Week 20 Sunday

August 31 2014

New pile of rubble

The rockers finished on Friday and left this huge pile of rubble not only in the kitchen but in every room.  So I guess the extractors will be back again on Tuesday.

Tuesday the contractor has to get a nailing inspection (really it's a screwing inspection but I guess they weren't happy with the sound of that).  Seems a little inane, they come to inspect to make sure it has been installed correctly and measure how close the screws are together.  They can't take the next step until the inspection is complete.

When  went to inspect yesterday, I realize that they did not do the door jambs correctly.  I will have to meet with the contractor on Tuesday to figure out how to get this done correctly.  These jambs are turning out to be a head ache.  But I must say the directions leave a lot to be desired.  I think I will draw these people some details so they can inform their next clients what actually needs to be done.  It could have been quite straight forward.

The taping and mud will take a few weeks and then they can level the floors with the concrete.

Stay tuned and watch the transformation.  If you want a hint of it's future look at my Pinterest posts.  http://www.pinterest.com/jdzinesf/hyde-street-penthouse/

www.jd-zine.com

Week 21 Tuesday

August 26th 2014

Master Bedroom

South Kitchen Wall

West Kitchen Wall

The rockers finally showed up late today but they move really fast and already have quite a bit done.  I have speced a Level 5 finish so there will be lots of mud going on here.  I hope I will be able to post a video as I want you to get to see some of this process.

I had to go up to the house at least 5 times to day to meet with various subs and the contractor.  Lots of questions about these  Italian door jambs.  We finally got them set properly and then the rockers come on the job and when the 5/8" rock hits the jamb it is too big.  So now we have to remove it an replace all the rock that meets the doors with 1/2" sheet rock.  It would have been nice if some of this information had been included with their installation instructions. 

My idea for the fireplace is now out as the price for doing what a wanted was astronomical.  The material only costs about $300 and it was directly screwed into the wall.  So now I will be going for my third iteration unless I can find someone to do it more reasonably.

Stay tuned and watch the transformation.  If you want a hint of it's future look at my Pinterest posts.  http://www.pinterest.com/jdzinesf/hyde-street-penthouse/

www.jd-zine.com

 Week 20 Friday

August 22, 2014

My lovely pink palace

Insulation in, check!

Bathrooms water proofed, check!

Special door jambs finally here, check!

A lot of people on the job this week getting ready for sheet rock and inspections.

They finished the heating at the beginning of the week and the rest of the week they installed insulation.  The roofer came and waterproofed the bathrooms.  

I waited around all morning for the trucker to show up with the door jambs.  He was supposed to call in advance so I could have some able bodied men on hand. They were on a pallet and it weighed 300 lbs.   But of course no one told him, even though I called this morning to remind them.  He was super nice though and said he would wait for the men to arrive.  I think he was from the flat lands somewhere as he was a little freaked out about my hill and the cable car.  I had everyone move cars so that he had a huge space to get into and then he was happy.

They will install the jambs on Monday and Tuesday (Glory-be) they start installing sheet rock.  I can't wait.  I will take some pictures as it is pretty amazing how fast these guys are and then once they start the finish coats walking around on stilts covered in white dust.  My little angels.

Stay tuned and watch the transformation.  If you want a hint of it's future look at my Pinterest posts.  http://www.pinterest.com/jdzinesf/hyde-street-penthouse/

www.jd-zine.com

 Week 19 Friday

August 15 2014

This is a beautiful sight.  A truck loaded with sheet rock and insulation.  Of course all of this has to be carried up 4 flights of stairs.  I hope these guys are young and strong.

It has been a really hectic day from very early this morning.  Had to meet with the heating contractor this morning.  I am installing a slot ceiling system and when I got to the job I was not happy with their placement.  No thought to symmetry at all. Do not turn your back ever.

Shea came by last night to check out my speaker placement for the sound system and did not pass the placement in the den.  So now I need to figure out what to do with that room.  Back to the drawing room with the AV guys.  

Speaking of AV, they are doing my Control 4 system through out the house.  When it got down to specing the dimmers things started to get really complicated so much so that they had to have the engineer look at all the lighting.  No simple solutions anymore.  The new led lighting is really complicated and you have to look at every fixture to make sure that the dimmer will work with it.  Glad I don't have to figure all of this out.  But I do need to check with my electrician to make sure he is using the proper dimmers in all the other rooms.  And then all of these things need to be programmed to talk to each other.

Remind me to have all hands on deck when it is time to learn how to run everything.  I'm sure Ralph and I will be in a daze.  Need all my techies to keep me on track.

Concrete flooring sample with some of the other finishes going into our house.  I'm thinking it is not dark enough so there will be some more samples coming my way.

Problems with my cabinets they want me to split all of the doors on the tall cabinets which I was trying to avoid but they are wearing me down and I don't want to have to deal with sagging doors so I guess I will learn to live with it.

Stay tuned and watch the transformation.  If you want a hint of it's future look at my Pinterest posts.  http://www.pinterest.com/jdzinesf/hyde-street-penthouse/

www.jd-zine.com

 Week 18 Tuesday

August 5 2014

Still working away at little details.  The carpenters are trimming the windows in preparation for sheet rock.  Insulation is going in and a few shear walls have been added.  We are waiting for the door jambs and ceiling heating vents to arrive so they can be installed and of course there is still a huge pile of never ending debris.

The carpenter just pointed out to me that many of the outside walls are not quite straight so they need to be shimmed before sheet rock also.  Never say modern is easy.  It just looks that way when it is done but in reality there is no fudging.

Working on ordering furniture as that usually takes at least 8 weeks.  Priority the beds and mattresses!  Don't need any blow up mattresses at this stage in our life.

Still waiting to see my concrete samples and I'm working on some new ideas for the fireplace finish in the living room.

The owners down stairs are starting next week on a kitchen remodel so there will be even more chaos on our street.  Good to get it all done and over with at the same time.  Then we have the garage to redo...the Winchester House has nothing on us.

Shear Wall on North side

Stay tuned and watch the transformation.  If you want a hint of it's future look at my Pinterest posts.  http://www.pinterest.com/jdzinesf/hyde-street-penthouse/

www.jd-zine.com

 Week 17 Friday

August 1 2014

The last window being installed

Sheetrock should start next week and then they can pour the concrete floor.  Still waiting to see my samples for the floor overlay.  Starting to get excited about the finished product.  

I've been working on the budget, of course there have been a lot of extras, so where to make changes without compromising the design.  The contractor practically had to rebuild the entire floor because nothing was up to code. But, that is just part of "shit happens" when you do a remodel, especially one that is 114 years old.   I wonder how many remodels have happened to this building?  It was originally a single family dwelling with a carriage house next door.  Nice size home 10,000 sq ft.

I've been meeting with roofers and now this week we are talking to solar companies to see if it makes sense to add that to the project., and we are getting plans done to redo the garage.  We will really be just like new when this is done.  Very exciting and really like the idea of being able to enter our house from the garage.

Stay tuned and watch the transformation.  If you want a hint of it's future look at my Pinterest posts.  http://www.pinterest.com/jdzinesf/hyde-street-penthouse/

www.jd-zine.com