Major completion - the ROOF is finally done! - PTL

New Roof!

Roof Replacement in Progress

FOR THE WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 29, 2006

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

1. We have a new roof! Wednesday and Thursday were rainouts but the roofing crew showed up bright and early on Friday and finished mid afternoon on Saturday. The crew of 7 was amazing in how they worked at 35 - 50 feet above the ground. The Spanish I learned while living in Mexico City did come in handy. The cost was about $1600 more than expected due to the roof deck, i.e., the wood that the shingles are nailed to, needing more extensive repairs than I previously thought. But it's done, nobody got hurt, and we're dry.
2. The claw foot tub is in the shop being refinished. I moved the tub about 120' by myself from the carport to the back of the pickup and was real proud of myself until I delivered it to the tub refinishing guy (who was significantly smaller than me) and found out that he loads them by himself all the time. But OSHA Babe was impressed. When the tub is done, it's really going to be nice!
3. The pest control visit was completed. We had cucarrachas dying for the next 2 days. Why do they have to crawl to the middle of the room to do that?
4. The HVAC technician came out on Wednesday. There's good news and bad news. What do you want first? OK, the good news is that both the RUDD Heat Pumps work after very little use since their installation in 1995-1996. The bad news is that they haven't been serviced in 10 years. A followup visit is scheduled to take care of cleaning the condensing coils, leveling the concrete pads the outside units are sitting on, relocating one of the outside units, and installing 2 programmable thermostats. I'm glad that we're not having to buy new units.
5. The carpenter contines to develop the plan for improving the structural support of the front balcony, making the "Leaning Column of Tobin Hill" more plumb, and tidying up the column bases. Stand by. More to come, i.e., $$$$$$$
6. Visitors this week - 1 hardwood floor refinisher, the bug man, the HVAC guy, a masonry contractor, and a neighbor from 2 doors down.

NEXT STEPS -
1. A good part of this week will be spent under the house mapping the existing plumbing infrastructure. Current plans call for increasing the supply line to a 1" line, capping the lines to the 2 water heaters currently located in the kitchen, extending the water to a future back porch and water heater closet, rerunning the water lines for the 2nd floor laundry room. I'm hoping to do the grunt work of running the new lines myself with the help of a neighbor. We'll see how that goes.
2. HVAC service is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 30
3. Masonry work needs to be scheduled to repair the fireplace and "re-tuck" the chimney that served the kitchen.
4. The Fireplace door and frame need to be taken to a sandblaster to get the old paint off. The design on the door is pretty cool.

WWJD - An additional meaning

FOR THE WEEK ENDING October 22, 2006

Honored Guests early for Thanksgiving

Carpenters wondering "WWJD?"

Debris in Dumpster

Debris in Back Yard

Highlights of the week
1. There was good movement on several fronts this week. The 15 cubic yard dumpster arrived empty on Tuesday and left full on Thursday. Two of the pictures above capture the debris' epic journey from the back yard to the dumpster. It was good to get this done.
2. Carpenters showed up Friday for an exploratory session regarding the balcony and columns. The picture above is when I was probably asking Wes the carpenter, "WWJD?" Given that Jesus' earthly father was Joseph (a carpenter), I sure would like to know what he would do about a sagging balcony and leaning columns. Although Jesus is not swinging a hammer on this project, He is working along side of me and OSHA Babe.

3. Roofing material arrived on Friday. However, the supply company decided that it was too difficult to put the materials on the roof (as originally planned) and off loaded on the driveway. The installers will have to bring extra help to hand carry the 80 lb bundles up ladders to the rooftop. Oh, by the way, the crew originally scheduled to put the roof on Monday, Oct. 23, is short handed and not able to do the work. So the contractor is looking for a different crew. Maybe we're talking about Wed. or Thur. Stay tuned.
4. Big News!!- a toilet in the house works! One of the bathrooms has a sink and toilet still installed. They were both so nasty that I had not checked them after the water was turned on a couple of weeks ago. On a walk thru with a potential plumbing contractor, I turned the faucet on and, lo and behold, it worked. The toilet flushed and nothing exploded. The port-a-potty's days are numbered.
5. Visitors this week included the Kruger family from Sunnyvale, CA and the Treat family from here in San Antonio. Pat and I were priviliged to be part of a great church family in Campbell, CA, with Gordon and Lora Lee/David and Judy. The Krugers are still there. Dave and Judy have been in San Antonio for about 2 years now and are active at the Oak Hills Church. Pat and I were encouraged during our time in CA and continue to be blessed by these folks' friendship.

Next Steps
1. Complete the roofing saga.
2. Do more than hypothesize about the work to be done on the balcony and columns.
3. Finalize the scope of the plumbing work to be done.
4. Find out if the Rudd Heat Pumps work, i.e., schedule a service call.
5. Somehow get the clawfoot bath tub from under the carport into the back of the pickup to the sandblasting company so it can be refinished.
6. Begin painting preparations by scraping, sanding and priming.

Off the walls and Out the window

Trash Pile in back yard -->

Trash pile in back bedroom

<--- Bo clearing the walls & ceilings

FOR THE WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 15, 2006

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

1. Most of the week was spent stripping walls and ceilings upstairs of the tacky 12" accoustic tiles, 1950's vintage paneling, and 1905 vintage ceiling and wall fabric, i.e., ancestor of wallpaper. The dust and soot of 101 yrs. was nasty. Each ceiling tile had 12 staples in it that had to be removed. That's me and my pliers hard at it in the master bedroom. Pat played clean up crew gathering up tiles and paper and pitching them out the window (upper left picture) to the debris pile in the back yard (upper right picture). We found some pretty neat paper in the 2nd floor landing area that will be part of the scrapbook we're planning that has samples of all the original wall coverings. We also found more "Ed Steves & Sons" signatures on ceilings upstairs.

2. Pat picked out her gas stove, microwave and dishwasher. Now all she needs are some grandkids (or adopted grandkids) to make cookies for. Still pending is a refrigerator. The kitchen is still a long way off.

3. On Wednesday, I thought that I ordered roofing material. The sales person wrote up the order but did not process my credit card information (that I had given him over the phone). When I had not received email confirmation of the order, I called but the sales person was not in. That prompted an in person visit. Much to my dismay, the supply company had me in "bid" status rather than "order" status and the delivery (that the sales person told me was on the calendar for Oct. 20) had not been scheduled. With the installation crew coming on Monday, Oct. 23, we would have been in for a disaster. The story ends on a good note. A couple of folks at the supply company helped turn the bid into an order and squeezed me into the delivery schedule for Friday, Oct. 20. Just remember one of the fundamental rules of project management, trust your sources of information --AND VERIFY!!

4. I did get a recommendation for a part time worker. Someone who had worked on the foundation repair had a guy doing some clean up and said that he was available to work if I needed some help from time to time. I was told to keep the work basic and that he was a good worker for 2 - 3 hours --- until he started drinking. It is always interesting.

5. As the World Turns - OSHA Babe did agree to a date. We had a wonderful time but I'd better not give TMI.

6. Visitor Log - I believed that we missed acknowledging Mary Dean Richards' visit from the previous week. She thinks that the plan is great. This week's visitor list was limited to 3 contractors looking at the balcony and column work that needs to be done and our neighbors (from whom we bought the house) who returned from their honeymoon in Italy and picked up their fish that we were keeping.

NEXT STEPS

1. We need a dumpster.

2. The roofing material is scheduled for delivery on Friday, Oct. 20. I'm nervous considering what was written above.

3. The work on the balcony and columns continues to puzzle and intrigue the contractors who come by. I have found a couple of architectural firms that do commercial projects but none who do "small" residential work. This one has several of us scratching our heads. The Lord will provide.

4. With the interior walls nearly clear, we need to take next steps getting a plumber and electrican lined up to do the upgrades necessary. These are back on the radar screen.

Discoveries in the Dining Room & Sgt. Peppers'

OSHA Poster Girl

Entry way clear of debris

Found a flue in the Dining Room

For the week ending October 7, 2006

1. In clearing the Dining Room walls back down to the bare wood, we found a flue that was used for a wood stove. There was a colorful paper border with a Montgomery Ward logo around the opening in the wall. We have begun looking for a nice wood stove to put in the spot where the old one used to be. Also in the Dining Room, we discovered that there was an 8 ft. window in what was originally the back wall of the house. When the 2 rooms were added onto the back, the window was boarded up.

2. The Entry is finally clear of debris. As promised in last week's blog, the picture in the upper left shows a view of the Entry from the Parlor. It will look better painted - promise.

3. "I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in..." Can you name that tune, the year, and the artist? Even if you can't, it describes a major accomplishment this week. The roof is patched and hopefully ready for the real roofers to come in and do their thing. The Lord continues to bless me with safety and a healthy respect for working aloft.

4. I am pleased to announce that the foundation repairs and house leveling have been completed. The west wall was raised nearly 3". That's pretty incredible. It is amazing how much better the doors open in a level house.

5. Visitors this week were mostly contractors. Three of them came by to look at the columns and balcony. I started off all the conversations with some version of "Yes, I have lost my mind. Now let's talk about how we can get the columns plumbed and the balcony supported better." Don't be surprised if you subsequently hear wailing because this is likely to be muy costoso.

NEXT STEPS -

1. Schedule the roofing work to be done.

2. Find someone who will take on the challenge of the columns and balcony.

3. Make a wiring diagram of electrical, communications, door bells, speakers, etc. and have additional discussions with electricians.

4. Pray for a plumber.

5. Ask my local OSHA babe (see centerfold above) for a date.

On the Roof and Under the House

FOR THE WEEK ENDING 09-30-2006

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK -

1. The house has been "de-duplexed." The picture at the left shows the framing of the wall in the large entry room that separated the downstairs from the upstairs unit. The entry way is quite grand. Better pictures to follow.

2. Foundation work began on Wednesday. We're getting 20 additional piers, several beams replaced, and leveling of the house. The picture in the upper right corner is 2 of the 3 workers who have dug the 36" deep holes that are 24" x 24" in size. Man, they are hard workers.

3. Roof, soffit, and facia repairs are in progress. We are not only the owners of 24' of scaffolding, we're the proud owners. How many of your friends own their own scaffolding? None of the roofers I had talked with were enthused about the soffit repairs and the ones that did send a bid, sent time and material bids at $20 - $35/hour/person. One guy estimated that it would be an 8 day project. So, I'm doing it myself. Pat gets nervous while I'm up there and I have a healthy respect for the danger of working aloft. We thank the Lord each day for the safety. So far, the injuries are blisters, splinters, mosquito bites, sweat, and grime.

4. After removing the acoustic/insulating tiles from the ceiling of the entry way, we found a signature of "Ed Steves & Sons, Est. 1866" painted very neatly on one of the boards. We don't know if this is the carpenter, lumber yard, or both who built the house in 1905. There is a "Steves Mansion" in another historic part of San Antonio that may offer us some clues. Stay tuned.
5. Visitors this week included the young man from the Home Depot Contractor's desk who thinks this is cool, a couple and parents who were looking at the house across the street from us, Emilio my neighbor who helped put up the last 6' of scaffolding, and various contractors.

6. We got our first mail at the new address. It was a bill. Get used to it.

NEXT STEPS -

1. First Porta Potty service call is scheduled for Monday morning. Whew!!!

2. Move the scaffolding to the front of the house for additional soffit repairs.

3. Foundation work is scheduled to complete.

4. I'm attending a Historic Preservation Review Committee meeting Tuesday, 3 PM. Purpose is unclear but I don't want to get on the wrong side of the City folks.

5. Choose a roofing contractor if the repairs get completed.