CMR Update: Floors and Mores

After the brief period of confusion and decision making that held us up from getting the floors poured - we are now "cooking with gas". And there's lots activity over at the old homestead. Much to George the Elder's delight we witnessed some activity there on a SATURDAY - which warmed the cockles of his heart. Technically, we're not supposed to work on Saturday's according to our HOA - so I believe that what partly gave him a little thrill was knowing that we were rising up against "the man." George the Elder is no fan of Home Owners Associations. Go figure.

So, after the concrete had set a couple of days, the crew came back in to cut the joints. Concrete basically cracks when drying - so to minimize that - - joints are cut in a pleasing geometric pattern that has to do with where the walls meet the concrete and reasonably large sections in between. Weirdly, I loved that it now looked more like a floor thanks to the cuts.

They still had the skylight hole open to help accelerate that drying process. I get a little tingle when I start to see what the space is really going to look like with those giant skylights opening everything up. Wheee!

The cuts in George the Younger's room:

Then, a couple o' days later came the grinders. They ground and they ground until the aggregate was exposed and the floor was smooth to the touch. The next day was spend with a polisher and some sealant to achieve the glossier finish we were looking for. Since we couldn't walk on the floors, and the skylights were now covered up again - our first view of the floor was very primitive - by matchlight. We quickly made a trip back home and get a couple of flashlights....

Still, even with the flashlights, it was hard to get a good shot. What we did see - we loved!!

This is a close-up of the exposed aggregate. Now, the floors are drying and the colors are quite muddled. It will be several weeks before they achieve their final color which should be a nice light grey.

Now that the floors are walkable, we still can't get good photos of them since they are now covered in saw dust and other construction detritus. This past week was spend working on:

Installing the upstairs radiant heat tubes. I was over there on Thursday and they were drilling holes through both the steel beams and the floor joists to run the tubing through. Crazy loud....

The windows in the boys rooms are now more fully framed and waiting for the windows to go in them. I have a meeting with GC Paul and Architects John and Geoff to find out when the windows will arrive. But they have a place to go now. Same with the exterior doors to the atrium. All framed and ready to go.

The original windows in the upstairs living room we will be keeping - but one of them was cracked (me) and one of them was broken (Foreman Luke) and they were both replaced this past week. So, two new window panes in vintage casement windows. Yeah!

The roof line over the kitchen and the new stairs to the lower level was also on the agenda this week. I am not tall enough to see what's really going on there - but I trust that whatever it is will manage to do the job of keeping the rain out when it is finished. They also took the old brick off the exterior window sill in the atrium. We're going to replace it with the same Lava stone that will be on the floor.

The atrium floor also got stage II of it's water-proofing system and is getting ready for the pedestal thingamajiggy that will hold the stone above the floor and allow the water to drain. It's like a very large bathtub of sorts. It's ultimate niftiness is that the floor will be a solid surface with no visible drains. Too cool for school.

And here's George the Elder reading through the "daily work log" of Foreman Luke. He's a taskmaster - wants to make sure they're working like dogs.

And finally, as if we didn't use enough concrete to make the lower level - we're getting ready to put in the new front steps and porch. The step configuration is a little different than what was there before - so they had much jack-hammering to do. This was going on the same time they were drilling through the steel the other day. I appreciate and am infinitely grateful that I have very patient neighbors!

This coming week the focus will be on lots more interior stuff. "They" tell me that this next part seems to go very quickly. I won't be holding my breath on that. I measure time in increments of trips to the Laundromat. I have been many times - and will need go at least 8 more times - - if we are on schedule. I have a sneaky suspicion that we will not be done by mid-January - - and so I will continue to faithfully collect quarters until I know for certain otherwise.