Matt:
I stopped by this morning to speak with the electrician and get things in order with him—all seems to be going just fine. The electrician is scheduled to be back on Tuesday to finish all of the rough work. The old Romex will be removed, to the extent that it can, and be replaced with all new wiring. It will be much safer.
The cutout that Greg and Pat made in the wall going to the dining room looks great; it really opens up the space! Also, the complete removal of the support header leading to the dinette area also makes the space seem so much bigger. The header was replaced with the doubled up joists you see when you look up at the ceiling.
Looking at the plumbing and electrical contact I see that a 25% payment on the $8000.00 contracted amount is due on Tuesday (upon completion of rough pluming and rough electrical). Would you want to stop by and drop off a check? The amount due is $2000.00
Walls cannot be closed up until the electrical and plumbing inspections have taken place. The plumbing inspection is scheduled for Tuesday, September 4th. The plumbing inspection is tentatively set up for Wednesday
Our carpenters will be back on Wednesday to complete the doorway framing and complete any other items prior to the arrival of the drywallers
Ray will also meeting with the drywall company, at your house, on Wednesday. The next phase of the project is drywall installation, priming and painting. You should go out this weekend and look at paint colors for the kitchen and dinette area. We will need the paint after next week. Let me know if you would like assistance with your final paint color choice.
Have a great weekend!
Best Regards,
Jill Doss
Friday, August 31, 2007
Shaka, when the walls fell
That's from one of my favorite TNG episodes.
The dining room wall came down Wednesday (pics here). I had been having some difficulty picturing how it would look. Intellectually, it made sense and I thought it would be good, but I couldn’t really “see” it in my mind’s eye. A left-brain limitation, I suppose. It look greats, however. It really opens up that half of the house.
Yesterday (8/30) the plumber did most of what he needed to do, viz., ran the water and drain lines to the prep sink area. He did not run water to the refrigerator location. I am assuming that he is planning on it, but I’ll remind Ray nevertheless.
Today I met with the electrician. We discussed switch and outlet (electricians refer to those as “devices”) locations, light placement, etc. He’s replacing our circa 1960 circuit breaker box and bringing all that up to code. He is also putting a cable connection in the dining room for a computer or TV hookup. All in all, the electrical is fairly straight forward.
Next week Wednesday we're meeting with Jill to choose our specific granite.
Everything should be back on for the weekend. I’ll be working Saturday (mostly for moral support. I'm coming in late - 8:00. My guys are coming in late as well - 6:00) and Laurie is going to St Francis Days.
The dining room wall came down Wednesday (pics here). I had been having some difficulty picturing how it would look. Intellectually, it made sense and I thought it would be good, but I couldn’t really “see” it in my mind’s eye. A left-brain limitation, I suppose. It look greats, however. It really opens up that half of the house.
Yesterday (8/30) the plumber did most of what he needed to do, viz., ran the water and drain lines to the prep sink area. He did not run water to the refrigerator location. I am assuming that he is planning on it, but I’ll remind Ray nevertheless.
Today I met with the electrician. We discussed switch and outlet (electricians refer to those as “devices”) locations, light placement, etc. He’s replacing our circa 1960 circuit breaker box and bringing all that up to code. He is also putting a cable connection in the dining room for a computer or TV hookup. All in all, the electrical is fairly straight forward.
Next week Wednesday we're meeting with Jill to choose our specific granite.
Everything should be back on for the weekend. I’ll be working Saturday (mostly for moral support. I'm coming in late - 8:00. My guys are coming in late as well - 6:00) and Laurie is going to St Francis Days.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Complications, but not too bad
We had two complications (photos here) with the demolition yesterday.
The transitional opening between the kitchen and the eating area was always a concern. There was a soffit there that seemed larger than necessary. When it was opened up it was apparent that the lintel was structural. That certainly complicated things because that ceiling height was to be the same and there is going to be a cabinet there.
Ray believes that we can remove the lintel and support the upstairs by doubling up on the joists – basically adding 4 more twenty foot long 2”*10”s and adding altering and adding cross members as necessary. That sounded reasonable to me, but I’m a chemical engineer, not a structural.
That will also require replacing the ceiling in the dining area, which we hadn’t intended but should do anyway.
The floor had an interesting, undocumented feature. You can see the top of the block wall on the north side of the laundry room. That doesn’t appear to be an issue although we will most likely require a transition piece between the kitchen and dining room floors.
It was very hot and miserable yesterday. We will be delighted when the demolition phase is over.
The transitional opening between the kitchen and the eating area was always a concern. There was a soffit there that seemed larger than necessary. When it was opened up it was apparent that the lintel was structural. That certainly complicated things because that ceiling height was to be the same and there is going to be a cabinet there.
Ray believes that we can remove the lintel and support the upstairs by doubling up on the joists – basically adding 4 more twenty foot long 2”*10”s and adding altering and adding cross members as necessary. That sounded reasonable to me, but I’m a chemical engineer, not a structural.
That will also require replacing the ceiling in the dining area, which we hadn’t intended but should do anyway.
The floor had an interesting, undocumented feature. You can see the top of the block wall on the north side of the laundry room. That doesn’t appear to be an issue although we will most likely require a transition piece between the kitchen and dining room floors.
It was very hot and miserable yesterday. We will be delighted when the demolition phase is over.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
A Note From Our Designer
Matt:
The work in the pantry was limited to removing and replacing the shelving and running new electrical to install a light fixture (supplied by you). We had not planned on removing or replacing the flooring in this area. Should you wish to replace the floor, I would suggest that tile be used. It would be continuous in look with the back hall area. Please advise if you would like to proceed with this. I would need to explore costs.
We are bringing in approx. 6 slabs of Black Galaxy, for you and other customers. If you would like, you could come in and take a look at what we have and tag the pieces with your name. This is not a requirement and you know I will make sure I pick out the best materials for you.
Demolition continued today—there was (3) layers of wood floor underlayment below the carpet and padding and vinyl tile! Wow! (A lot more than is usually found).
There will be final demolition tomorrow and the door framing will start taking place. The plumbers are schedule for Thursday and Friday. The electricians are scheduled for Friday and the following Tuesday (no work on Monday). Once we are past the initial “grunt” work and the area has been cleared of debris, a firm schedule can be put into place for all of the work remaining.
The dumpster will be picked up on Wednesday—we will use trash containers to haul away debris after Wednesday. This should make it easier for you to park your cars!
Ray will be calling you yet this afternoon. He would like to meet with you tomorrow morning to discuss some construction related issues that need to be decided upon in order to continue moving forward. I will not be able to be there, as I have an appointment first thing in Menomonee Falls . Ray will fill me in.
After next week, walls will be getting closed up and the kitchen will start to take shape! I will be in touch with Carrie at Kennedy Hahn in regards to appliance delivery.
We continue to move forward in a positive way…..
Regards,
Jill
The work in the pantry was limited to removing and replacing the shelving and running new electrical to install a light fixture (supplied by you). We had not planned on removing or replacing the flooring in this area. Should you wish to replace the floor, I would suggest that tile be used. It would be continuous in look with the back hall area. Please advise if you would like to proceed with this. I would need to explore costs.
We are bringing in approx. 6 slabs of Black Galaxy, for you and other customers. If you would like, you could come in and take a look at what we have and tag the pieces with your name. This is not a requirement and you know I will make sure I pick out the best materials for you.
Demolition continued today—there was (3) layers of wood floor underlayment below the carpet and padding and vinyl tile! Wow! (A lot more than is usually found).
There will be final demolition tomorrow and the door framing will start taking place. The plumbers are schedule for Thursday and Friday. The electricians are scheduled for Friday and the following Tuesday (no work on Monday). Once we are past the initial “grunt” work and the area has been cleared of debris, a firm schedule can be put into place for all of the work remaining.
The dumpster will be picked up on Wednesday—we will use trash containers to haul away debris after Wednesday. This should make it easier for you to park your cars!
Ray will be calling you yet this afternoon. He would like to meet with you tomorrow morning to discuss some construction related issues that need to be decided upon in order to continue moving forward. I will not be able to be there, as I have an appointment first thing in Menomonee Falls . Ray will fill me in.
After next week, walls will be getting closed up and the kitchen will start to take shape! I will be in touch with Carrie at Kennedy Hahn in regards to appliance delivery.
We continue to move forward in a positive way…..
Regards,
Jill
Week 1: Demolition
Our project started on time and on schedule. When I got home Monday night the guys, Greg and Pat, were just cleaning up. In the driveway was a fifteen yard dumpster, filled to capacity with what used to be our kitchen.
They had almost everything completely out – walls and ceiling down to studs, electrical and plumbing off, soffits gone, appliances either moved (microwave and refrigerator) or tossed (everything else), carpet ripped out.
Today they will remove the floor and the ceiling in the eating area (our first bit of project creep), the insulation and some dead wiring. The electrician and plumber should start tomorrow.
Last night we made hamburgers, figuring that they’d be easy to prepare. I suppose they were easier than paella, but still too much work considering the status of the rest of the house. I believe we’ll stick with sandwiches, cereal and take out for a while.
Greg told us that they are figuring on five weeks for completion. That puts us at October 1st, 2007. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
They had almost everything completely out – walls and ceiling down to studs, electrical and plumbing off, soffits gone, appliances either moved (microwave and refrigerator) or tossed (everything else), carpet ripped out.
Today they will remove the floor and the ceiling in the eating area (our first bit of project creep), the insulation and some dead wiring. The electrician and plumber should start tomorrow.
Last night we made hamburgers, figuring that they’d be easy to prepare. I suppose they were easier than paella, but still too much work considering the status of the rest of the house. I believe we’ll stick with sandwiches, cereal and take out for a while.
Greg told us that they are figuring on five weeks for completion. That puts us at October 1st, 2007. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Packing, 5Sing, Elvis, and Banks
We’re starting on Monday. Hard to believe. It’s taken 5 months to get to this point.
Last night I moved a lot of furniture, packed up a bunch of things, took down most of the art, and rolled up the rugs. Laurie was out with friends seeing Elvis.
She’s taking today off to do a lot more packing. I suggested the heuristics she uses when packing are:
• If you don’t think we’ll need it in the next six weeks, we wont: pack it.
• If you don’t think we’ll need it at all, we won’t: toss it.
• If you don’t remember it: toss it.
I believe it was Brother Dan who suggested moving every five years just so that you can purge your stuff. We’ve been in the house 14 years now…ouch. My niece Madeline is supposed to stop by this weekend to pick up a computer. We’ll make her carry boxes.
I spoke with our back about shifting our home equity credit to a loan. Their interest rate is 7.55%. I also went through Lending Tree. Within 10 minutes of submitting my application I started getting phone calls: pretty efficient. The lowest rate I got from them was 7.29%. That’s not much and I’d rather stick with my bank. However, I’ll wait till the projects complete in the hopes that Bernanke caves on interest rates. I suspect that M&I will match the rate I got through Lending Tree.
Anyway, we’re preparing to eat off paper plates, cook with a microwave, grill out everything (wonder what will happen to bacon), and eat out a lot.
Demolition photos next week.
Last night I moved a lot of furniture, packed up a bunch of things, took down most of the art, and rolled up the rugs. Laurie was out with friends seeing Elvis.
She’s taking today off to do a lot more packing. I suggested the heuristics she uses when packing are:
• If you don’t think we’ll need it in the next six weeks, we wont: pack it.
• If you don’t think we’ll need it at all, we won’t: toss it.
• If you don’t remember it: toss it.
I believe it was Brother Dan who suggested moving every five years just so that you can purge your stuff. We’ve been in the house 14 years now…ouch. My niece Madeline is supposed to stop by this weekend to pick up a computer. We’ll make her carry boxes.
I spoke with our back about shifting our home equity credit to a loan. Their interest rate is 7.55%. I also went through Lending Tree. Within 10 minutes of submitting my application I started getting phone calls: pretty efficient. The lowest rate I got from them was 7.29%. That’s not much and I’d rather stick with my bank. However, I’ll wait till the projects complete in the hopes that Bernanke caves on interest rates. I suspect that M&I will match the rate I got through Lending Tree.
Anyway, we’re preparing to eat off paper plates, cook with a microwave, grill out everything (wonder what will happen to bacon), and eat out a lot.
Demolition photos next week.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
A Note From Our Designer
This is from our designer regarding our schedule. Demolition begins in six days.
Matt:
Yes, we are scheduled to start next week Monday at 8:00am. I have arranged for the dumpster to be delivered on that day (I assumed you would not want it delivered on Friday, blocking access to the garage over the weekend). Waste Management is not giving me a delivery time, just in the morning. We will start demo, if the dumpster is not delivered until later in the morning we will put cabinets, etc outside. The dumpster is 8 feet wide (the same width as your driveway). I want one of my guys there to direct the delivery.
Ray and I have the schedule 99% complete—we were waiting on ETA of the cabinets and windows—we received that info this morning and will complete the scheduling today. I will have something for you tomorrow.
You and Lori (sic) should begin boxing up all excess kitchen products and have the kitchen cleared out for Monday. Keep out just those items you will need to have access to for the next month. Plan on paper plates, using the microwave and take out/eat out for the next several weeks. Determine where you would like the refrigerator and microwave moved to (the family room and dining room?). Also, the dining room table and chairs should be moved out of the dining room or moved to the side and covered with plastic drapes for protection. Please remove all art work from walls and pack away any breakable items (remodeling often creates vibrations; we would not want to be responsible for any valuable items falling and breaking). We will put up plastic drapes over the doorways to help contain the dust.
In the next week/10 days you will need to plan on visiting Wisconsin Stone Design (a granite wholesaler here in Milwaukee ) to select the (2) slabs of Black Galaxy to be used for your countertops. The material has very little color or pattern variation. Should you prefer, I can visit them myself and select your granite slabs for you? Please let me know your thoughts on this matter. If you would like to select you material, I will provide you with the address and phone number of the facility and you can make an appointment to visit them.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any additional questions. We look forward to a successful project!
Regards,
Jill Doss
Kitchen and Bath Designer
Artisan Kitchen and Bath Gallery/Granite Surfaces International
And a note on the appliances:
Jill said tentative delivery 9-10.
1/2 of the items are in now. Ventahood is on order.
We should be good.
Carrie
Matt:
Yes, we are scheduled to start next week Monday at 8:00am. I have arranged for the dumpster to be delivered on that day (I assumed you would not want it delivered on Friday, blocking access to the garage over the weekend). Waste Management is not giving me a delivery time, just in the morning. We will start demo, if the dumpster is not delivered until later in the morning we will put cabinets, etc outside. The dumpster is 8 feet wide (the same width as your driveway). I want one of my guys there to direct the delivery.
Ray and I have the schedule 99% complete—we were waiting on ETA of the cabinets and windows—we received that info this morning and will complete the scheduling today. I will have something for you tomorrow.
You and Lori (sic) should begin boxing up all excess kitchen products and have the kitchen cleared out for Monday. Keep out just those items you will need to have access to for the next month. Plan on paper plates, using the microwave and take out/eat out for the next several weeks. Determine where you would like the refrigerator and microwave moved to (the family room and dining room?). Also, the dining room table and chairs should be moved out of the dining room or moved to the side and covered with plastic drapes for protection. Please remove all art work from walls and pack away any breakable items (remodeling often creates vibrations; we would not want to be responsible for any valuable items falling and breaking). We will put up plastic drapes over the doorways to help contain the dust.
In the next week/10 days you will need to plan on visiting Wisconsin Stone Design (a granite wholesaler here in Milwaukee ) to select the (2) slabs of Black Galaxy to be used for your countertops. The material has very little color or pattern variation. Should you prefer, I can visit them myself and select your granite slabs for you? Please let me know your thoughts on this matter. If you would like to select you material, I will provide you with the address and phone number of the facility and you can make an appointment to visit them.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any additional questions. We look forward to a successful project!
Regards,
Jill Doss
Kitchen and Bath Designer
Artisan Kitchen and Bath Gallery/Granite Surfaces International
And a note on the appliances:
Jill said tentative delivery 9-10.
1/2 of the items are in now. Ventahood is on order.
We should be good.
Carrie
Thursday, August 09, 2007
More on Hoods
Who’d have thought that a hood would be the most complicated issue? I guess that makes sense: moving air is much more complicated than one would imagine.
Several people, my sis-in-law Doreen included, have recommended the 30” height above the cook top. We do make a lot of stock pot type things (stock, fried chicked) so that made a lot of sense.
I called Ventahood to ask if the hood spec’ed out by Kennedy-Hahn would work at that height. They asked about the cook top we’re getting and immediately said that that hood SLDH14136SS is the wrong hood. With the BTU output of our cook top, we’d need a 18” high hood, the SEPH18236SS, not the 14”.
I spoke with Carrie at K-H and she changed to the larger hood.
Several people, my sis-in-law Doreen included, have recommended the 30” height above the cook top. We do make a lot of stock pot type things (stock, fried chicked) so that made a lot of sense.
I called Ventahood to ask if the hood spec’ed out by Kennedy-Hahn would work at that height. They asked about the cook top we’re getting and immediately said that that hood SLDH14136SS is the wrong hood. With the BTU output of our cook top, we’d need a 18” high hood, the SEPH18236SS, not the 14”.
I spoke with Carrie at K-H and she changed to the larger hood.
Links
I’ve added links to our existing kitchen and drawings of our design. I have a layout drawing, but it’s a ‘.kit’ file that I can’t open. I will post that when I get it figured out. I will continue to post links to photos as the job progresses.
Jill was over last Friday with the guy who will be building the two new windows. She’s coming back tomorrow to put a lock box on our door, drop off a sample of our counter tops, and to match some colors.
They will be putting a dump box in our driveway. That will be interesting; I’m sure it will have to be a small one. It’s only 9’ from our hour to our neighbor’s house, a fact I need to deal with every winter when I need a place to put snow. Typical
The cabinets, still our critical path, should be done sometime the week of September 9th. That give us two solid weeks of demolition and prep work.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Complication
We’ve hit a small complication regarding our hood. For some reason I thought that we were going with the Dacor hood, but Carrie at Kennedy Hahn and Laurie tell me that it is actually a different Ventahood model. I must cracking up, but that’s not the complication.
Counter top height is 36” above the floor and that’s where the cook top will be. The hood sits 24” above that and is 14” high. A six inch duct is covered by a 10*10” square duct cover that is 22” long, making a full 96” or 8ft. Our ceilings are 101”, so we’re off by five inches.
We have three options: raise the hood, increase the length of the cover, or build something around the last 5” to meet with the stainless duct.
I don’t want to raise the hood because it would affect performance. I’m told that the lead time on the custom cover is 4-6 weeks. That’s ridiculous. I am waiting to hear more about the third option. That may the easiest but I am concerned that it will just look like the duct cover is too short.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Update
All things considered, I wish that they'd start. But we have a lot of things to do in the next three weeks, so I guess it's good we have the time. We gutsily made plans for 8/24 (dinner at Whole Foods with Amy & Sara) and already have plans for 8/18 (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), so we need to get cracking.
This weekend we will begin packing up stuff we won't be using and hopefully 5S-ing a lot of it. We've been collecting boxes and our friend Pat W. has a bunch from his company for us.
Jill is stopping by today (Leone, Laurie's sister, will be there) with the guy who is making the windows to get some measurements.
The test on the sample of our old flooring came back negative for asbestos, so there will be no delay there.
We plan on getting new dishes and flatware. Hopefully we can get it on line, but Laurie may insist on going to look.
This weekend we will begin packing up stuff we won't be using and hopefully 5S-ing a lot of it. We've been collecting boxes and our friend Pat W. has a bunch from his company for us.
Jill is stopping by today (Leone, Laurie's sister, will be there) with the guy who is making the windows to get some measurements.
The test on the sample of our old flooring came back negative for asbestos, so there will be no delay there.
We plan on getting new dishes and flatware. Hopefully we can get it on line, but Laurie may insist on going to look.
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