The RemodeLogue: Framing Archives

March 20, 2006

Insulation

While we were gone over the weekend, they put in the insulation.

We wanted sound insulation to be installed in the bathrooms and the laundry room but normal insulation was installed. Funny they have sound insulation on the hall bath tub. They also put up tar paper in teh hall bath with no insulation behind it.

Here are some pix:

Outside the hall bath on the left and the master closet on the right. Bummer they stapled the plastic into the molding under the gutters, but I guess that can be patched.

Outside the master closet.

The fire warning on the insulation.

Master ceiling.

Hall bath. The window is in!

Hall tub.

Above the livingroom.

Also above the livingroom.

This is the sound proof insulation. We don't see it anywhere else.

Here it is in context. The wall behind the tub has no insulation so that tar paper needs to be taken down so the insulation can be added.

The master bath interior wall is insulated with regular insulation, not the sound insulation

Posted by dana at 10:14 AM | Comments (3)

January 24, 2006

Fireplace Niches

The framing for the niches is done.

The three niches will be 1 foot by 2 feet.

A straight on view.

The three niches are on the left, and the bookshelf is on the right. They will both be stained birch.

Posted by dana at 02:42 PM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2005

Roof Goes Back On

Getting this done was like pulling teeth. But the heated conversation worked! They put the roof back on before the major storm hit. And now the integrity of the roof can be tested. This storm is going to be intense.

They didn't have enough to finish above the master closet because some of the material broke when they were removing it, but they got most of it done.

It looks a little funky, but they assure me it will even out with time.

Posted by dana at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2005

Re-Inspection

The structural engineer came out today. I asked him to call me on my cell after and tell me how it went as we were going to be gone on our Christmas vacation.

He called and we passed! Whew!

Posted by dana at 01:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 21, 2005

Inpection Corrections

Here are pix of some if not all of what they did to get ready for the next inspection on Friday. Mostly metal straps to futher stabilize the joints in important places.

Took off the old sheer wall that the fight started over. Also, a specific kind of bolt is installed. Glad we didn't need another deputy inspector out here.

And replaced it with the new one, which is correct. The plywood is vertical and staggered.

About the picture below. It is a picture of the big beam spanning the living room back wall. On the other side is the Dining room which we are using as our living room during the remodel. To install this, they had to break the wall in the dining rrom, in our living space. I told them to hold off while I ask the engineer if there is an alternate way to do it so that they would not need to break through to the other side of the wall. They said there wasn't but I asked them to hold off anyway. I emailed the engineer but didn't hear back from him so they went ahead. I then get an email from the engineer the next day:

"Have him use the Simpson 'LCE4'"

The foreman said "That's what I wanted to use but he said no." Sometimes even in the face of such bull##$%^, you have to just suck it up, deal with it, and keep your mouth shut. Argggh.

I'm not sure I understand what the lower brackets are doing in the pictures below. They attach the big beam to the 2x4 above it, but the 2x4 above it isn't attached to anything so it seems stupid to me.

Posted by dana at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)

December 19, 2005

Engineering Inspection

The nails from the roof went in and we are ready to have the structural engineer come out and look the house over and give his sign off.

Wow!

The engineer is a pretty uptight kind of guy. Not the kind of guy you want to have a beer with. Very buttoned up. Very manicured. But very serious and into his work. At least I have a fair amount of confidence that our house will survive the big one.

He's checking everything out and finally he turns to the foreman and says "What is this?" It descends into a yelling match that I still can't believe.

"Don't yell at me!"

"Anybody doing this for 2 months knows that this is wrong. Is this your first job?"

"Don't f%&^^&%^ng talk to me like that."

"I can say anything I want!"

After they calmed down and the engineer went into the attic, I pulled the foreman aside and told him to be nice to this guy. He has what we want, namely a signature.

It ends up there is a list of twelve items that do not pass. And one shear wall has to be redone. The engineer even pointed out that one of the other sheer walls was done correctly. Why was this one done wrong?

I was hoping that we could get this passed before Christmas as promised, and press for it. Can we take pictures of the corrections and send them to you? He says he would but not for this many things. Implying that this is unusual.

He gives me the list, and I amke a copy of it for everyone.

The foreman promises to get all this done and we set the meeting for Friday at 2PM, the last working day before Christmas.

Posted by dana at 04:53 PM | Comments (1)

December 11, 2005

Master Shower

The Master shower gets framed out.

Posted by dana at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)

December 09, 2005

Reconfiguring the Master Bath South Wall

The sheer wall on the south side of the bathroom had to be reconfigured due to how we wanted the mirrors and lighting to be set up. Sheer walls need to have 4x4's every 4 ft with a 4'x8' sheet of plywood spanning from 4x4 to 4x4. But we need 60" without a 4x4.

Click here to see the light mirror set up needing the 60"

So... we got a drawing from the engineer and it required 2 new 4x4s 60" apart. And each now needs to be secured with a hold down. So that means the deputy inspector needs to come out again, which is more money. Hence our first change order! Yippee!!!

The open space for the mirrors and lights.

The two hold downs at the bottom of each of the new 4x4s

Posted by dana at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

December 08, 2005

Window Pix

Here is a look at the windows even though they are not right.

One of the 4ft windows from the front. They are going to adjust the top of the frame down by cutting out the top inch or so of the side frame. This will hide some of that extra wood up there where the retractable screen is housed. The stucco will extend over the window a little.

The 3ft window for the hall bath.

We got Rabbeted Pair/French Casement windows. There is no center frame so they open up wide and airy.

This is the rectractable screen. The white crossbar will blend in once the windows are painted white.

The hinges are "sticky hinges" so they keep the window in place once you push it out. We didn't want to have cranks.

Posted by dana at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)

December 06, 2005

Windows Arrive

Well kind of.

When we signed the contract, the contractors made a big deal about getting the window order in early because they take so long to make. This was in July. They went back and forth with the architect making sure everything was correct. They went back and forth with the distributor making sure everything was in order.

So after all this time, yesterday was the day the windows and sliding doors are finally coming. They look beautiful but ...

On the truck.

A door waiting to be taken into the house.

... some are missing, and some are wrong. Can I use swear words here?

The explanation about the missing windows was that when they were delivered to the distributor, there was condensation between some of the double panes so they had to be sent back to the factory. They would be delivered on Thursday. Okay, no problem.

I didn't notice the incorrect windows until after the delivery guy had left. I mention to the foreman that they look shorter than existing. He says that they are according to plan.

I ask "where are you going to loose window from the top or the bottom?"

"The bottom," he answers.

With all that is going on, I just nod. I can't remember all the details from so many months ago.

We got six sliders for the living room. 4 sliders for the Master bedroom. They looked correct. We got a 3 ft window for the guest bath. It looks correct. We didnt get the door shaped window for the master bath because of the condensation. We only got 2 of the 4 5ft windows for the living room and the second bedroom.

I measure the existing windows and they are 5 ft. And the new windows are only 4ft. I think there is no way we ordered smaller windows. After all, we are trying to brighten this room which we always thought was too dark.

I immediately go pouring over the plans and window schedule looking for the possibility that our architect made an error. Or if we really did order 4ft windows. Everywhere on the plans and window schedule calls for 5ft windows. I get this sinking feeling. This is a disaster. Are we going to have to wait until April for the correct windows?

I call the contractor and tell him the windows are wrong. I could hear the panic through the silence on the other end of the phone. He says he will find out what the deal is, and hangs up.

He calls me back with this explanation: The 4ft windows belong to another order. They will be picked up tomorrow. So 2 5ft windows are coming tomorrow and 2 5ft windows are coming on Thursday along with the master door size window. Okay.

So today, no one shows up! No one picked up the 4ft windows, and, more importantly, no one delivered the 5ft windows. What is the deal? I call the contractor. "We need to get the ball rolling. You said that things were going to pick up." Etc. I was angry and frustrated. "Two weeks with nothing going on is a lot of lost time."

I ask him if he still feels a February finish can be done. He says yes. I ask him if he will tell me a February finish cannot be done as soon as he realizes it. He scoffed at the question and said "Of course, Dana!" I don't know.

Posted by dana at 12:43 PM | Comments (1)

November 26, 2005

Trust But Verify

The engineering plans call for another 4x8 spanning the length of the master closet suppported by 2 4x4s on either end of the master closet to support a 4x4 which would in turn support the surprise 6x12, which comes to an end above the closet. Sound confusing? I have no idea what I just wrote. But the contractor had another idea. Support the 6x12 by a secured 4x4 in the wall between the master bedroom and the master closet. The reason being that in the drawings it appears that the big beam would extend 6 ft over the closet when in fact it extends only 3 ft. approximately.

The larger beam does not extend as far as we thought it would. I think this is because of the way the three sides of the roof converge closer to the wall than thought. But I am guessing.

But this whole set up didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Why is the strongest thing in the structure the thing being supported? These wimpy 4x4s are supporting a massive slab of tree. Plus it seemed like the 4x4 was being supported by floorboards and a 2x4. I asked about this and they told me they put wood under the house so all this weight was resting on solid wood.

this is the lower supporting 4x4.

So, here comes the trust but verify part. After getting home from the gym on this Saturday morning, I climb under the house to look at the pieces of wood. I was petrified at first. Were my shots current? Was my underwear clean? I climb into the netherworld of rats and possums feet first.

EEK!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!

I have a little panic attack and get out. Mission unaccomplished. #$%^$&#^!

Okay let's do it again.

I get back to where I freaked before. Hey, this isn't that bad. I found a little dip so I had some room to turn around and get to a better place to see the new wood. I felt like an archeologist in a weird way.

Ah HA! New wood!

You cant tell it from these pictures, but this wood is jammed in there very tight.

I do not know how it is secured, but maybe since it is in there just pure friction will keep them in place. There a lot of hammer marks so maybe it is not secured at all except by the weight of that massive 6x12.

I feel like I accomplished something by climing down here -- going to the dark side and back.

Posted by dana at 05:53 PM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2005

More Pix of what has been done recently.

The contractor told us that things are going to wind down for the next few days until the windows get here. Then there is going to be a big push and a lot of activity. I reluctantly accept this since the windows are supposed to be getting here any day now.

So here are some more pix of what they did in the past couple days. I went up in the attic to take some pix of the tray ceiling from above.

It's a bummer they had to cut up some of the plumbing they did. It passed inspection and now it's all cut up!

The finished the sheer wall in the garage. To do this they had to take out some of the ceiling next to the wall because it had to be continuous. Luckily, the joists are going parallel to the wall and not perpendicular to it. That would have made the job tougher.

Posted by dana at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2005

Tray Ceiling

How did youspend you thanksgiving? I built a tray ceiling in a Master Bedroom. We were kind of surprised they were working on Turkey Day. Makes you wonder about the whole illegal immigration thing and our role in it.

Posted by dana at 05:26 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2005

But Not All is Lost

They beam they had to take down they were able to reuse in the bathroom sheer wall. Not sure why they are replacing a 4x4 with this beam at this stage of the game (okay I think I have an idea) but they need a 4x8 support another 6x12 going in.

The beam is now on its end with the hold downs.

I gotta say, I didn't even know this was happening. I thought I was more up on things than this. This monster beam is supposed to support the roof. But it seems to me (and to the contractor and architect) to be overkill. It seems like it is not holding up much and a lot is needed to hold it up!

I wasn't so much worried that he couldn't hold it, but I was worried the ladder couldn't hold him. The ladder was getting ready to buckle under all this weight. And it was our little ladder, not one of their heavy duty ladders.

Resting on the wall between the closet and the master.

The ladder was seriously about to give. I was stressing.

From the bathroom looking up.

I don't know how he is holding that beam up. There must be someone behind him.

Getting it positioned.

The beam had to end at that corner point in the roof.

Looking straight up.

Bolt downs

Posted by dana at 05:55 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2005

I Find a Major Mistake

I had noticed this a few days ago, but I finally got out the tape measure. The sliding door opening in the master bedroom is off. Way off. And I immediately panic. This is what it looks like:

So the beam is in place, the hold downs are in place and inspected. But the opening is not centered with the landing, and it is too small to fit 4 2'6" doors. It is only 124 inches wide. And you need at least 128 inches. Story continued below pictures.

The landing is 70 inches wide.

The opening is 29 inches past the landing on the north side.

The opening is 24 inches past the landing on the south side.

123" is not large enough to fit the doors.

The opening is not centered on the landing.

So I have nightmares all last night. They are going to have to redo so much. How did this happen? I go over the plans and it says the doors are 2'6" and it says that the doorway should be centered on the landing. From this info, the contractor is supposed to figure out the rest.

I call them and tell them the news and they are both over the next morning in damage control mode. They tried to sell me that the plans were unclear. Standard procedure I think. What the contractor did is measure the space between the wall and the edge of the door on the drawings and scale it up. Not the way to go. He also pitched that he was trying to center it on the bedroom. But it wasn't centered on the room either! I finally had to walk through the logic stated above. He admitted defeat kind of and then fixed it the next morning. It meant installing a new beam, and turning the hold down around so the posts are on the outside of the hold downs. Thank you-know-who that they did not need to redo the hold downs because that is a chunk of change to get the inspector out to the site again.

They moved the posts so they are on the outside of the hold downs. This is on the south side.

They moved the posts so they are on the outside of the hold downs. This is on the north side.

Posted by dana at 01:39 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2005

Framing Nearing an End

They added more sheer wall today. Around the edge of the closet. Up in the attic. They peeled back some of the garage ceiling so the sheer wall could go up all the way from the first floor to the roof uninterupted.

Up in the attic.

Posted by dana at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2005

Sheer Walls Go Up

They put up the shear walls in the Master Bedroom and around the master closet.

The bedroom:

And here is the closet:

Shear walls have to have 4x4 every 4 feet and the plywood is nailed to these with nails 2 inches apart. Also they put in nail spacers between the plywood to allow for settling.

Posted by dana at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)

November 09, 2005

New Living Room Sub Floor

The insulation is in and now goes the sub floor. It looks like they will need to put in a couple levels to get this floor even with the flor in the original living room.

Glue goes down.

The sub floor goes in.

This is the glue they used. "Subfloor sonstruction adhesive." No doubt what that is for.

Posted by dana at 06:15 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2005

Insulation for the New Living Room Floor

I guess this goes under framing. In between the sleepers goes some insulation. All new floors get insulation. Old floors don't have to get it. The foreman asked me to take these pictures and send them to him so he could show them to the city inspector.

The sheets of insulation.

It's a very hard foam.

Cutting it to fit between the sleepers.

In place.

Posted by dana at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)

Pocket Door

They put in the pocket door frame for the Master Bath. Of course, when I saw the kit, I did a little research to see if it was a good one. It is. They are installing the by Johnson Hardware 1500.

I checked to see what kind of hanger they were going to use. the 1120 or the heavy duty 1125 with ball bearings for door weighting up to 200 lbs. At this point, the foreman kind of looked at me trying to figure out if I was for real. Hey man, I just want this door to glide right. Gotta ask the tough questions!

Studs taken out to make room for the frame.

In place.

Channel profile tracks instead of the I-beam track. Using tricycle hangers for even movement.

Posted by dana at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2005

Recycled Wood

Not sure how I feel about this, but I have checked around and it seems to be okay. In some places they are reusing wood. They are even using wood inside the house that used to be a part of the trellis. Our architect says that this old wood is very strong. It is a hardwood. Plus, back then, a 2x4 was really 2" by 4"! So if it is okay with the structural engineer and with the city inspectors, it is okay with us.

This used to be above the sliding glass door.

Can you pick out the piece that used to be a part of the trellis?

Ditto.

The ceiling joists over the master bath are recycled too. And splintering when nailed into place. YIKES! (They took care of that with stabilizing piecs of wood, but I didn't get a pic.

Posted by dana at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)

November 02, 2005

Sheer Walls

The attic is going to be like a fortress. Maybe we should build a panic room?

The new master walls go all the way from the cement base to the roof.

The south wall:

And the north wall:

Posted by dana at 05:23 PM | Comments (0)

November 01, 2005

The Last of the Big Beams

The beam that extends over the master bedroom door is installed.

From the outside.

It's attached to bolted 4x4s. At the floor

It's attached to bolted 4x4s. And above.

And the north end of the big beam gets bolted in.

Posted by dana at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2005

Sleepers

Today they installed sleepers on the sunroom floor. We thought the saltillo tile was going to come out, but I guess not. they are just putting the floor on top of it. Special pressure treated wood touches the tile. I think this is wolmanized wood. Treated with CCA, or chromated copper arsenate, a insecticide and fungicide. Then little strips go on top to make the bolts flush.

They have yet to do the levelling -- making sure the floor in the living room and sunroom are seamless. They are doing that down the road.

They also took out the beam above the old sliding glass door.

Posted by dana at 05:04 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2005

Up In the Attic

They spent all day in the attic today. It looks great! You can actually move around up there pretty good.

These cross beams were at about 5 ft so you couldn';t walk around upright. now you can. It feels so spacious up here. Originally, we were going to go up, but it would have been cheaper to tear down the house and start over because of all the foundation work that would have needed to be done. Although I don't know, a lot is going on as it is.

This is the sheer wall that they need to take off the roof to connect from above. It essentially slices the attic in half. Hopefully there can be a doorway to get to the other side, where the Air conditioning unit is.

Someone fell throught the ceiling today. The contractor was over, and we were eating burgers when we heard the loud crash. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Oops

Posted by dana at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2005

Master Bath walls

they also put up part of the master bath walls. So you can get an idea of the size of the rooms.

The master from the west. Shower area in the background

The big beam goes right over the master shower.

Looking out to the backyard from the east. There is going to be a door sized window there.

From the back yard.

The living room looks larger now that the ceiling joists are in.

Posted by dana at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)

Another big beam and more.

They installed the big beam the will span the west end of the living room today. Below it will be the telescoping doors. they also installed the ceiling joists back in the Sunroom area today. It makes the living room area look larger. They used old wood that were joists in the bedroom I think. This old wood is stronger and cut bigger than what you can get today. So if an inspector has no problem with it, I don't.

The ceiling joists.

New Beam, reinstalled joists.

The north end of the beam. This is where the living room ends.

Don't like this too much. Little pieces of wood mashed in there. They had to bend the anchor bolt a little so it could be attached. I asked if this was a permanent thing and they said yes. He was off by 1/2 inch. "Happens all the time." Hmmm...

Long Shot

They also took out the ceiling in the master bedroom. Here are pix of that:

Another temporary support.

This shows the original roof and behind it, the roof for the master closet addition.

Looking up from the master closet.

Posted by dana at 03:29 PM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2005

The Moment We Have Been Waiting For!!

Or me anyway. Such a load off.

The big beam shows up and this time it is the right size and everything! the label said it was 25 feet and it was 25 feet. Didn't get a picture of the label, because it went up before I could get to it.

They got it into place so quickly. The thing I had been fretting about more than anything else is done! I just couldnt figure out how they were going to do this while not letting the entire house cave in. Well on with the pix.

Here it is in place in the far (south) end and being supported by a 4x4 on this end.

Another view.

Where is is on top of a 4x4 which is anchor bolted.

Running along underneath it. They are making sure it lines up exactly with the ceiling joists meeting it. After it is in place they will secure it to the joists with brackets.

I'm glad I'm not up there. This tree is basically being held up by 4x4s while they get the other wood around it

They built the south wall of the master bath to support the big beam.

A straight on view.

This is the beginning of a sheer wall that goes up to the roof and be atached from above the roof. I mentioned they have to take the roof up afterall.

This is up in the attic.

the beam is scured with brackets to the existing ceiling joists that span the living room.

Looking north.

This is the south end of the sheer wall so the roof will not be ripped up south of here. Not sure where that anchor bolt goes to. I dont think it was inspected.

The north end of the beam. Man, that looks shaky.

Back on the first floor, the larger living room is beginning to take shape! They were able to take down the support wall so you can see the new space. A nice big room with great front to back flow.

Posted by dana at 05:46 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2005

Master Bath Floor Plywood Goes In

So now that the plumbing inspection is done, it can be covered up. First went the insulation and then the plywood. The insulation I guess is a new rule. Kind of funny since there is no insulation under any of the other floors. But the inspector wants to see a picture of it to sign off, so they took one. And so did I!

Once that is in then the plywood.

This took them a long time because they had to measure where every pipe, drain, etc. is coming thru the floor, and then cut the holes to line up with all the new plumbing.

The work area.

Posted by dana at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2005

Another Inspector Comes.

Another inspector came today to check out the epoxy for the anchor bolts for all of the new 4"x4" and 4"x6" posts. There are a bunch.

See the epoxy oozing out?

So anyway, that was successful too.

Posted by dana at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2005

Drilling

New footers are going in so there has been a lot of drilling for the anchor bolts and holddown bolts. All day. Very noisy.

Fortunately, we are going to a friends house for the afternoon and dinner.

In the master closet

In the master closet.

In the garage.

Posted by dana at 02:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2005

The Elusive Big Beam Finally Arrives, but ...

I was off to do a spinning class early this morning and on my way out, I see the guys show up with the beam! YAY!

Here it is:

That's a big chunk of tree flesh.

So it was looking like it was going up soon. In the meantime, they had taken out the old wall between the sunroom and the living room. Hope there isn't an earthquake today!

The wall with the window opening is gone.

Another view. The wood structure to the right is temporary and is just stopping the ceiling from falling in while the other wall is removed and the big beam is not yet installed.

And from the attic there are new supports in. We found out on Saturday that they have to take off the roof along this strip because these supports need to be attached from above the roof. The contractors don't want to do this and we aren't too keen on it either. We called the engineer to see if there was a way around it, and he said no. It wouldn't be up to code and the cement footings would be wasted effort. Okay then. The roof comes up. That's more work and more time than we thought. Of course, it was in the engineering plan from the beginning, but who reads those things?!

Here are some pix from up in the attic:

the vertical beams are new. On the right is over the livingroom, to the left over the old sunroom. Looking toward the master.

Another view. The diagonal beams are new too.

You can see the sumroom below.

So remember the "but..." part in the title of this entry? They casually mention to me this afternoon that the supplier gave them the wrong size big beam. They wanted a 25 footer and got a 20 footer. I say, "You are kidding!" And I am thinking, "wait a second. You picked it up this morning and drove it all the way here and got it in the house before you realized it was the wrong size?"

It is even correctly labelled as a 20 footer. DUH!

Posted by dana at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)

October 05, 2005

Getting Ready for the Big Feat

They put in this support structure so the ceiling wouldnt fall in when they remove the wall between the living room and the sunroom. There is a lot to this!

This is the view from the living room.

This is the view from the Sunroom. The wall that is coming out is in front of the temporary support structure.

We are waiting for the 12"x6" "tree trunk" which will be suspended above the ceiling line and supported by 4x4s to the floor and also by the roof. This is a bummer because the engineer insists that we take off the roof along this stretch and also on the new bathroom walls so that the supports can be attached from above the roof instead of below the roof.

Nobody wants to mess with the roof, but the engineer says that if we don't then all that cement poured for supporting the new walls is for nothing, and that it won't pass code.

Posted by dana at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2005

Pouring the Cement

I guess this goes under framing. Not sure.

the cement truck came today to pour the concrete for the footings of the two new walls of the new bathroom. Very cool to watch. I do have video, but the file size is too large to post. Maybe when I find a good mpeg converter, I will post them. Meanwhile, there are pictures.

The cement pourer and the foreman are friends of about 15 years. They were telling me some crazy stories. Let's just say I'm glad my car was parked a long way away!

Posted by dana at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2005

The Framing Gets Started

Well. Alas! Some new stuff is going in!

The new bedroom wall between the master and the master closet.

The shower in the new hall bath.

The new hallway walls.

Posted by dana at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2005

The Inspectors are Coming!

Yesterday, the engineer came to inspect the rebar. I was impressed with him. Very serious. He loooked like an architect. Fancy glasses. All business, asking lots of questions of the foreman. Referring to the plans. I look at these engineering plans and am totally baffled. It's like the message in the movie "Contact".

When he made his appointment, he said we "should have the anchor bolts and holdown bolts (if any) in place also." Sounds good to me.

So I guess that is what all of this is:

So he signed off on the form he needed to before the foreman could call the city. The city came today and he signed off too. Foreman asked me to copy the signed documents. I have to use my ancient scanner for that, so it took a little long and the city inspector said he couldn't wait. So he left without them and said he would pick them up on his next visit. It was only a few minutes.

Foreman joked with me later: "There's something I need you to do for me." I nod. "Get a new scanner!"

At least we don't have to pay for a phone line and a fax machine like in the old days.

Posted by dana at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2005

Foundation for the new Bathroom part 2

After the trenched were dug, rebar was put in and epoxyed into the existing foundation and the slab for the sunroom. the bathroom is half over slab and half over foundation. So that is why it is getting so much support. All of the slab under the bathroom footprint is going to be removed so that there is room for pipes and plumbing, etc. A deputy inspector has to sign off on the rebar and epoxy and then our structural engineer has to sign off on everything before the city can come and look at it. Only after that can the city come and give an okay for the cement to be poured.

Trench under the bedroom.

Posted by dana at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2005

Foundation for the new Bathroom

So this is where things get a little tricky. Some framing is starting and the framing is dovetailing with the demo. Adding foundations, beams, before other walls, specifically the old wall between the living room and the sun room can come out. It's a tough job taking out some kind of load bearing walls and replacing parts of some load bearing walls.

Again, here is the floor plans and how they are changing:
click here.

These are some pix of the new foundations they are putting in for the new walls for the new bathroom. The first three are of the south trench which was dug through the sunroom slab. The others are under the bedroom which had a crawl space, so it was just dirt.

The south trench in the old sunroom