A month of doldrums + an update (at the bottom)
Maybe it’s the moon phase (or phases, now that a whole month has waxed and waned), but this blog has run into a case of the doldrums.
Not that nothing’s been happening:
the well’s been connected, but faucets still need to be attached upstairs
the furnace is in and tested — and better yet, passed its inspection
the STAIRS have been installed! More on that below (spoiler alert: pissing match w/ contractor)
I got to meet the 2-man team of plumbers and the county building inspector — all good guys who know their business, listened to my questions and were generous with tips and advice for the parts I’m doing myself.
Ah, the DIY part: the tasks I’ve been working on are going more slowly than I estimated, and I don’t like feeling so unproductive. For example, replacing the exhaust fan in the bathroom has turned into major attic-as-bowel surgery, involving pulling a lot of brittle old flexi-duct out and laying in an insulated duct that will run out to a new hole in the gable end of the house instead of the soffit vent that looked kinda cool but is very much discouraged by bathroom exhaust experts the world over…
… uh-oh, I saw that — you’re yawning.
Yes, this is perhaps the least glamorous part of the bathroom project, though necessary. I’m going back up tomorrow and promise to take a pic of myself in the white Tyvek suit and goggles that makes me 99% impervious to the drifts of itchy and unidentifiably dirty insulation in the attic. At least that’ll be good for a laugh.
Speaking of laughs, albeit a sour one: The Stairs.
Three weeks after the contractor first cut the stringers, and two weeks after I had provided the 2x6 lumber for temporary treads (not wanting to put finished treads on with all the boots tromping in and out and the mud/clay slick outside) he finally installed the stringers—those diagonal notched things. Big improvement on the stepladders and a reason to celebrate, yes?
But no. He did a really shitty job (can I say that on the web?) (Yes I can.)
It didn’t take an expert to spot problems:
Two of the 3 stringers on the upper flight had long splits already starting; the lower flight was not level; and he had stuck a shim under one of the lower stringers that looks doomed to disintegrate into slivers.
What the hell? I sez to myself. It’s obvious this guy is ready to be done with this project. And I am ready to see the last of him, but not before he fixes this crappy work.
In the same phone call when he said they’d installed the stringers, he also mentioned that the inspector was coming on Friday to look at the HVAC. Originally I wasn’t planning to be there, but after seeing this mess, I definitely wanted to invite the inspector’s feedback.
Come Friday, the plumbing crew were all there doing final-final tweaks and attending the inspection. Oddly, the contractor was not in attendance, but I did get a lot of affirmation about the condition of the stairs. As Plumber Bob said, “levels don’t lie.”
Over the weekend, I sent the inspector’s corrective notes to the contractor, whereupon he phoned Monday morning to assure me he was going to fix it to meet code. So I said, “Please remember this is an open-riser stair, which means everything is visible. I don’t want it looking like somebody’s treehouse.”
The inspector will need to sign off on whatever he does, along with all the other framing that he did for windows and the back doorway (and the inspector made a few more notes on those things). But once that’s done I’ll be able to take exact measurements and get the for-real treads finished up and cut to fit.
More after tomorrow, including pictures (hazmat Claire spelunking in the attic!) and more visible progress.
3/13 UPDATE:
Action Figure ascending the stepladder!
And a bit of milestone in the bathroom: I got the underlayment all patched, then washed & sanded the vanity in prep for painting. I couldn’t resist moving it back into the bathroom just to see it in its native environment again.
The color of the vanity is still TBD, not sure if it should go dark in the oxblood-to-brown range, or lighter, maybe even the same color as the walls (the pale gray-green below).
Nice to check-off a couple list items. More on Friday!
