Breezeway 10: attic interlude

Progress on the room went backwards throughout the week and then slowly forwards until it looks almost like it did before the massive destruction (except the floors, those are going in tomorrow). They pulled the trim off all the doors, lowered the doors, put up the trim again and filled in the 3/4'' at the top, repainted, etc. They ripped up the kitchen floor all the way to the basement ceiling and then laid down boards again for the weekend so that we could walk on it.

But all that is boring for pictures, so I thought I'd give you a tour of our new ATTIC!

As a last minute addition to the project, we realized when the breezeway ceiling was removed that we had so space between the roof and the ceiling - perfect for an attic. So our builder cut a door in our garage ceiling, put in some steps, frame it, and voila - instant storage space!

There's plenty of room to go into and out of the house door to the garage while the stairs are down, which was important to us. We can't open the actual garage door with the stairs down, but that seemed a lot less useful. Having the access in the front is helpful given how crowded our garage usually is.

We decided on the "cheap" option when our builder laid out the various ways they could open up the space, which was basically to lay down some plywood, rather than pay extra for sturdy flooring. So for now we're limited to storing only relatively light things and only for a portion of the space. Later we can easily build a more sturdy floor and over more area.

As a bonus that was in our original attic project, our builder had the electrician put in a light with an actual switch near the door - we hadn't even thought to ask for lighting, assuming we'd just use batter power when we needed to get up there. It's really quite a nice space (if it weren't so hot - but then, it is late July). We're excited that we finally have a place to store things we rarely need - I'm thinking holiday decorations and housing supplies that don't need climate control (our old ceiling fan, extra bathroom tile, etc.).

Breezeway 9: dusty aftermath and new floor framing

After Thursday's destruction to the new floor and removal of the all that beautiful oak, I don't think we quite realized that we were only just beginning - apparently starting over is much messier than starting.

On Friday, the plywood was off and we were back to the floor frames and much of the insulation was stacked in a corner insulation. We had to be very careful not to squish the parts that were still in place when crossing the room to get to the garage. This is actually the first time we noticed that our original slate floors were covered in something - maybe a kind of sealant? We plan to ask about that just out of curiosity.

We also have some new joists, exactly 3/4'' lower than the previous previous one - the exact height difference that would make the new floor level to the dining room.

You can see here why the doors will also need lowering - they are now substantially higher than the framing for the new floors:

Because this time around we no longer have doors to block out the dust, the work crew put up plastic sheeting, which naturally is not as effective and so we are getting sawdust in the house. Also we have a cat that likes to eat plastic, so we've had to get creative on ways to keep him away from the feast that is the plastic sheeting.

Another layer, the masonite or whatever it's called that the vinyl was stuck to, came off the kitchen floor - this created an incredible layer of dust throughout the kitchen and dining room. We had been warned so at least we moved the drying rack and some small appliances.

They are planning to rip down even further, to the subfloor, and put the slats directly on that (with a vapor-lock paper layer in between. Here is a preview (you can see into the basement through those lines). They don't want to pull that out until the day we get the new floor, because you can't really walk on that easily (and food would spill into the basement):

Without the plywood, the floor in the kitchen is exactly 3/4'' lower than the dining room meaning that the 3/4'' new slats should line up EXACTLY to the old floor. Yay! After much mess and a lot of adjustments and delay.

Back in the breezeway, we have a new subfloor - this time they are planks laid between the first round of joists, resting on the newer, lower ones (see pics above).

Today in addition to a few other small changes (they jackhammered the new concrete on the thresholds and removed the frame from the garage door to start the lowering process) we got new wood! It is conditioning now and getting ready for what will hopefully be our final floor installation.

Breezeway 8: the nuclear option

Well, it's not quite square one, but it's close...Here's the view this evening:

Today we met with our builder, who is awesome. We talked about a few small details and then the big elephant in the room - our raised floors. He admitted that he'd miscalculated on how to do the floor and that he took full responsibility. We had two options on the floor:

1. Sand the maximum 3/16'' of the floor (before the groove part of the tongue and groove slats) and put in wide gradual transitions to help ease the difference in floor height. The wood under the oven would be cut back so the oven would match the counter height and the dishwasher would be freed.

2.  The floors and subfloors would be ripped out completely all the way back to the framing, which would be shaved down (and possibly also require the heating guy to come in, since the pipes ran through the wood joists. The trim around the garage and french doors would need to be removed, the doors lowered, and then re-trimmed. And...well, you get the idea.

He estimated that option 2, which he called the "nuclear option," would set us back about 2 weeks. It would cost us nothing, since it was all his fault. We'd need completely new flooring and trim, plus tons of labor.

I probably would have caved in and settled for option 1, but since level floors had been a priority since we kicked off the research on this major project, D bravely chose 2. You would think that would have infuriated the builder, but nope - this guy is pretty awesome, if apparently a bit unreliable on his calculations. And so we take a few sad steps back. I know it will be worth it to have something we really love at the end. 

It's a shame to waste so much material, now sitting in a trash heap on our patio, and to regress - after having access to the room all weekend, we've really been enjoying it.

They got right to work, ripping up all the floor. Tomorrow they'll probably rip out another layer of floor or maybe trim or...who knows!

In the meantime, we have beautiful hardware like electrical plates, AC vents, etc. plus a great attic. But I'll save those pictures for another time after I'm done shedding a tear for all that beautiful wasted oak floor.

Breezeway 7: floors (the honeymoon's over)

We came home on Thursday to a big disappointment. The floor was installed, which should have been very exciting and satisfying, but instead, it is so high above our original floor that it looks like they literally just laid the new floor on top of it. The builder told us the height difference would be 1/4 to a 1/2 inch, later saying that it would be closer to the 1/2. It is 3/4 inch. It doesn't sound like much, but there is a significant difference that looks sloppy.

The transition pieces are temporary and more gradual ones will be in stalled, but you can see the significant difference in height at the edge between the dining room and kitchen (top) and between the living room and new room.

This could cause some significant issues in the kitchen - most importantly we aren't sure we would be able to remove the dishwasher when the time came to replace it (hopefully not for a while, since it's only 5 months old, but that would not be a pleasant surprise in 5-8 years). Mostly, we are angry because it isn't what was promised, and yet apparently has been set for some time as the wood was laid in the new room above the floor joists and subfloor that were laid out weeks ago. Plus the french doors and baseboard trim had clearly been measured exactly to this height (shoe molding still needs to be installed, so the rough edge will not be visible).

Needless to say, we are pretty disappointed. Our builder continues to be nice to work with and has promised to try to do some things to mitigate - possibly sanding it down more than they usually would - and even (or so he says now) rip it up and do it again if we are really unhappy. But that would mean going back almost to the start, when they framed the floor, so I can't really imagine that right now. I guess the problem was mostly in the kitchen - they decided to remove the vinyl but not the board underneath it, fearing that the subfloor below that was too weak and creaky. So they were left with removing only a fraction of an inch (vinyl is really thin) and then having to level everything to that. Now we regret not just leaving the vinyl and putting the new floor only in the new room, to at least avoid an awkward transition at the dining room. We will see how this develops. The floor itself, still unsanded and unfinished, is absolutely beautiful.

Yesterday they took off the doors and worked more on the trim, meaning that the room is open now. Now that we can view this as part of the house, we really love the look - except the floors. As we hoped, the room gets a lot of natural light - much more than the rest of the house - and opens up the space significantly.

Now we wait while our builder works with the floor people and carpenter to try to come up with some solutions. I suspect we either will have to live with it (with some fixes for specific issues like a long transition piece and carving out a way to remove the dishwasher) or go back to almost square one to right after they installed HVAC and electric. Stay tuned.

Breezeway 6: trim and paint and more

On Monday the carpenter and builder busily added trim to all our door and window frames and installed our crown molding. Here are our beautiful deep-set windows, which means we can actually put blinds up within the frame of the window:

Our door trim (the door itself will be coming off):

The builder made a last-minute decision to add crown molding to the brick - he called to say that he reconsidered and thought it looked weird to end it at the drywall and we agreed to go with his judgment. I think it was a good change:

Yesterday, they primed and then today, they started painting (they didn't do any of the "cutting in" so the edges are still bare). We used Knitting Needles by Sherwin Williams, the same as in the living room to help create more of a single space despite the doorways. Here are some pictures between earlier in the week and today:

Now on to the status of the floors. This was our weekend - a fun combination of vinyl and whatever is under the vinyl.

On Monday, the rest of the vinyl came up. On Tuesday morning, this happened to our living room. This is the stage where the remodel really becomes real, when it affects the other rooms of the house. It's freaking me out a bit.

The wood is "conditioning" and expanding/contracting to the temperature and humidity levels of our house, and getting ready to become our new floor. On Monday they also did additional prep work by shaving the cabinet above the refrigerator to compensate for a higher floor. The team broke a water valve in the basement when they shut the connection to the fridge and then immediately replaced it and now, suddenly, the water spigot on the door is actually working for the first time ever. I guess it got an unintended repair...

Last but not least for now, a new addition to the project that I haven't had a chance to share with you yet. We decided a few weeks ago while the "attic" above the garage and new room were exposed that it was a lot of usable space if we could gain access to it. Our builder gave us a couple estimate for either a quick and minimal job or a more polished job. We cheated out and asked for just the basics - pull-down stairs and some plywood between the joists for us to carefully walk on. We can't store anything heavy up there until we add more support on the floor, but for now at least we can get up there and set the stage for a future project. For the moment, it means we have a hole in our garage ceiling:

Breezeway 5: drywall!

Progress has slowed, as we expected. Now there's drywall, which was a very dramatic change to come home to, but what followed was (is - it's still ongoing) the time consuming process of covering up the seams and holes. So on Wednesday we came home to this white space:

 Then Thursday was this:

Friday they added a little more:

Not all the seams are filled, so I assume we'll come home to a similar scene tomorrow.

They've also started pulling up the vinyl in the kitchen, but I'll save the pictures until we get a few more as they make progress. The wood should be delivered this week to sit around for "conditioning."

On a completely unrelated note just to document it, we finally replaced our carbon monoxide detectors. They don't last much more than 5 years and ours lasted about 6.5 before they started complaining to us. Hopefully by mentioning it now, I'll be able to track the next round as well.