It has been quite warm this week after a week of rainy days. But there is no doubt that fall is here. The trees are mostly turned what colors they do in Colorado and leaves are getting thick on the ground.
So summer didn’t produce the progress I dreamed of but it was a lovely summer and we can always regroup for fall. Probably the biggest accomplishment and one that took far longer than we thought was installing the used spa that I bought in April. It took all summer to get the area cleared, dug out for a slab, have the slab poured and then move and insulate the spa. There is still a problem with the low pump setting letting the contactor chatter. I will need to fix it eventually although I have a manual workaround.
We also prepared the front doors for re-painting which meant tearing off siding and putting up new foil faced polyiso where the old stuff was damaged. Then putting on the SIGA exterior membrane. We are STILL waiting for the door trim to be re-painted. I contact them every week for a month and they always have an excuse about why it isn’t done yet nor can they meet a promised date. It is crazy. But more about the doors later.
After digging for a new patio door step and putting in the fiberglass sill support, we also got the flagstone patio done and stone in the large patio area in preparation for the recycled rubber patio tiles.
I have also been on the lookout for materials that will lower the total cost of the remodel. It is an expensive house already and there is a lot more to do.
We did finish all the small areas that needed caulk and insulation and got the insulation inspection done by the city. It passed easily and the inspector said he could hear how well insulated it was, because the sound was deadened. I thought that was interesting.
We are about three quarters of the way through putting the interior membrane on the ceiling and installing the furring boards. Still have to decide how to do just part of the ceiling areas where there is a channel for wiring until after the wiring is completed.
Despite the lack of progress, here is what I am thinking for next steps.
We have a whole room taken up with leftover insulation and tools right now it tends to not be very well organized or stay that way. We have half a garage taken up with furniture. I’m thinking of moving most of the furniture inside and all of the tools and extra insulation into the garage. It seems to be fine that we have the furniture that we have inside now and we could use the storage cabinets that are currently sitting empty for some of the packed boxes from the move. We would have access to stuff we need that currently is packed away.
If Alpen ever gets around to repainting the door trim then we will have to get siding up right away as the membrane is only good for about 6 months without being covered.
So both spring and summer lists are still active although items relating to the above accomplishments can be crossed off. Now that I think of it, I put together the partial bathroom for the family visitors in July too. That project never made it to a list.
4. Insulate remaining openings
5. Install battens (furring for ceiling)–some
6. Install membrane/air barrier–some
7. Polyiso in crawlspace joists
8. Plan ventilation system–some
9. Resolve door issues–STILL pending
10. Get insulation inspection
11. Foam sheathing cracks/tape
12. Drywall exterior walls
13. Patch concrete (floor) and caulk edges
14. Clean and polish floor. Got cleaned but you would never know it now–not polished yet.
15. Interior walls
16. Pour concrete slab
17. Install spa
18. Excavate spa slab area
Summer list minus the items already finished when it was posted!
2. Install chiller to cool the house enough to work in it on hot days. This was a bust. I am working on another design though.
3. Rewire thermostats to add both heat and cool to their functionality. Only did one so far but then the cooling was not installed.
5. Prepare for new rubber tile patio and french door stoop. Actually finished the door stoop.
6. Think about how to screen french doors. Thought about–I really want hidden screen doors. Looking for bargains now. I bought two so far.
7. Figure out overhang for exterior doors.
8. Remove siding from front of house. Just enough to get doors re-painted.
9. Replace polyiso in exposed areas, wrap and install new siding. Eventually
10. Order pieces to rebuild trombe wall. Not yet. I have to dig up the rotten bottom board and replace with fiberglass edging first.
I am not sure it really helps very much to make a list. We work most of our days but we are slow and Dave has been doing outside projects that I should describe sometime soon.