Dominos

We are at the part of the build now where it is like an intricate string of dominos - each part of the build is like a domino and you really can't knock down the ones ahead of you until you knock down the current one. The domino currently standing firm in our way is the pouring of the basement floor. Without the basement floor poured - we have pretty much knocked down as many dominos as we can. All the plumbing, HVAC and electrical is roughed in - and framing is 98% done - but they to, need the basement poured to do their last 2%.

So this week has been a scheduling maze to get everything lined up for an attempt at the basement pour on Friday. We hadthe rough in for a future basment bathroom installed, had it inspected, got a temporary furnace hung from the basement cieling to make sure any frost buried below the inches of stone fill is thawed and a spent a night cleaning all the crap that had someone accumulated in the basement from all the crews coming out. And I also remembered last minute today that I should probably have the 12ft dumpster removed from the driveway, so the concrete truck can back in (boy, that one almost got me).

So tomorrow morning the concrete guys are coming out to see if all is well for the pour. The more interesting part is going to be seeing how they plan on getting the concrete down to the basment, seeing the house is now framed in completely. If they can't get their basic equipment close enough - then its a $1,900 hit to the budget to pay for a pumper. I am hoping that can be avoided at all costs...even if it means taking up a section of the floor and joists - replacing that will only be a few bucks, not $1900. All of this is due to the challenges presented by a city lot...as there is no way they they can get to the sides or back of the house with a concrete truck.

So, hopefully by this time tomorrow - concrete is down in the basement - and we can move on to the next stage - as I already have the framer lined up to come in on Monday (I have learned its better to have folks lined up tight or even overlapping than have gaps - this way no time is lost).

Mechanical s coming along...


The supersized fireplace is in place...

The 300lb cast iron tub is in place in the kids bathroom (no, I didnt carry it up 2 floors - the plumbers did thank god). The pocket door frame seperates the toliet and shower area from the dual sinks.


5,000 ft of RG6 Coax, Cat5e and in wall speaker wire that I get to run in the house one of these nights. Also not in the pic - all the in cieling speaker brackets. Idea is (because it is so cheap to do it now when walls are open) is to run 2 coax and 2 cat5e to every room and also have a couple 3.5mm outlets/jacks to plug an iPod into the main stereo system at several points in the house. I just could not justify the money and didnt see us using all the features of some of these high end whole house audio systems . With the cheap setup I am doing, each room will have a volume knob that controls cieling speakers - which are all home-run wired back to the main reciever in the great room (thus, DirecTv, iPod, FM, CD, BluRay) can be heard in any room. Realistically, will likely use it most in kitchen, front porch, back yard and den.