My recent unexpected ER adventure
amicus
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
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captain`s adventure...
Comments (16)I get my 'Captain's Adventure' in the mail tomorrow (hopefully), along with the heuchera/ella I ordered. I dug up my 'Tattoo', the crown was hollow and had very few roots, so I pitched it. Too bad, it came from a good growing plant. It must have rotted during the winter under the four feet of snow. Ah well, 'Captain's Adventure' is going in that spot now between heuchera 'Caramel' and 'Stiletto'. Karen...See MoreAdventures in contracting part 2 (here we go!)
Comments (30)I thought I'd close the loop on this thread, since my original intent was to chronicle our adventures with a contractor. We're DIY-ers and this was our first foray into the world of hiring others. We had a few issues come up near the end. Here's what they were and how we resolved them. I strongly believe that the fact that we still owed him $10,000 helped us resolve them without too much trouble. 1. He told us that he could recommend someone to do the soffits and gutters, we told him that was in his bucket to do. He said he hadn't included that in his bid. We referred him to the plans, which were very detailed about what was to be done, and highly specific about which things the owners (us) were doing. The plans were referenced in the contract we had. He groused about it, but we politely but firmly told him we didn't feel responsible if he had overlooked their inclusion in his bid. He called out a sub and got them done. 2. The floors of the addition were not level with the existing house in 3 of the 4 places they connect. Fortunately, the one place they were was where we need to continue existing tile from our kitchen into our breakfast nook, so we were okay there. He told us that they lined up the nook with the existing floor and built it level from there, so the part our sunroom attaches to was not level (subfloors are off 3/8"). The flooring will not be continuous, so we agreed to deal with that ourselves when we refloor the family room. Haven't decided whether to build it up, use a transition, or do some sloping of the floor to graduate the transition. Upstairs the new floor was 1/4" higher than the old floor, and we're continuing existing carpet. There was no excuse for this, IMO, and he said it was because our existing joists had shrunk, and the new ones he used were higher, so what did we expect him to do, plane down the joists? Yup, that's what we would have asked for if he had pointed out the issue. He suggested pulling back the carpet, and putting some leveling compound down. I suggested he do that. He gave us a $200 concession. 3. Change orders: He had 3 add-ons to our contract price. $250 for attaching the transom to the slider (he said normally they come attached, and this was a pain to put together); $125 for some extra cutting in the brickwork (he had told my DH about this); and $250 for hanging 2 sets of french doors. We protested about not being told on the slider/transom (change orders were all to be in writing), but agreed to pay it. Hanging the french doors was in the plans, so we once again referred him to those, and he withdrew the charge. Soooo, bottom line, we paid him $40,175 for the beautiful shell he built, plus we bought the windows and doors, which totalled around $6,000. Hopefully we can eke out the inside so the total comes in under $50,000 for the 500 square feet we added. And here are our final outside photos. We got hit by the remnants of Hurrican Ike that blew through the midwest, and it stood up like a champ, shingles and all. We plan to take Thanksgiving week off and do a blitz on the inside then to finish it up for the winter. And next spring a new deck.......See MoreWe've had quite the adventure with crappy washers: need help...
Comments (28)Well, we did it. The Speed Queen washer and dryer set are in our house now. But there were three more adventures! 1. The washer arrived with cosmetic damage which we reported to the seller and shipper right away. We expect the situation to be resolved on Monday. 2. Soapy water ended up draining out onto the floor during the second load of laundry. DH thinks it was because he didn't hook up the drain hose properly on first try. We fixed it and I will be watching it very carefully on the third load I do tonight. 3. First load caused yellowish staining; I was expecting that something might go wrong on first load (I'm an eternal cynic and skeptic by nature) so I threw in some old bathroom rugs that didn't matter much. Second load was some towels that didn't matter much if they stained--they didn't stain. So I think the residual stain-causing chemicals are gone. (Hoping........)...See MoreTales of the Great Architect Adventure
Comments (360)Thanks, Bonnie! I had to go investigate that one. Apparently it's Swiss, made between 1875 and 1900, but is a replica of the style of stove from the 1500's. That makes sense, looking at it's decoration. I do love all the varieties of them. I've noticed sometimes the German or Czech versions have a seat like the one you shared. The Russian ones sometimes even incorporate a sleeping platform. That sounds toasty! Still looking forward to getting started when we get all the kinks worked out. Like Becky, the longer I'm forced into a holding pattern, the more "good ideas" I have. :-) Even if my builder is starting to get something of a "now what?" reaction. Heh, bless him, I think he'd love to get going, too. He's now met my kids and would like to get us all settled into our new digs, too. In the meantime, Pinterest is my friend... (check my profile and look for the "Posts" link for some discussions of some of the other details)...See Moreroxanna7
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