Flag looking great

"Six-days-a-week" Thom was here today with his trusty helper Chris to lay the remaining flag and cut the arch to make a nice rounded edge leading to the driveway.  Looking awesome!

Spray away

Mick demonstrates the value of a good sprayer in this video...

Thom was in doing more work on the flag.  He may be able to finish the main part by tomorrow.

Here's Vasco priming some of the exterior trim in the garage.

Masonry complete!

Thom and the guys at BHM Exteriors have done a fantastic job.  In a few short weeks, they have transformed the exterior wood frame of the house to a beautiful brick and stone facade.  They finished the East wall today, and finished off all of the little odds and ends around the house, including cleaning up.  It's a fairly messy business, masonry, but Thom always leaves the site in good shape, which is just one of the reasons he's one of my five-star trades!

We also passed the electrical inspection today, so we should get our service really soon.  I'm looking forward to that!  We've been leeching (renting!) the power off the neighbour who has been really great, but it's time for us to be independent!

Narrow roads...

The poor neighbours.... when I arrived this morning, I sighed looking down the street - lined both sides with trucks of my trades.  It was one of those perfect storm days where I had a ton going on, everyone working well, but there was only so much room on the road (we like to stay parked on only one side of the street usually!).

So, 7 trades today....

1) Mason's working on the East side wall
2) Aluminum guys taking advantage of a hole in their schedule and some free scaffolding to work on
3) Plumbers - doing the rough-in work - installing mixing valves and bathtubs
4) HVAC - running the gas lines and venting for the water heater
5) Framers - continuing the rough-in carpentry
6) Electrical (though not for long) - tying up some odds and ends for the inspection tomorrow
7) Tech guys - installing alarm wire, speaker wire, ethernet and central vac lines!

Wow!

Electrical Service Set to Go

Kevin completed the meter box and service pole, so we are ready for inspection (which should happen next Tuesday or Wednesday).

The mason's continued on to the East side of the house.

Back complete

The guys finished the back of the house - I really like the look of the backyard.  Marlen and Danny and the kids will have many fun years enjoying their beautiful back yard (once we get some sod back there!).

It was another busy day inside the house, but more on that in a later post.

I can see the back yard!

We managed to fill a 40 yard bin by 5pm today with 45 yards of garbage!  The driver from Arizon was nice enough not to swear too much with the size and height of the load.  It is very nice to see the backyard, and you can also see the progress they've made on the brick.

Unfortunately, we've run out of brick (credit cards tend to get maxed during the build process!), but we'll be getting more tomorrow and they can finish the top and move to the last side after that.

Besides the heavy concentration of clean up, Kevin was doing his last bit of work before calling for inspection.  We should have power soon!

It was another busy one...

Masons, electrician, plumber, HVAC, rough-in framers and the cleaning crew has finally arrived - it was another busy day at 48 Edgecroft.  

Karol works on the back wall...

Rui drills the sump drain hole...

Andy hangs ductwork...

Mario runs water pipes...

Louis changes the bathroom door location and size...

Kevin runs the kitchen 20amp wiring...

And pedro finishes the coffered ceiling in the master bedroom!

No pics of the cleanup...it's just not that glamorous, but very rewarding!

HVAC, Plumbing and brick!

We continue to hum along on this project - the masons have move the scaffold to the back and were loading up bricks on the scaffold all day.

Meanwhile, work is progressing on the basement, with both HVAC and plumbing working in harmony.  We are aiming to drywall in 3 weeks.

Moving on

Although I don't have a pic... I will wait until the scaffolding is down, the boys just finished the West side - ahead of schedule and looking great.  We will spend the early part of next week cleaning the wall and moving the scaffold, then it's on to the back.  At this rate, we should be done brick in less than 10 days.

Plumbing passed, brick moving along

The City was in today for the scheduled plumbing rough in.  This involves checking that the water lines can handle 100 psi of compressed air without a leak for an extended time (we've had the loaded for a week, so we're good to go!) as well as filling up the drains and vents to the roof to show that they are also water tight.  Then, we go through each plumbing zone, making sure that everything is to code, properly vented and that the ABS pipes are not going through framing they shouldn't.  Of course, with some plumbers, an inspection can be very stressful.... but not with Tony.  Passed!

Meanwhile, BHM is cooking along - in both ways.  The weather has been incredible, though quite hot on the sunny side of the house.  They have finished the 2nd third of the side, and are looking to finish the top of the wall tomorrow.  I have to say, the neighbour on this side of the house is one of the nicest guys I've worked next to!

Front brick

While the guys have started the West side, this is the first time we can see the entire front side.  Though the final product will look much different when the porch roof and other details are added, I'm really liking it so far.

Pinewood was also in today, getting close to finishing the basement rough in.

Brick moves West

More electrical inside, while Tom has started the West side of the house.  He's promising three days of brick there... let's count!  1.....

Pot lights

After a detailed walk-through with "the boss" (Marlen.... sorry Danny!), Kevin was ready for the installation of all of the pot lights on the top two floors.  His progress has been fantastic.

Meanwhile, Tom ended up finishing the brick on the front in the late of the day.

Front brick work

While Kevin continued the electrical rough-in inside, Tom and his team worked their way up the front of the house with the brick.  If all goes well, they'll finish tomorrow and continue along the West side.

Plumbing, electrical, stone... continues!

A lot more progress today.  Tony was in finishing the water connections, Kevin and his crew were in getting everything down to the basement, and Tom was in working on the Southeast corner so we can install the angle iron above the garage and finish the stone sections of the house by tomorrow.  

Work progresses...

Despite rain and a reduced team, Thom managed to get a half day of work done on the stone in the front.  It looks great, though you can't see much through the scaffolding!  Meanwhile, the Pinewood guys got most of the big things hung in the basement and Kevin made it down to the first floor already.  Good progress team!

Another crazy day...

4 trades... 14 people... no fights!  Wow.  We had the window guys deliver and install today, the mason's continue outside on the front, electrical start on the top floor and the HVAC guys working in the basement.  On a hot day like today (close to 40 degrees), we managed to get a ton of work completed in perfect harmony - I love days like this.

Stone and plumbing

Thom started the stone work at the front today - sweet!  We're doing a combination of 70% owen sound and 30% tiger stripe, a nice mix that will only look better over time.

Meanwhile, Tony was busy with installing the water lines throughout the house.  It was one of those hot days where working in the basement took longer than working upstairs...lol.

Good progress - by mid-day, we had the entire southwest corner of the house done.  Now we continue along the front and if the window guys show up as promised tomorrow, we'll have a different looking house by end of week!

Stone arrives

While we wait for the custom HVAC fittings for the basement takeoff, preparations are underway for the front of the house.  The stone, steel lintels and limestone sills arrived today.  We should be starting installation Wednesday.