Bronze Anniversary

To celebrate eight wonderful years in Casa de Roo, Matt and I thumbed through our scrapbook capturing highlights from the first two years. It begins:

We discovered the home in mid-December ’99 and put in an offer right away.

The Weichart Realtors’ listing stated (and I quote):

True pleasure to show contemp lakefront with aal new + custom, very open, light & dramatic panaramic lakefront views, new top of the line kit…

I’m not sure what line the kitchen was at the top of, particularly since “Captain Stupid” (the previous owner) looted the dishwasher and stove, along with the washer and dryer, from what was about to become our home. He admitted as much when he finally arrived at the June 30, 2000, closing—four hours late. He also ’fessed up to abandoning several of his unwanted belongings, including an enormous rear-projection TV that Matt had to dismantle with a sledge hammer in order to get it out of the walk-out basement.

So we charged him several hundred dollars for the inconvenience. Our real estate agent had sent a sub-junior associate as her proxy; his real estate agent never showed up. The Captain’s lawyer was so mad at his client, he gleefully accepted our terms.

Drama aside, the house was now ours. We sped home and a local cop pulled us over for speeding. Explaining the situation got us off with a stern finger wagging. Finally, we arrived at the house to find the movers, my Mother-in-Law Jean and “Aunt” Theresa waiting (which they’d been doing for hours—after helping us move out of our condo that same day).

I was able to see the sun rise over the lake at 5:30 a.m. the next morning, July 1, 2000, because:

We learned that nature is noisy. Thump! Thump! Thump! And out we ran to find a huge crow hopping on our roof.

We learned a lot of other things, too. Such as:

• Headless flowers lack charm. Thanks to the deer, stems are still a common feature in our garden. I was excited that our yard was a blank slate and after the July 2 maiden voyage of the orange mower (see top image, among the 2000 photos from the scrapbook; click to enlarge), I couldn’t wait to fill it with flowers. We’d wake up only to find the yard was once again a blank slate. We’re slowly learning to make wiser planting choices instead of annually adding to the deer salad bar.



• We learned that Captain Stupid invited all his fishing buddies to use his dock and pee in his poison ivy infested arborvitae bushes at the shore line. So we spent our first several weeks chasing people off what was now our land. (Did ya meet the new neighbors? What a couple of A$$h013$!)



• We learned that calling the house a three-bedroom was a misnomer. The 10’x10’ space downstairs, three steps up from the walk-out basement, next to all the noisy utilities, over the dirt floor crawl space and under the master bedroom, was better for storage than sleeping. Our two nights there while repainting the upstairs in January 2001 due to ice damming damage were likely to have been the only time that room ever served as a bedroom. The space is destined to become our second bathroom.



• We learned that a fireplace insert doesn’t work if your chimney is installed incorrectly using materials that aren’t fire rated. (The Italian masons were cursing the Captain like mad, crossing themselves and gesturing wildly when they came down from the roof to tell me that if we had been able to light a fire, we’d have likely burned the house down.) Our first successful and safe fire crackled on December 1, 2000. Woodworker Michael Juras installed the custom mantle in May 2002, along with our kitchen island.



• We learned that having 20 skylights is a really bad idea, even in a room that is 26’x16’. So we added the Unico System A/C and heating in May 2001. Still not enough. On August 2001, we added 3M Scotchtint Plus window film to the skylights. It still isn’t enough.



• And we learned that, be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home!

Um, what is keeping up the roof?

The home inspector missed it. Two architects missed it. And for years, we missed it, too.

Thanks to our demolition efforts, something caught my eye and led me to ask Matt, “Um, what is keeping up the roof?”

The drywall installer had done a nice job of accenting the large beam in our wall that went up to the roof ridge beam (click image to enlarge). One would expect that beam to continue bearing weight all the way to the ground. Not so. Instead, where the beam ends, there is a small single-pane glass window.

“Is this a problem,” I asked The Todd during our Friday night architecture meeting on March 28?

“Oh, I don’t like the look of that,” he replied. Like me, he wondered how he could have missed this condition. Of course, I had hoped my fears were unwarranted. Sometimes, it really sucks to be right.

This was another reason why we hired Harry (Harbhajan) Braich, President of Apex Group, Inc., to conduct a structural engineering inspection of our home. The builder we ended up hiring recommended Harry, having worked with him before.

A few of Harry’s observations on our home:

• It is some 60 years or so old, one story house with multiple level basement and crawl spaces.
• The house has undergone multiple renovations, additions and modifications over the years. Most of this work seems to have been done without proper design. Also, the work itself has been done in makeshift ways.
• However, there is no visible settlement or cracking of the foundations. Hence, the foundations do look structurally adequate.

According to Harry, the following structural aspects need attention:

• The deck is worn out and showing signs of age.
• The main center beams in the first floor framing as seen from the basement are deficient. The beam running parallel to the street has a sister beam that is under-sized and has mid-span joints. The main beam is not supported at all on the right side and barely supported on the left.
• The right wall at the basement is appreciably deficient. The wall studs are under-sized and with makeshift material. These are either broken or rotted and are spaced at too long spans. Also, most of them are not even connected at the bottom. The sheathing boards are rotting as well. The rotting is due to moisture penetration from the concrete masonry stairs running along this wall.
• The center beam at the upper level of the basement is under-sized.
• The whole of the framing and walls in the basement needs to be gone over.
• The size of the main beam in the roof framing of the living area … does not have proper supports at both ends.
• There are cracks in the sheet rock under the beam support in the middle. These cracks are the result of the under-sized support beam.
• Also, there are cracks in the master bedroom. These are the result of header fasteners being loose / of less than required adequacy.
• There is a slope in the first floor. The slope is due to modifications not having been done with proper workmanship. Also, the joists and beams being under-sized or less than required adequacy, as noted above.

Addressing these issues adds about $25,000 to the price of the project (in addition to the engineering fee). I’m anticipating we will consider the fixes “priceless” and cannot wait to get started. But wait we will. The town has now had our permit application for 10 business days; they say to expect a 20-day turn-around.

Aggressive solar

My husband brought my over-sleeping to an end this morning at 8:50 a.m. by informing me that the Imaginary Chipmunk was back. The striped critter occasionally scurries through the great room, easily entering via our faulty foundation.

Usually, only I see him. Once he stopped by when my Mother-in-Law was joining us for lunch. Now Matt “imagined” him, too. Where he is now? No clue. I’m guessing he came in to escape heat only to learn there really was no escape. Like us, he probably fled outside to survive the 96°F weather.

I’m a lover, not a hater. There is one thing that does, however, negatively inflame my passions: the 20 skylights in our great room. I assure you that this feature is hate-worthy. Oh skylights, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways (with apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning):

1. I hate thee for your length and width and height as you disrupt my morning and ruin my sight. Let me explain. I wanted to ease into the day before tackling my chores. Get properly caffeinated, see a few home shows, eat a bowl of cereal and chat with my husband… Tough to do when you are blinded by the light. Glaring sunlight. Through each ridiculous skylight (as shown in the Photomerge™ image above; click to enlarge).


2. I hate thee for the level of every day’s most uncomfortable heat, by sun and into night. For example, during the winter, it was 80°F in the room on a day when there was snow on the ground. Today at 3:40 p.m., it was still 95.5° outside—and 80° inside after a full day of running the AC and keeping the shades down. At almost mightnight, it still 76.6° indoors. Balmy! These skylights do not provide the eco-benefit of passive solar—they radiate at us with aggressive solar! How much environmental damage have these roof windows wrought? How much money have they cost us as we try in vain to condition the air in our home?


3. I hate thee purely, as ye let in the rain. With the setting of the sun, we saw the storm in “stereo” on both the local weather channel as a green blob and out our windows. Across the lake, neighbors presented an impressive fireworks display, with thunder as applause and lightning as the crescendo. Then came the rain down—and the rain came in.

Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer until the builder slays my nemesis; Matt dropped off the permit application at the municipal building department on Friday. Sonnet 43 says it best: I shall but love thee better after thy death.

We hired a builder!

On Saturday, May 31, we wrote our first check that will pay for something other than more pieces of paper. We handed $5,000 over to Wasko Construction, LLC, the official builder for Casa de Roo!

It was with immense glee that I shook hands with Stephen Wasko and Alex Schiavone to seal the deal! Permit process permitting, we believe the project can officially begin in July.

This big step was preceded by scores of other steps. Here is a trip down memory lane:

2006

• Coming up with a Manifesto for the project, titled, “Everywhere you look, Beauty!”
  
• Looking for and interviewing architects. (Process beings in February)
  
• Hiring Lakeland Surveying, Inc. to provide a topographical survey. I pick it up with my brother, STo, who is visiting from Ohio. For well over a year, this drawing represents the only value Matt and I receive for money spent on our dream house project. (Drawing dated July 12)


• Writing the first retainer check to the selected architecture firm. (September 11, 2006)
  
• Getting “as built” drawings of our home as it currently stands.

2007

• Drafting, drawing and dreaming, only to find the design is more than double our budget.


• Lopping features off of the house.


• Sending the revised design out for bidding…


• Learning the project is still more than double. (Thus the more elaborate design must have been at least triple our budget.) We also learn from the builders who are bidding that the direction the architecture firm is sending the project is rife with impracticality!


• Taking matters into our own hands by redesigning the house ourselves, using Photoshop.

January 2008

• Discussing the scaled-back design with “Local Guy,” the builder we were pretty sure we’d hire; his estimate is still tens of thousands of dollars over budget—and missing key elements (like carpeting) that make a house a home. (January 11).


• Explaining the project to Steve Wasko and Alex Schiavone, who lack that “deer in headlights” look other contractors and builders seem to exhibit when they see our site. They offer some interesting ideas and practical advice. (January 18)

February 2008

• Losing debt-spending power thanks to America’s credit crunch because the bank has dramatically reduced our HELOC. (February 1)


• Realizing I was seduced by my own dream house Manifesto—and used it to seduce others into seeing my vision (some would say sharing my hallucinations). It was a case of champagne dreams and caviar wishes—on a Krogh’s Brew Pub budget. I learn to embrace the ranch house vernacular.


• Interviewing a replacement architect. (February 4)


• Meeting with Dan Keller of George J. Keller and Sons. He brings samples of roofing, siding and decks, promising: “We can do it all for you.” (February 22)

March 2008

• Hiring Todd Lendt to provide drawings for Casa de Roo. We explain to The Todd that because I follow the principle of, “that which isn't forbidden is allowed,” part of his job is to say “no” to what Matt calls my “hair-brained schemes.” (March 1, 2008)


• Sending a request for bid with a partial set of close-to-final drawings, along with our list of expectations, to “Local Guy,” Keller and Wasko. (March 14)


• Renting a dumpster enables us to begin doing demolition ourselves. (March 15)


• Having only one builder meet our March 24 deadline for bids: Wasko. (March 22)


• Showing The Todd some of our structural concerns; he believes we should hire a structural engineer, which we agree to do following further demolition. (March 28)


• Interviewing Ali (AKA, “The Chem”), a potential builder recommended to us by the father of a friend. We give him an opportunity to bid. (March 29)

April 2008

• Welcoming arrival of the second dumpster. (April 4)


• Showing foundation issues we’ve uncovered to Wasko; Steve suggests we hire a structural engineer and recommends Harry Braich of Apex Group, Inc. (April 4)


• Getting final drawings from The Todd. (April 12)


• Dispersing drawings to Keller, Wasko, The Chem and Local Guy for bidding; also sending a copy to Harry. (April 14)


• Having Harry do first round of structural inspections. (April 17)


• Having Harry do another, more in-depth round of inspections to our home, resulting in the Structural Engineering Report. (April 22)


• Reviewing revised bid from Wasko, which doesn’t include structural work. It is several thousands of dollars more than what we had hoped to spend, but not totally out of the question. (April 26)


• Reviewing estimate from Keller. It lists out all the work to be performed, but doesn’t have a cost breakdown. (Structural issues aren’t included.) We feel confident that his firm would do a good job, and we like Dan; however, the price comes in at about $65,000 above what we had hoped to spend. (April 30).

May 2008

• Discussing the bid from Local Guy, while showing him the work we’d done in terms of demolition. His bid includes cost breakdowns and allowances. The cost, however, is about $115,000 more than what we hoped to spend for the stripped down version of our plans, and that is before he addresses structural issues. The price seemed to be jacked up to cover the “pain and suffering” he believes our site causes, to which we have often remarked (behind his back, of course): “Quit your whining Local Guy.” Even though I like and trust the guy, his firm is not getting the job. I feel strangely sad. (May 2)


• Reviewing the structural bid from Wasko confirms that our problems will require about $25,000 to fix, a price higher than but not that grossly out of line with Harry’s estimate. (May 7)


• Bidding au revoir to The Chem. Since meeting him, he disappeared more than once, making seemingly unscheduled but emergency trips to Florida. He has no business card. While his price on the May 6 bid is low, we wonder: At what cost? For example, his proposal only provides numbers covering labor; he wants us to buy all materials. We’d seen enough episodes of Holmes on Homes to know this isn’t the builder for us. (Mid-May)


• Meeting between Wasko and Matt is very productive. (May 16)


• Insulting our taste seems to be the way Helen thinks she is going to gain us a client. Um, let me back up a moment. I met a guy at a party who had a wife who knew a contractor who installed metal roofs. Seemed like a good contact for us to have. Helen showed up with the potential roofer for a meeting with Matt. Not only was her presence in our home unexpected, her opinions about the décor choices for our home were uninvited.
  
  The way Matt tells it, she made known that our color choices were inappropriate for how she felt we should live. Although our home is currently various shades of purple, she suggested we should be featuring rust. Note: We are not a fan of this color family. We will be installing a standing seam metal roof. She thought this was the wrong approach. Why not Mediterranean-style tiles that are actually made of metal? Note: We don’t like one building material impersonating another. If you are not made of clay, don’t pretend to be. If you are composite decking, don’t sport a wood grain. We are not building a faux château. Matt explained our design would continue to be “cozy modern.” She disagreed with this choice. Meanwhile, her roofing contact failed to bring product samples. Will we be hiring this pair? No, we will not. Especially since they never followed up. (May 16)


• Hiring Wasko for both the structural and renovation work, which ought to make both phases of the project come together seamlessly. Part of reducing costs involves Matt and I doing some of the work ourselves. We are ready to roll up our sleeves! (May 31)