Yes, but not before "reining" some serious havoc on my schedule and subcontractor management. Since I last posted to the blog (over 2 weeks ago), it has rained almost every day. I was originally scheduled to have the concrete poured for the upper driveway and sidewalks over two weeks ago, but the rain just kept coming. This of course all started the day AFTER my concrete crew formed and back-filled the entire area with 6" of fresh North Carolina Gold Dirt/Clay. This was all carefully maneuvered in front of each entrance to the house where the sidewalks and parking pad will be. Then the rain started and that all turned to knee-deep mud and muck. Having your house surrounded by a moat of thick mud/muck makes access nearly impossible without tracking tons into the garage and subsequently the interior of the house that is now approaching finishing details. So, needless to say, I've been rather freaking out over the whole scenario over the entire period.
In addition to creating a gawd-awful mess, this also got things kinda backed up on work too. The most heavily impacted was the landscaping. Timing on the landscaping is critical because there's only about a 3 week window in September when you can put down new grass seed and have it take on a new lawn in this part of North Carolina. Any sooner, it's generally too hot and dry and the seed will just die before it ever germinates, any later and the new seedling grass doesn't have enough time to firmly establish before a hard freeze and Winter hibernation, and it will die the next spring/summer due to being too fragile. So this was a large impact. We'll be ok with the front grass because it'll be sod (pre-grown "carpets" of grass), but the back/sides will be a bit of a gamble now with seeding. It also impacted the other trades working full time in the house - Finish Carpentry, Floor Tile, and Cabinet install - not only from their personal access to the inside being challenged by the mud, but also because there were large material deliveries associated with this work that also needed to be able to back trucks up, unload and move materials in. So, as you can see by these pictures, it was just a huge mess.
There's been a lot going on nonetheless. This is not an uncommon occurrence in a construction project, and everybody kind of takes it in stride - except the GC/Builder (me). I of course spent sleepless nights terrorized with thoughts of the whole house being ruined and all of the 'rhythm' of the construction process being thrown out of wack with deliveries coming and nobody there to receive, and tradesmen stepping on each others toes and everybody getting pissed. The last thing you want is anybody in the house working pissed off. In the end, it all worked out ok. We have a sunny dry week ahead forecast, and the Concrete will go in on Monday morning. The trim carpentry is moving along well, cabinet installs will be completed today, Tile flooring and bathrooms will be done by mid next week, and I'll be moving on to painting. The next pictures that go up in the next blog entry should really start to look close to a finished product and might even have a flower or two and a pumpkin on the front porch!
In addition to creating a gawd-awful mess, this also got things kinda backed up on work too. The most heavily impacted was the landscaping. Timing on the landscaping is critical because there's only about a 3 week window in September when you can put down new grass seed and have it take on a new lawn in this part of North Carolina. Any sooner, it's generally too hot and dry and the seed will just die before it ever germinates, any later and the new seedling grass doesn't have enough time to firmly establish before a hard freeze and Winter hibernation, and it will die the next spring/summer due to being too fragile. So this was a large impact. We'll be ok with the front grass because it'll be sod (pre-grown "carpets" of grass), but the back/sides will be a bit of a gamble now with seeding. It also impacted the other trades working full time in the house - Finish Carpentry, Floor Tile, and Cabinet install - not only from their personal access to the inside being challenged by the mud, but also because there were large material deliveries associated with this work that also needed to be able to back trucks up, unload and move materials in. So, as you can see by these pictures, it was just a huge mess. 
There's been a lot going on nonetheless. This is not an uncommon occurrence in a construction project, and everybody kind of takes it in stride - except the GC/Builder (me). I of course spent sleepless nights terrorized with thoughts of the whole house being ruined and all of the 'rhythm' of the construction process being thrown out of wack with deliveries coming and nobody there to receive, and tradesmen stepping on each others toes and everybody getting pissed. The last thing you want is anybody in the house working pissed off. In the end, it all worked out ok. We have a sunny dry week ahead forecast, and the Concrete will go in on Monday morning. The trim carpentry is moving along well, cabinet installs will be completed today, Tile flooring and bathrooms will be done by mid next week, and I'll be moving on to painting. The next pictures that go up in the next blog entry should really start to look close to a finished product and might even have a flower or two and a pumpkin on the front porch!
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