Week 20 - It's looking a lot more finished!!
This week a lot of cleanup happened which really makes it look a lot closer to being finished.
Tuesday I met with the contractor to go over a few things - review the paint color locations and just generally check things. Here are some pictures from that day of our new cabinets.
I went over yesterday (Saturday) to meet with the contractor go over a few things and took some more pictures.
We still don't have power, which is really getting to be a big issue. Back in late November the contractor informed me that Dominion, the power company, said that we needed a waiver from the city to keep our electrical service above ground as, there's a city ordinance that requires all new electrical service to be underground. Ours is "new" because we are changing the attachment point from the existing building to the addition.
Allen went down to the city one day a couple weeks later when he was home for the day and applied for the waiver. He was told that an inspector would come out the next day to check it out. We never heard anything after that. Right after Christmas I called the city to check on the status and was told that he was out but would contact me when he got back. I didn't hear anything so January 3rd I called back and was told that the application was denied. There weren't any details on the sheet. The person I spoke with said that they would talk with the inspector and they would all call me back the next morning before 10 am. January 4 the called me but I was away from my phone. I called back a 1/2 hour later, left a message, and was never called back. January 11 I called again and spoke with Lance Jolly. He said that he needed to talk with his supervisor and would get back to me. January 14th I called again (around 10 am) and was told that it was approved, they were working on the letter and would email it to me that day. I never received it. January 15th I called back again (around 10:30 am) and was told that one person had signed it but another person (who was not currently in the office) needed to sign it and would by the end of the day and the form would be emailed and mailed out. Nothing was received via email. January 16th called again and left a message at around 12 pm. Was finally emailed the waiver at 12:55 pm.
I immediately forwarded the signed waiver to my contractor who then contacted Dominion. The inspector finally came out last week and the person at Dominion put my contractor in contact with the technician who was responsible for our job. I was then told to pay a fee before anything could be released. Paid that fee on 1/28. Finally 1/30 the job was released for construction. My contractor has been trying to get him to come out but was told Thursday that it could be up to 10 days until they can connect the power. I asked him if there was anything that I could do but he said that they were treading a fine line between being persistent but not annoying, otherwise they would just get pushed off even more.
Really the biggest issue with this is that without power, we can't test that the HVAC system works, we can't finish the finishes because the space needs to be conditioned, the wood flooring needs to be acclimated to the finished temperature before it can be installed, and the plumber can't check anything because he doesn't want to turn on the water without heat (which makes total sense).
We have already pushed the schedule about a month. I told my contractor that we need to be able to start moving back in on February 23rd because we need a week plus a weekend to move back. We know that we can't do it quickly and we have to be moved out by March 7th.
All that being said, this week, we got a lot closer to being done.
The basement has doors and trim. It's amazing how much more finished it looks now.
This week: basement underfloor heating and tile, wood flooring in the addition, and building of the banquette.
What's left: final paint coat, stairs finish, basement bathroom tile and cabinets, appliance installation, light fixture installation.
Everyone please think "happy power thoughts" that we get our electrical service this week. At least it's going to be warmer this week than last. We have a couple foe 60 degree days currently forecasted.
Tuesday I met with the contractor to go over a few things - review the paint color locations and just generally check things. Here are some pictures from that day of our new cabinets.
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| The west wall of the kitchen. The cabinets look so great! |
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| the main kitchen. Right in the middle is where the sink will be, which is pretty much where it was. |
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| This is where my new gas cooktop will go. |
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| I still can't over how much great natural light we are going to have. |
I went over yesterday (Saturday) to meet with the contractor go over a few things and took some more pictures.
We still don't have power, which is really getting to be a big issue. Back in late November the contractor informed me that Dominion, the power company, said that we needed a waiver from the city to keep our electrical service above ground as, there's a city ordinance that requires all new electrical service to be underground. Ours is "new" because we are changing the attachment point from the existing building to the addition.
Allen went down to the city one day a couple weeks later when he was home for the day and applied for the waiver. He was told that an inspector would come out the next day to check it out. We never heard anything after that. Right after Christmas I called the city to check on the status and was told that he was out but would contact me when he got back. I didn't hear anything so January 3rd I called back and was told that the application was denied. There weren't any details on the sheet. The person I spoke with said that they would talk with the inspector and they would all call me back the next morning before 10 am. January 4 the called me but I was away from my phone. I called back a 1/2 hour later, left a message, and was never called back. January 11 I called again and spoke with Lance Jolly. He said that he needed to talk with his supervisor and would get back to me. January 14th I called again (around 10 am) and was told that it was approved, they were working on the letter and would email it to me that day. I never received it. January 15th I called back again (around 10:30 am) and was told that one person had signed it but another person (who was not currently in the office) needed to sign it and would by the end of the day and the form would be emailed and mailed out. Nothing was received via email. January 16th called again and left a message at around 12 pm. Was finally emailed the waiver at 12:55 pm.
I immediately forwarded the signed waiver to my contractor who then contacted Dominion. The inspector finally came out last week and the person at Dominion put my contractor in contact with the technician who was responsible for our job. I was then told to pay a fee before anything could be released. Paid that fee on 1/28. Finally 1/30 the job was released for construction. My contractor has been trying to get him to come out but was told Thursday that it could be up to 10 days until they can connect the power. I asked him if there was anything that I could do but he said that they were treading a fine line between being persistent but not annoying, otherwise they would just get pushed off even more.
Really the biggest issue with this is that without power, we can't test that the HVAC system works, we can't finish the finishes because the space needs to be conditioned, the wood flooring needs to be acclimated to the finished temperature before it can be installed, and the plumber can't check anything because he doesn't want to turn on the water without heat (which makes total sense).
We have already pushed the schedule about a month. I told my contractor that we need to be able to start moving back in on February 23rd because we need a week plus a weekend to move back. We know that we can't do it quickly and we have to be moved out by March 7th.
All that being said, this week, we got a lot closer to being done.
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| The new return duct in the living room. Hopefully this will make the heat more even in the house. |
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| The view from the living room to the new kitchen. We have an accent wall! |
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| The kitchen is very close! Those boxes still sitting there are the basement cabinets. |
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| The finished side of the peninsula. |
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| The "office" area, all covered to protect during painting. |
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| View back toward the kitchen. |
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| Looking toward where the fridge will be. |
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| Looking back toward the living room. |
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| Our beautiful pass-through window from the kitchen to the dining room. |
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| View from the kitchen toward the office area. |
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| There's our fridge :-) |
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| View from the dining room to the kitchen. |
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| Our dining room, ready for flooring and the banquette. |
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| The laundry room. |
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| The doorway between the addition and the original part of the basement. |
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| We have a toilet! |
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| The lone basement window has new trim! |
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| Door from the main room back down the hallway toward the addition. |
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| Storage closet. |
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| Mechanical closet. |
What's left: final paint coat, stairs finish, basement bathroom tile and cabinets, appliance installation, light fixture installation.
Everyone please think "happy power thoughts" that we get our electrical service this week. At least it's going to be warmer this week than last. We have a couple foe 60 degree days currently forecasted.
Underfloor heating 😍😍😍
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