Framer has now been on site for a full week. And although he's still waiting on materials, he got started on the 2nd floor this week. He then took a couple of days off to wait for the rest of it to show up. So this is basically what we've looked like since Thursday afternoon.
The electric company arrived on Wednesday, so we have our temp power. He may have just been in the area, but I like to believe that my polite phone calls convinced them to move me up in the schedule.
For the missing fireplace, the joist company wants us to sister in some joists for support. Framer doesn't want to do it, but his quote for the extra work is low enough that I think we'll do it. And we can use the joists that have already been sent to us by accident.
The engineer has given us the go ahead and repair the footings in the basement. We're now waiting on the cribbers to decide if their repair recommendations are worth doing, or if they'll just pour a new pad.
We also got a drawing for a garage foundation. Not OUR garage foundation, but A garage foundation. The engineering company farmed out this job to someone else, and didn't pass on the message that we want the cheapest possible option. So they gave us a stock drawing of a garage with a 4' deep frost wall. It doesn't even match our dimensions. I sent it back to our engineer telling them this isn't what we're looking for. He simply replied that we've got a big garage, so this is what they recommend. Uh, yeah, we have a big garage. That's why we need it engineered. That doesn't mean it needs a foundation that matches the house. MrDinks has sent out some emails to some other companies to find out our options.
I am also looking into options to replace a post on our main floor. This post.
I knew from the joist layout that it was a "stacked wood" post. I assumed that meant it would match the wooden beam. But it's 5 2x6s nailed together. And it's really ugly. It was intended to be left exposed, or potentially clad in something prettier. But 2x6s look temporary, at best. And they're so big that once I clad them, they're just going to be too large for the space. So I'm looking for something to replace them with.
Option 1 is a wood post. The problem here is that it'll probably end up prettier than the wooden beam above it.
Option 2 is a metal telescopic post that matches the one in the basement. The problem with that is that it's also kind of ugly. It looks more "basement" than "industrial loft." But it's an improvement over the 2x6s and we can at least wrap something around it and it won't end up being 10" across.
I also looked into getting a metal i-beam or square post cut to size. But it's not going to be as simple as just buying what we need. So I've got a list of metal workers to call and get it done. If this works out, I may end up hiring the same guy to do the stairs. At least the railings.
MrDinks has expressed concern about waiting too long to get this post replaced. But Framer isn't worried about jacking it up for a few minutes to replace it even once the upstairs walls are on. I'd still like to get it done sooner rather than later. We'll also want to do the same thing with the post that will be visible on the second floor.
The other piece of frustration came from the company I was going to order the doors from. When I was talking to them about doors, they mentioned that they do roofing and siding, too. So I sent the plans and asked for a quote. After 3 weeks of stringing me along, they have informed me that they are currently booking jobs for next spring, so they aren't going to even quote on my house. Ugh. I am not too comfortable ordering doors from them at this point. But I'll have to order them from someone this week.
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