May | 2016 | IT STARTED ON SAWYER

This week, we had our first pass at dealing with the city’s final inspection process. Our electrical contractor had a big push to install many of the remaining light fixtures (we don’t have them all yet, but every room now has a fixture to meet code). He also made connections to the new HVAC furnace, installed our rope lighting in the entry way and powder room, and he dug a trench and installed electrical conduit / service to the garage. Unfortunately, the electrical inspector came to site and took issue with the fact that several outlets have small holes next to them (which will be our painters responsibility to apply drywall compound), a disconnect for the future double oven wasn’t installed, and several other items weren’t complete. Therefore, he concluded that it was premature for the electrical inspection and that we’ll have to reschedule. We weren’t expecting a sign off for this pass, but because it is quite common to find issues during the first pass at final inspection, we were hoping the inspector would log his visit on the official permit and write down the items that must be corrected. But this didn’t happen and so we have to complete what we can and reschedule the inspection for a later date. Its likely that we’ll have to call them back a third time before we’ll have our electrical officially signed off on.

On another front, our carpenter was back to install the front and back stairs from the 1st floor to the basement. Until now, we just had the rough plywood stairs for contractors to use, but now our carpenter has installed the final oak wood boards. While on site, he made another small number of correction and installation, included hanging the unit mailboxes.

Our HVAC contractor was back, this time he mounted the steam humidifier on the wall and he installed the radiant piping manifold. The manifold serves as a header pipe that allows for the hot water to flow equally to the multiple zones of radiant tubing that spread out into the basement floor. There is also one additional radiant tube that extends into the floor, but this tube will house the temperature probe to gauge the temperature of the slab. Though the boiler can heat the slab very warm, its important to note that you typically don’t set the slab temperature above 85F because too much heat will start to melt adhesives and seals, especially around toilets, and you can end up with small leaks. We will also keep the slab at least 65F during summer months to make sure that we aren’t creating any moisture conditions that encourage mold growth in the basement.

Finally, a few other noteworthy items that occurred this week: Our woodwork specialist was back at, this time focusing in on the second floor entryway trim-work. We also had our concrete contractor back to rip up the old sidewalk along the side of the building and pour new. In this new sidewalk, we left a little natural dirt spot net to the house, for a future small flower garden. He also poured new concrete for along the foundation wall on the north end of the building and he integrated the metal staircase into the pathway nicely as our previous contractor messed up the correct elevation for the stair landings. Lastly, we installed some landscaping in the front of the building. This included new sod on the street side lot, as well as new sod, bushes, and a Japanese maple in the front yard of the house. Its amazing how much a little landscaping can change the look of a building!

Wood on the back stairway installed

Mailboxes are in!

Back door light fixture installed

Front stairway going in

1st Floor kitchen pendants installed

2nd floor trim work getting stripped

2nd floor trim work getting cleaned up

1st floor entryway rope lighting is working!

Hall bathroom fixture and mirror installed

Electrician digging out a trench

Electrical conduit going to the garage

Front yard landscape is in

New concrete sidewalk is built

Steam humidifier is hung

Radiant manifold installed

Andrea and I have officially moved into this construction mess! The second floor apartment is functional enough for us to temporarily use the kitchen and shower, while the basement is far enough along that we can move many of our boxes into temporary storage. Though living on site while we are still moving full speed ahead on construction will give us some headaches, it will also make it much easier for us to coordinate the construction work as we won’t have to make the trip three times a day to talk with contractors. This also allowed us to rent our current apartment to new tenants which will certainly help make up some of the difference in our drastic cost overruns that we’ve had to date!

On with construction – this week started with our HVAC contractor delivering and setting up the gas furnace. Similar to the 2nd floor unit, we installed a high efficiency furnace burning at a 97% annualized fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE rating), which we will pair with one of the newer smart thermostats. Though we are conscious enough to make sure we program temperature setbacks into our thermostat, we are looking to go with a control thermostat that will help recirculate the air, to offset stratification in our duplex, as well as help the indoor air quality by monitoring humidity levels. This forced air furnace is separate from the slab heating system, with that system hopefully being installed next week.

Next, our millwork specialist contractor is continuing with his work from the previous week. Our the weekend, he completed the windows and guardrail in the stairwell. This week, he is working on the main unit doors and the built in bench in our unit. The main unit doors he actually transported to his warehouse and stripped them there because of their size and location he didn’t have to worry as much about getting the stripper chemical in contact with our finished floor and the entry tile. He had previously taken several of our smaller interior doors to his warehouse, but instead of stripping them by hand, which he’s been doing with the detailed millwork, he dipped them into a special chemical bath that washing away the old paint / stain.

Also this week, we had our countertop contractor show up to deliver the 2nd floor island slab, as well as the shower slab pieces in all bathrooms in the building. For the 2nd floor kitchen, we went with simple light granite to offset the darkness of the floor and cabinets. In the bathrooms, we went with either matching or contrasting slabs to coordinate with the shower floor tiles. Due to popular demand for white carrara marble, many of the local stone warehouses are out of stock so we’ll have a little bit of a wait until we can get the 1st floor kitchen slab delivered.

Finally, our carpenter came through for a day this week to check off a few more items from the to-do list. Alongside a few minor corrections and touch-ups, our carpenter has built the gate from the alley. We built a simple, but tall back gate to deter anyone from cutting through the property (which our neighbor has informed us has been a problem in the past). Using the same cedar wood from as the gate, we built in under counter storage for the 2nd floor kitchen. We decided against built-in island cabinets in the rental unit due to cost and wear-and-tear concerns, but we also thought that the open shelving concept can provide a more versatile storage option. We’ll poly the shelving at a later date, but we’ll probably keep the lighter color of the cedar.