This blog is a way for us to keep track of everything that we talk about, suggest or do at your home over the life of our working relationship. It is updated, usually, on a daily basis during the project. Here we will record daily activity on the job, list recommendations on products and materials and add articles that pertain to your home.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Client Questions 9/1/11
8 am when the runner goes up the stairs, through the second floor, the
master carpet gets laid down and the living room carpet is installed.
Due to the nature of the woven rug, the rug place suggested we not put
down the plastic on top of the rug because it could pull apart the
rug.
Paint stuff
- Bannister from first to second floor DONE 9/2
- Paint living room and hallway trim, master closet DONE 9/2
Finish Master Closet
- does any paint or anything need to happen? DONE 9/2
- let me know when this will start and I will move all the boxes out
Master Bath
-Is any more trim going in master bath? DONE 9/2
- I will try and find sconces this weekend for master bath (I am slightly concerned that I will not be able to return the ones that we currently have if all the boxes have been discarded) OK
- What do I need to do regarding the master shower? Ross mentioned whatever I bought does not fit so if I could know exactly what specifications I need to order for that would be great. Ross ordered something. It will be here Tuesday. I hope you like it?
- countertop? 9/8
- mirrors 9/6
- install med. cabinet 9/6
- what else needs to happen in there? Accessories. 9/6
I think the only other things on the second floor are:
- electrical stuff (master bedroom, replace Grayson's light) 9/6
- switch out shower and tub fixtures in Grayson's bathroom 9/6
Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Client Questions - 7/18/2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Meeting Notes 7/15/11
- Melissa requested a cost update on the pantry cabinets as well as a hard install date.
- Do a master closet layout.
- Do minor touch ups and repairs on 2nd floor floors.
- Have Buonato fabricate surround at fireplace. Should be full pieces of material not tile. Have Villanueva remove existing tile and prep for new.
- Remove corner cabinet in dining room and patch floor.
- Remove the crown in the Dining Room and replace with new to match kitchen crown only larger.
- Make sure that the front entry closet doors work smoothly.
- Gym Floor - Epoxy coat the floor for vapor and install 6 mil poly sheeting taped at all seams for moisture protection. Lay 1/2" rigid insulation. Install floating floor over. Give some inexpensive options for floor color.
- Install folding shelf/table to right as you walk in laundry room door.
- Smooth out all basement ceilings and walls and up stairs with plaster.
- Replace round railings on stairs with new. Install on new ORB (Oil Rubbed Bronze) brackets and stain to match other railings.
- Add non-slip coating to master bath floor
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Client Questions - 7/10/2011
Would you like to meet this Thursday 7/14? I could do early afternoon.
I just need the material and/or slab location as soon as you have it chosen.
We need the accessories for the bathrooms. TP Holders, Things that have nothing to do with us would be rugs, furniture and window treatments.
The soffits are being built to cover the existing plumbing and AC. We will also leave an access for the clean out that is in the wall above the fireplace.
We'll let you know. If you want to throw stuff in there now, its fine.
I will ask Mike. I know he was wrestling with a couple of them.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Client Questions - 7/6/2011
9. Do you think we should we remove the other cupboard in the dining room to create more symmetry? Not necessarily.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Composter
NatureMill Plus XE Home Composter
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• Add food waste any time, any day -- up to 120 lbs per month!
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• Complete instructions provided
• Can handle pet waste, kitty litter and cage beddings, too!
• 1-year warranty
Friday, June 17, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Cabinet Plans - Updated 6.15.11
5.1:
-- I’ve shown a 27” wall oven and microwave (as per appliance schedule, 5-19-11).
-- I’ve drawn a side elevation (D1) of the cabinet with glass doors to left of the oven. It shows a possible bracket profile. I can easily print a full scale template if you like the profile.
-- Elevation A shows a much simpler idea for the range hood and tile surround. The idea would be to make a thicker frame that could go up to the ceiling. The frame would be a boundary for the tile and also be thicker than the casing of the opening to the family room next to it so they are clearly different. The range hood is also drawn more accurately since I measured it on site.
-- Also note the full scale profile of the typical foot at the bottom of the cabinets, middle-right on the sheet.
5.2:
-- Shows deeper banquette as discussed on 5/20
-- Bookshelves are now 12” deep
-- Cabinets extend all the way across TV wall. I’ve added some notes to help describe the details more.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Client Questions - 5/26/11
The door going on Grayson's shower is there a way for that door not to throw water out into the bathroom when you open it? Or is that just a natural cause of any swinging shower door?
My notes are a little shady on this so can you please explain to me again the sound for the TV? I know John mentioned doing something to it but he said not to hook it up to the Sonos speakers.
The Sonos system is more of a music delivery system It is not made for TV's. If you want to use the same speakers for the TV it can be done but you would need a separate amplifier. Then the speaker configuration would be different since you want to get the appropriate separation between speakers from where you are sitting. That room is not ideal for true TV theater watching and sound. The best solution would be to put a sound bar above or below the TV. These give great sound and almost theater quality but from the direction of the TV not the ceiling. We suggest staying with the music in the ceiling and if you want more of TV experience maybe down the road designate a room as a home theater room.
I am feeling a little nervous about a 24 inch door since Will played football at Dartmouth and a lot of his friends are rather large:) Have you done a 24 inch door before?
I have put in 24" doors before. They are small and only are used in closets and small baths. I think it will be OK but we might need to build a mock up so that you are more comfortable. I just found a 26" if that makes you feel better.
- We decided to leave the family room floor at the current height and make a slight 1" ramp over 24"+ at the end of the kitchen peninsula.
- Laundry ceiling is being patched in as well as possible. Still a lot of stuff hanging down. May need to box later after we see how it looks.
- Decided to demo master bath shower room ceiling and relocate vent to the wall. All lightsin this area to be sconces adding one more on the window side at the toilet.
- Powder room door will be a left hand 2'0" door. Light switch to be on the outside of the room
- Powder room sink will be corner mounted.
- We will add a vent to the Master Bath shower/toilet area.
- We will try to reuse the existing kitchen vent hood. It may need a new stainless chimney to the ceiling.
- We will either fabricate or purchase a medicine cabinet for the Master Bath to be located in the closet wall to the right of the vanity. Tis can be wide enough to fit between two wall studs and no mirror necessary.
- We will install a full length mirror on the closet wall behind the bath door.
- We agreed to alter the trey ceiling in the family room to allow for a 12" bookshelf.
- We will alter the Unico system as necessary to make it work appropriately and fix installation issues as we deem necessary.
- We will demo master closet ceiling and frame up as high s possible.
- It was determined that all of the moisture in the basement was caused by humidity. We will figure out a dehumidification system for the basement.
- Melissa will contact the alarm company asap to get everything checked out.
- We went over the speaker location with the electrician agreeing to locations in the family room, Dining room (down low in wainscot), Living room and deck.
- We discussed repair of the front entry. The issue is that the copper roof over the capital was never installed correctly and had a board nailed through it. I suggest replacing it with a new copper roof. We will also open up the panels on both sides, clean them out and reinstall with new trim. Caulk and paint. This will be a T&M project.
- Rot repair on the basement sills turned out to be much worse than originally thought completely eaten by termites in places. We will need to disconnect the Unico system to access this area. Total work needed is unknown.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Architect Meeting 5/23/11
Cabinets (general): Peter, could you let us know when you are going to start making cabinets. I think it would be good to review everything with Melissa. We will start measuring up once the sheet rock is done. Hopefully next week. After that 10+ weeks until delivery.
Bookshelves opposite TV: These are 10” deep, which is a good depth for most books, however looking back at pictures of your old shelves they are deeper to hold the larger albums. If you think these 10” shelves may not be deep enough, now is the time to address it. 10" is a little shallow. I would give it at least 11".
Built in Seat: We decided this would be better at 2’-6” deep (previously 1’-10). Add 8” to cushion width. OK
Cabinets under TV: These are shown as open in the 5-19-11 set, but we decided to have doors, I will revise. OK
Casings: Melissa would like to use the casing with a profile instead of the flat casing to match the existing casings in the house. I think the Anderson McQuaid A&M30208 is a close match. Maybe we could get a few feet of to verify? OK
Powder room sink: To be continued after today’s email exchange. OK
2nd Floor bathroom: We eliminated the open shelves opposite the mirror and decided to get a store bought medicine cabinet adjacent to the window. See attached PDF. OK
Here are a few options after a quick search. Most of these have mirrors except the first one:
http://www.nutone.com/product-
http://www.nutone.com/product-
http://www.nutone.com/product-
Monday, May 23, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Plans Updated 5/17/11 - KitchenElevB
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Meeting Notes 5/12
- New rot issue at back patio/ outdoor shower.
This area has a built up bluestone patio area the surface of which is higher than the shingle siding and sills of the house. Over several years water and snow has been sitting here and seeping into the walls. Currently the wall adjacent to the outdoor shower has been exposed and we found completely rotted sills. We have also seen the wall at the back of where the shower is attached and that is rotted as well. We suspect that the wall perpendicular to this wall, under the living room is rotted has similar issues.
The correct way to remedy this issue is to remove the bluestone patio, expose all of the rotted sills and repair them, dig the patio down to an appropriate height so that water shed away from the house, and then put it all back together.
This is not a small project. However it doesn't have to be done right now but must be done in the next year or so. - Accepted change orders include:
CO 1 - Extra Demolition
CO 2 - Center Windows
CO 4 - Framing & Carpentry 1
CO 6 - Sill rot repair
CO 10 - Replace master shower door
CO 12 - Master Shower Tile Note: wrong CO submitted (11). Actual CO = $3,456.00
CO 13 - Fireplace tile
CO 14 - Front Walkway Note: Steps and front entry not estimated as of yet. Stilling sussing out issues.
CO 15 Outdoor shower floor Note: This may change based on direction we go with patio rot issue.
CO 17 Plumbing Extras #1 Note: there will be some extras coming based on things that arose last week. i.e. the need for a pump system to drain the laundry room fixtures.
CO 18 Sewer Tie In Note: This is an estimate. We are still waiting on final numbers based on what the town is requiring us to do.
CO 19 Reframe Family Room wall
CO 21 New Triple casement - Rejected change orders include:
CO 5 - Dec Renovation and carport
CO 7 - Window replacement - Will replace all trim on lead windows on 2nd floor. The lower sash of these windows will be stripped where on their styles and rails and repainted. Tuning up of all window and storms remains a T&M task. Write up new CO and resubmit.
CO 9 - Sonos music system - Will be reduced to 4 systems. (1) Deck, (1) Kitchen/Family room, (1) Dining Room, (1) Living Room and resubmit.
CO 16 - Kids shower door Note: This is to be changed to a frameless shower door for cost savings and resubmit.
CO 20 Master Bedroom Electrical Note: remove Lower bedside sconces and resubmit.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Client Questions - 5/9/2011
2. Should we keep the door on the second floor that leads down into what will be Grayson's bedroom on or take it off? I thought we should take it off and maybe re-use it in the master somewhere for the bathroom door or something but would love your opinion on that. It depends on how you would be using the space. I don't see there being much use for it right now especially since you have little kids living down there for the foreseeable future. Unless you plan ion shutting it off or using it for a guest wing I would probably get rid of that door altogether.
3. Now that the walls are down to their studs can we put in better insulation? I will upgrade all of the insulation to either foam (my preference) or Cellulose (Lyle's preference).
4. What do you think of installing the music also in the work out room - which will be the room that leads to the fire pit? I am a music guy. I would put it everywhere if I could.
5. I noticed damage to unique's airducts/or silver bag thingys do you need to contact them to get the correct stuff to fix it? If so, I can give you the name of the guy we used or I can contact him directly. Yes I would like his name.
6. I assume you would like us to get everything off porch- when would you like that done by? We have some time. I hope to get a price to you early this week to make sure we are all on the same page. we need to get a bit further on the interior before we can jump out there.
7. How long will dumpster be in the driveway? I am wondering because I would love to clean out and throw out junk from the work room into it:) A long time.
8. In the master bath, we talked about the fact that the light has to go over the mirror- do you think a tube light or upside down sconces would look better there? I am not a big fan of fluorescent so I would find a sconce of some sort.
Laundry Issues 5/9/11
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Client Questions - 5/2/2011
- "Let's leave the sconces on the wall looking at the fire pit. As long as we can do it electrically, I think it looks nice." OK
- "I agree about the car port and I like one level better anyway!" We will price up the project to see if it meets your budget requirements.
- "I had not thought about surround sound for the TV but it would be nice! It will depend on the price I think. We were thinking of having sound in the kitchen, family room, Living room, bar and library... it would be great to be on the porch as well but we can bring a stereo out if that is super expensive." I would like to set up a meeting with you and Ross to go over music options. We love the Sonos system. It is completely expandable. inexpensive (comparatively) and very easy to use. When are you available to meet with Ross?
- I would like to revisit the lead issue with you. After thinking about it some more and talking with one of my guys we feel like taking a few more steps in the lead removal area. The immediate concern is the windows where sashes sliding up and down make lead dust fro the paint. This is a particularly hazardous scenario since small children often stand at windows and hold onto the sills to see out. Then the hands go in the mouth etc. I would like to meet with you again to discuss this. Please let me know your availability.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Client Questions - 4/29/2011
Meeting Notes 4/28/11
- We will pad down the existing ceiling with 2x10 rafters sistered to the existing rafters for stiffness and for insulation R-value.
- We will push the beam at the pantry wall in by 5"-6" and frame it out to be a cased opening.
- Replace tile at fireplace.
- Tighten up all windows and storms on a T&M (time and materials) basis. Replace storms and screens as necessary.
- Add shower door in kids bath.
- Turn over porch deadbolt.
- Tear-out outdoor shower floor. Dig down. Add 4" of crushed stone. Set irregular flag stone pieces on top.
- Gut mudroom. and relocate as much plumbing and electric as possible. (In Progress)
- Remove any brass plumbing that is exposed and replace with Pex tubing.
- Connect house to town sewer.
- Install steel I beam at kitchen/hall wall and customize for plumbing waste. (In Progress)
- Relocate vent pipes from sink wall. (In Progress)
- Remove any exposed BX wiring and replace with Romex.
- Replace rotted sills at front of house. The extent is unknown until exposed. We also need to find the root of the problem. The cabinets in this area will be removed along with the wall above and the ceiling in the utility room. (In Progress)
- Asbestos removal. (In Progress)
- Add two new windows at right side of family room to match existing double-hungs. (In Progress)
Monday, April 25, 2011
This week - Thru 4/29
Friday, April 22, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Family Room Elevations - Updated 4/20/11
I spoke with Peter this morning to check in on the work progress. Demo is underway. So far there have been no surprises, so that is a nice surprise. There are few things I wanted to discuss.
Bookshelves: He clarified some measurements for those bookshelves on the wall opposite the TV. I have attached a drawing (FmB) showing how the bookshelf would look (not much different than the last version). We could get an extra 1-2” on each side by making the casings narrower, but that may not be necessary. The inside of the bookshelf would be 14” wide.
Powder room high window: Peter said it would not be any extra to remove this window (Peter didn't say this... Cost will be nominal though) if we’d like to. I added some sconces to the elevation of that wall (see FmC) and the one on the left is a little crammed in between the casings. If we removed the window, we could move the sconces out a bit. Madey, thoughts on the type of sconces you could imagine here?