Proven Wrong.....In A Good Way

Not that most people would like to be proven wrong, but in this case for me it was nice.Our contractor did show up here on Saturday and worked for about 5 hours,which I thought would never happen.I'm just hoping this continues through next week.

What happened here yesterday was actually not what I thought was go to happen.When my wife told me that the contractor showed up,I was expecting to see some tar somewhere.That was not the case.Below is what did happen.............

 As you can see the other side of the wall has been framed and there is now a whole skeleton of wall,instead of just half. Also he put a board on top of the beam, which you can kind of see a part of .I did not get a good shot of that so you just have to picture it in your mind. 


Now I'm not to sure what the next phase is but I think the tar would be the next step.I'm not sure also if the inspector needs to look at what has been done before they can put the tar on or does the tar go on and then the inspector checks things out? I really don't know.

So hopefully next week things will progress a little better than in previous weeks.

We will see!

The Weekly Wrap Up

With this week coming to an end,even though there is still a possibility that some tarring could take place tomorrow, I'm still going to post the weekly wrap up regardless.And let's face it, we all know it's not going to happen,I hope I am proven wrong.

But the week was not a total write-off as has happened in previous weeks here.The foundation is ready to be tarred and we have part of a framed wall in the what is soon to be a basement.Gip rock and weeping tile are in and I think the building inspector is coming to check things out on Monday from what our contractor was telling me.Of course that could change. 

So with the baby arriving in 3 weeks, things here on the construction front are moving slowly.We would like to get things done by at least the first or second week of September,but that all depends on our contractor.If he keeps taking jobs along the way that won't happen.I understand it's hard to turn down the money, but he only works with two other guys so he can't very well spread his guys out at different jobs.Since there is only two of them I hope he would keep this in mind.

The way I look at it is,everyday he is not here we are upset because things here are held up and I am sure that if he has other jobs on the go(which I know he does),every time he is here they are probably pissed that he is not working there.

Don't get me wrong the guy does great work(so I have heard) but you can't keep taking on jobs while your trying to finish other jobs,people will just end up mad no matter how good your work is.And that could be bad for business.That's all I have to say on that matter.

Well like I said we could see some tarring tomorrow we might not.Everyday of this job has been like Christmas,it's always a surprise because we never know what we are going to get.Sometimes it's like getting a lump of coal,sometimes it's like getting that really cool toy.

We just never know until we wake up and open our eyes!

Ramblings,Extra Costs And The Joy Of Construction!!

I thought today since there was not going to be anything happening on the construction front I would talk a little bit about  my thoughts of this whole situation and trying to deal with it and everything else.

We knew going into this construction that it would be a true test of how calm and relaxed we could remain.My wife and I are known as people who just kind of go with the flow not really letting to much get to us.

That was then!

This is now!

As much as I  like seeing work being done here,I know for myself that it just feels like it's costing me extra money for some reason.I have no idea if my wife feels the same, but she also does not have the same paranoid, pessimistic attitude that I have.You know the attitude were everyone is out to rip you off somehow!

And you will find if your going to go through your own renovations that everyone will be out to get a piece of you,this much I have learned.From permits,to hydro disconnection fees,to a different type of home owners insurance because even though your house is already insured,you need a construction type of home insurance.That my friends has costs us $150 up front and then an extra $30 or so a month while the construction is going on.

Then of course the town will be here after all the construction is done to re-evaluate the worth of our house and then I am sure our taxes will shoot up,which we can't wait for.

But the thing of this is, it's still working out cheaper to go this route then to buy a house.

Of course I might be changing my mind by the end of all this! 

Time will tell!!

Another Full Day

Much to our surprise we did have another full day of work happen here today.Even with the heat the guys worked steady through out the day.This was nice to see.

With that being said, I was told by our contractor that he had a job to finish out of town,so this means that he won't be around for a couple of days.Having only 2 other guys on his crew,who will obviously be with him,we definitely know nothing is happening here tomorrow.

Let's get on with the pictures,

Pictured here is where the sump pump will be.I finally got inside the hole and took some pictures.I figured it was about time to get down into here and get some pictures. 

Here we have a shell of a wall.You can see part of the support beam which I am sure was not easy to get in.That beam was super heavy, but I didn't hear any swearing while I was in the house,so I guess it went ok.It's in there,that's all that matters.

We have here the support beam in full view.It looks good all freshly painted.Even though this beam put us a little more out of the budget,$2500 worth,it's going to be nice to have the space.Of course space always comes at a price. 

Here would be the gip rock and underneath the rock we have weeping tile,so I was told. I can't verify this because I have no idea what weeping tile looks like.With my lack of construction knowledge I'm just going by what I am told.

That concludes the picture portion of this post in what was a productive day around here.Not to mention that my parents came over and cleaned the yard for us which was great and now it looks better.My mom even cut the front lawn,because she knows how much I love cutting the lawn(sarcasm).

It's nice to have them close to come over and lend a hand or in this case do most of the work.I did help my dad lift a couple of heavy rocks into the back of the truck.And that was the extent of my helping. My dad said hopefully we will stop having offers to move in with people when they go by.

With that we end another day here in the construction zone.The next part of the build I am told is the tarring,which could possibly take place on Saturday,but we won't hold our breath.

                                                                                                                   

Is This It For The Week?

First off I didn't want to post this late but I was having fun trying to hook up a wireless internet connection.When I say fun of course I mean that sarcastically!

Today we had some activity going on around here,which was nice to see.The only question that remains now is,will they be back tomorrow or is this it for a few days?Those of you who have been reading the blog since I started it, know that we have not had two days of consecutive work take place around here,so we will see what tomorrow brings.If anything?

Let's take a look at some pictures and see what did go on today...

You can see the boards that have been bolted to the foundation and are getting ready to be framed upon,or something like that.No that is not toilet paper you see hanging there but some type of what looks almost like a foam that goes under the boards. 

This is another picture of the boards from a different angle.I was told that bolting these boards on to the foundation is a time consuming part of the job.And I am sure they really enjoyed working  in the blistering heat,but had everything gone as was first planned they would have been done this part a few weeks ago,when the heat wasn't as bad as it is now.But that point is irrelevant now.Moving on......

Here is a close up of one of the bolts.I don't know why I thought you needed to see that? But I did.Really hope you enjoyed that close up.

What we have here is this freshly painted support beam.This beam was painted today and was a pretty rusty colour before, but now look how nice it looks.The great thing about this beam is that it means that we won't have three posts in our basement to carry the load of the addition, which will free up space in the basement.All for the price of only $2500. You can see the nice pile of junk that has been laying there for a month now.Our house has looked like such a disaster area for a month that we keep having people offer their homes to us.They feel bad when they drive by and see the mess that they want us to move in with them. 

My parents of course being the main ones,since they live across the road and get too enjoy looking at the mess as much as we do!

With the arrival of the baby in less then one month, the yard looking like it was bombed or something,the house looking like it's about to be condemned  and to add on top of that, it's tourist season around here which is driving me nuts!Nothing against people who want to travel and stuff but it's hard to go to work and deal with people from out of the area asking 50 thousand questions,then go home to the disaster that has become our life.On top of all that worry about my wife and how the delivery is going to go since I will be here and she will be 6 hours away.

Oh ya and money!How could I forget that??

With my wife going on maternity leave, money is going to be tight......real tight!

I'm almost at my wits end and don't know if I should cry,scream or pull my hair out??

On that note I going to end this post and I hope you enjoyed the pictures and my almost mental breakdown!! 

Tomorrows another day!Hopefully better!

Blame It On The Rain!

I thought I would blame the lack of activity around here today on the rain.

It kind of makes me feel better.

Even though they could have showed up here this morning when the sun was out,worked for a little bit until the rain clouds showed up and then called it day.Instead they decided just not to show up at all.

Of course maybe our contractor has some kind of psychic ability that we don't know about and knew it was going to rain.You know there are people out there like that so don't laugh.

Either way you look at it,nobody showed up,then it rained , maybe they knew ahead of time,maybe they didn't plan on showing up regardless of the weather, I don't know.I do know nothing got done, so there is no sense placing the blame or getting upset.We just need to deal with the fact that this just puts us another day behind schedule. 

Hopefully the rain holds off tomorrow and somebody shows up here!

The Hole Remains The Same

As I guessed there was not too much going on construction wise here today.The brick layers did come back this morning and put a coat of cement on the bricks,then they left.I think they were here for an hour at the most.But I did expect that.

The next step I am told is to pour the cement for the floor which will hopefully take place next week.Monday preferably!!

Still to me and talking with my dad he feels the same, that they could have had this done weeks ago and had most of it framed in by now.Of course for that to happen our contractor would have had to focus on this job and not bounce around from job to job.

I guess we just have to roll with things how ever they go,as long as the house gets done before snowfall we should be happy!!