Monday, June 20, 2011

WEEK 3 of Remodel a House and Don't Divorce or Die Doing it...

WEEK 3
6th June 2011 thru 12th June 2011

George is back at work so this week is not going to move quickly.  I decided to do some research on Pergolas, carports, garages and get some quotes...
I set up an appointment for Tuesday with Lawn Masters..
After talking to them and Tuff Shed, I got on the city website about Permits.  To my dismay we need a permit for all the remodeling we are doing inside..  Holy Smoke..we didn't know we needed a permit for inside.. I got on the phone to the City Building Development Office about the Permit  http://www.copperascove.org/pages/building/building.htm and asked what we needed to do. My next call was to George...Our Remodel was on hold so I took the opportunity to go do laundry at our local Laundromat. The contractors we hire for outside have to get their own permits.

Mike Jacko the Territory Manager from Lawn Master www.lawn-master.com showed up the next day and we discussed having a Pergola Carport built at the side of the house, a Pergola for shade attached to the back Lanai and a new Fence and Gates.  Mike was also very professional and took the time to show me the wood, stains and different designs.  He done the measurements, drew up the plans and gave me the quotes.  I was so excited...yahoo.. 
He was heading over to inspect his last job and told me he would take pictures and show me when he came back.  I asked him if he could possibly ask the homeowner to give me the contact information on the concrete company he used for his foundation.  Mike's client passed along to me Clarence from C.R. concrete phone numbers.
I called Clarence and he was coming out the next day to give me quotes...

My husband had been at the Gas station before he came home and spotted a Lawn Care truck.  He went in to the station and introduced himself and told the gentleman he needed a Pecan Tree removed.  Mike stopped by later that evening and gave us a quote.

Wednesday morning at 8 am, Mike from Five Brothers lawn Care  http://fivebrotherslawncare.com/Home.html came out to start work on taking out our very large pecan tree.  It is a beautiful tree that produces a lot, hundreds of nuts but it also creates a large problem since it sits right next to the pool.   

last pic of tree before it's cut





Timber !!!!!

there she goes one branch down










all that is left of the Pecan Tree
Clarence stopped by later that same day and we went over all the concrete work that needed to be done.  A new Driveway, a concrete slab for the carport, pier and beams for my husband's man cave building, remove and replace the concrete surround of the pool, remove and replace the concrete lanai and remove and replace the sidewalk around the house and put in a new side walk from the street to the front door.  

Jackie Herbeert also showed up later in the afternoon from Home Depot to do the final measurements for the Siding, windows and gutters. 

At the end of the day, I was exhausted.  I had not done anything physical but had spent the whole day with different contractors.

Mike from the Five Brother's Lawn Care came back the next day to load up the logs and hall off all the brush from the chopped up Pecan Tree. 

Early morning I started to make a spreadsheet on the computer to keep track of our expenses.  It took most of the day to plug in every receipt with every item purchased that we had from the begining of the Remodel.  We will be able to break it down and see exactly where our pennies go and if we are going over Budget.  I will have to keep track of George and the Power Tools....

After I was done with the spreadsheet, I headed down to the City building and dropped off my Application for a Permit.  I spoke with Cathy, showed her my plans, got to talking about the outside work and then my plans were dashed.  I could not put a Pergola carport at the side of my house because all structures had to start 7.5 Ft. in from my property line.  Unfortunately that would not work, so that project is now trashed...
Cathy from the City Building Office was very informative and helpful.  Our biggest obstacle now is that we have to wait for the inspector before we can close any floors up.
I stopped by to see Cathy again  on Friday to see where we were on the Permit, it would be Monday before we would hear anything...oh well I guess more demo can be done.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed to Lowes to get a few supplies.  I feel like we spend to much time between there and Home Depot..

George and I decided to drive out to Leland's http://www.lelandscabins.com/ in Lampassas to look at their buildings, unfortunately they were closed until Monday.  Time to go home and back to work.

We decided that we should finish the demo on the sub floors in the family room.  Boy they were tough but we managed to get them up, the wood boards cut down to manageable pieces and moved out to our trash heap.  We got all the old tar paper removed and the floor boards looked real good..yippee

George wanted to check under the floor to check the insulation...to our dismay there was none..



The Beginning of another HOLE...Watch out this gets bigger...
He then bored a few holes in the outside walls and thank god they were insulated.

We went into the laundry room to check for insulation in the walls and floors, disappointment again, there was none.
You guessed it..more demo.  We started in a few areas but decided to call it a night and start fresh in the morning.

Holly Toledo, there were two loads of dry wall on the both walls.

I don't envy him.  I will take the demo any day over crawling about under the house replacing pipes.


Drywall all gone...

Drywall gone...


The End of Week 3

What I have learned

Always, Always check with your Local City Building Development Permit Section
BEFORE starting your remodel on your home.
Plan for delays and the unexpected.
Make a spreadsheet to keep track of what you are spending on your project
on DAY 1...
Talking and spending money is just as exhausting as physical labor.
Only difference is with physical labor your whole body aches
Talking and spending money gives you a headache..

Until next time...

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