Revisions / blunders #1

Going from virtual to actual is anxiety inducing. Though inevitable, you don’t want to come face-to-face with an irremediable error or shortcoming. Count three issues so far. One, can’t be fixed, and elevates risks for seniors. One is currently under review, pending advisement from the municipal building inspector. I’m grateful to Alison for picking up the last one of this batch when she reviewed the Design section. I doubt anyone will look at this, or any other post, other than my future self, but he likely will shake his head and say, “Bud, you’re just starting”. Future self, I hear you, so, this is a numbered series of posts.

What about the lights?

This was Alison’s question to me concerning the living room, and I was perplexed. I didn’t see an issue. She then pointed out that if your living room area is in middle of the “open concept”, where do you plug in your spot lighting? Bingo. Hadn’t thought of it; never lived in an open concept. Alison is inhabiting this situation presently. Haven’t seen the condo, but she says the living area is a similar open area, and she and Dick find themselves trying to place wires in a way to not trip on them. Ouch. Web search.

Found a few options. None available at the Big Box, but Amazon has a fair number. Now it’s a matter of playing roulette with the floor placement. Guess I might ask Alison about this too.

Most happy Alison gave things a good look and caught the shortfall. Dennis or the electrician might have said something, but better this way. We might get lucky, and other blunders will be caught, like the next one, for example. [Thanks, Alison, please keep looking.]

What’s with the jog?

Dennis and I were locating the placement of the house in order that Robbie, the ICF contractor and Dennis’s nephew, could stake out the perimeter of the foundation hole. Upon reviewing the plans, we found ourselves wondering about the way the garage and house meet. We were trying to determine what the distance was between the front of the house and the front of the garage. While scrutinizing this, we both expressed dissatisfaction with the jog.

I told Dennis I never wanted it there, but the designer kept coming back with it, so I got fatalistic about it, somehow thinking it must be necessary. Dennis thought it was something I wanted, so he never said anything. We were both bewildered by how our assumptions cancelled out our mutual concern about this, and I felt rather boneheaded. We agreed to get it adjusted if we could. We can’t see any structural issues, but the building inspectors might all too likely see otherwise. Step one: dispatch an email to the building inspector.

The ask was to either move the garage up, or at least, to move up its front wall. This would make a solid line of the entire building in accord with our original design idea. If we could move the entire garage up, we would add another foot or so of depth to the screened in porch. If only the front wall can be moved, the garage would be a little larger. Win-win either way.

The problem might originate in the first Floorplanner drawings I sent to Lino. At the time, I thought the house wall were to be made of 8-inch ICF blocks and the unheated garage 6-inch. Floorplanner threw up a slight jog. I kind of think it just remained, except it was increased from 2-inches to 12. Some folks apparently want this because it somewhat camouflages the electrical entrance and meter, as it is perpendicular to the front, not facing out from it, thereby enhancing curb appeal. Aside from the absence of a curb on our dead end street, even if there was, you couldn’t see much through the growth much of the year. The uniform front wall, however, is conceptually priceless.

Waiting for the building inspector’s response is a little stressful. If there is a requirement to consult the designer and engineer, there will be an expense, but more importantly a time delay we cannot afford. Fingers crossed, and a hope for redemption on this one. A reminder about clear communication and mindfulness on any anomaly.

Postscript: Good news. Monday, July 18/22. Tyler Thorne, the S. Glengarry deputy chief building officer, approved the garage move. No need to go back to the designer. Just check with truss company to see if there needs to be an adjustment to the truss support. Full redemption.

You only going to shrink.

Compromises lead to further compromises, but sometimes these are mazes that leave you stranded.

We wanted big awning windows, and we wanted a walkout basement. What issues could there be? Nothing on the basement level, but the main floor is another matter. Large windows with awning type openings on what is, essentially, the second floor, are a problem if the opening is at the bottom. In these cases, code requires that the window only opens four inches. If the opening is on the top, the opening can be larger. No one will fall out in either case.

No one might fall out, but we’ve yet to retreat from the precipice. The main floor windows are 76″ high and 20″ inches off the floor. The 18″ windows open at 78″ from the floor, or six and a half feet. The crank will be little higher. I’m 5′ 9.5″. My arm can make it there — now. Dennis and Tony, the window salesman, were looking at me reach a sample window to make sure. Referring to me aging, Tony said, “You’re only going to shrink”. The windows had pretty much been ordered. There you go. Shrinking and, well……

….. step stools. There’s no redemption from this one.