REDMOND, WA -- Dad's Contruction Company® was honored Saturday by an overseas visitor, Christopher Mitchell. Mitchell and his wife Lisa Mitchell own the Redmond, Washington residence currently under renovation by Dad's.

 

Mitchell flew in from Copenhagen on unrelated business. This was Mitchell's first visit to the site in seven months. Both Mitchells keep track of progress through shared photos and video conferencing.

 

Gary Johnson, CEO of Dad's Construction®, and project manager Janis Gane-Johnson led Mitchell on a tour of the project. Johnson pointed out details and shared background stories about various aspects of the remodel. 

 

"It looks really different," said Mitchell.

 

Johnson and Mitchell discussed plans for completion of Phase 1 projects. 

 

Mitchell announced the possibility that both Mitchells might return to Redmond by year's end enabling them to better oversee the remodeling project's completion.

DAD’S CONSTRUCTION CO. 

is pleased to announce the 55^th birthday of its illustrious founder

& industrious chief executive officer  

GARY JOHNSON  

All employees will earn a holiday bonus! 

 You are invited to join the celebration June 18, 2007 at Red Robin Restaurant

“We measure once, cut twice”

 

It has been awhile since I last posted an update to the "Extreme Makeover-Mitchell Edition.  I guess there are two personality types: the "talkers" and the "doers". I haven’t been doing too much talkin' lately as I’ve been busy with the doin'.

I have never kept track of how long it really takes to complete a project. For this makeover project, I decided to keep a journal, recording all the steps, tasks and daily progress. Projects always take longer than planned. This is a fundamental law of projects. Many times projects become bigger during the construction phase due to unforseen factors or design changes. I heard this phenomenon is called ‘scope creep’.

To refresh my memory for my blog entry, I checked my journal this morning to review the recent accomplishments and the man-hours put into the project since I last posted an update. There has been significant progress during the last month.  It was satisfying to review all the steps on the "to do" lists that had been completed. While keeping my head down working in the trenches, I seemed to have lost sight of the achievements and lost track of the time spent on the remodeling project. My journal revealed that I had spent 21 straight 8+ hour days working on this labor of love.

I won’t list details of the individual tasks along the way, but I will say the entire master suite is becoming transformed into our interpretation of  "Traditional Northwest Zen". It will have the look and feel of brand new construction.

I am very excited about the project and the progress. Coming from a Norwegian, that's saying a lot!

Measure, cut and hang; measure cut and hang; measure cut and hang. You do it enough times and you've got a room. Twenty-four 1/2"x4'x 8' sheets of drywall were part of Wednesday's Home Depot delivery. My goal was to get all of it installed berfore Saturday. Although I have installed drywall single-handedly before, it tends to go a lot faster with a two-person crew . Imagine the chaos of one person lifting, positioning and then trying to secure a 4' x 8' sheet of drywall 8' above their head. Two installers working as a team is definitely a better plan. Both can carry and lift the drywall sheet into place. Then, one person holds the drywall sheet while the other person secures it with drywall screws. Yes, two installers were definitely needed to meet this agressive intallation schedule. Gary "Measure-and-Cut" Johnson & Randy "Screw-It-Up" Gane were this highly tuned installation team. It didn't take us long to get our work rhythm going. Time and time again I took precise measurements, made exacting cuts and like an artist sculptured each peace of drywall to an perfect fit. Time and time again Randy and I carried and positioned each sheet into place. Then, without exception, Randy would screw it up. Pure and simple, Randy was a cordless drill gun-slinger. In the blink of an eye, he drove countless drywall screws into place in a perfect nailing pattern. What a team and what a great job. Mission Accomplished. I'm going on vacation.

It's been 7 days in which temperatures have not risen above freezing. The Extreme Makeover-Mitchell Edition has been on hold waiting for the road conditions to improve so drywall and other supples could be delivered. NE 20th Court is the only road to the house and it has been impassible for days. Wednesday morning brought the first thaw with temperatures above 32 degrees. I walked to work again this morning and upon arrival immediately went to work shoveling snow from the driveway and clearing as much snow from the street in front of the house as I could. With the last shovel of snow cleared and as if on cue I heard the sound of an engine coming up NE 20th Court. The sound grew loader as I stood there staring down the private drive. Emerging over the crest of NE 20th Court was a bright orange three wheel Home Depot fork lift loaded down with sheets of drywall, rolls of insulation, hardiboard, 2X4 lumber and a jetted tub.

Home Depot to the rescue.

I walked to work on Saturday and again Sunday after more unexpected snow fell late Saturday making the roads undrivable. Temperatures have not been above freezing for about 5 days. My focus the last two days has been installing ceiling and wall insulation.

 

Installing the wall and ceiling insulation finally define the new rooms. The cavernous opening with views of roof rafters, vent pipes, plumbing and wiring will transform into actual ceilings and walls as each R-30 ceiling insulation and R-13 wall insulation gets installed. The skylight once hovering overhead will provide natural light through a well-defined skylight shaft.

 

Before I started the insulation project, I walked through the project site, just like the last 3 remaining Survivors paying their respect to fellow survivors that have been voted off the Island. I inspected the framing to make sure all was in place.  I remembered how the new master bath and and master bedroom closet were first revealed by the rough-framed stud walls. I inspected and re-tested the new plumbing; the new hot and cold water lines for the new vanity sinks, new hot and cold water lines for the the new shower and jetted tub as well as new water line for the toliet. I remembered Newton and his need for a whole new sewer line and sewer vent pipes. I inspected and re-tested all the new electrical wiring: the wiring that will bring power to the new jetted tub, the new heated floor system, new double sink vanity lights, new master bath ceiling lights and GFI outlets. I had spent a lot of time working with all of these systems. I got to know them very well.  To cover them was to lose my friends and only I would remain. Confident that all systems are working well, I proceeded with the insulation installation. 

 

Now that the walls and ceilings are insulated, the plumbing and the wiring are all nestled beneath the insulation, I am alone.. the lone Survivor. With the Master Bath and Closet now fully insulated from the cold, I am planning for sheetrock installation.

On Wednesday afternoon I was on a ladder with Blue (the power nailer) doing some additional framing in the skylight when the skylight suddenly filled with sleet. There was talk of possibility of snow, but I really didn't think we'd get any. Mitchell Makeover is located up a steep hill and "Ole Yeller" (my trusty pickup truck) has rear wheel drive and little weight for traction. I hustled home to watch the stranded travelers stuck on TV news. On Thursday morning we awoke to a blanket of several inches of snow. No traffic in our neighborhood. No garbage trucks came as scheduled. School was cancelled. Kids claimed the golf course as their personal ski area. I was forced to take a snow day from work. In the afternoon as it got warmer and the sun came out, Janis and I walked up to NE 24th and around the Lk Sammamish Pkwy to the Mitchell Makeover. It was pretty with all the snow. A neighbor was using a chain saw to cut up the fallen old growth tree that had previously blocked their private road. We looked things over to make sure everything was alright and it was frustrating that I couldn't get back to work. If the roads aren't better tomorrow, I'll walk to work.

The rough framing is complete for the future jetted tub. It is now possible to get an idea of where all the fixtures are going to be and start to visualize the completed room. I met with a technician at Sunset Glass to review requirements for installing frameless glass shower surround. It is at a very exciting stage. I wish I could wave my magic wand to make the image in my head appear in real life!

Master Bath is now powered by 2 brand new 20-AMP circuits which I installed in the main electrical service panel.  One of these 20 AMP circuits is dedicated to the jetted tub, the second one is for lights, plugs and the heated floor system in the bath. Wiring has been routed and pulled to the blue electrical boxes you see in the photos. I installed the two light junction boxes that will power light fixtures over the two sinks. I installed four recessed ceiling light cans. There will be 2 light cans lined up as you enter the bathroom door and even with the vanity lights. There will be another can near the shower and the fourth will be near the toilet and the tub.  In order to maximize the benefits of the super-quiet super-powerful bath fan, I had to install it with minimal amount of vent distance. I was able to design a vent system with just 2 foot of vent tube. The vent outlet is on the side of the house and closes automatically when not in use. No unwanted Norweigians can come in when not in use. If the come in when the fan is in use.. they will be mince meat Norweigians.

 

Also, I re-wired the master bedroom light switch to a 3-way switch. Now you can enter the room and turn on the bedroom lights at the bedroom entry door and then be able to turn off the bedroom lights from a second switch located to the right of the new master bathroom door. This will be more convenient to reach from the bed.

 

I expanded my wiring project to update the Powder Room outlet to a code compliant GFI outlet plug.

Today I finished hooking up the recessed can lights in the master closet.. got them tested and working before sun went down. Now I'll be able to work longer hours.

First day back to Seattle after a wonderful rest in Southern California and made a bee line for the Extreme Makeover work site. Relieved to find no damage from recent storms while I was gone. Power was restored from wind and rain storm on New Years Day when record 2 inches of rain fell in 24 hours.

First I fired up "Blue", my new best friend and power framing nailer and finished proper nailing pattern on load bearing stud walls. I also had to move some ceiling joists a little to properly accomodate recessed can light fixtures in closet area.

I pulled out exposed nails that were left behind after pulling down the old closet and bathroom sheetrock.

I installed 2 recessed light cans in the walk-in closet and wired them to a wall switch on the left side of the pocket door. Tested the circuit and Voila! Let there be light!

 

A completely new plumbing drain system is needed for the new master bath because of Newton. It would be ideal to simple connect the new toilet, shower and  jetted tub to the old drain system and be done with it; but because we are completing changing the master bath layout and moving the toilet and shower to opposite ends of the room, connecting to old drain system is not possible. Newton discovered gravity when he observed that shit only flows downhill. Unfortunately, the distance of the new plumbing fixtures to the old drain system is too far and does not allow enough downhill drop to satify Newton. So Newton dictates that I design and install a whole new drainage sytem connecting the new master bath plumbing fixtures to the main sewer line under the house. The new drain system will run horizontally in the joist space running between master bath floor and entertainment room ceiling  then turn downward within the interior wall space of entertainment room to the crawl space below where it connects to the main sewer line for the house. - lots of 4" holes must be cut through 2 x10 floor joists to allow the new 3" sewer line to travel horizontally under the master bath floor while satisfying Newton in the process. My drainage systems drops 16 vertical feet in a distance of 6', take that Newton

November 8-12 I have been a little distracted by a project at home so there hasn't been a lot of progress on the Mitchell Extreme Makeover. I reconfigured our office closet with shelves and new doors. With lots of new storage containers we'll be able to sort through the boxes that were stacked in the closet since we moved here 2 years ago.. and really get organized.

Went to Home Depot to get closet doors for our own office and scored on a terrific deal on the most beautiful Travertine tile imported from Turkey. It's far more beautiful than the travertine we got for ourselves.. for our own bathroom remodel. They are 3/8 inch thick.. which is thick by tile standards.. so it is substantial.. not flimsy. Of course, there will be variations.. but that is the beauty of natural stone. THey are very large tiles... 18 in by 18 in.. which will make them very architectural and stunning in your new master bath. Janis couldn't believe the deal I got on them. YOur travertine will be more beautiful and far cheaper than ours. Janis is jealous. We took a photo and perhaps you can zoom in to see this sample.. but as i said.. every piece of travertine stone is somewhat different giving it lots of personality. I think it would look good to surround the tub and use it in the shower walls, too.

Oct 18^th - D Day - demolition day: Pictures tell the story. Lots and lots of Sheetrock knocked down. Notice I did not say Sheetrock removed (yet). Over 500 sq ft of drywall has been pulled down. With all that Sheetrock down, I can now see what is load bearing and what is just framing. Looks like the roof is held up by 3 load bearing walls. Each of the closet openings have load bearing headers spanning the opening. In addition the shower / w.c. wall is load bearing. A much larger beam sits perpendicular and on top of those three walls. Load bearing framing sits on top of the large beam and supports the roof trusses. Typically, most interior wall framing is not load bearing and can be removed to open up much larger spaces. This project is different, all existing walls are load bearing. So before I get too excited and start removing existing framing to reveal a new master bath and walk in closet its pretty clear that some clear thinking needs to take place ( I’d better sit down for this). Not a show stopper, just different. But I am ahead of myself. There is move demolition and a lot of clean up before I need to worry about structural stuff.