Progress on Fat Tuesday

Three words of advice: inspect, inspect, inspect! After the plumber finished installing the drains and the underground copper last week, I walked the lot to make sure all the necessary lines were in place. I saw that there was no water line to the icemaker in the kitchen. I called him on Monday (yesterday) morning. They had just had the parish inspection. He thanked me for noticing that because they had completely forgotten about the icemaker. They installed that line, along with the utility room floor drain, that day.

With all the plumbing done, it's the slab crew's turn to come back and dig the footings (chain walls) down to the pilings.

Today, it's Mardi Gras here in southern Louisiana. Those festivities stopped being attractive to me long ago. But I was told that all the slab guys would have the day off. So I asked the slab guy to CALL ME when they would be out there again. He said he would. I went out this afternoon to do a little cleanup and organizing of wood stakes, etc. Lo and behold, the crew was there digging out the trenches with shovels! Hey, at least they're ahead of schedule. But I wish they'd let me know when they're going to be there.

If they dig these trenches and then it rains, the trenches will get filled in and they'll need to clear them again. But hopefully we won't have much rain, and they can finish them quickly. Then, I'll need to schedule the termite treatment of the soil and the installation of the poly layer & post tension cables (hopefully one right after the other).

Plumbing Continues

They made more progress on the plumbing today until it started raining heavily around 4:30. Drainage to the kitchen island is done. So is the "kids" bathroom, as well as the vent stacks and toilet drain in the garage. When I left, they were digging out the trench for the main drain to run out the front of the house. I've got 4 drain clean-outs so far. One more to come, I think. The plumber commented at how much pipe I have under there. Here are some photos:

My electrician is coming out tomorrow now to help lay some of the underground lines. He'll meet me at the lot to make a shopping list and we'll go together to get the stuff from a local supply house. We can use his account to get things cheaper.

The plumber advised against putting any electrical runs in the slab until they dig out all the chain walls. He said it could get knocked out of place. Also the main electrical conduit out front could get damaged if heavy trucks roll on top of it. But it would be three feet down, so I'm not sure how much damage could be done. We'll see how it goes...

Plumbing, Plumbing, Everywhere!

It's very exciting to see the drainage pipes being laid out across the lot. It's like the floorplan is coming to life! I hope to post some pictures soon. When you look at the locations of everything, it doesn't look like the house will be that big. But I know it will eventually look fine. I've read that it always looks smaller than you envisioned as you poor the slab and start framing.

So the plumbers started on Monday. They did most of the master bath, the utility room, and maybe started on the powder room. I don't think they worked Tuesday, because I went out there around 3PM and it looked pretty much the same as it did on Monday around the same time. They did work yesterday (Wednesday). I stopped by and they had done the extensions to the kitchen. They should be working today.

He said they should be finished and inspected by Friday. After the inspection, the slab guys can come back out and dig the chain walls. My electrician friend also said he will come down on Monday and help me with the electrical components that go under the slab. This includes the floor outlet in the living room, running the line to the kitchen island, and running a conduit from the house slab to the garage slab. I'm going to try to get my plumber to dig the trench for my electrical service line while they have their trench digger at the site. With this done, I could lay the line from the utility pole to the house now. If the plumber can't/won't do it, then a rental would be about $380.

I'm also waiting for the results of the survey they will be doing now that the slab forms are up. That was scheduled for last week, but apparently they didn't get to it. I'm checking with them today.

Plumbing Started

The plumber started today laying drainage pipes that go under the slab. I went to the lot at 9AM. A guy named Matt who works for my plumber was there with the trench digger, but the plumber wasn't there yet.

The plumber called me around 1PM to say that the wall in the powder room behind the lavatory needs to be a 2x6 wall just like the opposite wall. We also decided that the floor drain in the utility room will drain directly to the outside instead of into the main sewer line. This is because a back-up in the sewer line would mean sewage would come up through the floor.

My mom and I stopped by the lot around 3PM. The plumber said they had started around 10 or 11. They had most of the drains run for the master bathroom area of the house and had started on the utility room next door. That was all I saw.

He needs me to tell him exactly which air tub I'm going to have in the master bath tomorrow. I think I've settled on the Kohler K-1375-G, the 6ft Revival model. My mom and I went to a few bathroom showrooms today and saw some Jacuzzis, Kohlers, Jason tubs, etc. None of the salespeople were particularly helpful...

So plumbing work continues tomorrow. Hopefully, it won't rain. The parish has not come to install the water meter yet.

Water and Plumbing to Come

I went to the parish office yesterday to pay for my water meter and schedule installation. You ready for this cost? $1,150! Yikes! That breaks down to a $100 deposit + $250 installation fee + a whopping $800 amount for something called a "plant investment fee". I'm assuming that's one "investment" I'll never see a return from. :-(


They give you this green placard that you need to place on the property where you want the water meter located. I met with the plumber this morning to place it. Here's where we chose to put it (by the red dot).

And in case you were wondering, the blue areas are supposed to be the size of a car on the driveway and in the garage... When I paid for the meter, the girl asked me if I wanted it installed that day. Yeah, right. Like they're going to get to it the SAME day. I just called them to see when it is scheduled for. They said it's not even in their system yet. This is something I'm going to have to keep an eye on. Don't want them to lose my work order after paying all that money!

The plumber is planning to start his work on Monday. I'm in the process of selecting things like the master bath tub so that he'll know where the drain will be, etc. I originally wanted a water jet tub because I like how the massage feels. But those tubs require a lot of maintenance to clean out the water system each time you use it so that it doesn't grow mold. So now I'm considering an air-bubble tub.

Sand Spread Inside Slab Area

On Monday (Jan. 21), I had the sand delivered to fill in the space under the slab. It took 144 cubic yards and $1,800, but I should now have enough! I had the same bulldozer man that I used for filling in the whole lot and sand from the same company.

At first, the bulldozer wouldn't start. Probably because it was the coldest day so far this winter. I had asked him to be there for 7 AM. The sand didn't start coming until around 7:40, but he didn't get the dozer started until 8:00. By then, the first two loads were on-site. The sand didn't come as quick as I would like. I had to call and ask for a second truck to help. They sent the second truck twice, but afterward they went back to one truck. The last of the 12 loads was delivered at 12:40. The dozer guy still had some leveling work to do, and it took him until around 2 PM. After the last load of sand was spread, I had about 1/4 to 1/2 a load left over.

Also in the morning, the slab guys came out to move the rear garage form 4 inches closer to the front. They also removed a 2x12 from the back of the house so that the dump truck and dozer could get back there. All their work took about half an hour.

That afternoon, I went across the lake to see some Alenco windows from a place that gave me a quote. I'm reconsidering vinyl windows. For some reason, I had convinced myself that they wouldn't be good enough to satisfy me, and that I really wanted fiberglass frames instead because of their sturdiness and thermal insulation qualities. The only place I've found that has fiberglass is Pella, and their prices are way high. I'll continue to look for other suppliers of fiberglass windows, but I'm comfortable with the vinyl after getting a good look at them.

On Tuesday, I let the surveyor know that I'm ready for them to survey with the slab forms in place. The ETA is sometime late this week. I also called the plumber to let him know I'm ready for him to start. He said it would be a few days before he could begin. I asked him to call me and let me know when he'd be out there.

Slab Form Progress, Planning for Fill Dirt

After getting most of the form up on Monday, I called the slab contractor on Tuesday to let him know the rear garage was too far back and there wasn't the required 3ft setback from the property line. He wanted me to get the form surveyed (which I have to do anyway) in order to tell for sure. Well, I already have a survey that tells me where the property line is. If they come out to survey the form once, it's included in my builder's package. If the form is off and they need to fix it and have it surveyed again, it's going to cost me extra.

In the meantime, the slab guys came out again sometime either Tuesday or Wednesday (it rained all day Wednesday) to put more of the bottom layer of 2x12s on the house. I saw this when I visited the lot with my parents around 2PM on Thursday. It must have been right after we left that the slab crew had more wood delivered and came back out to put the bottom 2x12s on the garage. I didn't know they were coming.

That evening, I called the slab contractor and left him a voicemail about the garage again. I wanted to tell him that he needed to fix the garage before I got another survey. He never called me back, and he didn't answer his phone on Friday morning. So I called his son. He still didn't tell me they had been working the day before. I told him about the garage and asked him when they could meet me at the lot to talk about it. He said it would be the day after (Saturday).

Later on Friday, I called to order the 125 cu yds or so of sand that I'll need to fill in under the slab. When I went to meet the first dump truck at the lot, I saw that they had completed the garage form. I wish they hadn't put more work into something I already told them needed to be changed!

As for the sand, the driver said the ground was too soft inside the slab form to back all the way up inside for dumping. And there's one piling sticking too far up that would cause trouble as well. So I had to make arrangements for a bullodozer to be on-site on Monday morning. They'll dump the sand just inside the form, and the dozer will spread it from there. I need about 10 loads of sand. It's been raining all day today, so I hope the dump trucks are able to back up as far as they need to on Monday.

Finally, I called the slab contractor on Friday sometime after I talked to his son. He said he was on the lot looking at it! Why don't they call me to meet them there? Anyway, I drove over right away. I showed them the copy of the survey (which they already had) and he could see the garage needed to be moved. He claimed they had worked solely from the plot plan of my drawings. They started measuring from the street as they formed their way back. And it wound up that this placed the garage too far back. He said it would cost me to have them move it, which I wasn't happy about. (It's not my fault they didn't double check against the survey I gave them.) I told him he should at least split the difference with me or something. He said it would cost $200 to move the form. Out of the $5,680 I'm already paying, I suppose that's not as bad as it could be...

Overall, I was comfortable with how it turned out. We agreed that the garage needed to bo moved forward 4 inches, and the level of the slab could be kept the same. The garage slab looks high right now, but by the time you figure in the chain wall and the sunken floor, and the fact that the floor slopes down to the front, I think the front door will not be all that much higher than the ground level.

Progress on Slab Form

Yesterday, the crew made a lot of progress on the slab form. The material take-off from the lumber yard assumed I would need one layer of 2x12's to go all the way around. That was before I found out I needed to build the slab higher if I want to avoid needing flood vents in the front garage. It turns out I need two 2x12's stacked almost all the way around (except where the slab is lower, such as the patio and parts of the front garage. They used all the lumber from the original take-off, which got most of the form done.

The plumber can start working now. And I can get the dirt inside the form to pad it up. The slab guys will come back to put additional 2x12's later. I wasn't able to talk to the lead guy about those arrangements. When they started in the morning (around 8:30), the owner's son was with the crew. When I went back later in the day, the son was gone and another guy had been left in charge. I'm glad he could speak English! I need to contact them to find out when, and I need to order the lumber.

I brought a garbage can over there for them, also. I hadn't thought to do that on the day they staked out the pilings, and a lot of trash & debris blew over to my good neighbor's yard.

Also, the portable toilet was delivered yesterday.

Pilings are In!

Wow, it only took 4 hours for them to drive all 54 pilings. I figured it would take all day! They started at 7AM and finished by 11. They told me there were no problems getting any of them in. That's good, because I figured they would run into roots from the old trees.



I had them adjust the height up because I want the front door of the front garage to be at base flood elevation. Then the rest of the house and rear garage will be 8-1/2 inches higher. This is because the front garage is 5-1/2 to 8-1/2 inches lower than the house. If I left the house at base flood elevation and left the garage lower, then I'd be required to add flood vents in my foundation for water to drain from the garage. I didn't want that.



Here's a picture of the pilings in progress (click for larger view):

Limb is Gone; Neighbors Outraged

My tree guys removed the limb today just before noon. The side neighbors weren't home. Everything went smoothly. They got most of the pieces of the limb in the neighbor's yard with a hook on a pole. When they cut the main limb, the remaining segment in their yard hung from the straps. They videotaped the entire procedure to be able to show that we didn't go on their property. Then they went to work cutting away the rest of the limb back to where it joined it's parent limb in the rear neighbor's yard (they had his permission for that).

All went well. At the end, the neighbor's adult son came home. He was enraged and chewed me out for a few minutes. He wouldn't listen when I tried explaining the law, so I let him rant. Apparently, I'm the cause of all grief they've ever experienced in life. He was on the phone a lot relaying the situation to someone. I tried giving him a copy of the legal information I have. He refused it. It's a shame because, up to this point, I always thought the son was cool with me. Judging from his words today, you'd think he's always hated everything I've done. Eventually, the son talked to my rear neighbor over the fence. Once he found out that I had that neighbor's blessing, he seemed to quiet down... I think it's time I finish building my fence between our yards!

So the limb is gone now, and the pillings are sitting on the lot tonight with the pile driving machine. Tomorrow the pilings go in!

As a post-script to this: I passed by the lot tonight on my way to church. Two police cars were there. One just in front of my lot and one across the street. Two officers were talking with a couple I didn't recognize, so I figured it had nothing to do with my encounter earlier. It turns out that someone had a gun to someone else's head in the house across the street from me. Yikes. And it really is such a nice little neighborhood. Really, it is! This one house is the one every neighborhood has: the sore spot that everyone wishes they would move away.