99 Problems and Cedar Shingles are One

Have you ever had a day when you're already late for class or work and everything else--the breakfast drive-thru, the traffic, the construction-- continues to pile on to your tardiness?  That's the perception I'm getting with every new project we take on at Betty.   We're behind schedule, but nothing is moving faster.

I'm starting to think that there are no quick projects on our To-Do List.  Everything-- demo, windows, drywall-- has taken months to complete and it looks like new cedar shingles aren't the exception.

We're 15 days in--weekends and a few hours after work-- and I'm about to call it.  We are just slow at everything!  Take a look at our progress.

In The Beginning 

End of day one, there is hope!

Somewhere between 4 & 6.  Apparently shingles crack on uneven surfaces

End of Day 8...those uneven surfaces suck!

Day 12 we have a rhythm going!

Day 15 looks alot like day 12

Weekend #3 Lets get this done by Labor Day PLEASE! 

Windows and Doors Everywhere

There have been a few projects along the way that have taken a bit longer than we anticipated--the darn demolition took about four months and I still bring it up to DH.  Now, it's the window and door installation that is certainly the cause of my recent high blood pressure.    

I can't make up my mind on what's more frustrating--the weather or our installation pace.  The  windows arrived in mid-February, but the snow, rain and the below 32F weather stalled our ability to start tackling the project.  And, of course, once one thing falls behind in schedule, it effects everything else. It's like that darn skeleton song…the foot bone is connected to the leg bone...

Two months later and the windows dominate the garage space.  Our HVAC contractor has begun work inside, and our electrician starts this week with no where to store the material on site.

Like I said, it's not just the weather that's put us behind schedule.  Our installation pace is a bit embarrassing.  On the first day we installed one window.  One!  I couldn't find the flashing tape I had purchased, the instructions were missing because we didn't put them back in the box.  We have 34 doors and windows to install!

The experiment 

On weekend number two, we fared a little better and actually got three in there!  I'll spare you the math, that's 34 windows and doors installed in 8 days, or 4 weekends!

The bushes won't make it

I think I'm actually developing anxiety over these windows.  On Monday mornings, I stare at my weather app and stalk the weekend weather, praying that we can get a dry day above 32.

Until the next installation day, I make myself feel a little bit better by crossing off the windows we've done a la Revenge.  Or maybe it's become more like a sniper crossing off her targets.  Only 30 to go!

The Red Monster

At Fenway Park the left field wall stands 37 feet tall and is affectionately called, by both the Red Sox and it's frenemies, the Green Monster.  Although you might think that the Sox built the wall to prevent homeruns, they actually built it to hide the view of the field from non-paying spectators that would stand outside of the park.

That's exactly how I felt about our 117 year old brick fireplace--it was built to obstruct my waterview!  The fireplace was three stories tall emerging from the basement to the family room, through the master bedroom, up the attic and out the roof.  It's our very own Green Monster--but with red brick and faux panel. 

Although we try to save as much as we can--took us forever to safely remove all of the moldings-- I think DH and I both accepted early on that there probably wasn't a way to save the Red Mo nster from demolition.  We spent weeks working with our architect to figure out a way to save the fireplace while still getting our views.

Unfortunately, there was no way to save the Red Monster, no matter how we drew it out.    One of the biggest reasons we purchased this home was because of all of the light and the amazing views.  Although 117, it just couldn't stay.

 
Before we began the demo, we had our plans approved by the city Building Inspector and we had to figure out if it was structurally feasible to take it down.  We had a chimney expert inspect the structure-- we learned that most chimneys are not structural and don't hold anything up.  Although the chimney wasn't holding anything up, we did come across plumbing that was placed flush with the chimney wall and all of those pipes will need relocating.

There was no asbestos and we learned it cost about $5000 for the chimney to be removed. There's a lot that we can do with $5000, heck, we need the $5k for everything else.  So to DH it made sense that we DIY the demo.  For me?  No joke, that roof slop alone was worth me paying a professional to get up there and do it.   Unfortunately, there was no way I was going to convince DH of that, so up he went.

Taking down a chimney--or two as we took the one that vented the old oil-heating system-- was a lot of hard work and our backs are still recovering.  Those bricks from the late 1800s were meant to last FOREVER! It took DH, my dad, BIL, and myself 4 solid weekends to take both of those chimneys down.  There were a few heart attacks along the way--the steep roof could have been a killer.  There was so much old DUST.  DO NOT skip on investing in really really good masks.  We had to patch the roof, add floor joists to the new empty area, and I ended up making a lot of runs taking the bricks from the inside into the dumpster.

In the end, I'm a little sad to see the Red Monster go, but I can't  wait to see the ocean while standing in my kitchen.

Fact: Bricks are heavy!

The DUST!

DH trying not to get himself killed

Second Floor Chimney Gone!

Open Concept

Our clean up system wasn't exactly the Ford Assembly Line

Fun Fact: What did we do with all of those bricks?  We placed an ad on Craigslist.  If you could haul the bricks away, you could have them for free.  Many of the bricks were in really good shape and could be recycled and used for an outdoor patio or walkway.  Giving them away was also a cost-saving measure as we had weight restrictions with our dumpster.   

Money and Cents:

Demo: Took 4 weekends for two chimneys, but aside from our time, it cost nothing to do it ourselves.  We took wood from the demo and extra shingles from the garage to patch the roof.  The joists were covered under our framing contract--more on that later!

Savings: About $4000 after dumpster and joist-framing costs

We Have Windows!

After not waiting so patiently for 6 weeks, our custom windows and doors are in!!  I actually think DH and I went a bit overboard and Betty could have more window square footage compared to wall square footage.  

Windows and doors played a significant role in our design of the new layout.  Our goal was to achieve an ocean view as much as possible and hopefully these do just that!

Keep your fingers crossed that the Andersen directions and YouTube videos are enough of a teaching tool to get us to install these correctly!  There's no room in the budget to get these installed by a vendor.

Sticker Shock

WARNING: This post was written while upset and two glasses in to really tasty Prosecco.

Let me start by emphasizing how much respect I have for the trades.  DH and I have this philosophy that we'll DIY as much as possible but hire out on plumbing--don't want to flood the place-- and electrical--don't want to start a fire or die from electrocution--not because it's hard, but because it requires a true professional with experience under his/her belt (no pun intended).

I believe that one should be adequately compensated for the work that they do.  I mean, I myself expect to be paid well for what I do, why wouldn't I expect the same for the trades?  I also believe that you get what you pay for; however, a small electrical fire or electrocution may be worth it.

Today I was told our "million dollar house" needed $65,000 of electric work.  You read that correctly.  That's 4 professionals working full time for 2 weeks.  This is a great company, came highly recommended and we wouldn't have to worry about the quality of the work or materials.

Even as I say it out loud and type it out, I still can't wrap my mind around the cost.  I feel like going through my DVR and rewatching every show on HGTV to see if their electrical costs come any where close.  I get it, and I hope you do to.  Either HGTV has #alternativeFacts or I'm calling the wrong folks for quotes.

And maybe it was the way he explained it to me that set off this type of reaction.

I almost cried, doubled over, and threw up on the man's shoes.  Then I got upset.  

Is it because of the location?

Is it because I'm--a woman--acting as the General Contractor (GC)? Do GCs get a better price?  Would my husband get a better price?

Am I underpaid??!?!?!?!

Twenty minutes later and a new sense of reality has set in.  Did I underestimate the work that needs to be done?  Was I naive not to see how everything would cost more because of the beach location and the double square footage?

Do I have an unrealistic understanding of how much things cost?

For now, I'll call another company for another quote and I think I'll rewatch Super Bowl 51 and get my blood pressure under control...well, at least the 4th quarter.

Demo Day!

How do you go from this:

To this?

Well, you first have to endure this:

Let me start by saying: demo day is never A day.  Nope.  Definitely not! Don't let Chip Gaines fool you.  Demo day is 28 days over the course of four months!  A newborn, full time jobs, Company Command, full time graduate school, and winter have all limited DH and I to working only on the weekends.  Four months later, I can't help but feel like we lost so much time.

Let me also point out something that might have been obvious to everyone else, but us.  Three Thousand square feet is more than double Dolce Olin's 1300.  It never seemed to end.  Every time we thought we were almost done, there was another room, another wall, another piece of plywood to pry off the floor. It. Never. Seemed. To. End!

Not only does it never end, but the 117-year old dust from the horse-hair plaster was a struggle on another level.  Whereas at Dolce we purchased those flimsy cheap masks, for Betty we went through 3 different filter masks hoping to protect our lungs and their breathing capability!

And the Dumpsters! How many 30 foot dumpsters do you need for a 3000sqft house?  Don't answer that, it's a lot!

Before we started framing we went through 5 dumpsters and of course we always went over weight on those darn things.  TIP: When choosing a dumpster company, consider a few things: cost of extra weight, length of time allowed at construction site before incurring additional charges, and of course, size of dumpster.  A company might offer a great deal by having the dumpster for an unlimited amount of days--something that is advantageous when you're demo is going slower than anticipated--but if they charge outrageous fees for going over weight, you might want to reconsider whether or not you need the dumpster for that long of a period and if you can speed things up.

With a new layout design that we both loved and shortly after our building permit was approved DH, my dad, and I picked a spot and a hammer and went for it...for four months.  Did I mention how it took 4-months?

Up first?  The 117-year old Chimney that stands between us and the open concept we crave.

Money, Money, Money...

We had a handful of contractors come through Betty to give us insight into what it would cost to have the home professionally demo'ed.  Three Thousand square feet of construction material, removal of 2 Chimneys and a whole bunch of 30ft dumpsters came in at $20,000.

DIYing it all came in at a total of $3,200 and 28 six-hour weekend days. One thing that was a must, that we definitely would not touch was the removal of the 100-year old asbestos.  We hired a licensed contractor--well worth it-- and paid $3,800 for the safe removal of the pipes and tile floor.

Was saving $13,000 worth potentially losing 3 months that we could have had for our trades folks to come in instead?  I think that if we were under a time crunch to move in, I would say No Way!  But we're not, we have some time to work with.  Our limited budget is the most important factor for us.    Saving $13,000 means we can convert the home to gas and install central air and heating!