Project Updates

A few updates on the projects going on...

The Roof:
Insurance is covering it!!! This is the most awesome thing that could have happened. I've chosen a roofing company and they're starting the work on Wednesday. The one little snag is that the insurance company got the wrong roofing material type on their paperwork - 20 year / 3-tab vs. the 30 year / dimensional stuff that I have. It should be a simple fix because they're hugely different in appearance. While they're doing the work they're going to be installing a ridge vent, covering up the existing turbines (too close to the ridge vent) and adding an exhaust outlet for the shower/tub combo on the second floor. Also fixing the bad flashing around the chimney and doing tons of other small things. This couldn't have turned out any better.

The front door:
Glass guy was here a couple of weeks ago. Left his samples behind so I could show the different materials to Danielle. The guy does good work and had a stack of work orders an inch thick. I'm waiting to get to the top of the list. This is taking forever. NOT happy with the slow progress here.

The flooring project:
I've decided to go ahead with the flooring work ahead of changing out the fireplace surround and all that other work. It's still taking me a while to figure the design for that out, but I know I want to do the flooring. Might as well go ahead and do that while I figure out the fireplace surround. The plan right now is to raise the fireplace up 6in or so and I have a concept for what this should look like, but am not sure how to build the structure supporting the new mantle. Also unsure of the color, so maybe by doing the flooring first that'll help push me through the rest of this. I can just undercut the bottom 3/4 inch of the existing mantle and some of the grout from below the bottom row of tiles to install the wood. That's no big deal.

The big question about the flooring is where the material comes from. I can't remember if my aunt said something about being able to acquire the stuff at a discount or if that was something else. She's on vacation somewhere right now so I'm waiting for her to get back home and get onto her email account...

So right now I have one thing that's moving forward and two more that I want nothing more than to finish. Hopefully they'll come along in the next two weeks or so.

Everything done earlier is still holding up well - the trees are handling the drought pretty well (drop irrigation line) and I'll probably have to put another coat of stain on the pergola because the sun is intense. But surprisingly, the trees seem to be growing a bit or at least looking healthier now.

Side note - the reason why I didn't do anything last weekend is right here:


This is what the front of a Volvo looks like when you take it apart to overhaul and convert the air conditioning. It blows cold - 25 degrees at the vent :)

Progress... but it's slow

I should have somebody working on the window in the front door right now. He's also designing a new window to go above the door that will match it to a degree, but I'm waiting on what he comes up with so I can say which one to go with. I'm really looking forward to this being done... I hope this is the last 'pre-window' post!

The insurance company is coming on Monday to have a look at the roof. The first thing both roofers said when they got up there was 'look at all the hail damage!' It did hail on February 10th and I owned the house at that time so why not phone it in. I've got my fingers crossed, hoping for the best. I wound up going with a roofing company owned by somebody else in this neighborhood. He was the only one to get the estimate in on time, and I've already been dealing with delays and the front door... The other quote arrived four days after it was promised, and I'd already called up the company I went with to let them know I was going with them at that point. It was a tough call though - the person behind me was about $1,300 higher but I noticed that the late quote was lacking some of the other things that would cost extra. The ridge venting and lots of flashing, for instance. Not sure if the area was quoted differently - that could affect things too.

So for right now I'm just hurrying up to wait. Insurance helping with the roof would really be great because it would free me up to do more around the house. I do have a concept for what I'd like the fireplace to look like but no clue who builds such a thing. I would really like to get the floor and fireplace done soon. Maybe if insurance will cover the roof I could use the savings to pay for someone else to install the flooring... I'll be able to do it this fall though; my long trip back to Seattle has been delayed a few months. Just love being here in limbo for now though.

Wobble Wobble...

One of the items from the inspection report was that a toilet upstairs wobbled. The inspector said it needed a new wax ring, the sellers had some home warranty policy and would get it repaired through that. All seemed well with the world.

Until closing when I was still in Seattle and nobody checked the toilet during the final walkthrough and when I got there the thing was still loose. Moral of the story - twice now sellers haven't followed up with fixing what they said they'd do. Try not to let it happen a third time...

Anyway one short year later I get around to fixing this toilet. Hey, what can I say... I never use that bathroom and it wasn't leaking. I pull the toilet off and scrape off the remains of the wax seal and take a look.



Awesome, the builder cut the hole for the closet flange just a little too big so it couldn't be attached correctly. And the screws they did use were rusted out. The toilet was attached only by the drain which thankfully hasn't leaked yet and one lonely screw that'd somehow survived. The repair is really simple - something that anybody can do for about $20 in parts (or a couple hundred for a plumber... take your pick).

Once you get done wondering why somebody would want to use metal parts around a toilet where they'll rust out, you'll only need to buy a couple of things. Get a repair flange from Lowes, Ace, McCoys (wherever), mount it and drill a few holes through the floor where the screws holding it to the floor will go. Screw it in, and now drill through the holes where the existing flange used to attach to the floor. Once you install the new screws it's all held together, stronger than it was when it was new.



Now use a new wax ring and install the toilet back where it was and use rubber shims as needed. In my case the floor is depressed a bit behind the toilet, maybe from the weight of the water tank after all these years. The floor was dry with no signs of water damage... maybe a really heavy person sat there. Who knows. Anway, good as new. When I get around to redoing the floor in that bathroom I'll cut out a section of the subfloor and reinforce as needed, along with putting a new PVC flange in with stainless steel screws. That'll take care of everything.

Got a couple of people to have a look at the roof. The first quote is amazing, especially considering all the flashing and whatnot he's including. The owner of that company lives behind my house and over one and I really hope he comes out as the best deal. The first thing both people said when they saw the roof was something about all the hail damage. There was a hailstorm in February (the 10th?) but I didn't think it was that bad. I've already emailed my agent... maybe I can get a discount here. That'd be great.

I've had to rethink some of the plans about the flooring and everything in the living room. Since I'll probably be going back to the PNW for a long while this fall it would be a really terrible time to start a major project. Even if I wound up contracting out the floor I'd still have to get the fireplace work, mantle and surround done before then or else I'll have a gap later. There's just not enough time for that. So in the meantime I'll just take care of refinishing the door and getting a new window put in before I go. With the new roof it's also the perfect opportunity to add an exhaust fan to the shower in the jack and jill bathrooms upstairs. Right now there's only a fan in each room with the sink and toilet. Dunno why there wasn't one since day one...

STILL Waiting

Still waiting on the glass guy (Austin Cut Glass) to get back to me. I've called back, set up numerous times for him to come over or get back to me but they've all been broken. There's nothing more annoying than someone not following through. So unless they get back to me before the end of the week, I've had a change of plans.

This afternoon I'm going to measure the size of the window. Accurate measurements that I can take somewhere else. I know what kind of design I'm looking for, so I can take the measurements around and get a new window made on my own. Dunno about installing it... if bad comes to worse I can always take the door off the pins and install the glass horizontally. Unless there's a way to install it while the door is installed (maybe they give it to you in a box because you have to get the glass from their place to where you live somehow.

And refinishing the door... shouldn't be as hard as I thought according to one of my coworkers who's done it before. He described it as taking only a few hours. I might do it myself even though it's also a pretty intimidating job. I could do that when I change out the door hardware, or at least refinish it with the hardware off so in theory there wouldn't be any marks whenever I get around to deciding what I want to change it to.

That would save a few hundred $$ which would go immediately towards replacing the roof. I don't need to worry about contractors, because one of the three I called about a quote (and the only one who actually gave me a firm date which is in about an hour) is actually the owner of the company and I'm pretty sure he lives in the house behind me and over 1. I'm looking forward to getting that taken care of, and I'm sure it will. Even if the other two companies don't call back. They were supposed to by the end of this weekend so I guess we'll figure that part out pretty soon.

I have a pretty good idea of the cost. Reroofing isn't exactly cheap but if you do it right it's not something that'll have to be done again for a LONG time.