Archive for September, 2009

dust, dust and more dust

September 29th, 2009 -- Posted in | No Comments »

I can’t stand all the dust that this home addition is creating. My husband and I have come to terms that we will hire a cleaning service to clean our house top to bottom once all this remodeling is done. I completely forgot all the dirt that is entailed with re-doing the pipes under the house. The constant tromping underneath the house by 3-5 guys and even though there is painters plastic taped and laid upon the floor, the dust and dirt still gets everywhere. You can’t vacuum enough, you can’t swiffer enough and you can’t clean enough to be satisfied. Our poor white socks turn tan to a light brown even after walking around after what we thought was a clean floor. Ugh! I can’t complain and vent enough about all the dust. I am going mad. To top it off, there are dirty hand prints, dirt marks from accidental rub ins with walls, door knobs, markings on my clothes. The whole countertop is dirty, it literally feels like walking on the beach on the floors in our house before and after a good sweep or vacuum. It’s actually disgusting me more as the days roll on. I just wish they would be done with the pipes under the house this week so we can move on and clean the grime that has accumulated in the beautiful tile floor that my husband laid and the beautiful wood floors. Hopefully not too many tiny dirt particles are clinging to the tiny tiny crevices in between our nice Bamboo 3/4 inch solid wood floors. I scour when I come home to a dirty house and people still under the house stirring up dirt.
I have to keep positive knowing that our galvanized steel pipes will all be copper and the water will get hot faster and the water pressure will be more. No more thumping of the toilet in the hall bathroom. No more filling a 5 gallon bucket of water waiting for it to get hot prior to taking my morning shower. No more filling 3-4 pitchers of cold water in the kitchen sink just to get warm water to wash the dishes. As many of are reading this, you are realizing that you don’t have it this bad and that you are living in a home/apartment that wasn’t built back in 1962 where the plumbing is poor and getting hot water from any faucet in your home in less than 10 seconds is amazing!

Lots of changes since last post in July

September 27th, 2009 -- Posted in | No Comments »

Our home addition project is in full swing. Our GC got our permits in an amazing records time (less than 2 weeks). Then the work started and he has a crew between 5-10 guys. 3 of them speak English and it brings the job site to a higher quality level especially since there isn’t a language barrier. Whew!
Once the demo was done of the old patio and the concrete was removed, 2 more feet of dirt was removed to allow sufficient sewage and water flow for the bathroom plumbing. The foundation was poured and quickly the sub-floor and the framing went up in less than 5 days. The plumber went under the house had to inspect and change out all the galvanized steel piping to copper. This will allow water to enter the pipes faster to allow a faster heat up to the bathrooms/snks in the far end of the house. (Yippee). A crew of 3 guys plus the GC went under the house for over an hour to secure the new sewage/water pipes to the existing line. Lots of noise and I don’t even know which tools were being used besides drills. Yesterday we finalized the french door schedule, Tuesday I discuss with the GC- electrical- outlets, switches, exterior lights, interior ceiling fan/light. Yesterday we also finalized solar tubes and a sky light. It’s really exciting, especially to see the framing go up and really realize that our visualization is becoming a reality. Best part, our GC stated that it should all be done in 3 weeks. That is insane but we are pleased that we will have a close to finished product (except for our finishing work) around Thanksgiving. But he has a crew willing to work, even weekends and sometimes Sundays- they were here yesterday between 8 am - 4 pm and it was a scorcher outside (over 100 degrees).
I need to go, I was suppose to see my Dad today but I am a chicken when it comes to weird windy hot conditions where he’s situated. Today is suppose to be really hot in Gustine and windy and I hate driving on Highway 5 where the wind will easily knock my little Saturn off the road.