More House Renovations; new pics #5 almost done; #9 DONE

[cassiesmom]

Dear Tasha and Lacey, please hang in there! The project is getting closer to "done"! I'm glad Papa Nonno is doing well at the rehab center and his stay has been extended a bit longer. Maybe that will give you more time after the renovations are done and everything is back in order, to put your feet up and enjoy it, Freedom! And I do think the contractor should replace your lamp.

The elevator company has taken our elevator off line for yesterday, today through tomorrow for "extensive renovations". The management company decided to do it this way in order to avoid a huge special assessment for a new elevator.

Half a bubble off plumb-- I've never heard that and I like it! Some days that's exactly how I feel.

[phesina]

This is great, Sandie! What a wonderful setting this is coming along to be, for you and your Dad and all the critters! God bless.

[pomtzu]

And you'll soon be able to look back and laugh (maybe) at all the turmoil, once it's completed. I'll bet Dad will be so pleased with the end result, even if he wasn't there for all the fun and to be acting sidewalk supervisor. And poor little Tasha - so traumatized. Hope she bounces back to normal once everything is back in order.

[Freedom]

The renovations - to jack up the addition on the back of the house - are finally done, as of about 4 PM yesterday.

This is how it looked once they had the new floor in, and the baseboards and new door to the bedroom:




They worked both Saturday and Sunday to get it done. Sunday evening, I went over to the Rehab Center and discussed all of it with Dad. Only to learn we had a huge problem. The General Contractor - someone we have used many times including for the extensive kitchen redo 4 years ago - had his younger brother as Job Super for this project. Now, this is no kid, he is over age 50! He took a short cut. He "forgot" the concrete slabs to set the jacks and lolly columns, so he used . . . my decorative landscape blocks from the back yard. Cut them in HALF! So the 20 ton jacks were sitting on a weak block that measured 4 x 8 inches! That should be 16 by 16 concrete slabs, to spread out the weight, and to ensure the columns don't shift. I had the dubious pleasure of informing the GC of this when he arrived early Tuesday morning to collect his final payment.

To his credit, he knew straight away that this was WRONG. Didn't give me any issues, said he would correct it. He had to pull 2 guys off other jobs, pick up the needed supplies. And now, since the top was all finished, they had to go in through the cellar, and work in the enclosed crawl space. It is maybe 4 foot high -- not enough that they could crawl along on their hands and knees from the entry point to the work site, they had to roll and shuffle along. Under all that newly installed insulation. NOT a nice job at all. But they did it! I took a few pics from the entry point, then one of them took my camera, rolled back, and took pics for us from close to.






This jack is holding much of the weight:


We now have 5 lolly columns and 2 20 ton hydraulic jacks holding up the addition. AND they sistered up the beams under the Family Room floor as well. This "should" be plenty to hold the whole thing in place for years.

I am glad it is done. What with losing 2 dogs (Sugar and Marlin on April 30), one cat ((Chestnut May 15). having Dad in ICU for 5 days then hospital and then 3 weeks in Rehab, it's been a stressful time. I really wasn't "up" to handling the chaos of a renovation, but I knew it had to be done and that having it done while Dad was out of the house was THE time to do it. I spent 3 hours last evening reconnecting my TV, dvd/vcr, stereo and home theater system. The dvd /vcr is not working, so I'll have to phone the support line for help tomorrow. I have 3 wires coming out of it but no clue where to put them in ha haaa. I marked so much, and wrote things down, but there were 24 wires in all, 48 connections to be made! Now the work is done, that is a HUGE thing off our TO DO list. Still have to get someone to repair Dad's walk in shower, raising it up has caused the 40 year old grout to loosen up too much. That will be minor compared to what this was, though.

[phesina]

Wow, what a horrible setback there, Sandie. So glad they didn't give you any guff about fixing it.

Congratulations on getting this huge job done! What a load off your minds this must be. Looking forward to learning about Dad moving in.

God bless you and Dad and critters!

[lizbud]

Wow, I am impressed with all that you have managed to get done,considering everything else going on
with the critters & with your Dad still recovering. Good job indeed.

Did the guy tell you he messed up using the blocks instead of the slabs, or did you discover it yourself?
Poor Tasha. Sounds like she was almost ready to runaway from home to escape the upset in her routine.

[Freedom]

DAD is the one who figured it out, Lizbud, and then I had to be the one to deal with it. I dreaded telling the General Contractor, I really expected this to be difficult. But he knew right off that wasn't the proper way to do it. I wouldn't want to be near when he speaks with his brother!

Tasha did find it all very upsetting. She is much calmer now the furniture is back in place, and once Dad gets home on Friday that will help her, as well.