Remodel, Day 11
Sep. 6th, 2007 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynBrent said today that he would start "catching up" by tomorrow and I thought, catch up? With what? I'm amazed at what a one-man crew can do -- he's tireless, if you ask me, and I feel bad that they call him "lead carpenter" even though he's the only carpenter -- the only anyone -- here. He's also just really nice and thoughtful, and he's even going to get spider spray to keep the freaking huge creepy mutoid spiders away from the wall if he can (he heard me banging on the door one day, trying to kill the most godawful spider I've ever seen).
The bad part is that we've got asbestos everywhere, which means a lot -- a LOT -- more money to have an asbestos abatement crew come out here. First it was the floor, but we found another setback today when he took off the siding out back. He took a chunk to the testing place this afternoon so we'll know for sure tomorrow, but it means I'll have to schedule the crew again, which causes delays, and pay more $$. Arg. I planned for more expenses, but I was hoping it would be for good stuff.
Just as an example of what I mean by thoughtful, he broke up this concrete from my walkway, and broke it specially in certain size pieces and then stacked them all himself off to the side, so that I could use them to make a little retaining wall or something where he'd had to tear out a railroad tie.
This is one of the holes for footings he dug, with the form for the concrete on top. Olive, the new city inspector, says "I believe this hole does not meet code requirements for proper depth and spacing." I say, get your butt out of that hole, you little monster. They're quite deep, actually, because the soil was unbelievably soft and shifty, to the point where he was afraid we'd have to get a soil engineer, but fortunately when they dug deeper they found clay. Unforunately, it means more money for more concrete.
This is one of the holes with the rebar in place. You can kind of see how deep they are, but you really have to stick your head down there to get the full "is China on the other side?" effect.
These are the three holes for footings. They're not going to do a wall foundation, but Brent's got a great idea for something to keep the critters out that won't be lattice. The inspector came today and signed off on them, and I guess brought up a bunch of things to keep in mind, so it sounds like we got a nice guy this time.
All the siding came off today, when we found possible asbestos. It rained the other night quite heavily, so the yard is a bit of a mud pit. Another example of how nice Brent is is that he hosed off the sidewalk where he tracked mud. I told him to not worry about it, but he always keeps things spotless.
No wondering where the freakazoid spiders from another planet are coming from.
I couldn't help but love these two signs on the sheathing used in the original build. I collect old signs from the '20s to the '60s, and so this circa '43 type and information just really appeals to me. I think I'm the only one who'd find it appealing, but I kind of wish it could just hang around somewhere, only it's contaminated if there's asbestos underneath.
And now I have to go do some late-night publishing, just because apparently I don't work *enough.*
The bad part is that we've got asbestos everywhere, which means a lot -- a LOT -- more money to have an asbestos abatement crew come out here. First it was the floor, but we found another setback today when he took off the siding out back. He took a chunk to the testing place this afternoon so we'll know for sure tomorrow, but it means I'll have to schedule the crew again, which causes delays, and pay more $$. Arg. I planned for more expenses, but I was hoping it would be for good stuff.
Just as an example of what I mean by thoughtful, he broke up this concrete from my walkway, and broke it specially in certain size pieces and then stacked them all himself off to the side, so that I could use them to make a little retaining wall or something where he'd had to tear out a railroad tie.
This is one of the holes for footings he dug, with the form for the concrete on top. Olive, the new city inspector, says "I believe this hole does not meet code requirements for proper depth and spacing." I say, get your butt out of that hole, you little monster. They're quite deep, actually, because the soil was unbelievably soft and shifty, to the point where he was afraid we'd have to get a soil engineer, but fortunately when they dug deeper they found clay. Unforunately, it means more money for more concrete.
This is one of the holes with the rebar in place. You can kind of see how deep they are, but you really have to stick your head down there to get the full "is China on the other side?" effect.
These are the three holes for footings. They're not going to do a wall foundation, but Brent's got a great idea for something to keep the critters out that won't be lattice. The inspector came today and signed off on them, and I guess brought up a bunch of things to keep in mind, so it sounds like we got a nice guy this time.
All the siding came off today, when we found possible asbestos. It rained the other night quite heavily, so the yard is a bit of a mud pit. Another example of how nice Brent is is that he hosed off the sidewalk where he tracked mud. I told him to not worry about it, but he always keeps things spotless.
No wondering where the freakazoid spiders from another planet are coming from.
I couldn't help but love these two signs on the sheathing used in the original build. I collect old signs from the '20s to the '60s, and so this circa '43 type and information just really appeals to me. I think I'm the only one who'd find it appealing, but I kind of wish it could just hang around somewhere, only it's contaminated if there's asbestos underneath.
And now I have to go do some late-night publishing, just because apparently I don't work *enough.*
