Status Report, 18 July 2022

Big Picture: Where are we?
Mintwood, Kitchen countertops partially installed.
Pearl, Requested plumbing inspection, haven’t settled on a date.
Duncan, Painting completed. Significant punch list, but on hold until we get Mintwood done.

Corp Update

• I was out sick Thursday and Friday, so we didn’t get as much done this week. Apprentice was also sick.
• Renewed Workers Comp policy with SWIC. This should be my last year in the assigned risk pool, as I’ll have 3 years of verified experience at my next renewal. This should allow me to get lower rates next year.

Major Accomplishments

• Kitchen countertops partially installed.

Goals from Week of 11 July

• MINTWOOD
  • Install kitchen countertops (partial). {done}
  • Install master shower floor & grout {nope}
  • Prepare for flooring installation. {partial}
  • Additional trim work on 1st floor. {nope}
• DUNCAN
  • none.
• PEARL
  • Get the plumbing inspection scheduled (for real) {partial}

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Mintwood St

• Finish Work
  • Granite countertops in kitchen- partial installation. They installed the island and the large section of the perimeter counters. Obviously they could not do the last piece of the perimeter as we’re missing one cabinet. I was underwhelmed by the brackets they brought (they looked like stamped parts from an office desk) so we rejected those. Thanks to Barrett, we’ve sourced new brackets from an online source. They’ll take about 4 weeks to deliver, but I think they’re a lot more in keeping with what we want to do.
    I’m not totally jazzed about the island. (See photo below). The overhang sticks out 4″ further than the perimeter cabinets. It reduces the utility of the walkway by the windows. We’ll see how it works in real life. We may still consider cutting 4″ off the overhang later. I checked with the installer, and they’d be able to remove the counter, take it to the shop, cut, and return (likely in a single day).
    They did not take measurements/ template for the remaining pieces, but that’s not a big deal since they will have to template for the remaining cabinet, and they can do the other pieces at the same time.
  • I spent an entire day working on the third floor baseboard by the stairs. There was a significant gap behind the baseboard. This was because we pulled down the original plaster, which was ~1-1/4″ thick, and replaced it with wallboard (1/2″ thick). I milled up custom pieces to slide behind the baseboard, and it looks reasonable. There’s still one more piece of cap rail to make and fit in, but that is going to require some more sophisticated millwork.
  • The master shower pan is ready for new tile (which arrived this week). Recall that the pan was not draining correctly, so we had to float it up with more thinset. We are ready to install Monday, and hopefully grout on Tuesday.
  • We have a back-up strategy for the dishwasher. If it doesn’t fit, we’ve identified several other models that will fit. They’re more expensive, but it will be worth it to stay with a Bosch, which we’ve enjoyed for nearly all of the years we’ve been together.
  • We finally managed to get all of the information we need to make a selection on flooring. I’ve reached out to the vendor and we are aiming to get the contract signed this week. It’ll be several weeks before they can install, I’m sure.
  • We got Comcast installed this week. It’s a little thing, but it allows me to start connecting a lot of the home automation stuff (thermostats, light switches, etc.)
• Painting:
  • The painters have returned to Mintwood, and are working on doors on the second floor. It does make a huge difference to have them painted.
  • Kathryn continues the poulticing of the LR fireplace. It’s looking fantastic- my only regret is that she didn’t take a really good “before” shot, so I’ll have to dig one up.
• Design: Design board is available here, though we made some slight changes after this board was produced.

Pearl St.

• This week I stopped in the plumbing inspector’s office and confirmed my suspicion- he was on vacation, and had just returned. We agreed to try to get me scheduled this (past) week. He did call on Thursday to visit, but since I was under the weather, I didn’t have him come. I’ll try again on Monday morning.
  I’ll continue to chase them this week. This is a challenge because I’m not a licensed master plumber. For other trades, where I can be the contractor of record, I can log into a system in Pgh where I just place an online request and schedule the inspection. Plumbing is not set up that way- you have to be a registered master plumber to get a login. So instead I have to catch the inspector at his desk to schedule the inspection.
  We had our finish plumbing inspection, but did not pass. There are 4 updates to make. They aren’t difficult items, but need to be done before we can pass inspection.
  • Install double check valve at water meter.
  • Remove spigot near water meter.
  • Install expansion tank on HW heater.
  • Install backflow preventer on outside hose bib.
• No work on the walls this week. Painter stopped by to look at the flaking problems we’ve had. It appears that the oldest layers of paint are splitting off from the wall. (The newest latex paint is adhered to a couple of layers beneath, and they’re coming off in a group). So I’ll need to skim it up with setting plaster and then repaint.
• Roofing inspection passed. Permit closed, exactly 23 months after it was opened.
• The inspection report was actually uploaded in March, but was placed in the wrong location in the web site. My electrician is trying to get it corrected so that they will close the permit.

Duncan St.

I reviewed Duncan St and there’s a fairly lengthy punch list remaining there. Some of it is stuff I can hand off, and some is work I will have to do myself. I’ll hand off what I can, but the remaining work is being prioritized after Mintwood. Our carry costs on the building are relatively low, so it doesn’t make financial sense to pay the crew to finish these out.

• Electrical: {no change from 21 March} The rough-in electrical inspection was completed on Wednesday, March 16. We are now good to hang drywall.
• Framing/ drywall: All compound and sanding work is complete.
• Kitchen: <no change>
• Bathroom: Flooring installed. Tile work was finished on Thursday. I don’t yet know if they grouted on Friday.
• Plumbing: Rough inspection passed on 7 March 2022
• Painting: Painters finished at Duncan. I’d added two doors which yielded a whooping 25% to the painting tab. Didn’t have much choice, though, since the door openings were non-standard size.
• Carpet is due to be installed on Wednesday this week.

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Goals for Week of 18 July

• MINTWOOD
  • Install master shower floor & grout
  • Prepare for flooring installation.
  • Additional trim work on 1st floor.
  • Trello board to ~80?
• DUNCAN
  • carpet installation.
• PEARL
  • Get the plumbing inspection scheduled (for real)

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I am tracking remaining tasks in Trello. This isn’t perfect, as there is no granularity/ size (a single card can be a small thing, like “install switch plate covers” or a big thing like “install flooring”) but it at least creates a common repository for us to look at what’s remaining. In a real system, I’d track LOE remaining, and effort closed this week, etc., but this is at least a start.

	18 July	25 July	1 Aug	8 Aug	15 Aug	22 Aug
General	6
3 Princess	4
3 Back BR	6
3 Common	15
2 MBath	14
2 MBR	8
2 Common	9
2 Office	13
1 Kitchen	26
1 LR	6
1 Dining	10
1 Common	12
1 Vestibule	8
TOTAL	86	goal: 80?