My Beam, Plumbing and Other Animals

While I've been quiet the last few weeks (work trips to Orlando, Dallas and North Carolina have kept me away from the noise of the renos) things are progressing, albeit slowly, in the right direction. We seem to have spurts of work, and then nothing. And it's getting difficult to have the contractor to commit to when they'll be here. You'll see we have replaced the old main beam of the house which was rotten in places, with a super strong engineered wood. Plus there's the steel supporting beams and structure.


BEFORE - the rot


AFTER - the beam


AFTER - beam with steel support


AFTER - steel posts


AFTER - Back wall removed - new steel structure

Now they've started on digging the trenches/holes for the plumbing. Started, but not complete. No idea when they're going to finish. Marc's going to talk with JF tomorrow as the weather is starting to get cooler and we HAVE to get the plumbing done and the concrete floor laid since there's no heat in the house until then... We heard a rumour that the English courtyard will start this week - HAAAAAAA!

The brickwork restoration was supposed to start today, but we had an email yesterday saying that they won't be able to start until next week. Not too bad a delay what with everything else. The roofing company actually called a few days ago to let us know they'd had a spot open up and could do our roof immediately. Unfortunately, with all the house movement right now, this is not something we'd like to embark upon early. So this is currently still planned for the first week of November.

In the meantime, we got restless with the inaction in the basement, so have started on the main floor. While I type this, I'm back and forth helping Marc hold plastic sheeting and bits of wood in place to separate off the areas which are about to become very dusty. This past weekend, while Marc's mum and I packed up and moved tons of things into the living room, Marc and his dad were removing trim, old wiring and old piping.






The wall on the left is coming down next weekend

For the past few months, every time we've been in a home decoration store I've been eyeing up the dining room tables. So we took a break on Sunday and stopped at Mariette Clermont, after a picture in a magazine had taken me to their website, and ultimately to the store. I now have a deposit on a table that I won't have delivered until December. It's made from solid oak, oil-treated. I love it and the way it expands. It feels like it'll last a lifetime and more. Here's hoping!



Now a heart-warming story. I can be a bear of little brain. While putting a huge bag of dog food into the back of the car, I put my purse on the roof. Of course, I forgot to take it off before driving away. Somehow we made it all the way to the highway before it flew off the roof and somehow, I was completely unaware of all this happening. While we'd made a stop on the way home, I had a call from a stranger saying that he had my wallet; he'd found the contents strewn all across the highway and he was crazy enough to stop and pick up what he could.

Just 2 weeks ago (no pun intended) I finally received my business cards from work and the stranger had found one and called the office number. This weekend was unusual because I had it forwarded to my mobile. Not only did this gentleman call me and get through to me, it was before I even noticed my purse was missing!!! He then went out of his way to drop it off in the middle of a shopping centre car park. I did not have one card missing (and I have a lot) and there was very little cash there to start with, so not a big deal. TALK ABOUT LUCKY! Then as we were leaving the shopping centre we were rear ended! Not so lucky, but no damage. Quite the day.

The stranger was called Stephan. Thank you, Stephan, you saved me A LOT of headaches.

From demolition to building

4 months of work and believe it or not, there is still rock to remove. I was reading my previous post and it is incredible how this rock makes this project so unpredictable. I learned that construction project in the residential home business is definitely not an exact science. You have to be Agile and patient. That being said, it is a good learning experience for a professional project manager like me. I will be able to transfer from IT to building renovation…..lol. Anyway, rule 101 of project management, we have to keep the goal in mind,.

On the positive side, we had a major milestone this week since the damage back foundation wall was demolished and a new concrete footing was pored. It is good to see some construction instead of demolition. This also confirms the ceiling height of 7 foot 9 inches, 3 inches below the original objective but the extra cost does not worth it. Next Thursday the carpenter will be here with the steel welder to replace the major wood beam and to put up the steel structure to replace the back wall. This needs to support 3 floors of our 1915 building.

Since I am only starting back to work in September (new contract), I have more time to browse around and try to find the right suppliers and the good deals for our project. So far we found real good deals on an oven hood and 2 toilets. I also found my suppliers for windows, lights, electrician and tempered glass. I found this incredible supplier of architectural windows http://www.alcora.ca/. Like I told him: I love your product but I don’t know if I can afford it. I am analyzing his quote at the moment, we’ll see but I have a Plan B. Also I think we found the bathtub and faucet supplier but I have my eyes open for good deals on plumbing furniture. So for bathroom and kitchen cabinet, IKEA will really be the cost effective solution.

Here some picture

Let’s be positive!

Back to reality

After 2 weeks, just 2 weeks indeed, we are back from our vacation in Europe. Jo, the children and me visited friends and family in France and in the UK. It was the first time for the kids so we visited a lot of touristic site as well. It was great to see my friends in France and Jo’s friends and family in England.

Anyway, back to reality for the JTW project. The basement is now at the right height but still lots to do. The plumber came this week for sewage and drainage. So you can imagine we need to dig trenches in the rock for those pipes and that big and deep sewage pump container. The good news (at last) is that the steel pipes for the first floor eating system are good for life. So we will keep them as is and connect them to the new gas heating system.

This week, at one point, it was really busy around and under the house. The guys from the gas company, the guys for the contractor (front basement windows) and a subcontractor (digging in the basement) were working at the same time. Poor furry friend, he was so happy to see me when I got home. I brought him to the park. He almost thanks me for getting out of that hell.

Today I meet with the engineer and the contractor. Since I finished my work contract, I am more at home looking after the project. Looking forward to find another contract job cause the money pit needs to be filled with money ;-). For the last phase we are thinking of knocking down the whole back foundation wall and replace it totally. This should be less complicated, less costly and give a better end result. This concrete wall was really damage by water. Talking of walls, the inside plaster walls are starting to crack. The main central beam probably moved a bit but at least the sidewalls are solid.

On the moral side I guess we stopped planning to far ahead until the basement milestone is completed. I am estimating September (3 weeks to 4 months, what a difference). I have to watch the money pit movie again, hhhhaaaaa….ha…………ha ha ha!!! The goal is to have a livable basement with bedrooms and bathrooms and a workable kitchen for Christmas……I think it is feasible……

Keep up the spirit!!

Here some pictures

The gold mine......no the money pit


The gas company at work




and a movie clip

All Quiet On the Eastern Front

The construction holiday has commenced! It actually started last Thursday for our project. So much for the final push... instead we have another thin layer of concrete ready to hold the cutting machine on the return to our money pit. Meanwhile, Marc and I will be taking the time for a little vacation with the kids, home to the UK (and a short visit to Paris). Stay tuned!

Consideration

I had a little stress this weekend when I discovered Marc had been given a newspaper article from next door entitled "Before you renovate or build, consider the neighbours". Marc tells me it was given to him in good humour, but still... It was written by Marc's favourite TV show host, Mike Holmes. We gave it a good read, but I think we have being doing a fair job of relationship management (well to be honest, Marc's the one doing this really. I just give my two words of polite French and hope that our doggie wagging his tail will melt everyone's hearts).

As for progress, the earth was removed from the front basement windows on Friday (before some seriously heavy torrential rain). And today the holes were cut ready for expanding the window size (and before yet more torrential rain, thunder and lightening).

Compromise

It's been a couple of busy days. Yesterday I was accosted by the neighbour on my way home. He was actually very nice about it, but very persistent; the neighbourhood needs to know, worst case scenario, when will the big trucks and digging end... It just so happens that Marc had received a call from JF earlier in the day saying the workmen had reached 8'3" in one area. That's 3 inches less than we had requested, but we're getting to the point where every inch is huge piles of dosh. Given that we have to use 6" for finishing the floor (including radiant heat), we'll actually end up with 7'9" ceiling height (rather than the 8 foot we were aiming at - remember we are trying to create a very un-basement-like feel in the basement). But having now been into the construction zone basement to feel the height, this is one compromise we can live with.

Coming back to our neighbour's question (very valid, I've been wanting this digging phase to end too!), JF is pushing the guys hard to finish in time for the construction 2 week holiday (Monday 19 July - Friday 30 July). That's actually only 6 digging days from now, unless they start working weekends (highly unlikely). However, I think the main thing people want to know is, when can they have a break from the noise and the early morning wake-up call, even if it's only for a week. So construction holiday time it is!

Lisa (our architect) also came back to the house yesterday for new measurements, since all the concrete walls are in place and we will need more precise locations for the roughed in plumbing. We'll need to start making bathroom decisions soon as it will affect the plumbing locations. Fortunately, we had visited several "plomberies" this past weekend to start our search for the perfect bathroom at the perfect price.

Today, I was again accosted by the neighbour just as I got home. But this time, it was to find out if we are happy with our contractor. It seems that a neighbour a few doors down is very interested in undertaking the same crazy scheme as us, and wants to know if we would recommend Excavation Beloeil. Well, despite the length of time this is taking, I'm pretty happy, but until we get a bit further, I'm reserve final judgment, but so far, so good.

Marc also had a chat with JF this morning on a couple of other matters. First, the other compromise we have to make, putting in a sewage pump. We had really wanted to dig a trench in front of the house to get to the main sewer, and just use good old-fashioned gravity to get rid of our basement waste. However, pros and cons weighed in, and it seems that the pump will have to do.

Secondly, we've also been looking into interior finished concrete floors, since this could be a great way to keep with the modern industrial design look, while keeping costs down, ceiling height at the max and getting the most from our radiant floor. JF is able to do this for us as part of the current price (although it won't be any fancy colour - we'll just have to add rugs if we need any). It will also mean we don't have to make any decisions on flooring for a while and we can happily keep it as is. It just means we have to wait 28 days for the floor to cure...

By the way, I made some yummy home made salsa tonight with fresh Quebec tomatoes and coriander. Perfect for a stinky hot day.

Already 2 months!

Well, 2 months of work and there is still lots to do. I am running out of inspiration for the blog since I feel I am repeating myself every time I make a post. I talked to my digging contractor and he expects to be finished with the rock removal next week. Of course the project will be far from over but at least we will be able to see faster and significant progress.

I talked to my neighbours last week and I guess they are resigned about the length of this phase of the project. They are not as smiley as before but they still prefer us to the previous owner. I decided to change the fence for a nice and more private pressure treated wood fence. They seem to like my idea. My contractor will help me put the posts in the ground since he has to repair the existing fence anyway.
Here are some drawings I laid out. This is a work in progress.


See for yourself the progress. Une image vaut mille mots. Cheers!