Client Questions - 5/26/11

Can put insulation in the floor in the family room since that room is above an unheated workroom.

I believe there is already insulation in the floor. I will confirm.

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?

I think it is natural to the system. I will look into a solution.

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.

1. 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.
   
   
2. 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.
   
   
3. 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.
   
   
4. Powder room door will be a left hand 2'0" door. Light switch to be on the outside of the room
   
   
5. Powder room sink will be corner mounted.
   
   
6. We will add a vent to the Master Bath shower/toilet area.
   
   
7. We will try to reuse the existing kitchen vent hood. It may need a new stainless chimney to the ceiling.
   
   
8. 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.
   
   
9. We will install a full length mirror on the closet wall behind the bath door.
   
   
10. We agreed to alter the trey ceiling in the family room to allow for a 12" bookshelf.
    
    
11. We will alter the Unico system as necessary to make it work appropriately and fix installation issues as we deem necessary.
    
    
12. We will demo master closet ceiling and frame up as high s possible.
    
    
13. 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.
    
    
14. Melissa will contact the alarm company asap to get everything checked out.
    
    
15. 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.
    
    
16. 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.
    
    
17. 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.

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

2^nd 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-detail.asp?ProductID=1719

http://www.nutone.com/product-detail.asp?ProductID=11054

http://www.nutone.com/product-detail.asp?ProductID=11052

Powder Room Sink

Plans Updated 5/17/11 - KitchenElevB

This image shows a boxed in cabinet style range hood. I think this may jut off the wall too much. I may have suggested this but in further review it might need to be anchored to another wall cabinet. It is also too high for most fan systems to work correctly. It should be lowered by about 6"+.

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Meeting Notes 5/12

Today we had a walk through and discussed:

1. 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.
   
   
2. 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
   
   
3. 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.

Client Questions - 5/9/2011

1. What should we do with the electric baseboard in family room? I am not sure. I will look at it tomorrow and advise.

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

This is a view of the rotted sill below the laundry sink. This will need to be replaced and the framing replace as well.

This is a view of the broken drain to the laundry sink. This will need to be replaced if we intend to reuse the sink. Note there is a sizable crack in the sink. Might think about replacing.

Kitchen Elevation Updated 5/9/11

This drawing shows where the architect would like the beam. Note relocation of the range.

Pantry Window Change 5/5/11

This is the window configuration that we like the best. These are casement windows.

Client Questions - 5/2/2011

1. "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
   
   
2. "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.
   
   
3. "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?
   
   
4. 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.

Plans Updated 5/2/11 - Family Room Plan

Plans Updated 5/2/11 - Family Room Wall

Client Questions - 4/29/2011

"Also, a style question what do you think of putting sconces on the bookcases in the family room for the window seat.. does it complete the look or is it a place to save money?" I am a big fan of sconces. I think we can get the cabinets to accept electrical boxes. I suppose if you didn't have them you would save a little money.

"One other thought about the deck-- do you think it is possible to make it all one level or do you like it as two?" We looked at the deck today and thought that it would make a nicer car port if it was all one level. Having it step down makes the usable space considerably smaller.

"I would love to start talking about cabinetry and the color of it. I have been playing around with the Benjamin Moore color wheel!" Once we get the rock and plaster done we will have a meeting with the cabinet guys and nail down all of this stuff. They need the plaster in in order to do any accurate measuring.

Also, I would love to add the sound system you mentioned that was $1k to our house as well... the project is certainly growing!" Sonos is the system. Unfortunately the $1,000.00 offer was an introductory price. Will you be adding any surround sound for the TV? It is a nice add on feature for that. What rooms would you be thinking of adding it to?

Meeting Notes 4/28/11

Walk through with Melissa, Wendy,Lyle, Peter

The following are extra tasks added on by Melissa and Lyle.

1. We will pad down the existing ceiling with 2x10 rafters sistered to the existing rafters for stiffness and for insulation R-value.
   
   
2. We will push the beam at the pantry wall in by 5"-6" and frame it out to be a cased opening.
   
   
3. Replace tile at fireplace.
   
   
4. Tighten up all windows and storms on a T&M (time and materials) basis. Replace storms and screens as necessary.
   
   
5. Add shower door in kids bath.
   
   
6. Turn over porch deadbolt.
   
   
7. Tear-out outdoor shower floor. Dig down. Add 4" of crushed stone. Set irregular flag stone pieces on top.
   
   
8. Gut mudroom. and relocate as much plumbing and electric as possible. (In Progress)
   
   
9. Remove any brass plumbing that is exposed and replace with Pex tubing.
   
   
10. Connect house to town sewer.
    
    
11. Install steel I beam at kitchen/hall wall and customize for plumbing waste. (In Progress)
    
    
12. Relocate vent pipes from sink wall. (In Progress)
    
    
13. Remove any exposed BX wiring and replace with Romex.
    
    
14. 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)
    
    
15. Asbestos removal. (In Progress)
    
    
16. Add two new windows at right side of family room to match existing double-hungs. (In Progress)
    
    

This week - Thru 4/29

We are currently in a slight holding pattern until we get a decision on the plumbing vent in the kitchen which is hindering the structural plan at the moment. I will have the plumber in there today to see about relocating the vent and what that will entail.

I am also putting together the updated numbers for you. You will receive them today and they will include the relocating of the double window in the family room. I think this is a good idea.

Today we will start framing in the windows over the driveway and continue with the demolition.

Architects Revisions 5.1, 5.2, 5.3

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?

Client Questions - 4/20/2011

1. You had sent me a dropbox invite and I accepted but I am not sure what to do with it. It is a good way to save things and share them. We may use it in the future.

2. What is the best way to communicate as we progress? Perhaps, a weekly meeting at Dedham St? I worry since we are not living there that I want to make sure we are on top of everything. This blog is a good way to keep track of everything. Please feel free to email us with anything and both Ross and I are always available by cell phone.

3. What do you think of putting in floors such as bamboo which are perhaps more sustainable in the kitchen etc? if yes, how much will that add to the cost? Sustainable? hmmm. It takes a lot of oil to get bamboo products here from Asia. I would opt for something more local if your thinking sustainable. Maybe a wide plank oak would be nice.

4. I know we added and took stuff away from the contract I signed but I was wondering if you had a rough estimate if we were still around the same cost. We are a bit under the original estimate. I will try to get that to you soon.

5. On the second floor could we please take a look at the windows? I think they could benefit from fixing the tracts etc...Also I know the window in the master right next to the closet, the one you see as soon as you walk in needs to be fixed according to my mum! Will do.

6. In the hallway, living room, dining room there are vents on the floor/bottom part of the wall that are no longer used-- would it be very expensive to take those out? if so, we can leave them. No, that should be easy enough.

7. Could you please take out the dog door in the family room? Will do.

8. I was wondering how expensive and feasible it would be to have radiant heat in the master bath-- if it is $$ or too hard, no need to do it. We will put together a number. I think that is a great idea.

9. What is your timeline when I need to have picked everything out for you? I am almost there with lights etc but still struggling with counter tops as I have been out to dorado stone but found the soapstone either too grainy or too green so I am still looking for that. We will let you know about schedule shortly.

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