Day 32 - 8/30/11

We have a floor!  The carpenter crew came today and built the subflooring on top of the cement wall.  They also built some big rectangular box-like structure, but I'm not sure what that was for.

Day 28 - 8/26/11

HURRICANE!  The natural disasters just keep piling up!  Honestly, I think it's going to be a big flop.  The inspector came to check the footer for the retaining wall, but we didn't pass because he wants it longer.  It needs to be closer to the foundation of the basement, apparently.  The workers came to batten down the hatches and tied up the big wood panels and 4x4s they had lying around.  We will go out and cover the smaller wood pieces if the weather got bad.  The forecast gets less and less dramatic as the day goes by.  But work will continue next week after it finishes raining.

Day 26 - 8/24/11

Today they dug another footer.  This one is for the retaining wall.  They also cleared the debris from the floor of the storage area.  Not the most exciting day...

Day 25 - 8/23/11

EARTHQUAKE!!!  No serious effects in our area.  A couple new cracks appeared in the sidewalk behind our house.

So what does a completed cement wall look like?

That's our new storage area!  Or, at least the shell of it.  :)

I also met the contractor at Home Depot today to pick out countertops and cabinets - now we're talking!  I'm not sure how well the colors came out in the pictures, but basically it's a dark-stained cherry cabinet with silver hardware and a cream-colored solid surface countertop (similar to Corian, but a different brand).

Day 21 - 8/19/11

The workers arrived in the afternoon to finish shoring up the wood forms - I feel like I've been stuck in the same place for a week.  :)  Luckily, our architect also came and gave us a few points to discuss with the contractor regarding the retaining wall and cement floor of the storage area.  He also looked over the forms and just said to make sure the vertical rebar is centered when the pour the concrete.  So the cement truck arrived and it was all systems go!  It was serious deja vu, because it was the same cement truck driver as before too! 

Day 20 - 8/18/11

The inspector came again today.  Chris and I were actually home, but we had also left the plans in the front door just in case.  I now know why I didn't hear the first inspector's knock.  They literally just tap the door - I don't think they want to be heard.  But now that we know the door trick, we shouldn't be missing any more inspections!  Anyway, he was there to check the footings for the deck posts, but they weren't approved because there was standing water left in them from a gigantic storm a few days back.  He wasn't supposed to check the wood forms for the wall (apparently, cement walls are inspected after they're poured), but he said they looked good all the same, which was reassuring.  Not getting the footings approved wasn't a big deal - we weren't planning on pouring those yet.

Day 19 - 8/17/11

So the workers came today and undid all the work they did yesterday.  Apparently, cement needs to be poured within 90 minutes of the mixing process.  Since they didn't have the forms ready to go, and the cement truck sat on my driveway for a couple hours, the cement was all messed up (that's the technical term).  :)  So they took down one wall of the wood form, knocked out the cement that was poured (I have a nice pile of rubble in the backyard), and rebuilt the form with the proper rebar, bearings, and support.  It looks much more professional now! 

Day 18 - 8/16/11

Happy Birthday to Me!  So after yesterday's frustration, we were prepared today!  We stuck the plans between the front door and the screen door and the foreman picked them up.  He was going to be at the house working, so he could go through the plans with the inspector when he finally showed up.  We went out for a run and when we got back, the concrete truck was just arriving.  We asked the foreman if the inspector came and he said yes.  I asked if we got a sticker and he said no, because he had not been at the house when the inspector was here.  WHAT?!  Was that not the point of giving you the plans?  Geez Louise.  So now, we are unsure as to whether the forms have been approved.  But there's a cement truck sitting in my driveway.

So now we are concerned - are the forms actually approved?  Can we proceed without an approval sticker?  We call the contractor, the foreman calls the contractor, the foreman talks to my husband, I talk to the contractor...  Basically, the contractor said we could move forward as long as he turns in pictures and a letter to the county detailing how our construction matched the plans and we would get back-approval.  Is this kosher?  No idea.  Our contractor seems pretty sure of this plan.  But now we have another problem.  The forms are not shored up properly.  When the cement gets poured in, the wooden forms need lots of support so they don't bow out under the heavy weight of the cement.  So now it's a mad dash to complete the forms because there's a cement truck in my driveway.

Since it's my birthday, we have plans.  We leave to go watch "Crazy Stupid Love" and have dinner at Carrabba's, expecting a wall when we get back.  On a side note, "Crazy Stupid Love" is a great movie!  Pretty much nothing has changed in the last four hours, except we have cement in about one-third up the frame and everyone's gone.  Now what happened?  Cliffhanger...!

Day 17 - 8/15/11

So today was a particularly frustrating day for me.  I stayed home all day because the inspector was supposed to come.  Not only did I stay home, I sat on the couch for most of the day because I didn't want to go upstairs and possibly miss the inspector's knock on the door.  My paranoia was such that every hour or so, I checked the front door to make sure I didn't miss somebody putting a sticker on my door.  My impatient self waited until 11:00 to call the contractor.  He said the inspector was supposed to come and I should keep waiting.  I called the contractor again at 1:00.  As you can see, I was getting pretty antsy.  It's really hard sitting on a couch all day, even if you have things to distract you - TV, books, computer...I still like a little change in scenery.  Anyway, long story short, at 5:00, I called the contractor again and in no uncertain terms, expressed my unhappiness with waiting all day for an inspector who never came.  The contractor seemed surprised that I waited at home all day - apparently, I could have just put the drawings between the front door and the screen door and that would have sufficed.  Thanks for letting me know...

Day 15 - 8/13/11

The workers finished the forms for the cement wall of the storage area.  It actually thunderstormed for about a half hour in the middle of the day and they hung out in the basement until it stopped.  I gave them the TV remote so they wouldn't be bored just staring at the rain, but I guess they didn't want to. 

Day 13 - 8/11/11

So to keep the cement walls straight, they build wooden structures called "forms," mount them around where the cement will be poured, and then remove them after the cement hardens.  Today, workers came to build some of the forms.  Our architect came to look at the progress as well.  He's going to talk to our contractor about the retaining wall by the garage.

Day 10 - 8/8/11

Workers arrived early this morning and started emptying water out of the ditch they dug out for the footing.  They didn't have a wet vac or anything, so they scooped it out with a gallon jug and an old coffee cup!  I thought it was hilarious, but I didn't have anything better to offer them.  :)  They also dug out footers for the deck using this really neat shovel-scoop.  Basically, it looked like a really large pair of tongs that they struck into the ground and vertically pulled out dirt.  The cement truck arrived at noon and they trucked wheelbarrows full of cement back and forth to fill in the footer.  After leveling it out, the workers left around 2:30.

Day 7 - 8/5/11

The inspector was supposed to come today so we stayed home and worked in the den for a while.  Our contractor called around noon and I said the inspector hadn't come yet.  He said to check on the door and lo and behold - there's a sticker on my door that says the inspection wasn't approved because no one was home!!  I was shocked.  I had literally been staring out my den window for three hours.  I call the number on the sticker and the inspector says he was there for about 15 minutes and he even knocked on the door.  I don't see how this is possible - I've got really good hearing.  Anyway, after much pathetic sounding begging, I got him to come back and look at the plans.  He approved them and work can go on!

Day 6 - 8/4/11

So the foundation under our garage does not extend all the way down to the basement floor level.  This means they have to build a retaining wall against the dirt under the garage.  According to the contractor, the wall isn't a real load-bearing wall so the retaining wall structure should suffice.  This will make our storage area a little smaller.  We are checking with the architect to make sure this is all kosher.

They also finished installing rebar into the footings for the inspection tomorrow.

Day 5 - 8/3/11

Dug out an L-shaped channel where the cement footing for the foundation will go.  More dirt spreading too.  :)

Day 4 - 8/2/11

Today they started excavation for the foundation.  The used a little bulldozer thing to dig out dirt and then spread it all around our backyard to level the terrain.  Eventually this will help for the construction of the patio area.  I guess we're getting new grass!

Day 3 - 8/1/11

Today they removed the upper deck.  Apparently, the dumpster costs too much so they just loaded up all the debris into the foreman's truck and took it away themselves. 

Day 1 - 7/30/11

The construction work for our two-story addition is getting started!  Today they are demo-ing the lower deck.  They were going to demo the upper deck too, but the previous owners had electrical lights strung down the stairs and they want an electrician to take a look at them before they take it apart.  The plan is to finish demo on Monday and have the dumpster here on Tuesday to remove all the debris.  Miss Utility is coming by on Monday to mark out where all the underground gas, cable, electric and water lines are.