Week 112: Slab and lockable doors

This week was a rollercoaster.

Monday we passed inspection for the slab prep but when i was talking to Dean, our builder, he was warning me that we might not be able to pour until much later in the week. Vancouver is at capacity for cement supply with several massive developments sucking up a lot of the supply. You never really think about cement when you don’t need it and having been past Oakridge and seeing the size of the hole and realizing that it will be filled with concrete, it does make you think about how a single project like that can suck up a lot of resources.. Anyway, despite having booked our pour for this week Dean was now being told it was going to be Friday. In most cases, Friday actually means Monday so i was pretty stressed. Dean was feeling it too because he wants our project done too. Our timeline for getting back into the house is so tight it sent me into a bit of a tailspin and i got a lousy night sleep.

Tuesday morning Dean texted me a photo of a pump truck outside our house and i went from the depths of despair to elation in a heartbeat. Another project had been rained out or wasn’t ready so Dean got a call and the crew showed up at ours. I stopped by on my way back from the office to grab some photos but tried to stay out of the way. Sarah and I went over in the evening to write our initials in the slab and i was back to thinking that we might actually be able to move back in April 1st. I slept like a log.

With the slab in, things can really start rolling on the finishing. We can’t start on wiring or plumbing rough in until the walls are done so a load of lumber got dropped off Wednesday for the framing and Dean’s crew was back in there working. They prepped the windows which involved moving the bathroom to accommodate an 8″ shift in the south wall, set up the kitchen opening which had been up in the air when they did the original framing and finished prepping for the doors. The doors arrived a couple of weeks ago and have been stashed upstairs in the living room and kitchen so they need to come out so that they have the workspace up there.

Thursday was another huge day as the doors went in. I hadn’t expected this for a few more days but we all want to have a lockable area as it is awkward hauling all the tools up and down a ladder to upstairs every morning. The psychological effect of seeing the doors in place was amazing and i almost laughed when i walked past on my way to the store and saw them working on the french doors for the suite. They look great!

Friday they started on the foundation insulation and prepped the window openings because the windows might be arriving next week. We aren’t totally sure about the timing because we have not heard a final word on the transom window for the kitchen. We only submitted those details a week or so ago when the framing was finished. Not sure if we will get everything but that transom or if they will hold the rest until that is ready. The guys put plywood over the openings though so we ended the week with a lockable space and now have a key. That is a milestone. Foundation insulation is substantially complete in the suite so framing can start next week.

In the meantime, we have been busy changing the plans a bit. I have been really concerned about the size and shape of the front bedroom in the suite and now that i am able to walk around in there, i am even more concerned. If you recall, we already moved the north wall 6″ to get a bit more space in the room. I have been researching how much space you need around a bed and “they” say 30″ is a good amount. I don’t think i have ever had that and i measured where we are now and it is only 22″. A queen sized mattress is 5′ x 6’8″ but measuring our bed with frame etc. it actually ends up being more like 5’4″ x 7′. While the room is 10′ wide, the north wall is only about 7′ because of the door/hall. If the headboard is along the north wall and we don’t want it pushed right against the wall then we only have room for about 20″ on the east side and there will be no room for a bedside table on the west side without it sitting right in the entrance. If we put the headboard on the east wall then we can get 20″ or so on the north side and there is room for a bedside table on the other, but the gap at the bottom of the bed to get past the jog in the wall for the front hall closet is going to be only about 6″. If we put the headboard on the west wall, then it has to go in the corner by the jog in the wall. Someone would be able to get out on that side of the bed, but they wouldn’t have a bedside table.

Why do i care? I’m not living down there? My sister suggested that if we rent to a family with a kid, it could be the kids room. Fair enough, a single or even a standard double bed would fit great. It isn’t the end of the world. But what if we rent to two roommates? Roommates might each have partners. That was certainly the case when Sarah and i first started dating. Neither of our places had strict 1 person to a room policies. It is a pain the butt to have to crawl over your partner every time you need to get out of bed. It is also annoying as a renter to have to flip a coin to see who gets the best bedroom and negotiate a rent differential.

Luckily it looks like we can move the wall of the closet in the front hall to give us about 8 more inches of room. Not a lot but it will be more workable. I wasn’t sure about that because it is above a footing that runs for the load bearing wall but Dean indicated that it is not actually load bearing. The only thing it will cost us is time and money. Both in short supply but i think it will be worth it. Very few people complain that their front hall is 8″ too small but that 8″ could transform the usability of the bedroom.

With a lockable basement i also went and picked up the tile we selected from Ames Tile for our laundry room. Unfortunately we are going to have to put the actual installation of the tile on hold for now to make sure we have enough left in the budget to get back in the house. But we have the tile at a great price and that is one less design decision we have to make!

Looking forward to this week when the interior walls get done so we can get the electrician and plumber in!