Day 111-116

On day 111 the drywallers finished tacking the drywall up. David called for a drywall inspection before taping and floating began (the city has to make sure enough screws are used—aka making more money). We failed. We failed miserably because David doesn’t know the new city construction codes. He had told us we didn’t need to drywall the walls of the garage bays. We thought this would be a good way to save $1000 right now and that eventually we’d put the drywall up ourselves (if we decided we needed it). We also failed because the wrong material was used at the tub surround—and the cabinet next to the tub wall wasn’t covered with anything (dummies). Apparently greenboard isn’t supposed to be used under tile anymore. After researching it online I can't believe a drywall company would actually install it in a tub/shower.

David seemed really angry about the failed inspection. If I’ve learned anything from working with him, his anger is usually a sign that he knows he messed up. This lack of knowledge threw us off schedule by a little over three working days. When you’re in the home stretch that feels like weeks! The kicker is that he didn’t even come to the site to see the failed inspection. He called me and asked me what it said. Looking back on it I should have told him to come over and read it for himself. It’s not that I minded telling him what the inspection said, but I did mind that he wasn't coming to the site to inspect the problem.

David said he’d go down to the city offices and fight the failed inspection. He said he just finished a garage before our project and wasn’t required to drywall the bay walls. And then he added that they might have begun the project before the new codes were released, so they might not have pertained to that project. Duh. Since David charges us for time spent waiting around at the city offices we made the decision to just suck it up and pay for the drywall. We also chose to do that simply because we didn’t want to add any more time to the project.

While all of this was going on we also got the exterior paint bid. Ouch. However, we expected a higher than usual bid because our friend who used the same painters told us they’re expensive but worth every penny. A part of me thought about getting another bid and then I thought about time. I just want this thing done, so time is outweighing money right now. The longer I work with David the closer I get to losing it. I’ll pay thousands to get rid of him.

And that brings me to another David story. This one deals with whether or not we should paint the stucco. We originally chose stucco because we love the natural look of it. We had been given the choice to add a tint to it and we chose not to. When the stucco job was done, Red (the stucco guy) told us we should paint the stucco to protect it. This made us sad, but I found paint that seemed to match. We just wouldn’t have that uneven, natural look we were going for. Then David threw us for a loop and said we shouldn’t paint the stucco because of the Tyvek moisture barrier under it. He said if we sealed the exterior with paint the Tyvek wouldn’t breathe properly and moisture could get trapped. He then asked why we didn’t pick one of the tints Red offered if we were going to paint the stucco. I said because no one told us a tint would offer any protection. Then he said he told us as much and I firmly told him he did not, and why would we choose to paint when a tint would have been cheaper? He then said we shouldn’t paint the stucco because the Tyvek representative advised against it.

Thanks to David, Brad spent part of his morning calling paint suppliers and the Tyvek people to try to figure out what we should do. About half said to paint the stucco and the other half said we shouldn’t. Our decision? We’re not going to paint right now, and if in a few years we see any deterioration in the stucco we’re going to paint then. On another note, we don’t even know if the tint for the stucco would have offered any protection. We definitely don’t think David knows.

On a positive note we have all of the paint picked out (for the non-stucco areas) and the painters started prepping. We’re supposed to get rain this week, so my guess is the exterior won’t be finished before the weekend.

Day 70-74

The stucco is done! It looks fabulous. The only down side is that we had planned on keeping it in its natural state/color, but Red said it would be better to paint it to add a layer of protection from moisture. He said it would be fine to leave it as-is, but if it was his garage he’d paint it. Coming from the stucco guy we might want to paint it. I guess we could paint it the same color as the stucco (which will lighten as it cures).

Red will be back tomorrow to clean things up. Stuccoing is definitely messy, messy, messy. Once Red’s gone I imagine Lazaro and Arturo will be back to finish the bottom of the garage. I haven’t seen them in several days, but there’s not a whole lot they could do right now anyway.

The electricians and plumbers have both been here this week. The plumbers are great. They’re a father and son team (James Crawford Sr. and Jr.). Today they found out that when the sewer line from the garage to the street was laid it, it was laid level—instead of sloping away from the garage. They said it won’t cause any problems but that by code it has to slope away from the garage. Hopefully that’s one of the last problems that will crop up. It’s probably going to add another day or two to their plumbing schedule. I’m just happy they found it before the City did.

Our contractor still isn’t my favorite person in the world. After I wrote my last entry he told us we needed to pick out our plumbing fixtures ASAP—like that day. This isn’t the first time he’s done that. To make a long story short he gave us the name of the person he gets wholesale fixtures from. When we tried to buy something from her (after going to the showroom) she said we’d have to set up an appointment so she could go through all of the details. We said we knew what we wanted (this faucet in chrome with this valve). She said no, no, we’d have to set up an appointment. I conveyed that to David when he called today and he said he’d take care of it. We’ll see. I’m not entirely positive he remembers everything we discuss.

Day 66-69

Remember how I wrote that the stucco would be finished on Thursday? Well, it’s Thursday. Guess what: the stucco’s not done. The good news is that Red started on the scratch coat today. He has about 1/3 of it done. It looks good so far.

The rewiring of the garage is done for the most part. They just need to put in a new electrical box. I imagine they’re not going to do that until the exterior is done so they can mount the meter properly. But honestly, I can’t figure out the rhyme and reason for the way a lot of things have been done, so I’m probably wrong.

The plumbers ran into a snag today. The plumbing vent no longer follows code. Since it’s grandfathered in that’s not a problem unless you have to replace a part of the vent. I think you know where I’m going with this. We have to replace the vent from the roof all the way down. It’s corroded through in several places. The plumber was surprised we didn’t have water damage. Considering how often we use the plumbing I wasn’t too surprised.

Our contractor, David, thinks City inspections will start next week. I won’t hold my breath. He’s not my favorite person in the world right now. Two weeks ago I was saying I’d definitely use him as our contractor when we turn the attic into a master bedroom, but the last few days has me thinking about telling him I’m not paying him for this week’s work. In my opinion he’s not doing his job. The electricians were knocking on our back door with question after question all week. Yes, I work at home, but how on earth do I know at what height I want an outlet. For one, the information should be on the electrical plans. And for another, it’s my contractor’s job to deal with those questions. I have a full-time job. I don’t need another one. Today is the first day that I’m aware of that David’s been here all week. Can you tell I’m a little irritated by him?

Day 59-65

We had rain the first part of last week, so things on the garage haven't progressed that much. The HVAC people came the last part of the week and installed the wiring and plumbing for the ductless heating and AC unit we're getting. The electricians were supposed to arrive Thursday or Friday but didn't.

As for stuccoing, Red said he would probably start on the scratch coat Monday (day 66). He thought if the weather held up he'd be done Thursday. That would be great because once the stuccoing is done the bottom of the garage can be finished (they don't want to do the bottom first because they don't want the stucco to get on any finished exterior work). In the photos you might be able to notice there's a wire mesh covering the Tyvek.




I asked our contractor when he thought the project would be completed. He told me to ask him in two weeks after the inspections start happening. He thinks the inspection will hold things up by at least another week or two, so the garage definitely won't be done in mid-September. I can hope for the end of September, but that might be wishful thinking.