It's getting fun now....the final month....

The Mechanical, Plumbing and Electrical rough-in work is complete.  The city inspections will take place this week.  All the trades worked very well and efficiently together.  There were a few days when all three trades were in the house working at the same time.  Insulation and gypsum board will get stocked this week and installed next week. 

rear addition from east side

Windows were installed last Friday.  It's encouraging to see the natural light streaming back into the house after being closed up for a few weeks.  The interior spaces get a huge amount of sunlight due to the extra wide yard. 

front living room windows

The kitchen cabinets and plumbing fixtures were ordered today.  These items will arrive in

plenty of time to be installed in early January.  Flooring will need to be finalized soon.  The siding and trim boards will be installed this week to finish up most of the exterior work.

3722 West Sunnyside has been listed in the multiple listing service.  Kenneth Arrizola, from Baird and Warner is handling the real estate listing.  He set up a preview open house last week on Thursday evening.  We held this event just a few blocks from the property at my current house on Hamlin Avenue. Floor plans, architectural renderings and some material samples were viewed by a nice group of real estate agents.   One agent has requested to do a showing for her client but we'll need to schedule that viewing in a couple of weeks when the house is closer to being complete.  In my opinion, we're getting close to the best part of any renovation project...that occurs when  the gypsum board is up and the finishes and detail items start to be completed.  It's all coming together and looking very good but I think I'll really be excited in about 3 weeks!

The Site Sign in up....

The exterior site sign has been installed...it looks better than the house at this point!

site sign

But that will change soon as much progress has been made this week.  The roof is done...hvac, plumbing and electrical are all nearing the rough-in completion...we will get the city inspections and then we should be be haning drywall in a couple of weeks.   Windows will go in early next week and then the siding and wood trellis framing will begin.  In the next week I'll be finalizing the cabinets, picking fixtures and selecting the floor finishes.  We have made a few layout changes to add additonal closets and storage...an item that the buyer always wants.  There is no basement at this house but we have a walk-in storage room, additional closets and a great, accessible attic area with a pull-down stair.  This should be enough room for a small family. 
Our real estate agent sent out a preview listing this afternoon to a select group of buyers and has fielded a few inquiries already.  It could get exciting now!

Roofing almost finished....hvac,electric and plumbing to begin...

Slower than expected progress is being made on the new roof shingle...it is about 50% done and it should be completed by the end of Saturday.  Windows will go in next week and siding will follow shortly after that.  The exterior should be complete before the really cold weather gets here.

 

west side of main roof / addition roof



                                                                   

new electrical service drop

The electrician has set a new exterior mounted drop for the electrical service wire and installed a new electrical panel.  The electrical boxes and conduit will be installed in the next few days.  Monday the mechanical ductwork installation will begin.  This will take 3-4 days to complete.  The  plumbing rough-in work will also start early next week.  This could be somewhat of an experiment to have all three trades working in the same house at one time......even though they do this on HGTV all the time it's not usually how it works in general practice.  I think the sub-contractors have worked together before so it should be fine.  The plumber has the right-of-way because he is dealing with gravity.  If all goes well the electrical, mechanical and plumbing rough-in should all be completed by the end of next week.  This would be great and would make up for a little lost time in the schedule.  

 

We made a design change in the master bedroom by raising the ceiling height up to about 12'...this creates a great volume in the bedroom.  Windows on the north and east side add nice natural lighting with good cross ventilation.  



master bedroom with raised ceiling



  We have completed the design of the real estate site sign.  This will be fabricated and installed next week.  After 6 weeks of construction we are about halfway done...this is slightly ahead of schedule.  I estimate our completion date to be about January 13th, 2012. Our General Contractor, Real Estate Agent  and the Ownership Group are all very pleased with the progress and current overall look of the project.                              

1 month completed....2 months to go...

After one month of construction we've made alot of progress on the renovation and are on schedule.  A few minor surprises once the walls and floors were opened up but minor re-framing will solve these items.  The rough framing for the main house and the new addition is complete.  The new addition adds some valuable square footage to the overall layout and really opens up the first floor.  Windows will be installed later in the week.  Siding and roofing will also start soon.  In another week the exterior should be almost finished.  We'll start on the plumbing, electrical and mechanical rough-in this week.  This should take about 2 weeks to complete.  We'll need to get the city inspections for this work and then we can proceed with the drywall installation.

new addition framing

Material selections will need to be made in the next couple of weeks. We've received three quotes on cabinets and will make a final decision this week. Plumbing and electrical fixtures will also be chosen.  We'll choose items which are in stock and readily available to not prolong the construction schedule.......need to keep everything moving along....

A site sign will be designed and fabricated to advertise the soon to be completed single family home.  This will hopefully generate some more interest from prospective buyers.

Reconstruction has begun...

front elevation



rear additon floor framing




















The exterior siding and trim was removed and taken down to the wood sheathing......the shell of the house is just a stripped down box now but fortunately the reconstruction has begun.  The framers are working on the interior and the exterior walls of the new addition.  This should be completed by the end of the week.  Windows have been ordered and will be ready to be installed by next week.  The new roof will be installed later this week.  We've made some selections for the exterior color scheme...the siding color is a light stone color (" sandstone") with the window and corner trim a contrasting dark brown color-- Benjamin Moore Texas Leather.  The front porch will have cedar columns with a accent color on the new metal roof.

front yard

I did some landscaping work last weekend in the front yard.  Two new ornamental juniper shrubs were planted with some mulch. Three metal planter pots will also be installed in the front yard with some boxwood shrubs.  Concrete pavers leading from the sidewalk to the front porch will be poured and loose gravel will finish off the pathway.....the re-construction process is gradually bringing the house back to form.....stay tuned.

Project In Full Renovation Mode

After several dumpsters, the house has finally been cleared out of all of the cabinets, fixtures, plaster, and other junk which had been stored in the attic.  The plumbing and electrical rough-in work can now begin.  

The concrete walls were stripped of the formwork and the walls were back-filled with dirt.  Rigid insulation board was installed on the inside of the foundation walls.  Crushed stone was added as a base in the crawl space.  The wall framing crew will start on the exterior walls of the new addition early this week. 

I visited Remodeler's Home Supply last week and received a bid for new vinyl windows. We are waiting on one other bid to compare the numbers.  We'll choose a manufacturer and place the order for the windows next week so that they are on-site as the new walls get framed.  One of the advantages of a local vinyl window is that they can be delivered to your project within five days.  Most wood windows would take 3-5 weeks.  With the cold weather rapidly approaching we'll want to get the walls sealed up soon.  These days, I find that construction crews will work through the cold weather and especially if they are in an enclosed space with some heat.



front cedar fence



fence panel



Last Friday, the GC assisted with the front fence project by removing the old 6' high board-on-board fence and also set the new 6x6 posts in concrete. Over the weekend I installed all of the 2x2 cedar fence panels with the galvanized spacers.  The wood fence design is similar to the one that I designed and built at my Hamlin Avenue house. It's a simple design but several curious and friendly neighbors have commented that this fence is  "quite an upgrade for the house".  I have assured them that the main house will also be looking good very soon.  We wanted to get the fence completed early on so that we were not forced to dig post holes in frozen, snowy ground. Additional landscaping will be done in the front yard space to add some curb appeal. 

 

3722 West Sunnyside Progress

Demolition continues on...the old lumber, lath and plaster is being removed from the building -- a hard and dirty project that I have participated in the past on some of my own homes...glad to not be doing it for this project.   The building will soon be cleared out allowing for the new plumbing and electrical rough-in work to begin.   Not much worth salvaging from this house.

The excavator is also on-site digging the hole for the new addition.  The rear addition concrete footing is being formed and will be poured today.   The new concrete foundation wall should be in by the end of Wednesday.   We'll be ready for the new exterior wall framing in a few days....I can't wait to see the new addition walls going up. 



It's great to see the progress being made by the crews but there is still so much that needs to be done in a short time.....soon the outside will look like the rendering below... a clean, two-story frame house accented with a cedar front porch and a large open deck with a wood trellis.