What's left of the kitchen
Lone faucet
Garden window
All of our windows left to install
Friday, July 1, 2011
Kitchen gutted
You can see the complete gutting of our kitchen. All that's left is the wall-mounted faucet!
What's left of the kitchen
Lone faucet
Garden window
All of our windows left to install
What's left of the kitchen
Lone faucet
Garden window
All of our windows left to install
Thursday, June 30, 2011
June Summary
June 06: Rough plumbing and underfloor inspection failed.
Visit to window store.
June 08: Rough plumbing and underfloor inspection passed.
Subfloor insulation laid down.
June 09: Initial kitchen cabinet design.
June 10: Subfloor insulation inspection passed.
June 11: Visit to appliance store.
June 13: Visit to second appliance store.
June 14: Subfloor covered.
June 15: Framing begins!
June 16: Apparently the city manager himself has visited our site.
June 20: Removal of kitchen interior walls.
June 25: Second visit to first appliance store - made a decision on the fridge!
June 27: Visit to granite warehouse.
Subfloor insulation
Framing begins
Kitchen walls removed
Framing in progress by the end of June:
Visit to window store.
June 08: Rough plumbing and underfloor inspection passed.
Subfloor insulation laid down.
June 09: Initial kitchen cabinet design.
June 10: Subfloor insulation inspection passed.
June 11: Visit to appliance store.
June 13: Visit to second appliance store.
June 14: Subfloor covered.
June 15: Framing begins!
June 16: Apparently the city manager himself has visited our site.
June 20: Removal of kitchen interior walls.
June 25: Second visit to first appliance store - made a decision on the fridge!
June 27: Visit to granite warehouse.
Subfloor insulation
Framing begins
Kitchen walls removed
Framing in progress by the end of June:
Monday, June 27, 2011
Granite!
Took a trip to IRG to take a look at materials for the kitchen countertop. Most likely we'll be going with granite but will consider quartz. Did not even glance at the beautiful marble -- I don't have the personality to handle marble aging gracefully.
Here are some of the ones we are considering...
Arctic Rainbow - Brown granite from Canada
This was my favorite last time we took a look at granite. However, it wasn't available in the showroom I visited. It's located in their other one...further away.
Volga Blue - Blue granite from Ukraine
Another favored one (that I don't really care for). Too dark. It'll hide every spill and stain, making it hard to actually clean ironically. But best price!
Blue Pearl - Blue Granite from Norway
Similar to Volga Blue but lighter. More of a charcoal gray color than black. Very uniform grain.
Lemurian Blue - Blue Granite from Madagascar
Like the inside of an abalone shell. Only saw a tiny portion of this since the slabs were hidden behind another gigantic slab of something else.
Blue Louise - Blue Quartzite from Brazil
The absolutely most beautiful piece! (Picture does not do it justice.) And, of course, the most expensive. Price is 4 times that of the Volga Blue. It's so expensive that they sell it in smaller slabs compared to the other granites. haha!
Notice a blue theme? :p
Here are some of the ones we are considering...
Arctic Rainbow - Brown granite from Canada
This was my favorite last time we took a look at granite. However, it wasn't available in the showroom I visited. It's located in their other one...further away.
Volga Blue - Blue granite from Ukraine
Another favored one (that I don't really care for). Too dark. It'll hide every spill and stain, making it hard to actually clean ironically. But best price!
Blue Pearl - Blue Granite from Norway
Similar to Volga Blue but lighter. More of a charcoal gray color than black. Very uniform grain.
Lemurian Blue - Blue Granite from Madagascar
Like the inside of an abalone shell. Only saw a tiny portion of this since the slabs were hidden behind another gigantic slab of something else.
Blue Louise - Blue Quartzite from Brazil
The absolutely most beautiful piece! (Picture does not do it justice.) And, of course, the most expensive. Price is 4 times that of the Volga Blue. It's so expensive that they sell it in smaller slabs compared to the other granites. haha!
Notice a blue theme? :p
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
May Summary
May 04: Architect comes to discuss kitchen plans.
Discovery that GC was building based on wrong set of plans!
May 05: Resolved construction plans with city.
May 12: Survey done by third party to determine property lines.
May 19: Foundation inspection failed.
May 24: Foundation inspection passed! Concrete poured.
May 25/26: Work on rough plumbing starts.
May 30: Memorial Day! Our GC would've worked if it had not been for city code that prevents construction on holidays. :p
Discovery that GC was building based on wrong set of plans!
May 05: Resolved construction plans with city.
May 12: Survey done by third party to determine property lines.
May 19: Foundation inspection failed.
May 24: Foundation inspection passed! Concrete poured.
May 25/26: Work on rough plumbing starts.
May 30: Memorial Day! Our GC would've worked if it had not been for city code that prevents construction on holidays. :p
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Work resumes...city drama returns
After a week of rest, work has finally resumed on the foundation. Our GC, after the debacle with the city, hired survey guys to come out and determine exactly where our property lines lie. After the survey was completed, he began to correct the foundation.
(Our GC explained this to us after it all happened.)
Yesterday, someone (a high-level boss in the planning department) came to our job site and encouraged our GC to file a form to claim money from the city due to the city error. [Our GC asked around and was told that it would basically take 2-3 years before he would see any money, if at all.]
Today was the day of the foundation inspection. The inspector was nit-picky and giving our GC a disapproving air. When our GC explained what had happened previously, the inspector became a lot nicer.
So it seems that the bldg department wants our house to be finished asap because I think the plan screw-up could be perceived as their fault as they had the final approval. Who would've thought our home construction would become part of city internal politics?
(Our GC explained this to us after it all happened.)
Yesterday, someone (a high-level boss in the planning department) came to our job site and encouraged our GC to file a form to claim money from the city due to the city error. [Our GC asked around and was told that it would basically take 2-3 years before he would see any money, if at all.]
Today was the day of the foundation inspection. The inspector was nit-picky and giving our GC a disapproving air. When our GC explained what had happened previously, the inspector became a lot nicer.
So it seems that the bldg department wants our house to be finished asap because I think the plan screw-up could be perceived as their fault as they had the final approval. Who would've thought our home construction would become part of city internal politics?
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Resolved: Drama with the city!
Our architect, one of the top guys at building, and a very helpful lady in planning were able to figure out a plan in the morning to minimize the time lost.
Our architect printed out the correct plans and we took those to the city planning office. We removed the "not approved" plans and inserted the "approved" plans. Then there was notes to transfer and new notes to write on those sheets. Finally, got the approval stamps we needed on the new sheets. The best thing was that the city did not charge us for any of this! :)
Plus, they moved pretty fast to correct the problem.
Our architect printed out the correct plans and we took those to the city planning office. We removed the "not approved" plans and inserted the "approved" plans. Then there was notes to transfer and new notes to write on those sheets. Finally, got the approval stamps we needed on the new sheets. The best thing was that the city did not charge us for any of this! :)
Plus, they moved pretty fast to correct the problem.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Drama with the city!
We've decided to go ahead with the remodeling of the kitchen/living room/dining room interior - changing the layout (possibly) and adding cabinetry and updating appliances (goodbye Wedgewood stove! *sniff*). So we had asked our architect to help us with ideas and, if needed, to draw up the plans for city approval.
Architect came over and presented her ideas. Then informed us that we wouldn't have to go through the entire city process as long as we don't touch the exterior. yay! All we would need to do is submit a change order for whatever changes we were doing in the interior. We can save our money by not hiring her. haha! Instead, we would work with our GC's kitchen and cabinet guy to design the cabinetry after picking out one of her layouts.
After our meeting with her, she went outside to take a look at the work progress. That's when she discovered that our GC was laying out the foundation based on the wrong plans!
When he went to get the permit, our GC was issued the "not approved" set of plans.
!!!!
We hurried over to the city planning office, arriving an hour before closing. We signed in and were told we may not be able to see someone by the time the office closed. We explained the situation to the lady such that she was able to alert the right people. We still had to wait until closing but due to the nature of our problem, they were willing to sit with us after hours to correct the problem.
There was absolutely no way that planning was going to allow us to build past the setbacks. So, the decision was to contact the building department to get the correct plans stamped. Our architect sent an email to head of building explaining the situation.
Architect came over and presented her ideas. Then informed us that we wouldn't have to go through the entire city process as long as we don't touch the exterior. yay! All we would need to do is submit a change order for whatever changes we were doing in the interior. We can save our money by not hiring her. haha! Instead, we would work with our GC's kitchen and cabinet guy to design the cabinetry after picking out one of her layouts.
After our meeting with her, she went outside to take a look at the work progress. That's when she discovered that our GC was laying out the foundation based on the wrong plans!
When he went to get the permit, our GC was issued the "not approved" set of plans.
!!!!
We hurried over to the city planning office, arriving an hour before closing. We signed in and were told we may not be able to see someone by the time the office closed. We explained the situation to the lady such that she was able to alert the right people. We still had to wait until closing but due to the nature of our problem, they were willing to sit with us after hours to correct the problem.
There was absolutely no way that planning was going to allow us to build past the setbacks. So, the decision was to contact the building department to get the correct plans stamped. Our architect sent an email to head of building explaining the situation.
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