Midweek Produces Major Milestone Accomplishment

Well we reached a major milestone on Wednesday, by finalizing and ordering the kitchen cabinets. I am not sure if others go through the same process, but we sat through four (4) different sessions averaging about three (3) hours each, to reach the final design, style and most importantly, price. We did have a nice surprise in the final price. Not sure if it just here in North Carolina, but if you have the cabinets installed, you have no sales tax. The difference between sales tax and installation was about three hundred dollars ($300.00). We opted for the installation (check into this if you are about to order cabinets). In the current state of the house, we may be optimistic, but Brent has scheduled delivery of the cabinets for November 1, 2007. This smells like the making of a poll question.

Other news for positive progress. The Renovation Crew has started the framing on the interior of master bath and closet. Just a few minor modifications but the work is coming along great. On Thursday, the roof off the bathroom near the kitchen and the walk-in pantry will be removed and new roof framed. The building inspector is due Thursday morning to look at the job on the rafters. Our final poll results were 58% think the inspector will pass the extension on the first attempt. I agree with the majority.

UPDATE - 10:15 am - Thursday, August 30, 2007. IT PASSED on the first attempt. We received the approval from Kings Mountain code enforcement on the extension and have received approval to install the roof on the extension. Put a bonnet on that baby!! Great work from the gang at RENOVATION CREW. http://www.renovationcrew.com/index.html

The contractor leveling the first floor made an apperance after lunch on Wednesday. This may be a bigger accomplishment than ordering the cabinets. The final four (4) foundations for the support piers were dug and poured and the piers should be built today. This would mean that the floor leveling should be complete this week. I am still holding my breath.

The roofing contractor is expected to begin roofing the extension on Monday, September 3, 2007, if we have approval from the inspector. Brent still has some minor materials items to purchase for the roof.

Waiting on the final HVAC quote before evaluating and awarding the contract. We are currently in the process of having plumbing contractors do a walk through of Zelda to produce a quote. Brent has them scheduled over the next few days. Our first scheduled plumber visit for 6:00 pm Wednesday was a no show.

Summary, very positive results on hump day.

Monday Blues

Well, our flooring contractor did not show up at Zelda on Monday. On his drive into work this morning, Brent did talk with him and assured us that he was going to the house today. Brent told him that the roofing contractor was starting next week and that the leveling of the floor needed to be finished before the roofer started work. I think Brent was streching the truth just alittle about the roofer next week, but it should not be that much longer before that work starts. We still need to purchase a few more materials to free-issue to the roofing contractor.

The gang from Renovation Crew arrived safely last night and were immediately off to Lowes this morning for supplies. As scheduled, work will continue on the extension and additional framing for a shorter roof will begin over the existing bathroom and future walk-in pantry.

The first bid for the HVAC was received and it was nearly double what is in our budget. This is not a total surprise as this particular contractor called his a "comfort system". Beware when a contractor uses the words "comfort system" or "hybrid system". Brent met with a HVAC contractor yesterday who asked him if he had thought about a hybrid system. Brent told him no, but it sounded expensive and we would prefer a "low bid" system. The contractor understood.

We expect to have four (4) quotes for the HVAC and be very close to our budget. We are working the HVAC installation into two (2) phases. The first phase will include the downstairs and the second will be the upstairs. We are getting a split unit such that the downstairs will have it's own system as well as the upstairs.

Hope Tuesday brings better news and work on the floor leveling. Not sure I will hold my breath because I might turn blue.

Expansion = Master Bath & Closet

Nothing happened this weekend at Zelda as Brent was back at home over the weekend. We are in the final stages of having the floor leveling complete and then he can start on installing the floor joists. We are currenlty waiting for quotes back from HVAC, Electrical and Plumbing contractors. The roofing contractor has been selected and the price negotiated and work should begin within the next few weeks (TBD).

From previous writings, you can see that we have created an expansion on the second floor over the existing kitchen. The new construction will be our master bath and closet. We have a total of four (4) bedrooms on the second floor. We are putting a doorway between two (2) of the bedrooms which will allow us to have a sitting room and/or office off the master bedroom. The attached pictures show the status of the expansion and a plan of the bathroom and closet. I really like the plan of a stackable washer and dryer located in the closet combined with laundry room off the kitchen downstairs.

The kitchen cabinets will be ordered this week from the Lowe's in Shelby, NC. Great timing as Home Depot is running a 10% off special order cabinets which Lowes is honoring. I expect to start the installation of floor joists this week and the selection of an HVAC contractor.

On the Level

The house is about as secure as one can make a vacant house being renovated can be secure. If someone really wants to get in the house they will be able to but will need to make a lot of noise which should alert the neighbors. Motion lights have been placed outside as well as inside the house.
The leveling of the floors continues and progress is being made as the beams are being installed on the piers. In shooting the laser across the room, the floors are within 1/4" of being level. The back side of the house where the kitchen is to be constructed is currenlty out by about 3-1/2". I expect that we will have five (5) more piers constructed which will bring the total to twenty two (22).

I had several of the HVAC contractors visit the house yesterday to prepare quotes. One (1) local contractor who grew up in the area, told us that our house is haunted. Seems that since he was a youngster, folks have told stories about sightings of an elderly woman standing in front of the dormer and looking out at the street. So now we find out that Zelda is haunted. Looks like I now have the perfect idea for Halloween of using a manican and strobe light placed in our dormer.

Maybe I should contact ghost busters.

Whirlwind of Activity

Well we have a lot of dust flying but nothing to show at the moment. With the floor leveling almost complete, I have contacted hvac contractors, plumbing contractors and termite/pest exterminator to provide me with quotes. All the flooring is removed such that all these contractors will have easy access to perform their functions. We are obtaining the quotes and weighing our options on what to tackle ourselves and what to sub out. I know for sure we will sub out the termite treatment.

Zelda had our second intruder on the premises over the weekend. We have not been locking up the house as there is a huge hole where the sliding doors in the back used to be and it seemed pointless. We are now boarding up the the void and have installed motion detector lights, informed our neighbors and the city police. Four (4) work lights were stolen as well as exposed copper piping in one (1) of the bathrooms. The total length of 1/2" copper piping taken was about three (3) feet which is the second occurance of a small length of copper piping being taken. I suspect it is some neighbor kids that are just down the street and become bored on Friday nights and sell the copper for a few dollars. The current going rate for scrap copper is $3.00 per pound.

Construction of Floor Piers Begins

Our floor leveling contractor has been absent for several weeks and then Brent saw his picture on the side of a milk carton and telephoned the number. The next evening (Tuesday, August 14th) our contractor arrived at Zelda and began digging the foundation footings and removing more flooring. At the end of Thursday, eight (8) piers to support the floor had been built and more old flooring removed.

When we purchased the house, the floors were sagging in places near the load bearing walls. During the ninty year history of the house, all the downstair mantels were removed from the four (4) fireplaces and replaced with massive brick hearths. This extra weight over time, buckled the floors and we thought bowed the supporting floor joists. After removing some of the flooring to explore, we discovered that a lot of the floor joists had cracked and/or split, so my husband made the decision to remove all the existing subfloor and inspect all the joist.

Removing the subfloor is time consuming, but it does allow our contractor complete access to the ground to dig, pour footings and build the new support piers. It will also allow complete access for our plumber, hvac and electrical contractors to work, which should save us time and money for the subcontracted work. We will have the extra expense of all new floor joists and subflooring but we will also have the comfort of knowing the flooring is solid. Before we begin installing the tongue and grove subflooring, my husband is going to have an exterimator treat the exposed ground for termites and insects.



Brent is meeting our proposed roofer at the house this evening. He is negotiating a labor only price as we will purchase and supply all the material to the roofer. An added bonus till August 20th is that Lowes has all the in stock 30 year Owens Corning roofing shingles 25% off which will save us some money.

The bottom line in repairing/remodeling Zelda is watching the bottom line.

Another couple of items that were accomplished this week was the continued removal of the existing subflooring. Currenlty on the first floor only the entrance foyer flooring remains. All other flooring has been removed and we could start a vegetable garden with all the exposed dirt. My husband was able to crank up the chain saw and do some weeding in the yard. Yes I did say a chain saw because not only did we purchase a house that needs repair but the yard was in the same sad shape. It is a double lot which is quite nice for being inside the city limits. We have a lot of beautiful tall pecan trees which we dub "The Pecan Orchard". We have plans to plant peach and apple trees along with blueberries once we move in. The result of cutting down the weeds and small trees around the pecan orchard is great.

Tearing Down and Building Up

This week at Zelda was a tearing down and building up time. We tore down the roof over the kitchen and built a second floor addition on top. This addition will eventually become a master bath and closet.

News on the foundation or rather no news on the foundation. The Contractor we hired to level the floors did not show up to do the work this week so that has been put off for another week. Tune in next time for more on this saga of the Contractor and the floors.

Other work went on at Zelda like nails removed from wall boards and bathroom tile and walls removed. We also took off the carpet on the stairs. All this work was done by a crew outside in 100 degree heat. The crew consist of my brother-in-law, my sister-in-law, my husband, my daughters, and myself. Next week rafters on the new addition and more plaster removel and maybe flooring work starting. We will keep you informed.

Over the weekend we found some chandeliers at Lowes for 50%-75% off and bought them. I know we are a long way from puting them up but the price was right and sometimes to pays to think ahead instead of waiting until you need it. So you avoid getting something that you don't really like because it was cheaper then the one you really wanted. Besides, you need the fixture sooner or later.