The last week and half hasn't been too conducive to the house. Between everyone getting sick and my own little jaunt to Ann Arbor to relive my rock n' roll "glory" years, I just haven't dedicated much time.
But, guess what... Demo starts tomorrow! yeeaa... picture me doing a little dance... very little. Well, but yikes, I haven't finished all my stuff! Well, that's not completely true. For the most part I'm done tearing stuff down. Now I just need to get all my piles of wood out of the house and into the garage, not to mention deciding which piles I want to keep. So, with Ann back from Detroit tonight, I made a last minute run to move my stuff out of the immediate demo areas.
So, what's happening tomorrow? Best I can tell, I think it's just asbestos abatement. Probably them setting up shop and other massively exciting things like that. Guess I'll have to swing by on my way home and check it out.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Finally, a schedule
We had our first official post-contract-signing meeting last Thursday. We got together with Ryan, our architect and a bunch of people from MOC. Primary on the list was going over all the little things involved in the construction process like, "how do I contact you?", "when should our weekly meeting be", "where should the Biffy go?", and on and on... exciting stuff, I know.
On the flip side, we got our first chance to see the schedule, which MOC has been piecing together for the past week and a half. Of course the first thing we did was flip to the last page to see when things end. Unfortunately, and to be honest, disappointingly, they're projecting Jan 10th of 2010. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I'm glad to finally have a schedule, but next Jan?!?!?!
Well, we expressed our disappointment and challenged to see what can be done to bring that back in. But, the reality is that we're starting much later than we would have liked to. Official demo (not done by me, that is) starts on June 18th, so next Thursday. I think part of the frustration is that we have a feeling that should have started a month ago.
So, while we wait for the 18th, I've been charged with taking down the rest of the wood paneling, which is now done, and the exterior siding, which isn't done. Oh, and I have to move all my stacks of wood into the garage. Here's the redwood and flooring. The Doug Fir is just as much.
That was supposed to be my chore this past weekend, but our house has turned into the sick ward. I got a bit done, but half my time on Sat was spent building a table with Cailin, and I only got a little more than 2 hours on Sun. Guess I might need to be a bit more aggressive.
On the flip side, we got our first chance to see the schedule, which MOC has been piecing together for the past week and a half. Of course the first thing we did was flip to the last page to see when things end. Unfortunately, and to be honest, disappointingly, they're projecting Jan 10th of 2010. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I'm glad to finally have a schedule, but next Jan?!?!?!
Well, we expressed our disappointment and challenged to see what can be done to bring that back in. But, the reality is that we're starting much later than we would have liked to. Official demo (not done by me, that is) starts on June 18th, so next Thursday. I think part of the frustration is that we have a feeling that should have started a month ago.
So, while we wait for the 18th, I've been charged with taking down the rest of the wood paneling, which is now done, and the exterior siding, which isn't done. Oh, and I have to move all my stacks of wood into the garage. Here's the redwood and flooring. The Doug Fir is just as much.
That was supposed to be my chore this past weekend, but our house has turned into the sick ward. I got a bit done, but half my time on Sat was spent building a table with Cailin, and I only got a little more than 2 hours on Sun. Guess I might need to be a bit more aggressive.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
A Green Oportunity
Not a lot of posts in May, so I better get a good start here in June.
So, what's been goin' on for the past week and a half? Well, to be honest, not a lot. I made the decision to take down the rest of the wood paneling inside the house. It seems to me that having too much wood is not a bad thing. And hey, it gives me something to do.
That was last weekend. I wish I had some pics, but I left my camera at home and to be honest, it doesn't really look like I did anything anyway. Cailin came and hung out with me though. She helped move some wood around and played with Ann's old doll house which is sitting in the garage.
Oh, I suppose you might be asking what's going on with real construction. Well, we have our pre-construction meeting tomorrow (TH) with MOC. I guess we'll go over exciting stuff like where the dumpster should go and the change order process, but we'll also get a first glance of our schedule. Any bets on when this thing will be projected to be done? Ugh, I hope it's before Dec.
Oh, one exciting thing that's popped up. Well, for me anyway, is that MOC has a free resource who's going to be working with us on LEED for Homes and Minnesota Greenstar certification. Apparently, Mike Otto doesn't think any adjustments will have to be made to reach at least a basic level of certification and this free resource is looking to do exactly that thing.
I had kind of given up hope on the certification after all the cost cutting we did and frankly just got too tied up in that process anyway to spend me time on how "green" we could be. I'm happy though as it was something I looked a lot at after buying the house.
So, what's been goin' on for the past week and a half? Well, to be honest, not a lot. I made the decision to take down the rest of the wood paneling inside the house. It seems to me that having too much wood is not a bad thing. And hey, it gives me something to do.
That was last weekend. I wish I had some pics, but I left my camera at home and to be honest, it doesn't really look like I did anything anyway. Cailin came and hung out with me though. She helped move some wood around and played with Ann's old doll house which is sitting in the garage.
Oh, I suppose you might be asking what's going on with real construction. Well, we have our pre-construction meeting tomorrow (TH) with MOC. I guess we'll go over exciting stuff like where the dumpster should go and the change order process, but we'll also get a first glance of our schedule. Any bets on when this thing will be projected to be done? Ugh, I hope it's before Dec.
Oh, one exciting thing that's popped up. Well, for me anyway, is that MOC has a free resource who's going to be working with us on LEED for Homes and Minnesota Greenstar certification. Apparently, Mike Otto doesn't think any adjustments will have to be made to reach at least a basic level of certification and this free resource is looking to do exactly that thing.
I had kind of given up hope on the certification after all the cost cutting we did and frankly just got too tied up in that process anyway to spend me time on how "green" we could be. I'm happy though as it was something I looked a lot at after buying the house.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
The trees come down, the basement gets included and more on siding
How's that for a subject line. First, we had some fun today and took down the three "trees" in front of the house. I say "trees" because they're really overgrown arborvitae. I suppose some might intend for them to get as high as they did, but I'm not so sure. I wish I had some shots of the fun. My dad, my friend Paul and I took them down pretty quick with a chainsaw, chopped up the trunks and hauled the branched to a compost area here in town. All before noon, I might add. But, all I have is before and after...
So, the basement. As mentioned, we reviewed the contract from MOC last weekend and worked out the particulars, but we need to make a decision on the basement ASAP. Because if it's in, then that affects the immediate schedule and affects the payment schedule laid out in the contract.
Probably the biggest issue was the cost associated. It was about a $40K add to do the basement. A lot of that was simply because we weren't planning to tear down the structure of the house where the basement would go. If we did do the basement, they would have to tear down the wall frames and subfloor and then rebuild.
Well, we wrested with the cost and desire and ultimately decided that yes, we wanted to do the basement. Problem was that we then got fixated on the siding. We were getting nervous about using steel. We asked for the price difference to go back to Fiber Cement, or Hardi plank, and found out it would be another ~$8K. So, we just said yes to the basement and now we're talking about adding more $$. Where does it stop?
So, we did a field trip on Friday with Mike Otto and our architect Ryan to look more at steel. The end result only confirmed our desire not to use the steel. So, Ann and I pow-wowed once more and said, fine we'll still do the basement, which allows us to get the contract signed and this project started. And then we'll deal with the siding over the next couple months understanding its going to cost us something more, but what that is depends on whether we have some other options that are both visually and price appealing.
That means we'll finally have a contract to sign on Tuesday.
In the meantime, I've removing some more siding...
So, the basement. As mentioned, we reviewed the contract from MOC last weekend and worked out the particulars, but we need to make a decision on the basement ASAP. Because if it's in, then that affects the immediate schedule and affects the payment schedule laid out in the contract.
Probably the biggest issue was the cost associated. It was about a $40K add to do the basement. A lot of that was simply because we weren't planning to tear down the structure of the house where the basement would go. If we did do the basement, they would have to tear down the wall frames and subfloor and then rebuild.
Well, we wrested with the cost and desire and ultimately decided that yes, we wanted to do the basement. Problem was that we then got fixated on the siding. We were getting nervous about using steel. We asked for the price difference to go back to Fiber Cement, or Hardi plank, and found out it would be another ~$8K. So, we just said yes to the basement and now we're talking about adding more $$. Where does it stop?
So, we did a field trip on Friday with Mike Otto and our architect Ryan to look more at steel. The end result only confirmed our desire not to use the steel. So, Ann and I pow-wowed once more and said, fine we'll still do the basement, which allows us to get the contract signed and this project started. And then we'll deal with the siding over the next couple months understanding its going to cost us something more, but what that is depends on whether we have some other options that are both visually and price appealing.
That means we'll finally have a contract to sign on Tuesday.
In the meantime, I've removing some more siding...
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Siding
For some reason we thought that once we picked our builder it would be smooth sailing. A step back and let the GC run the show. Um, no.
We've been looking at the contract that we'll need to sign, which then started an avalanche of "um, what about that?" or "oh, and that too!". For instance, we still haven't picked out a siding material. I suppose it's not a big deal since the siding goes on much further down the line, but if we can avoid a change request, we can probably avoid change fees.
We wanted to use Fiberboard, or Hardi Siding as it seems to be more commonly known. But, once again, trying to trim costs, we've been looking at alternatives. First, we decided that maybe we could reuse the existing Redwood Siding...more on that later. Because you can't buy redwood anymore, we'd need something to make up for the new second level.
So, the plan is to put the redwood on the second level and then bring a steel siding onto the first level. That would be in combination with the stone we'll be using. I don't think Ann or I are hot on steel, but to be honest, we haven't looked at it yet. It doesn't seem like the best looking option, which means we need to go out and start looking. (I'd link out to a steel siding site, but I haven't a clue what's worth looking at)
In the meantime, I started to pull the redwood off today. Kind of a pain, sometimes not. We'll see how this goes, but I'm a little nervous on the quality. It's dry, splits easy and will have to be cleaned. I'm hoping I get enough off that hasn't cracked in half. Not a ton of progress thus far...
The discussions this weekend go beyond siding. We've got similar stuff on windows, flooring and more. Not to mention that we're still struggling with the basement we want, but wrecks the budget. Sigh....
We've been looking at the contract that we'll need to sign, which then started an avalanche of "um, what about that?" or "oh, and that too!". For instance, we still haven't picked out a siding material. I suppose it's not a big deal since the siding goes on much further down the line, but if we can avoid a change request, we can probably avoid change fees.
We wanted to use Fiberboard, or Hardi Siding as it seems to be more commonly known. But, once again, trying to trim costs, we've been looking at alternatives. First, we decided that maybe we could reuse the existing Redwood Siding...more on that later. Because you can't buy redwood anymore, we'd need something to make up for the new second level.
So, the plan is to put the redwood on the second level and then bring a steel siding onto the first level. That would be in combination with the stone we'll be using. I don't think Ann or I are hot on steel, but to be honest, we haven't looked at it yet. It doesn't seem like the best looking option, which means we need to go out and start looking. (I'd link out to a steel siding site, but I haven't a clue what's worth looking at)
In the meantime, I started to pull the redwood off today. Kind of a pain, sometimes not. We'll see how this goes, but I'm a little nervous on the quality. It's dry, splits easy and will have to be cleaned. I'm hoping I get enough off that hasn't cracked in half. Not a ton of progress thus far...
The discussions this weekend go beyond siding. We've got similar stuff on windows, flooring and more. Not to mention that we're still struggling with the basement we want, but wrecks the budget. Sigh....
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A Decision is Made
Well, we finally did it! We made a decision! What and how?.... We got our three bids today from the builders involved. We of course had our meeting scheduled with MOC, who we've been working with for a couple months now, and then the other two were supposed to fax in there's prior to that meeting.
As it turned out, we didn't get those two other bids before stepping into our meeting with MOC at 3pm. So, you had Ann and I doing a nervous 2 minute chat in the hallway before going in basically saying, what do we do?!? Play it cool, that's what. ;) MOC presented their bid and with no surprises or further adjustments, he came in below our number. Well, hey that's great!.... but wait, what about the other guys? We've already told MOC that if they made our price, we'd go with them, but still, what about the other guys!?
So, we asked for a time out. Yep, Ann and I and Ryan (our architect, who the other bids were faxed to, but who hadn't caught up with us before the meeting) all stepped out into the hall to huddle. There, Ryan explained that one bid (from a comparable builder to MOC) came in slightly higher, and that the other guy, Tim, came in lower, but only by a few thousand.
Well, for all our fretting of "what if this, what if that", the decision was pretty simple. While Tim was slightly lower, we felt there were risks involved and that we couldn't count on his numbers being as accurate. So, that did it... MOC, pending a contract signing, is our builder.
It'll be a couple weeks before demo starts, but we'll get demo permits pulled and dumpster on site. Finally, a place to put the rubbish. I'll also start pulling the redwood siding off the house, which we're also going to re-use. So, the fun keeps on going.
As it turned out, we didn't get those two other bids before stepping into our meeting with MOC at 3pm. So, you had Ann and I doing a nervous 2 minute chat in the hallway before going in basically saying, what do we do?!? Play it cool, that's what. ;) MOC presented their bid and with no surprises or further adjustments, he came in below our number. Well, hey that's great!.... but wait, what about the other guys? We've already told MOC that if they made our price, we'd go with them, but still, what about the other guys!?
So, we asked for a time out. Yep, Ann and I and Ryan (our architect, who the other bids were faxed to, but who hadn't caught up with us before the meeting) all stepped out into the hall to huddle. There, Ryan explained that one bid (from a comparable builder to MOC) came in slightly higher, and that the other guy, Tim, came in lower, but only by a few thousand.
Well, for all our fretting of "what if this, what if that", the decision was pretty simple. While Tim was slightly lower, we felt there were risks involved and that we couldn't count on his numbers being as accurate. So, that did it... MOC, pending a contract signing, is our builder.
It'll be a couple weeks before demo starts, but we'll get demo permits pulled and dumpster on site. Finally, a place to put the rubbish. I'll also start pulling the redwood siding off the house, which we're also going to re-use. So, the fun keeps on going.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Bids Are Nearly Here.
I must have missed a post... oh right, I just never did it. Well, a week and a half since my last post, there's a few things worth mentioning.
We're in waiting mode on the next round of bids. We were suppose to have a meeting two days (5/8) ago with MOC, but rescheduled for this next Wednesday. Why? Well, MOC was prepared to show us their re-vised number and hoping to get an answer during that meeting. Since we've decided to have two other builders bid the project out, we didn't want to cough up that answer until we new where the other two were at.
I guess we're finally getting to the culmination of this big game, and to be honest, it's starting to drive me a little crazy. I just want the numbers!!! ... but, as if it were that simple. Are the numbers apples-to-apples? What timeframe are they each proposing? How accurate do we believe their numbers to be?
So, what to do to keep the mind occupied elsewhere? Hammers! Drills!! Cro-bars!!!!! Yes, I continue to demo, although now I think it's for no reason other than to demo. The floor is up, the panels are off, and so much of the rest is just trash.... well, not true. We've got a place in town called the Re-Use Center. They take any type of building material from lumber to fixtures to windows to doors and more and re-sell or re-use. So, keep it out of the landfills and give it new life. I sent some pics off today to gauge interest. Depending on the response, that may be the next project. Which would be good, cause I'm starting to lack room in the place to demo much more.
What else? Ann and I went to the Living Green Expo last weekend, which was actually pretty interesting. We talked to the Re-Use Center there, saw some siding options and even talked to a guy who, if we choose to chop down a big oak in our yard, would take the tree, dry it and mill it into whatever pieces we wanted should we want to build something from the tree. Very cool actually... think about it... having a table, beams, flooring or whatever made from a tree that came from your own yard.
We're in waiting mode on the next round of bids. We were suppose to have a meeting two days (5/8) ago with MOC, but rescheduled for this next Wednesday. Why? Well, MOC was prepared to show us their re-vised number and hoping to get an answer during that meeting. Since we've decided to have two other builders bid the project out, we didn't want to cough up that answer until we new where the other two were at.
I guess we're finally getting to the culmination of this big game, and to be honest, it's starting to drive me a little crazy. I just want the numbers!!! ... but, as if it were that simple. Are the numbers apples-to-apples? What timeframe are they each proposing? How accurate do we believe their numbers to be?
So, what to do to keep the mind occupied elsewhere? Hammers! Drills!! Cro-bars!!!!! Yes, I continue to demo, although now I think it's for no reason other than to demo. The floor is up, the panels are off, and so much of the rest is just trash.... well, not true. We've got a place in town called the Re-Use Center. They take any type of building material from lumber to fixtures to windows to doors and more and re-sell or re-use. So, keep it out of the landfills and give it new life. I sent some pics off today to gauge interest. Depending on the response, that may be the next project. Which would be good, cause I'm starting to lack room in the place to demo much more.
What else? Ann and I went to the Living Green Expo last weekend, which was actually pretty interesting. We talked to the Re-Use Center there, saw some siding options and even talked to a guy who, if we choose to chop down a big oak in our yard, would take the tree, dry it and mill it into whatever pieces we wanted should we want to build something from the tree. Very cool actually... think about it... having a table, beams, flooring or whatever made from a tree that came from your own yard.
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