A Lull between disasters



We were waiting for the boiler to be installed so we could get heat into the house.  Well it was installed about 2 weeks ago.  But the boiler needs electric and the electric is going to be under ground.  Very sad and unexpectedly, our mason did not show the day he was to dig the trench for the underground installation.  We learned later that day that he died of a heart attack in his sleep. He was an honest well liked craftsman and we were very saddened by his death.

Will be experiencing more delays while we search for a new mason.  After the hurricane finding available trades people is like looking for hens teeth.(a phrase my father used). 

42 in. mahogony door and transom.

Mahogony door prior to painting.

  The mahogony door was delivered and installed on Thursday of last week 12/13. It is going to be painted French Blue, so this is the first, last and only picture of it in it's mahogony nakedness.

  

Great room from 2nd floor looking at the back of the house

Not wanting to delay waiting for heat, the sheetrockers burned $$$$ worth of propane to get the finished and ready to paint.  The painter is waiting for heat,as is the floor installer & the tile man. 

Looking at the entrance from the back wall of the house





Metal roofs were installed on the cupola and the bumpout for the gas stove.

We were glad to have a week of about 50 degree weather and the painting was almost completed.  The vertical cedar siding is painted "Almond Soy" and the horizontal siding is painted "Cork".



The gas stove is installed and waiting for: gas for the flame and electric for the fan.  Not sure when but the new mason promised me today that he would have the trench dug by Friday the 21st and the electrician has promised to be there to run the electric. 

Of course, I almost had heat last week after suggesting we run power off the temporary service pole direct to the newly installed boiler. However, when the HVAC guys came over to coordinate the connection of their system to the boiler, they discovered that insulation was installed into the chase for the air return and the sheet rockers had nicely sheet rocked it. Oh and did I mention that the custom stairs being built by G&G stair builders (http://www.ggstairs.com/) who went out of business 6 weeks after getting a 50% deposit from us. They've promised to honor our contract but they are already weeks late on delivery. I hope they're not using up all the scrap wood to make our stairs.



Almond Soy stain being applied to beautiful cedar siding



Looking at the house from the southeast side



Siding being completed on the long awaited door. which is primed white prior to it's French Blue finish.

In spite of all that's gone wrong, we are very happy with the house and the work that's been done.  All the trade people have been overwhelmed by the storm demands of new customers who are out of their primary homes.  They are doing the best they can under the situation.

  

 

Siding is done except for the front.  We're waiting for the custom made 42in wide mahogony front door. Hopefully in by the end of this week, then the siding can be finished.   

The cupola is board and batten siding.

The cedar siding on the original house and the board and batten on the addition will be painted when and if the weather permits.  Not sure we'll see that happen til spring.  Maybe a week of 50 plus weather days in December will occur it can be done sooner.

The sheet rockers are using a propane heater to keep the house warm enough to finish the taping but the painter wants heat in the house as does the flooring contractor.  I tried to see if I could expedite the process of getting heat and found there are many issues that were hanging us up. The electric needs to get turned on and that can't happen until the house electric line is run out to the service pole.  We want underground service so we need to get the excavator to get back and dig a trench to the pole. Oh yeah, it has to go under our neighbors driveway which we have to destroy and repair. Then we get a final electric inspection and apply for power to be turned on.  I'm told that's a 7-10 day process.  But we need a boiler installed before we get heat. Oh and the water has to be turned on and our water meter was stolen during the demolition phase of the original house. Promises of the boiler to be installed this week and the gas lines secured so we can apply for gas service.  Not going to hold my breath for all this to happen in the next 2 weeks.  

So while the house is ready for painting and floors and tile and finishing, everything is on hold for the heat.

Post Sandy

Stockton Lake Drive at 930am on Oct 29.
  Not a good sign

With some forcasters warning about Hurricane Sandy as early as November 23, we put a halt on the construction project. The house was wrapped in 30# felt paper and insulation was scheduled to start on the 25th.  We decided to wait until the passing of the storm before starting insulation. These first 3 pictures were taken on my last trip to check on the house before, the morning of the 29th of Nov.  The morning high tide had just peaked and I thought it would give me an idea of what to expect.   In the picture with the stop sign the water had only reached the beginning of Fletcher Av.  My expectations that the evening high tide would be no worse was completely wrong.

Fletcher at the corner of Potter.  The next high tide
would bring the water up to the middle of the windows



The National Guard is already busy
and we have about 10 hours to the next high tide.



As you can see in the following picture, the water from the evening high tide came up to just under 30 inches. Note the water line on the garage door.

Garage door shows water level to be just under 30 inches

The garage was filled with our appliances and some furniture we were storing for the move in.  Everything in the garage had to be discarded, 

Winds were about 90 MPH and the felt paper took a beating.

We lost some of the house wrap and most of the wrap on the garage, all the appliances and any of the furniture which was veneered.  But fortunately we had filled in the basement and the water level at the house did not reach the floors 

At the house the water level didn't
get to the height of the door opening.

Insulation placed in the house for disribution to the rooms

About 50% of Manasquan was under water and without power for almost 3 weeks.  We got contactors back on the job with generators 2 weeks after the storm and in the past 2 weeks we have the siding almost completed,  The insulation is completed, and the sheetrock up and ready for taping.



front 2nd floor bedroom well insulated.



Our sheet rockers like all of the people on the job
 are super workers and very good at what they do,

Even the wlls between rooms were insulated.
There's an eerie quiet in the house.

Ready for sheetrock

Insulted with R-30 in the walls of the great room.

House is recovered and ready for siding

Our siding guys

The original house is cedar clapboard.
It's primed a gray but it will be stained a tan color.

The new portion of the house is cedar
 board and batten. here it is seen without the battens.

Great room sheet rocked

Our builder Tom Bateman watching the action.

I guess you have to expect some of this.
The coax cable for the computer which was left hanging on a wall stud
 got sheetrocked into the bedroom closet instead of the next room over, the office.

Ronnie checking out the sheetrocked kitchen.

West side of the house showing the contrasting sidings.

Detail of the finished look of the board and batten siding.

Slow progress

Front stoop completed in July

The front entrance was built about a month ago and nothing was done to protect it from the numerous contractors who made continuous trips in and out of the house sometimes dragging equipment across the steps with little regard for their condition.  Ronnie just this week asked our mason, Jack Haas, who built them for a resolution to this problem.  I have to say he was as disappointed with the disregard for them as we were.  He had in fact covered them with plywood upon completing their construction but it was removed.  Who knows why?  So, the same day Ronnie asked, he covered them again and we'll see how long it will last this time. Thank you Jack Haas!

Stoop today

Building report cards.

 We have passed the electrical, plumbing and framing inspections.  The stickers of success are posted at the

entrance of the house.

Custom made for the building inspector.

  It is also noted that we have a temporary staircase built because the building inspector would not climb a ladder to inspect the second floor.  How do these guys get these jobs? 

Gas stove insert similar to what we plan.

The fireplace is being built.  We will have a gas stove( http://www.heatnglo.com/en/Products/Tiara-II-Gas-Stove.aspx )  installed which will be placed in the fireplace like the example above, from one of the builder's previous homes.

Jack Haas built firebox

It will be a lot more energy efficient than a wood burning fireplace.  I had my fill of that in our Yankee Barn. 

The room below, the largest of the bedrooms, and will be a grandkids room with access to the cupola and a pass through to another bedroom.

We thought we might save some $$ in the second floor of the house by keeping the old oak floors. However the floor contractor is less optimistic.  Staples from the carpets are still in the floors and the floors' unprotected exposure to the elements for the past 5 months has beaten them up pretty badly.   Removing the staples and resurfacing the floors may cost as much as laying new floors.

Largest of the 3 2nd floor bedrooms.

 Not sure what to expect in the coming week.  Insulation and sheetrock needs to get installed but they want the siding on first.  The siding contractor is the same contractor that did the roof and his bill came in at  twice the builder's estimate so some new siding contractors are being considered. Basically the house is enclosed except for the front door.  We had planned a custom made 3-1/2 ' wood front door made out of fir.  We learned the door maker won't warranty a fir door without at least a 4' overhang. Guess who doesn't have a 4'overhang?  Guess who is now waiting for a price on a custom made mahogany door?

Mystery of the missing water line



This is the snapped off water line.  Unrepairable inside the foundation.



Cut out of crawl space floor to locate water line. Ripped off line is at the full depth of the hole.

 As I mentioned in closing on the last post. The plumbers were unable to find the water line they had capped and elevated so it could be accessed after the basement was filled.  Add 2 days of unexpected work to the plumbers schedule.  A small section of the new crawl space had to be cut and dug out down to the old basement floor.  Apparently someone had broken off and stolen the copper and brass setup at the basement wall.  

On a more positive note, Windows were delivered on Monday-bright and early. 



The beautiful Monday never materialized and by mid afternoon it was raining lightly. 




Kids tolerating a picture with the grand
parents on the steps to the new house.

 

Being the Columbus Day holiday the kids were off from school and the all the disappointing events of the day were overshadowed by the visiting family.  A tour of the house followed by hot chocolate at Sweet Tease http://www.sweetteasedesserts.com/classic.php?page=1 in Manasquan. 



   Our favorite place to go for a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate and a treat.  We lucked out and hot chocolate chip cookies were just coming out of the oven.  Meg and I passed up the cookies for a favorite Vanilla bean scone.



Preparing the window opening

  Where was I, oh yeah the house. By the end of the day Tuesday the windows are all in.



Porch enclosed.







View of the house from the left front of the property.



    The plumber, Brian Perry-Perry's Plumbing and Heating of Toms River- lots of "atta boys" due him- and the electrician Adam Taylor- High Calibre Electric of Toms River- are hard at work. 

The plumber has to find a new place to locate the hot water heater after the HVAC return duct line was run through the utility room in an  area where he was planning on putting the hot water heater.



Former hot water heater location.