I hate Irene

That's all.

Hurricane

After a flash flood and sewage backup I had another sump pit and pump installed, and a check valve put in place to prevent anymore sewage backups. Now comes a hurricane. I'm expecting the worst, but there's not much else I can do. Everything else has been put on hold.

Stairs - kitchen, basement

Ended up saving a lot of room in the kitchen. Here's a view in the kitchen looking up into the living room toward the front of the house:

Looking down in the above pic you're in the basement. Here's the stairs up from the basement into the kitchen. On the right will be the bathroom. On the left will be the laundry and HVAC:

Exterior shot

The siding is 90% done now. Take a look:

Siding, stairs

The siding's almost finished. The back is completely done, and it looks real good. The upper part of the front is all that's left - should be done by tomorrow.

The stairs from the living from the kitchen, and from the kitchen into the lower level, are going in today. We've pushed the stairs back a little. This will give more room in the kitchen for a table and chairs, while still leaving 18 feet of length (rather than 20) in the living room.

Where we're at

These are some of the main things that still need to be done:
1. build stairs from living room down to kitchen, and from kitchen down to basement
2. electrical
3. run the plumbing lines into the kitchen and up to the top floor bathroom
4. run the water lines
5. duct work
6. main staircase from living room to bedrooms
7. drywall
8. finish the siding
Those are just the big items. Never ending .

Back wall, kitchen

They demolished the entire wall and reframed it:

Closed it up, then inserted the patio door and transom window. It lets in a lot more light than before.

Front porch, rebuilt

In one day.

Front porch, demolished

To be rebuilt:

Framing

Things are moving along. The framers knocked out the whole back wall (the kitchen) and reframed it. With the patio doors and transom window it will let in a good amount of light. They also raised the kitchen floor to make it more of a split level. (I took pictures. Will post later.) The down side is that the back is an addition, so it is smaller, and with it framed out it will only be about ten feet wide.

Unfortunately the front bumped out area, which is also an addition, is in bad shape, as per the roofer. So we're going to tear it all out and reframe it as well. I'm past the point of obsessing over every little complication. As long as it's all fine once it's finished.

Stairs, con't

Settled on a stair company. I ended up going with a local metal worker 2 blocks from my house. The main staircase will be steel stringers with wooden steps, open treads.

It will kind of look like this, I think (see the staircase wedged into the right side pix):

The railing will carry through the entire house.

Other progress - they're laying the cement in the basement floor, and the roofing guy is doing his thing.

New wall

Before there were steps down off the street and a door leading into the basement level. Not anymore.

Beyond the gate was where the steps were. That black wall with the new window is new. The wall has been pushed out about 3 feet. concrete will cover where the gravel is now.

Here's a very dark interior view, looking out:

The black wall is the old wall, which, by now, has been knocked down. The gray cinderblock wall is the new wall.

They're continuing with the basement work - installing the main sump pump and backup pump, laying more gravel, and other foundation support work. In the meantime, I'm still trying to settle on a stair company, and the roofer is set to begin ASAP.

Stairs

for the main staircase I want an open design like the one pictured here:

So far I've called seven places to get an estimate. Two have gotten back to me. One, based in Queens, doesn't work in Jersey City(!) The other four???

I keep hearing how there's an especially sharp recession in the home building industry. You'd figure they'd be jumping for work. Maybe I'm too small. Or maybe they've cut their staff back so much they don't have enough people to handle what little work they have. Or maybe there's something good on TV they don't want to miss.

Doors

Crash course on entry doors. I needed to buy one this weekend. No screen, so steel is ruled out. Wood too. That leaves fiberglass, which seems to be well-regarded. Insulated, weather resistant, all that stuff. I got a simple design, no windows. I don't want anyone peering in.

Fun living over a bar

A thunderstorm rolled through on Friday night about 2 in the morning. This coincided with the bar downstairs closing. It poured for an hour. All I heard was a bunch of screaming girls. For an hour. Screaming about how they're getting wet. For an hour. Are people that dumb? Apparently, yes.

Jackhammer

Stopped by this AM. They're jackhammering away at the outside front area, where we're going to dig down a couple of feet and expand the front room. The concrete there is a couple of feet thick, so it looks like a hell of a tough job. But it will change a room that would be 6x10 to a room that is 9x10. Not much larger, but significant in terms of usability.

Holding

The basement, thanks to the French drains and sump pump, weathered the monsoons of May and came out dry. The plumbing lines are laid, gravel piled on top, and now we're waiting for the plumbing inspector to sign off so we can seal it up with concrete and resume work on the rest of the house.

The inspector was supposed to come Friday, but didn't, then Tuesday, but didn't, and now today, supposedly. That's the system.

Basement so far

Some more pictures. There's a layer of gravel across the basement floor now. I walked through it earlier today and as I was leaving the sump pump kicked into gear and shot out a stream of clear water. I guess my walking on the gravel pushed the water into the French drain, which funneled it to the sump pump. It actually works!

Basement from back to front.

Front right corner: the window wall will be pushed out.

French drain sticking out in front left corner. The bottom of the shelf above it is where the old floor was.

Front corner - you can see wetness, even though there was no rain for a few days

French drainage

Word is, the gravel is laid down and the French drains are installed -- and they're working fine. No truck delivery after all - the contractor went and got bags of gravel. As long as it works...

And for the record, French drains have nothing to do with France. They're named for some long-ago dude named Henry French.

Fun with permits

Need gravel delivered Wednesday for the basement. I called to get No Parking signs put up. But I need a permit for the gravel truck BEFORE I can get the No Parking signs. So I called the traffic department. The gentleman said he would fax over an application. The fax came through -- blank. If it's not a torrential rainstorm, it's bureaucracy and technology.

Inspector

Swung by today. So far so good for my place. He'll report violations for the place next door (we've almost drained their basement through attrition), and he'll contact the apartment building behind me, so they can reroute their downspout, which is currently dumping all the building's water onto my back area (which is dragging away the dirt in my house, and not in a good way).

A million details...

First the neighbors now the weather

The basement is dug up, awaiting the installation of the drainage system and plumbing lines. Only it won't stop raining. Too much rain and it floods. Constant rain and it never gets the chance to dry out, and the ground needs to be somewhat dry for the work to progress. If the ground is dry enough, it will take at least a week before the ground can be closed up. But the rain will be coming and going for the next couple of weeks.

Bones

Stopped by this morning and they were digging out the bottom level. One of the guys said that they found bones in Hoboken one time. I said if they find any bones at my place just bury them again. No CSI delays, please.

Lots of Progress

Top floor addition. It's been pushed out six feet.

Bottom level out back, will be raised a couple
of feet and become the kitchen with patio doors.

Old fireplace, apparently. Will NOT be restored.

The second floor addition is framed out, as is the entire second floor itself. The floor joists had to be replaced entirely because the floor itself was so uneven.

The back part of the main floor is cut away now as well. the next step - digging out the front part of the bottom level to add another foot to the room height (increasing it to a whopping seven feet). Also, the french drain will be laid, and the sewer pipes, etc.

I'm on dumpster number four now. One 40 yd and two 20 yarders for the debris, and a 10 yarder for the dirt and concrete.

The horizontal beams on either side of the chimney are
where the old floor joists lined up. Check out the differential.

Ladder to be replaced by stairway.

View from the front main floor.

FOUR MONTHS

The four month delay is practically over. The water line is officially separated as of this afternoon. The water company is tapping the new line, and once that's done, I can begin to finish this up. We didn't even need to go into their house. They have a copper line running from their house that connected to the lead line in the sidewalk, so we just replaced the lead line for a copper one, and hooked their existing copper line to that.

Now was that really worth holding it up for so long?? (Children. I swear.)

Permit obtained

That's the good news. The not-so-good news is the neighbor isn't free until March 28th. Yes, 2 and a half weeks from now.

In the meantime, the contractor is going ahead with everything else BUT the basement, which is probably flooding as I write this.

Still waiting

The excavator put in for the permit for the water line last Friday. No word yet on dates. Supposedly there are sewer/water line problems on a stretch of rt 440 on the other side of town that's taking up all the city's time, so they're backed up.
Figures.

The neverending water line saga

More waiting. The neighbors have been on board for a couple of weeks now. But the excavator is backed up until mid-March. He's going today or tomorrow to  the city to get the permit and a list of dates. That should take a few business days. Then I let the neighbors pick from one of those dates. So a vital project that began in November won't be finished until nearly April.

Demolition photos

Here are some pix. They came out pretty dark.

Front bedroom

Kitchen

back bedroom, will be expanded and bathroom added to left

Living room (that wall will be gone)

Brick chimney in bedroom

Demolition

Started on Monday. As of an hour ago, the entire second floor is ripped down to the studs. the first floor is almost there. Then comes the bottom level.

Once the demo is done, though, we'll have to wait. While the neighbors finally agreed to having the water line replaced, the excavator (the guy who rips the street up) is booked until March 8. I'm getting used to delays, and this should be the last big one.

I'll post pix of the demo this weekend.

Progress

Dumpster booked for all next week. Demo starts almost a year to the day I closed.

Typical

Still back and forth with the neighbors trying to agree on the language of a letter to be signed before they'll agree to the work. As I said before, every exchange takes at least a week, so now we're talking February (never mind the weekly blizzards we're getting).

For whatever it's worth (a little consolation, maybe), my contractor says situations like this are typical.

As for the current neighbors...

My apartment now is in the top floor of a 3-story building. The ground floor is a bar. Bars get loud. I knew that going in. But it's not just loud...

Last Friday at 2 am was the usual caterwauling at closing. I usually wake up and go back to sleep. But it got bad, real bad, real quick. Who knows what caused it, but about eight guys ended up attacking two other guys. One, after getting punched a few times, fell to the ground and curled up in a ball. No matter, because he kept getting kicked and stomped. The other guy was getting slammed so hard his face was all bloody. The bouncer yelled at them to stop but he kept his distance. Can't say I blame him.

I called 911 (those operators are super calm). They sent an ambulance and police, which took about five minutes or so to arrive. In the meantime, the guy curled up was still getting kicked. His pants somehow got pulled down, so he was bare-assed in the snow screaming about a broken leg.

By the time the cops got there, the attackers had fled in their cars. The whole scene was pretty disgusting. It was worse than the fight back in September where the bouncer got attacked and someone kicked the glass door in. This crap isn't even interesting anymore. It's just stupid.

Frustrated

December is gone. Nothing happened.
January is halfway gone. Nothing's happening. Still in limbo trying to coordinate communication between lawyer and neighbors.
All because of a water line that refuses to be split.
I wrote "frustrated" because I'd rather not curse on this site. But you can fill in the title with the most vile words you can imagine and it wouldn't come close.

On a "brighter" note

Went to visit my friends Ken Silber and Brooke Carter last weekend (and their kid too). Brooke is an architect who specializes in lighting. She reviewed my plans and gave me lots of good ideas, stuff I never would have thought of. Seriously, there's so much more to lighting a house than just sticking a table lamp in the corner (which is what I would have done). For instance, in the kitchen she suggested putting lights ON TOP of the wall cabinets to shine the light up, reflecting it off the ceiling. Never would have guessed that would work. Thanks Brooke.

And in return, I helped them move a 5,000 lb sofa bed down into their basement. I also got to throw electronics equipment into a dumpster. That was cool.

Every thing is a week

At least. To get the engineer to come and look at the water lines was only a few days, but my neighbors needed it delayed until the following week.

And then the neighbors refused to even be there...

Getting a lawyer to deal with the uncooperative neighbors (who aren't paying a dime) and getting the paperwork together took another week. (And the plumber spent the weekend in the hospital with heart problems. Dude, keep well).

So now the letter is being drafted and it will be sent to the neighbors for them to sign off, and then return it.

Then the plumber gets the permits from the city, then the water lines can be separated and replaced.

But next week is Christmas. And the week after is New Years.

One more week has turned into one more month. Jeez.

Sometimes you just gotta lawyer up...just in case

I'm not that old, but I'm too old for games.  Especially when it's my dime.
Cryptic? Yes.
And it's not the contractors. They're awesome.

Water

It's pretty important. And it's the one thing standing in my way right now. Me and the neighbors share a water line. It needs to be capped. Only problem is that the main is UNDER their house. Like, embedded in their concrete floor. So, on Thursday I'll go over with the city's chief engineer to take a look at the situation and figure out what needs to be done. He might (probably will) say that THEY need to replace their water/sewer line as well.

Since I can't really do demo/construction until the water lines are in place, that means more delays.

As of today

 Nine months since I closed...

...The crack houses next door, which went into foreclosure last spring, are about to undergo renovation. Awesome for QOL and property values. Hope they tear down the 2-story favela/shed out back Wonder how they got things moving so quickly...

 ...Questions regarding the water line, which I share with the neighbors. Contractor and city rep need to look at it when the neighbors get back next week. Word is there are only 20 or so shared lines left in the city. As they're discovered, they have to replaced with dedicated lines. We're not sure how/where access to the water line is (inside neighbor's house), and it needs to be capped so I can have my own dedicated line. No demo until then...

...Trying to get my window order in so I can get them delivered and up by the end of the year and take advantage of the tax credit. It expires Dec 31. Good luck with that one. The clock's spinning...

Finally

Work's being done. As of today, the old sewer line is being replaced. What this entails: the subcontractors are tearing up the sidewalk and street (with a cop [$$]) standing guard. They'll pull up the line and run a new line from my house that connects with the main in the middle of the street. No more sharing.

PERMITS

Are all in. I started in mid-June, and got them while I was in Costa Rica on November 6th. What a painful, annoying process that was. Can't wait until inspection time.

Diagram

So here's the plans. Just follow the link.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/53339561/A-1

Pictures!

Been lazy about this. Here are some of the before pix:

Living room- facing front. yes it is dark

living room - facing rear

kitchen: check out the flooring

kitchen: check out the stove with
the supercharged space heater

sole bathroom: no sink

stairs up - made for an elf

Stairs down: creepy

bottom floor, front room

bottom floor: back room

bottom floor: 2nd kitchen (!?!)

backyard. check out the slice of the
creepy shed. the total space is about
12x10 - enough for a grill and patio set

Still stuck in MUA

Two revisions to the plan as per the MUA.

 First, they said that the plans and the application needed to include the new sewer line (which I thought they did). Manny, the Jersey city architect, overnighted the plans to Maria, the lead architect, in Philly, who overnighted it back. Then the contact at the MUA went on vacation, so it sat. When he came back, he looked at it and found ANOTHER change that needs to be made. So, with Labor Day weekend upon us, it will be a slow weekend/week for progress.

One week has now turned into two months. Vacation to Germany this week. I won't get back until September 13. Mid September and not even in the buildings department yet. Jeez.

Don't worry, I still love you, Jersey City.

Not the sharing kind

Turns out that I share the sewer line with the next door neighbors. That ain't gonna work. So, this means I'll be running my own line. Tearing up the street. More money. But at least I'll be reassured that the sewer line is in pristine condition.

Oh, and the water pipes are made of lead. That's definitely going to change. I don't want no slow-learning babies.

Stuck in the sewer

Tear it up. Can't even reach it. And the MUA says -- no problem, just add the new sewer line to the plans.

What does this mean? The sewer line that runs under the sidewalk is ancient, most likely made of clay. It can't be in very good shape. So, I'll have to tear up the sidewalk and replace it, then replace the sidewalk. Not fun, but not unexpected.

But hold up...mid blog post, call from the contractor. Jersey City is unique. In most towns the city takes care of the line that runs from the sidewalk to the street. Not JC. The homeowner is responsible for that too. Before I commit to the expense of ripping up THE STREET TOO, we're gonna dig into the foundation, unearth the line inside the house, cut it, and then scope it out.

Yay.

Snaking the sewer line

It seems simple enough. I can't get permits from the city until the MUA signs off on the plans. After three weeks of reviewing the plans the MUA said they want a DVD of the condition of the house's sewer line.

I get a plumber to come out and he opens the main pipe in the house, which is wedged against the wall in a weird angle (of course). He can't snake the camera in very far because it's getting caught in the sink trap. He pulls out the toilet on the main level and tries through there. No go. The pipes are so rusted and full of crud that he can't get his apparatus through.

So now we have to pull out the sink and dig into the ground to access the pipe at the sink trap. And then (hopefully) they can run the camera through to the sewer line. If I could check this DURING the construction process, when ALL the pipes will be ripped up, life would be a little bit easier.

This on top of the busted radiator in my truck this weekend. I'm not complaining. Really, I'm not.

MUA

So I go to the MUA office on the other side of town. The guy -- a very nice guy, btw -- tells me that they've recently changed their policy, and now my architect has to fill out a 3-page form and walk the plans in himself.
 
Fine.

And he tells me it should take about a week.

Great.

Manny fills the forms out and drops it off just before the 4th of July break. So that means I should get it back by mid July. Right?

HAHAHAHA.

(Aside from my sarcasm, I admit that I want this to be handled correctly, especially since the house is in a flood zone, and the sewer system is ancient. I'd rather them be hardasses than lacksidaisical. Careful what you wish for...)

The maze of government

Closed in end of February. Beginning of June I started dealing with the city. At the city building department they tell me I can't submit anything until I get approval from the Municipal Utilities Authority, because I'm adding a full bath. The MUA deals with the city's water and sewer systems. They tell me it's easy -- they review it on the spot and sign off.

The fool that I am, I believe it will be as simple as that.

Did I ever mention

How awesomely awesome it is to be paying mortgage AND rent?