?
As for the carport wall and slab being incorrect, he said that he “honestly doesn’t know why it was done this way” but he did agree to remove the carport retention wall which now we might move further back to give us more carport area. We asked him about the ceiling height and he said that he had checked it and it was correct – good at least it was dug deep enough.
In regards to the plumbing he couldn’t explain how it ended up in the bedroom but he offered to have it moved into the correct location if we paid for it.
Seriously? You or your subs screwed it up and you want us to pay for it? He then said that we could leave it where it is and just make the bedroom in the basement smaller by 2-3 feet – it’s already a pretty small bedroom – what is he thinking and the guts for him to even suggest that we pay and or make a heavy sacrifice for his mistake. This ultimately would affect the value of our home as well if we ever decided to sell it.
We said that we would get back with him shortly, I literally thought that I was going to go crazy because I was so mad. The carport retaining wall will be removed so we’ll decide on the rest and get back with him but my feeling is that I want the whole thing either ripped up or him off the job and he can refund us what we have paid that he hasn’t done correctly.
Last, I asked again for Lien Waivers and of course he said that he would get them to us. I’m not holding my breath.
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.
Stone or Wood?
We received the revised kitchen plan back today from our designer and while we’re not there yet I feel that it’s getting closer. We’re still trying to decide what to do with the kitchen island and whether to use marble or wood ($$$). Who would have thought a wood surface would be so expensive?
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.
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!!!
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!!!
Morningside Renovation 