Construction Update

The roof trusses were delivered today. We are still waiting on the plumber to do the plumbing rough-in so they can pour the slab.

Construction Update

They painted lines in the gravel to show where the plumbing will need to go. It reads "Van" (vanity), "Toilet", and "Drain", with other lines showing where the entryway and walls will be. Hard to explain, but it'll be more obvious when they start framing things.

Truthfully the entryway looks like it's in the wrong place - too far to the left in the first photo. I'll have to talk with the builder. Hopefully before the plumbing gets roughed in.

Various people also stopped by to drop off building materials. Boards, wood, nails, Tyvek, windows, doors, etc.

Construction Update

So I find out that it's going to be really expensive to put the bathroom where it was originally supposed to go (back left corner) as the increased distance would require adding something called an ejection pump to pump the sewage across the yard from the bathroom to the drainfield (mmmmmm...sewage). I spoke with the builder a lot this morning and thought I had decided on just putting the bathroom where it was supposed to go, but when he told me the cost I choked. He's going to draw up some plans tonight to relocate it to under the steps going upstairs and we'll make a final decision tomorrow. He needs to know then because the next step is to rough in the pipes before they pour the slab, and it's not changing after they do that! The bathroom will end up being a lot smaller and cramped, but it's going to be much cheaper than having to install all the extra plumbing and complexity required by putting it on the other side of the building.

The workmen spent all day today prepping the site to get it ready to pour the slab. It's actually kinda cool looking at the moment. They brought out I think another 4 truckloads of gravel, bringing the total to 10 loads. Wow.

Snow is in the forecast again and temperatures will be below freezing for the remainder of the week. My guess is they probably won't get to pour the slab until next week sometime, which gives them until then to rough in the plumbing.

Construction Update

We got 6 loads of gravel today. And a construction dumpster.

Construction Update

The concrete forms came off today.

Construction Update

Today the poured concrete walls went up. I'll let the photos do the talking.

I also went out and measured, and the building is only 60' long. The original plans were for 40'x60', but I had modified that to add another 5 feet to one end. I guess the message didn't get through. So...revision - the building will now officially be 40'x60'.

Construction Update

Even though the temperatures were right around freezing and the wind was gusting to 30 mph or so, the workmen came out today to dig the trench and pour the concrete for the footer.

Construction Update

The builder came by today and said that the cement guys will be out tomorrow to do the footers. It was too wet and windy today.

He also said that they should have the building completely under roof in a couple weeks (!).

Since it's a slow day, here's some pictures of the building permit and the septic work that was completed a few weeks ago. :-)

Construction Update

Looks like they've finished the excavating. No sign of the footers yet though.

Construction Update

The workers came out today and began excavating the site where the new gameroom will go. They had to do some snow/ice removal first.

Interview and Article About Me

Here's a very flattering article about me that just surfaced on the web:
http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/000316.html

Wow.

And here's an interview with me by High Scores Arcade
http://highscoresarcade.com/interviews/peterhirschberg.htm

Construction Update

Well, it's been quiet the last week. We got a bunch of snow and ice, so the construction crew haven't been able to do anything. They haven't even been around.

We got a call today from the contractor saying that the excavator guys will be here Tuesday, and the cement guys will be here on Wednesday!

Temperatures are supposed to be in the 50s, so maybe things will melt enough for them to get some work done. Right now, the yard is a giant sheet of ice.

Sundance Photo Update

I added some additional photos to my Sundance scrapbook. Sam Blackburn, one of the players featured in the movie Chasing Ghosts was kind enough to send me a CD of the photos he took at the festival.

The scrapbook is here:
http://peterhirschberg.com/arcade/sundance2007/

Construction Update

The builder had his "excavator" people come survey the area where the garage will go. They determined that the ground was too hard (frozen) to do anything, but they at least got to check out the situation.

We are waiting on the weather at this point. In other news, we just got 4" of snow.

Construction Update

The builder came out today and completely removed the steps to our deck (which leads to our front door). We now have to use the rear entrance for a while. Maybe a long while.

They are preparing the area for the new building's footers, one of which goes where the stairs are. The building actually overlaps where the stairs used to be, so out they went. The eventual plan is to relocate the steps to a different place of course, but until that happens we got nothin.

The temperatures this week has been in the single digit range, so they are going to only be able to do so much before they have to wait for warmer weather.

Construction Update

The septic work has been completed! The workers finished everything up today and smoothed out the yard again when they were done. This means that construction on the building can officially start.

I called Chuck (the builder) and pestered him. Uhhhh...I mean, I left a voicemail with him making sure he knew he was up to bat.