Two steps forward, one step back....
First, the forward progress. Here are some photos showing the view of the south side of the house showing how the mudroom and read addition ties into the roof line and how the mudroom looks like it is sitting among the grove of 100-year-old lilacs
Here is another shot of the west-facing or back of the house to given an idea of the progress with installing the unpainted siding, the soffits, installation of the windows, and so on.
On Monday the plumbing contractors installed a new, power-vented, 40-gallon hot water heater and tank. The water was shut off for several hours and by the end of the day the old tank was removed, the new tank was in and running. My showers in the morning have never been more delightful.
So far so good...that is until this morning. The electrician was here to move the electrical panel to the northwest corner of the back of the house. Given the past two bad experiences when all the electricity and phone lines were cut and the power-related refrigerator debacle, the contractor and the electricians wanted to get this right. So, the electrician is following me to the rooms I am living in to ask which areas need to have power. The upper-level office/bedroom, the main level living room/temporary kitchen, and then it occurs to me that we need to have power to the clock that runs the sprinkler system because I'm trying to at least keep the city-owned parkway green. The sprinkler system clock is in the basement.
Behold the power vented water heater!
The electrician and I venture into the basement and there is about 2 inches of water on the floor and we quickly see that there is a significant leak with water running out of one of the fittings near the top of the hot water heater. Just great. The electrician is just as stunned as I am. He valiantly attempts to find the shut-offs to stop the water. In the meantime, my job was to call the contractor. I called and left a voice message, and followed that up with a text. A few seconds later, the contractor replies with his own text that reads, "I know. Plumbers on the way." Have I told you before just how good this contractor is?
This image really doesn't do justice to show the standing water, but it isn't too difficult to use your imagination. Yuck.In the meantime, I give my cell number to the electrician and ask that he call me when he is done moving the electrical panel, but before he leaves for the day so that I can make sure that the fridge is running, the computer reboots, the DSL is connected and that the land line is working before he leaves.
I'm having lunch when my cell phone rings, and instead of the electrician, it is my contractor. He calls to tell me that the leaking water heater has been fixed and it was NOT due to any installation mistakes by the plumbers, but that when the heater left the factory it was supposed to have a certain setting in the riser, but that setting was never made. The contractor also assured me that he would stop by at the end of the day to make sure that the fridge was running and that everything else was connected and working. It is clear that everyone is working hard here to make sure that I don't lose power, that my Internet connection remains, and that there isn't a second round of rotten food in the refrigerator. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the sensitivity of everyone to make sure past problems are not repeated -- I am so fortunate to have such wonderful people working on this project.
When I come home to check on the electricity, I find that there is lots of framing underway on the main level.
This photo shows the framing for the the guest bathroom that is part of the guest suite. The claw foot tub will be moved to the back wall and here you can see the wall of the guest bath.
The original brick back wall of the house has been partially demolished. In the photos below you can see part of the brick wall that is still standing and where a good part of the brick wall is gone. More of the brick wall below (to the right) needs to be removed, but a lentil needs to be installed first. Once the rest of this brick wall is removed, it will be part of the galley-style kitchen and the double ovens will be located near this brick wall.
The photo directly above shows the thickness of the original back wall of the house. On the left of this wall will be the dishwasher and sink and to the right of this brick wall will be the double ovens. The new galley-style kitchen will continue to the opening to the mudroom rear-entry and will include a desk/multi-purpose counter top with a microwave and several cabinets..
In this photo to the right and above, you can also see the framing for what will be a 3/4 bath with an entrance from the gathering room.
This view shows the original kitchen cabinet that will remain and will be near the entry to the pantry and opposite the entry to the main-level laundry room.
This view is from the future kitchen looking west to the gathering room. The framing will be part of the enclosure for the new refrigerator.
Two steps forward and one step back....so even though the fridge is working and there is no spoiled food, the electricity is on to the areas where I'm living, there is hot water, the microcell is working so my cell phone is smart, and I am connected to the Internet. However, there is one slight problem (or step backwards). There is only one active phone jack now in the house. I really need at least two jacks -- one for the DSL and the other for the cordless phones. I buy a splitter to input both lines, one for the DSL and the other for the cordless phone, into the single jack. Immediately, the mircro cell signal icon starts flashing which means that the signal for DSL is weak. So, it looks like I have to choose between DSL or cordless phones -- this is easy -- DSL wins.
By the way, if you want to talk to me, try e-mail or call my cell, but not my land line!
No comments:
Post a Comment