Another year over and what have we done

It's hard to believe that it's been a month since I last updated the blog. In some ways several things have changed but in other areas, it looks like nothing was done; it is hard to write about the progress on the house when I don't notice the differences day to day.

We had a number of events work against us in December: some of the building crew called in sick, the roofers didn't finish their previous job on time so didn't start on our house when expected, the head roofer fell off the side of the house on the 3^rd day on site (miraculously not suffering a scratch) but took a few days to recover and, of course, no one worked on the house over the Christmas break. We are hopeful that some of the crew will be back in the New Year to finish off the rest of the house! Update: crew showed up on Tuesday and looks to be working full steam ahead. Phew!

On the other side of the coin, much of what happened in December was us planning what to do in the later stages. We considered designs for a staircase that won't be built until late February, finally picked out bathroom fixtures and kitchen appliances – those won't be installed until March – and looked into fireplace options which won't be final until late autumn 2010! While exciting and exhausting, this doesn't make for interesting reading for others - unless you are considering any of the above in your own home, in which case email either Chris or me and we'll fill you in on the grisly details.

So what did happen in the last month of the year?  Well, this is what the house looked like the last time I updated the blog.


We finally had a few sunny days so I could take a photo of what our beautiful northern view looks like. One day soon, after the windows are installed, I'll test out Chris' theory as to whether we can see Mt. Baker to the east.

In early December, we came home to find that our windows (http://www.marvin.com/) had been delivered! Not all of the final window locations are framed yet, but just having the windows on site meant that installation was that much closer.

It turns out that installing windows in the basement suite (where we are living) couldn't be done while we and the cats were there. So the 2^nd week of December the cats were dropped off at a swanky cat hotel (http://www.urbantails.ca/) while we checked into a fancy downtown hotel so the crew could do their thing. Of course, there was a lot less pampering for Chris and me as we still had to go to work! But first we had to move all our belongings (those that hadn't been packed away the past few months) away from the window locations so the crew could do their work.

The crew removed the windows that are not in the final design, and added (bigger) windows in the new locations. The suite is a lot less dark and uninviting now.

While the windows were being installed, we had another delightful delivery – cedar shakes for our roof!

Our contractor had wanted to install 30-year asphalt shingles (http://www.certainteed.com/) while our designer recommended a post-industrial recycled product shingles (http://www.enviroshake.com/). We were considering recycled tile until we discovered the significant price premium – we are all for doing our part for the environment, but why does it always seem to cost much more! I spent a few hours scouring the internet for other options and came upon surprisingly affordable 40-year warranty cedar shakes (http://www.tealjones.com/). It turns out that when the economists use phrases like "depressed commodity and wood prices" that means lower prices for anyone wanting to buy cedar products including roofing shakes. Plus this is a local company who uses responsible harvesting and manufacturing techniques so everyone is happy.

As with other steps along this process, we have learned a lot about roofing. A wood shake roof required that the framing crew did some extra work before the roofing crew could start. A temporary scaffolding set-up was erected along the middle of the house so the crew could reach the peak of the roof and install rafters along each face. Shakes are installed on thin wood rafters rather than a solid layer of plywood, apparently so they can breathe or something.

Only then does the roofing crew do their thing, which in this case involved a layer of black roofing felt (the material that actually makes the roof water-tight) installed over the rafters and the slow and careful nailing of the shakes to the rafters.


Our roof installation was a slow process for a number of reasons:

1. Steep-ish pitch of the roof - not as steep as our heritage neighbours, but close!
2. Several skylights, three on the west side of the house and another one on the east, require more time and attention from crew.
3. Head roofer fell off the house when he didn't properly connect his harness and thus didn't show up for several days. Thank goodness we put in the contract that all crews are to have adequate WCB coverage! (We were very relieved to hear he wasn't hurt.)
4. Rest of roofing crew didn't show up at all unless the head roofer was around.
   

Okay, the last two reasons had nothing to do with our house per se, but they did contribute to the fact that our "3 or 4 day job" wasn't finished after two weeks. In fact, it still isn't completely done! The roofing crew did not install the skylights (holes are currently covered with roofing felt and tarps) and didn't finish installing the ridge caps (hat-shaped cedar pieces for the peak of the roof). Again, I'm glad for the time we put into writing our contract: we agreed to make lump sum payments upon completion of specific milestones. However, if the milestone is not complete, no payment. I believe the contractor will be arranging for someone to finish this job ASAP.

Thankfully the roof and the front-room windows look good from the front of the house so the neighbours don't think we are slackers!

This brings us to the lack of doors installed, even though those were purchased several months ago.

The plan was that we'd order the doors with no lock holes drilled, so we would not be constrained to any particular style or size of lock. This was a good choice as Chris became a fan of mortise locks (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortise_lock) over typical cylinder locks as the former require quite a bit of work to install.

We selected and ordered these online (www.emtek.com/mortise.php) and when they finally arrived Chris started to get ready for the installation when he discovered that the doors had been hung in their frames the wrong way around! If we had installed them as-is, the doors would have opened from the wrong side, and looked rather silly in the finished house. A phone call to Windsor Plywood (http://www.windsorplywood.com/) where we purchased the doors got the issue resolved at no charge to us, but at the cost of waiting yet another week for the corrected doors to arrive. Moral to be learned – triple check all drawings and quotes before taking delivery!

Since he couldn't install the locks, Chris decided to vent some frustration be demolishing the last standing structure on the main floor: the former master bedroom closet. We now have an open space just waiting for us to implement our design ideas! 

There is still quite a bit of work to be done before we are finished with this contractor – just listing out a few items exhausts me! Thinking of the outside of the house, the crew needs to finish installing all the windows, install doors once they are delivered, and finish building the front porch. Plus they have the interior wall framing upstairs and main floor to complete.

And yet, I am feeling enthusiastic about this renovation! We are looking at and making decisions regarding designs and materials that will be installed weeks if not months later. Thus, I don't see a set of flimsy plywood steps above a sawdust covered sub-floor, but rather a deep-brown stained mahogany floor from reclaimed hardwood or maybe an almost black smoked oak wide-plank floor. We haven't yet decided. J