House update: Monday/Tuesday

[electricland]

Monday was pretty boring:

Hello all,
Not much to report. Had hamburgers for lunch. Dan worked on bathroom drywall. John went to Home Depot and bought lumber, fasteners, drywall and a drywall hammer (a very specialized instrument). He is at home this afternoon looking after Val's accounts.

Cheers, Helen

Tuesday on the other hand:

Today for lunch, Dan and John went to Scratch Danial's [sic]. Sonia and I went to the Arts & Letters Club and heard a lecture on a fictionalized account of Shakespeare's sex life and sources of inspiration. It was very well done.

Dan and John got very dirty putting 'mud' on the back wall of Jen's bathroom, at the request of Brian the Tile. This is so all the walls are flush. Work on greenboard continues. (I apologize if I gave the impression that everything is in place. Nothing is simple.)

Mr. Elksinter, the inspector, may come tomorrow. There are things John wants him to check on. Will need him next week too.

Garry is coming to do pressure tests on the plumbing. For copper, you close taps, and see if the metre has moved the next morning. For plastic, you cap, fill up, and then see if anything leaked out.

Brother Michael was very impressed with the plastic plumbing saga. Said that a bathroom drain in his house went, and it took him four hours to fix it. If you don't do something for a while, the learning curve is long.

Brother Mike also reported that you guys have not had really difficult building problems. One of his clients ordered the foundation of a new house, went on vacation and came back to find the hole had been done but nothing else done. Diggers found a body in the excavation. Turns out it was an old cemetery and she has a certificate that says all the bodies had been transferred. Won't be a problem, but a little odd. (Checked the basement out really thoroughly?)

Cheers, Helen

Do you suppose this means that our really difficult building problems are yet to come? Aside from the building inspector, that is. I talk to him, but I am never quite sure exactly what to say.

Jen and I are both in a trough of pessimism at the moment. Well, she was on Monday and I still am. Hopefully this too shall pass.

Comments

[mrs-cake.livejournal.com]

Ell, forgive, but I lost track somewhere along the lines during my Dis-Connected Phase. What's happened with the house? Did you know so much building would have to be done? Why a building inspector? What's a greenboard? And most importantly, when are you moving in? I must have missed the first entries relating to this tale of Anxiety and Bother.

And, Up With Da Chin! All will be well. *crosses fingers*

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Well, you know how it is, a little plaster here, a little plaster there, and suddenly you've gutted the whole house and are redoing things from scratch. Don't worry about not keeping up! I have a hard time myself some days. And the daily updates don't really give the big picture, although they're great at the small picture. Probably I should do something about that.

We need a building inspector because we were good and applied for a building permit. Sigh. He's been quite nice so far -- he looks at the plumbing and the framing and things to make sure we're doing it right. But he's making us put in vapour barrier in addition to the cool new high-tech spray foam insulation which is supposed to provide its own vapour barrier, and we can't drywall until he's seen all the plumbing finished, and this has led to bottlenecks. Possibly logjams. I keep waiting for the logjams to magically clear up, WHICH I AM SURE THEY'RE GOING TO DO ANY DAY NOW (whew, sorry). Not so far though.

Greenboard is special drywall that you put in bathrooms because it's more water-resistant. It's green. (Well, Jen says it's blue, but she's just crazy. It's green.)

As to when I'm moving in... who knows? I hope it's soon. I put off the appliance delivery.

[mrs-cake.livejournal.com]

Aw hon :( That sounds like such a headache! But hey, at least you know that when it's all done, it's DONE, and the house is unlikely to fall onto your head any time soon. And you'll be so, so happy when you've finally moved in, and you're sitting down in your kitchen/living room/jacuzzi with your first cuppa/pint/glass of wine, and you can breathe again. *hands you my rose-tinted glasses*

There. How's that?

[electricland.livejournal.com]

*puts on glasses* that's much better! thanks! *hugs you*

and it IS going to be great, it really is. When it's done. Whenever that should be. Hey, my bathtub has feet! That alone makes it all worth it!

We are planning The Housewarming Trilogy, Part I: Construction Ends/Arising from the Rubble/After the Rockwool/And Now There Are Two/At Least We Have Running Water/The Worst Is Over (TM Jen).

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

If I were anywhere near you, I'd offer to help. And finally put my nifty new toolbox and drill to use, but alas, I'm way far away.

So, I send you plenty of good vibes, well wishes and happy thoughts. Best of luck.