Yesterday it really did happen! The concrete arrived early in the morning. The English courtyard stairs were laid and the floor of the basement was poured. Since we'd like to keep the concrete floor showing, JF had a special finish included in the concrete which gives a nice glazed look. Unfortunately, with this glaze being in such large quantities and in a closed space, it was giving off such noxious fumes that we had to put our tenants up in a hotel last night. But JF will cover this, plus he had his guys bring in some huge fans to ventilate; this morning the odour was pretty much gone and we were able to walk on our lovely new floor for the first time :)
Marc took today off work to finish off the bedroom demolition. Tomorrow we have a new dumpster arriving and we've both taken the day off to get a head start on the demolition of the kitchen and bathroom ceiling and walls.
Next week, the roof is being replaced on Monday. Framing of the new interior walls should also start (maybe even as early as tomorrow), then gas and electricity on Thursday, followed by plumber on Friday. Plus the masonry work continues...
Photos to follow...
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
The Generosity of Plan D
Since I last posted, we purchased the kitchen cabinets and gas stove from Ikea (to be delivered November 20), rented the largest container (dumpster) possible, demolished the dining room, most of our bedroom and the big kitchen cabinet (that housed the washer/dryer), removed all the kitchen cabinets, filled a container with all the crap, had it removed and ordered another one, and last but not least, we moved out of the house. The original plan A had been to move into Marc's parents caravan. His dad drove it here and while it would have just fit into the back garden, it would have taken at least half an hour to move it in and out. This just wasn't an option given we were going to need to move it every other day while the basement work is still very active. So, plan B, we considered a hotel, which is still an option, but we need to save every penny we can, which led to plan C, the "Lenny" option. The first couple of nights were spent in my beloved campervan which had served me well on my 3-week trip across Canada last year. It's small but perfectly formed, and since we've not demolished the bathroom in the house, works OK for us. However, we now have a plan D due to the generosity of our neighbour, who offered to put us up this week. THANK YOU, Gilbert!
Now we just have to figure out how to get things to the point in the house that we can move back in... But at least once all the basement work wraps up at the end of this week (REALLY, Joanna?! Are you pulling my leg?!) we then go back to plan A (the luxury caravan). Marc and I have been talking about what's the absolute minimum we have to have done before living in our home is a real option. It involves completing the demolition, then insulating and dry-walling the bedroom. Given our current rate of progress, and all the help from Marc's dad (and not forgetting his son too!) we think 2 weeks, yes, just two weeks, is enough to make this a reality. However if plan A works for us, it takes the pressure off, and allows us to focus on the real goal of being ready for Christmas.
That's just the things we've been working on. On the contractor side, the mason work has finally started! Our house is ready for halloween as it's been covered by mesh and scaffolding. In the basement, the back wall for the house has been framed, the courtyard stairs have been made ready for the concrete, and the concrete will be poured for them AND THE BASEMENT FLOOR... TOMORROW :) I think it really is going to happen. At last!
One other piece which happened at the last minute, today to be precise, is that we had Delta Membrane put up all around the walls of the basement. Marc had thought we may need this since the beginning, and long and the short of it, it got put up today. So all good.
I'll let you know if we really did get a basement floor... tomorrow...
Now we just have to figure out how to get things to the point in the house that we can move back in... But at least once all the basement work wraps up at the end of this week (REALLY, Joanna?! Are you pulling my leg?!) we then go back to plan A (the luxury caravan). Marc and I have been talking about what's the absolute minimum we have to have done before living in our home is a real option. It involves completing the demolition, then insulating and dry-walling the bedroom. Given our current rate of progress, and all the help from Marc's dad (and not forgetting his son too!) we think 2 weeks, yes, just two weeks, is enough to make this a reality. However if plan A works for us, it takes the pressure off, and allows us to focus on the real goal of being ready for Christmas.
That's just the things we've been working on. On the contractor side, the mason work has finally started! Our house is ready for halloween as it's been covered by mesh and scaffolding. In the basement, the back wall for the house has been framed, the courtyard stairs have been made ready for the concrete, and the concrete will be poured for them AND THE BASEMENT FLOOR... TOMORROW :) I think it really is going to happen. At last!
One other piece which happened at the last minute, today to be precise, is that we had Delta Membrane put up all around the walls of the basement. Marc had thought we may need this since the beginning, and long and the short of it, it got put up today. So all good.
I'll let you know if we really did get a basement floor... tomorrow...
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Shopping!
It's been a fun filled couple of days. We got up early for the purpose of being first at the stores both Saturday AND Sunday! I may be unable to get out of bed most days, but for shopping... well, that's a whole other incentive ;) A rather large dent has been put in our personal credit cards, but just think of the Aeroplan points we're earning. Australia here we come!
Saturday involved a trip to buy the shower column, chrome p-trap, kitchen sink and kitchen faucet. The Kohler faucet I've been eying up for months was even available on sale. But at well over $800 I still couldn't bring myself to buy it. (But don't ask how much the one I eventually decided on still cost.) The rest of the day involved cleaning up the wood (2 trips to the dump - we're now all out of free trips - renting a container next weekend) and doing the last bit of demolishing in the corridor. We also spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning up the area in preparation for moving all our stuff in there from the dining room/bedroom/kitchen/bathroom. But still not quite finished, the plaster gets EVERYWHERE. Next weekend the massive demo begins (and we move into the caravan to live for a few days... errr... weeks).
Sunday morning involved yet another trip to Ikea (actually 2 trips today, because we ran out of time in the morning as Marc had tickets to see the Alouettes CFL game with his mate). I returned in the afternoon to pay for the kitchen (including stove) and received 15% back in gift cards. Nice bonus! It was very reasonably priced, but of course we have to install the thing ourselves, which is going to be quite the feat... It'll be delivered November 20 (I put it off as long as possible).
Piles of wood...
And yet more of the same.
The English Courtyard
p.s. The Alouettes won their game!
Saturday involved a trip to buy the shower column, chrome p-trap, kitchen sink and kitchen faucet. The Kohler faucet I've been eying up for months was even available on sale. But at well over $800 I still couldn't bring myself to buy it. (But don't ask how much the one I eventually decided on still cost.) The rest of the day involved cleaning up the wood (2 trips to the dump - we're now all out of free trips - renting a container next weekend) and doing the last bit of demolishing in the corridor. We also spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning up the area in preparation for moving all our stuff in there from the dining room/bedroom/kitchen/bathroom. But still not quite finished, the plaster gets EVERYWHERE. Next weekend the massive demo begins (and we move into the caravan to live for a few days... errr... weeks).
Sunday morning involved yet another trip to Ikea (actually 2 trips today, because we ran out of time in the morning as Marc had tickets to see the Alouettes CFL game with his mate). I returned in the afternoon to pay for the kitchen (including stove) and received 15% back in gift cards. Nice bonus! It was very reasonably priced, but of course we have to install the thing ourselves, which is going to be quite the feat... It'll be delivered November 20 (I put it off as long as possible).
Piles of wood...
And yet more of the same.
The English Courtyard
p.s. The Alouettes won their game!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Full Steam Ahead
It's amazing how things have been progressing since the last post just three weeks ago! The roughed in plumbing is complete, covered by gravel, styrofoam insulation, steel mesh and finally the piping for the heated floor has all been laid overtop (and culminates in some fancy plumbing work on the wall that will be the mechanical room). We're a little concerned that the height of the ceiling is not going to be quite what we were expecting, but JF assures us that things are on track and the concrete will be the correct depth. The big plastic bin for the sump pump is not flush with the floor and JF was annoyed about this, but it seems this is not such an issue, the waste flows well and the bin will be hidden inside a cupboard.
Gravel laid with troughs for plumbing visible
After the plumbing has been laid, covered by styrofoam and steel mesh
Close up of the same
The concrete floor could be poured as early as tomorrow! The English courtyard was framed and had the supporting walls poured today. Things are moving...
Digging the English Courtyard
While all this has been going on, the brickwork on the front is STILL delayed. The latest on this had it starting tomorrow, but I don't believe that for a second. It seems the mason has been tied up on the previous job. Fortunately getting the brickwork done has ended up being a very independent task, so not too much of a problem yet. Originally we thought it had to be done before the roof should be done, but after reviewing with the contractor, roofer and mason, it seems there are no dependencies. Phew!
Then there's the inside of the house on our existing ground floor. Well, it's not so existing anymore! Marc and I demolished the kids bedroom a couple of weeks ago. Last week, work commenced on the office/living room. This is almost complete, but it got to the point where we will need to move out of our bedroom before it can really be finished. The current goal is to get the main floor bathroom framed and installed, but half of the bathroom is in our existing bedroom closet.
We're taking a new approach. Rather than trying to live in the construction zone, we're going to move into Marc's parents RV (caravan). It's actually quite luxurious, having a kitchen, shower and toilet, although I think we'll try to make use of the house ones for as long as possible. This is a great idea in principle, but in practice, we have to park it somewhere, which in the middle of a city on a narrow one-way street isn't ideal. At night we should have enough room in the back garden (assuming we can get it down the back alley and turn it into our lot). But we'll likely need to move it during the day as the various contractors typically need to have wide access to the basement. So we're still figuring out where we'll park it...
The windows for the basement and kitchen have been ordered! (From Alcora) They'll be installed around December 1st (plywood until then - nice).
Finally, there's the planning of the interior itself. We've purchased the shower, toilet and sink for the ground floor. The bathrooms in the basement are planned (mainly Ikea and Bain Depot, although I think we'll use Plomberie Mascouche too) but we'll need to wait and see real room dimensions until we can order the baths, things are tight. The dining room table has been purchased (at a discount since we had to take the floor model - that works for me!) and the kitchen has been fully planned using Ikea, which has a 15% discount back in gift cards running until Oct 31 - we'll use this to buy the bathroom :) I'm not convinced on the Ikea sink and countertops at present (I like these ideas. Although the cost may win me over in the end. I don't expect we'll have more than plywood counters before Christmas.
Hmmmmm, so I think that's about all for now, phew! (but still soooo much to do)
The fun stuff is starting for me with picking out the interior:
The sink we've purchased
And the shower
Gravel laid with troughs for plumbing visible
After the plumbing has been laid, covered by styrofoam and steel mesh
Close up of the same
The concrete floor could be poured as early as tomorrow! The English courtyard was framed and had the supporting walls poured today. Things are moving...
Digging the English Courtyard
While all this has been going on, the brickwork on the front is STILL delayed. The latest on this had it starting tomorrow, but I don't believe that for a second. It seems the mason has been tied up on the previous job. Fortunately getting the brickwork done has ended up being a very independent task, so not too much of a problem yet. Originally we thought it had to be done before the roof should be done, but after reviewing with the contractor, roofer and mason, it seems there are no dependencies. Phew!
Then there's the inside of the house on our existing ground floor. Well, it's not so existing anymore! Marc and I demolished the kids bedroom a couple of weeks ago. Last week, work commenced on the office/living room. This is almost complete, but it got to the point where we will need to move out of our bedroom before it can really be finished. The current goal is to get the main floor bathroom framed and installed, but half of the bathroom is in our existing bedroom closet.
We're taking a new approach. Rather than trying to live in the construction zone, we're going to move into Marc's parents RV (caravan). It's actually quite luxurious, having a kitchen, shower and toilet, although I think we'll try to make use of the house ones for as long as possible. This is a great idea in principle, but in practice, we have to park it somewhere, which in the middle of a city on a narrow one-way street isn't ideal. At night we should have enough room in the back garden (assuming we can get it down the back alley and turn it into our lot). But we'll likely need to move it during the day as the various contractors typically need to have wide access to the basement. So we're still figuring out where we'll park it...
The windows for the basement and kitchen have been ordered! (From Alcora) They'll be installed around December 1st (plywood until then - nice).
Finally, there's the planning of the interior itself. We've purchased the shower, toilet and sink for the ground floor. The bathrooms in the basement are planned (mainly Ikea and Bain Depot, although I think we'll use Plomberie Mascouche too) but we'll need to wait and see real room dimensions until we can order the baths, things are tight. The dining room table has been purchased (at a discount since we had to take the floor model - that works for me!) and the kitchen has been fully planned using Ikea, which has a 15% discount back in gift cards running until Oct 31 - we'll use this to buy the bathroom :) I'm not convinced on the Ikea sink and countertops at present (I like these ideas. Although the cost may win me over in the end. I don't expect we'll have more than plywood counters before Christmas.
Hmmmmm, so I think that's about all for now, phew! (but still soooo much to do)
The fun stuff is starting for me with picking out the interior:
The sink we've purchased
And the shower
Monday, September 20, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
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!
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!
Friday, August 13, 2010
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
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
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