Posts filed under 'Seem+Less'
At this juncture, it feels as though we are both so mouthwateringly close and so achingly far from completion. At any rate, we covered 17 topics in two hours, with Dubravka, Joseph, and Kristof, and it was very helpful to have all of them present. The mood was upbeat, despite a few issues. The newly drywalled walls were scribbled on to illustrate various points (although I used a pen instead of a pencil, which earned mock anger from Joseph, since it creates bleed through. I didn’t know!) And Luke’s faux pas was to squeeze through a freshly plastered opening…resulting in white plaster blotches on his bum.
The major hold up is the plumbing inspection, which is being held up by the expediter, Sonia Dixon. Dana, K-construction’s really lovely aide-de-camp, personally drove documents back and forth for Sonia, and yet Sonia is not releasing the completed documents for some unknown reason. Kristof is planning to go to her office today to wrest the paperwork from her and take it to the DOB so that the plumbing inspection can be scheduled. It could take 3 days or 2 weeks to schedule the inspection once the paperwork is filed.
Interjection here: If there is one thing we have learned in this process, it is to deeply mistrust “Expediters” of paperwork, since we’ve now been burned by two of them. Theirs is a woefully misnamed profession–or perhaps most ironically named, since our experience of their functionality has been diametrically opposite of their stated purpose to actually “expedite”! “Withholders” or “Procrastinators” would surely be more accurate monikers.
March 15th, 2007
We got an email from Dubravka today, chiding us for telling K-construction to raise the door. At whatever height we set the door and top set of braces, we also have to be mindful that the bottom set of braces have a maximum distance of 6′ away from the top braces. She said it is structural, not aesthetic, but the reality is that we have to live with it, and it is quite unpleasant to look at. Functionality is NOT following form in this case. Idealistically, it should be pleasing because it performs a function, but we just can’t escape a niggling sense that all options within our financial reach regarding this matter have been discussed, and therefore we are resisting the door height being lower than it was originally.
Structurally, the pre-existing posts were essentially rotting teeth that were stabilized by lathing, plaster, and sheetrock. We have a mental stutter trying to grasp the logic of insistence upon big new posts being set in the exact same places with additional braces. That’s it? That is our only option, aside from spending up to a third more of what we’re already paying for the entire job to fix it? There is no wriggle room at all? We can’t even have an open space for the doorway?
The reasons why we want the door to be set as high as possible are: to minimize the amount of wood hanging above our heads and maximize the sense of openess.
Latest pathetic design idea: transform the posts into bamboo grove by incorporating built-in planter at bottom of posts. Sigh.
February 2nd, 2007
Very long site meeting yesterday. Since it was at 2pm, I wasn’t able to attend, but Luke, Dubravka (drawing on plans above), and Joseph were present. Much discussion about the closet core; the visible beams–we are going to fireproof and refinish; material to be used for ceiling soundproofing: homasote, a recycled paper product (important on both counts–functionality and sustainability); after two months of requests–the veneer sample, which was totally unacceptable; ETA for window install; discussion about whether the wall-through a/c for the window can be inset since the wall is much thicker than is standard (the answer being yes); and a query about the completion of the job….drumroll…..can we move in by the end of March 2007? The answer was…clash of cymbals…Yes! (probably). Click on thumbnail below to see meeting in progress.
January 23rd, 2007
Dubravka sent us a revised plan this morning, and we are going to go with it–discarding our weekend futzing of the plan. She pointed out some limitations, including the fact that the bathroom is required to be handicap-compliant, and the awkwardness of access, etc. We were initially feeling such despair over the arrangement that we had to draw up some plans to feel like we were actively tackling the problem, but as the solution below shows a tidy compartmentalizing of spaces…we feel a tad foolish for all the brouhaha amongst ourselves this weekend.
(Click on thumbnail to see larger image)
January 22nd, 2007
The on-going problem of the load-bearing wall is resolved, at least in terms of decision-making: We are not going to dismantle it, and we are going to work with it. It means some big compromises, but we prefer to compromise rather than drag out the construction process. My estimate is it would have taken a minimum of 3 months to plan and get all the necessary permits and approvals before even starting to restructure the wall with steel beams–this is based on the fact that it took us 6 months to get permissions to start in the first place!
The compromises: 1) The closet core will now suck. Instead of being an accessible open space, it is going to be awkwardly bisected by the existing upright posts. The ends of it will have to open in the living room for maximum accessibility.
2) The skeletal frame of the existing load-bearing posts between the dining room and kitchen are going to be left unsheathed in sheetrock or plaster, and just exist… to be incorporated as some sort of “architectural design element.” We will be cladding them in nicer wood or something, and definitely painting them (as well as permeating them with fire-resistant-making chemicals), but they will be a continual reminder of our folly in embarking upon the renovation. They have to remain unsheathed, or otherwise compromise the issue of light in the kitchen. Oh well, perhaps we can endeavor to make them look good rather than a huge mistake. Anyone have ideas?
January 8th, 2007
The management company called Luke and said that we are not allowed to proceed with restructuring the load-bearing wall. I emailed the architect, contractor and engineer with the information that we need to switch gears and get ready to change the plans to keep the load-bearing wall.
We feel an impending sense of dread about the matter. We have our sublet until March 1, 2007–and then we don’t have anyplace to live. Our cats are now living with my parents in Masssachusetts (since it was too stressful to keep them in the studio apartment with us). And the wall issue promises to be a knock-down, drag-out battle that delays us–racking up living expenses in addition to the actual expenses of the project. Free will feels purely like an illusion at this point.
I rifled through our files and found some earlier sketches made by Dubravka, before we had definitively determined what plan to use. Alas, none of the other sketches retain very much more of that wall than our current one.
January 5th, 2007
Here we go again: the downstairs neighbor has requested that we vacuum her apartment, due to dust from the crack in her ceiling, which can be directly correlated to decades of simultaneous negligence by herself and her landlord. She also requested that we bring our own vacuum cleaner, since her own isn’t good enough for the job. When our upstairs neighbor did his renovation this past summer, we had no complaints of any kind. Why? Because our apartment was renovated within the past 15 years, with new sheetrock, regular paint jobs and other basic maintenance. So when stress was put on our ceiling, it did not crumble.
We spoke with our Co-Op president yesterday; and doing due diligence, she told us we cannot remove a load-bearing wall. Luke helped ascertain exactly which wall we were talking about and then explained about the engineer, etc. Hopefully next week we can resolve the problem.
Meanwhile, K-Construction has started constructing the “attic” cabinet for the ceiling storage in the hallway. Joseph, the foreman, found some lights that will work in it, so he’ll bring specs to the site meeting next Monday morning.
Our neighbor next door, who has been very patient, made a request to have the scaffolding removed from his yard. Luke is going to return the key to his back yard tonight.
January 5th, 2007
Arriving today: ikea kitchen cabinets, kitchen faucet. Arrived yesterday: bathtub. Luke and I will probably have to go over everything with invoices in hand to insure that everything is in order, (particularly for the ikea items). Maged, the engineer, is busily at work on calculating what will be necessary to solve the closet core problem–we may even have an absolute price in time for our site meeting next Monday morning. The foreman, Joseph, was inquiring about particulars for the ceiling storage for the hallway, which K Construction wants to start building.
Since the ceiling is relatively high, at 11 feet, we determined to make the most of the vertical space in the narrow (34″ at it’s widest) hallway by designing an “attic-box” of sorts, to be sheathed in exotic wood veneer–either dyed white anegre (sample on left) or avodire flash (sample on right). I need to approve an actual sample before work commences on this part. It’s amazing how different tiles and other samples look or feel differently in person than they do onscreen.
January 3rd, 2007
(click image for larger view)
We visited the jobsite, after driving back from Massachusetts yesterday, and we were pleasantly surprised to see about 70% of the new, perfectly level subfloor down. We fretted a bit over the continuing issue of the closet core. Maged, the engineer did not respond to our email asking for an ETA on the calculations. While pacing about, we determined that we liked the muted light from the airshaft, as it was surprisingly bright even on a gray day. So we sent an email to the architect and contractor, asking whether it is feasible to install a skylight in the airshaft. A bit of a weird request that will probably come to naught, as I’m sure the expense and permissions required will readily make us cross-eyed.
January 2nd, 2007
We got a call from the neighbor in the building next door. He was kind enough to allow us to put scaffolding in his yard. Whenever we get calls from neighbors, we cringe in anticipation of justified (or not!) complaints. This call, however, proved to be the opposite: he called to say the workmen did a great job cleaning up. A tip of the hat to the K-Construction crew.
Meanwhile, for the past week, we have been wrestling with how to proceed with the inevitable delays and expenses to be incurred by addressing central load-bearing wall. We finally determined to let the engineer, Maged, continue his analysis of the problem. (Cape Cod–The picture above is Luke and my Dad discussing the blueprints.)
We were really balking at allowing Maged to continue his analysis, because after the calculations are made, then K-Construction has to price the changes. So we have to pay him to find out what the final price on the revised construction will be. There is a distinct possibility that we will not be able to afford revised construction, in which case we will have wasted thousands of dollars and several weeks. We attempted to encourage the architect and contractor to find an alternate solutions, but we were strongly advised to continue the engineering analysis.
We were warned, time and time again about escalating costs and calendar delays. We naively believed that we were well prepared, having planned for nearly two years before attempting construction. The renovation feels like a tsunami…we just hope we land on our feet after riding this enormous wave. The people we are working with are exercising great patience with us, which we do appreciate.
***Addendum: Kristof just emailed us a rough estimate based on steel prices. It really helps us to have a sense of prices.
December 28th, 2006
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