I Can't Believe It's Not Zero!House construction thread: Samples for cabinet fronts for the pantry. Just say no to graige!
The brightest red is an exact match to our coffee machine, but right now I think I'm feeling the marigold??!
Get wrecked*!
*actually get slowly and methodically deconstructed, saving as much material as possible.
We are now prepared for when the slow-and-methodical deconstruction process is over.
Construction update: first delays of the project!
- Because of linemen going to help with hurricane recovery down south, it has taken three weeks to get power disconnected from the existing structure. So the excavator is just siting in the driveway waiting. Supposedly it will be disconnected today.
- Because of the threat of the dock workers strike, our windows were not loaded onto a ship from Germany on Sept 27 like they were supposed to be. As far as we can tell they're still waiting in port in Hamburg right now.
Best case scenario, we're running about a month behind schedule now. Windows are on the critical path. Transit -> wall fabrication -> delivery to site -> raising -> roofing.
Debris is all gone, now we're embiggening the hole. The right-hand edge of the pit is the depth we're going for everywhere. A lot of dirt is gonna come out.
Schedule update: they never found the windows in Germany, but we did find them on a boat in the Atlantic. They are due to arrive in NYC the beginning of next week, which means we can hopefully begin fabricating walls the first week of November.
Hole continues to be embiggened.
And now we go back up!
Sealed, insulated, just beginning partial backfill, and now with snow @dev
James Widman
Huw Rowlands
Neil Henning
Andy Wingo@steve yes!!!!!
@steve is wall fabrication gated on windows? walls are built on site?
Whine Spectator@steve may your customs clearances be swift and your shipping containers unsquashed
Dan Ports@steve this is the Windows Update we needed
calicoding@steve that was fast!
@calicoding Taking a house down is a lot faster than putting one up. Entropy is funny like that.
Helge Heß
Jon Masters@calicoding @steve doing the main house this time?
@steve @calicoding ah yes it looks like it!
@steve that big yellow bird is eating up your house
@steve see this is why I didn’t have a schedule for my house extension cause I would have been disappointed (it took a year, I first thought 3 months!)
@neilhenning when building a whole house, there are too many moving parts to not have a schedule, even if you're always going to miss it eventually.
@steve ock you are right for sure. Excited for the pics as it starts to come together man!
Kevin Laeufer@steve what kind of windows are you getting and how did you buy them from Germany? Is your contractor buying them, are you going through a US intermediary or did you order directly from Germany? I have been looking into tripple pane windows recently and they seem impossibly hard to get in the US.
@ekiwi The windows are from UniLux (https://www.unilux-windows.com/en/start); triple-pane, mostly euro-style tilt/turn operation. We ordered them through Bensonwood (https://bensonwood.com), who are handling all the structural fabrication for our house, but I believe that they have a number of US sales representatives.
I know that I've seen a few projects in the northeast US with Josko windows and doors, so they must have US representation as well.
But also, I think all the big US manufacturers also offer triple-pane now. Certainly Pella and Marvin do (the house that we're living in during this has triple-pane Pella windows, and there are a couple specialty windows from Marvin going into the one we're building).
@steve those are some really nice windows! My eventual goal is to have a German passive house in the US. Also really into the idea of insulated concrete forms.
@ekiwi UniLux was great to work with, they pretty much do not bat an eye at any vaguely reasonable request. We have this one big sliding door (sliding panel is 7'6" x 7'), the whole assembly weighs like 400lbs. With the US manufacturers I've dealt with in the past, this would have been a hassle, but it was not even a thing.
Dominic Hopton@steve will you get to be in the drivers seat for the ceremonial first cut?
@steve Took me a while to accept that this is the _old_ house. It already looks more modern and in much better shape than any of the houses in Ithaca we have been looking at. (The last one had the most slanted floors I have ever seen and would have to have its foundation essentially replaced.)
@ekiwi it’s a mixed bag. Not that old, but it was built on spec and the developer cut a lot of corners such that fixing all the little issues would end up being similarly expensive and more time-consuming than just doing it right.
@steve I assume that zoning board approval was not an issue. Because that is what prevents a lot of tear down and rebuild projects in other places.
@ekiwi since we’re rebuilding essentially in the same footprint, there’s not much zoning could object to.