Big Picture: Where are we?
Inside, Plumbing rough inspection is complete. We still need an electrical inspection, but that is now gated on the roof repairs. (See detail below).
Outside, Sewer line repairs are complete. Roof repairs are scheduled for 1-14 August.
Goals from Week of June 12
- Finalize sheetrock selection
- Sign-off, plumbing rough inspection (done)
- Sewer line replacement completed (done)
- Masonry work (interior) complete, except for wall penetrations (done)
Accomplishments
- Rough plumbing inspection was passed on July 13th.
- Excavated, replaced sewer line, added house trap, and back filled with gravel.
- Masonry repointing (interior) completed, and exterior penetrations completed for powder room and range hood.
Corp Update
- We scheduled a visit from Team Grey Leader (mom). She’s set to come out August 13th-26th
- We are due to renew our contractor license by 25 August. I’ve begun the process. Mostly it involves pulling together the various insurance forms, tax forms, etc. and sending it all in. I sometimes wonder what the ratio is of paperwork-to-lumber in the building trades. 🙂
Mintwood St
- Demolition: Work is complete. See blog post
- Roofing. We’re ready for the start on August 1st. Scaffolding will be dropped off July 29, and my scaffold guy will build it on July 31-Aug 1. The team from Wm Prescott Roofing will arrive on August 2. I have confirmed with one of the neighbors already that it’s fine to build out the scaffold on their property.
- Carpenters (no change from June 6) Carpenters have finished the over-framing. After inspection of mechanicals, we’re ready for insulation and drywall.
- Windows: (no change since May 16) Windows were installed this week on May 13-14. This actually included the odd sized window in the kitchen, which was good news.I haven’t inspected the final results yet, but will review on Monday.
- Insulation I’ve met with two new insulation specialists. I’m expecting two bids this week.
- HVAC White Heating came out on Friday to tidy up a few things. They’ll continue next week.
- Plumbers: Mertz Plumbing returned on Monday and Tuesday as planned. The inspection was pretty quick and we passed rough plumbing on Tuesday, I noticed that the mixing valves for the office shower and the upstairs bathtub are not anchored- that will need to be addressed before drywall.
Mister Sewer came out on Tuesday as planned. There was a bit of drama around the configuration of the new line. Mr. Sewer spoke with a supervisor at the plumbing inspectors office and was told that it was permissible to put a straight line from the house to the main due to the fact that there wasn’t a trap there previously, particularly since the line coming from the house was “Pittsburgh 9″ (meaning 9″ pipe). When the inspector arrived, he said we could downsize the 9″ to 6″ and install a house trap. This wasn’t welcome news to Mr. Sewer, but we did work through it and they agreed to change out the 9″ for a 6” with a house trap. - Electrical: The electricians are 98% done. They’ll come back once the roof is complete to install the exhaust fans.
- Masonry Rob completed all of the masonry work. All of the fireplaces and exposed brick has been repointed. He also punched through the back wall for the powder room and the range hood exhaust. However, after careful consideration, we decided NOT to penetrate the side wall. The masonry is tricky, and there isn’t much in the way of working space. Instead, we’re going to route them out through the rear mansard. This will require the return of the HVAC team and the electricians, but it’ll work out reasonably well.
- Plaster: We were unable to get a reference from Carlos. I’m going to contact the second choice company and sign with them.
- Finish Carpentry I’ve stripped one side of one door. It took about 45 minutes to paint, and then two hours with the putty knife to clean. That means we’re looking at 6-8 hours per door. This week I’m going to look into a service to dip-strip the doors. It may not be feasible to strip 12 doors by hand (plus the stairs and other parts).
- Design: Katy has delivered the kitchen design, and we’re nearly complete on the bathrooms as well. I need to order the kitchen cabinets this week. Design board is available here, though we made some slight changes after this board was produced.
Next Steps
- Finalize sheetrock contract.
- Finalize plans for roofing work. (Contact DLC to arrange cover of lines and removal, contact Anthony for permission to be on their steps.)
- Order kitchen cabinets.
- Source a paint stripper.
Pearl St.
- Working on the front door trim. Next up, back door trim. Then I’ll deal with Zoe’s door.
Next Steps
- Trim the back door.
Goals for Week of 19 June 2021
- Finalize sheetrock selection
- Contracts for Mintwood sheetrock.
- Roofing preparation
Entropy Properties LLC 