An almost complete roof box.
We will use screws through the perforated angle on the bottom, to attach it to the steel roof deck. It will be getting a top, and flashing to keep water out. But some of that has to wait until we have it in position on the roof. We loaded it into my truck, and arranged to meet Monday night to put it on the roof, and to get the last layer of drainage material and plastic sheets trimmed for the overhang and positioned.
Monday night, I met Mom and Dad and Matt. We started by cutting slits in the front edge of the final plastic sheets so that they would hang properly on the overhang. That went fine. Then we tried to cut the drainage layer. We found that the tin snips dad had brought would cut the plastic, but not the geotextile. So we got out a utility knife and cut the sheet. When we went to cut for the second side of the overhang, I though it looked like the knife when too far into the sheet. We lifted up the sheet, and found that the knife had done a beautiful job of cutting right through all the layers of plastic waterproofing!
We didn't have rolls available to replace the sheets that had been cut. We thought about what to do. We had used some Tyvek tape on the plastic sheets hanging down over the garage entrance to help secure them. The Tyvek was holding quite well. We decided to use more of the Tyvek to seal up the cuts. We sealed all 4 layers, and then put the drainage material in place. After we got all that in place, we put weights back on to hold it until Adam can finish placing the dirt bags. We looked and it was getting into twilight. Well we could sit the roof box on the roof, but we were not going to get it mounted to the roof that night. We got off the roof while we could still see. Then we looked at the time. It was almost 10 and we hadn't had dinner! Off to Steak and Shake.
The next thing we needed was to get a hole put in the roof. Thursday was predicted to be a descent day weather wise. So we planned for cutting a hole in the roof and mounting the roof box on Thursday evening.
Marcus helped me get the generator and the scaffold unit I had bought, into the truck to take over. We took them over, and started to haul the pieces of the scaffold into the house. It will be nice when I don't have plastic draped down over the garage opening. We had to take the pieces of the scaffold half way around the house to get them in the front door. Then they got carried over to the garage, about 20 feet from where my truck was parked outside :(
Mom, dad, and Matt showed up. They had brought the other tools, the ear protection, and face mask and safety glasses. Marcus helped us get set up, and watched a crazy Hobbit cut through a steel roof deck. Matt got a picture of me as I got myself coated with metal filings from the roof deck.
Up on a scaffold, for a couple hours in odd positions to get the saw to cut where I wanted it to.
I finally got the hole cut through the decking, where the box would go. We went up on top to make sure that the saw hadn't cut through the plastic. We aren't ready to put the box in place and seal things up yet, so we didn't want holes in the plastic yet. The plastic in that area looked fine. We set the box where it will be located, so that Adam can finish putting the bags of dirt on the roof. Hmmm, about 11 and I am hungry again, even though I had dinner before I went out there. Looks like Steak and Shake again.
Friday I was tired, and a bit sore. I went out and met a couple gentlemen from the local propane supplier. They looked at the situation, and said they didn't want to bring the propane into the house underground. Wait, wouldn't keeping the pipe underground be safer? Well, the problem is that if there is any leak in the line, it is likely with it all in a conduit underground, that it would force the gas to come into the house. Not what you want! Ok, well, since other plans changed, I have a couple holes in the wall by the garage. Would those work? Well, the regulator they need to put on, has to be 3 feet from any opening into the house. Could we move the retaining wall back further toward the corner? Could we bring a pipe under the retaining wall? Could we bring a pipe through the retaining wall? Could we put the propane tank on the other side of the house, and run the line to the generator under the driveway? A lot of different options were discussed. They left with a couple items to check into, and I needed to talk to Scott before he got the final design on the walls approved by Bill.
I got a picture of the hole that I had cut in the steel.
I called Scott and told him the situation. I told him about the options we discussed, and that I didn't think we were going to be able to move the wall back from the garage any more. He said he wanted the full depth of the blocks against the house. So that was 18 inches, and we did not have enough room to get that 18 inches, plus 3 feet between the corner and the garage door. The regulator couldn't go on the garage wall. Well, the propane guys had said that if we came through the retaining wall, they could mount the regulator on it and not on the garage wall, and that would keep it far enough away to meet codes. Scott went off to think about options.
Later, I got a call from Bill, letting me know that Scott had been by, and he had stamped the plans, and I could come and pick up my copy. I thanked him and told him I would be by later. I was at Lowe's working on finding kitchen cabinets that would meet my budget, and be something I liked. I spent about 3 hours looking over options, and even shuffling cabinetry from the way it was in the plan. The salesman gave me cost sheets for all the options we tried, and a print of the slightly modified layout we worked up. Plans changing again. But we came up with a plan that worked in my budget.
I went to Bill's and picked up the stamped plans for the retaining walls. The bill for Bill's work was about half of what the other engineer that Scott had found, wanted. I am quite pleased, we will be able to move forward with this.
Today, I went to Home Depot, to see what the cabinetry options would be there. They carry the same line that I had decided on at Lowe's, and another line that simply goes by a different name, and another line that we didn't even discuss. I explained that I was looking to stay within my original budget. I believe I told her what I was shooting for. She put plans in the computer, and started trying to find cabinets that would work. I have had the sink in the corner in my designs, and she was having trouble finding a cabinet that would work. Then she talked to another lady, and she said that I couldn't have my refrigerator there. It was too close to the sink, and wouldn't work. I understand her concern, and I explained that the refrigerator I was getting needed extra clearance next to it, and that having it on the end allowed for that. She suggested putting it by the pantry. Well, that would mean that either the door is going to open against the pantry wall, and not be able to open all the way; or it is going to be in your way to get to the counter when you are in the fridge. I didn't even bother pointing out that that would put the fridge at the other end of the room from the sink, which seems like a bad placement. She seemed taken aback that I wouldn't just take her advice.
The lady working on the plan in the computer, tried a couple more things. Apparently it is odd of someone to put a sink in a corner. Well, we tried moving it over onto the one wall, and putting cabinets in the corner. I explained that I though corner cabinets were difficult to get into and never got fully utilized. Why pay for a cabinet that isn't going to be effectively used? Moving the sink onto the wall, was going to drop the price of its cabinet. However, then that left more area for her to add wall cabinets. I felt that my original design had enough cabinets! So she came up with a quote. Well above my budget, but said, oh, you can drop these extra cabinets out to make a comparison to the Lowe's quote. Then we talked about counter-tops. She started telling me about what a great sale they had going on granite right now. I told her I was definitely looking at a lower cost material than granite. She started talking about Corrian, and I explained that I was fully expecting to go with Formica. She got me a quote for the most expensive Formica, and then the price if I went with counter-top material that they carry in stock.
After looking over the situation at Home Depot and Lowe's, I think the budget that I have is definitely within reach. Now that I have an idea of what things are going to have the most effect on price, I am going to play with options myself and see if I can find an arrangement that I like and that may be less expensive than what we tried at Lowe's. I think I will be going back to Lowe's for my cabinets. I didn't feel that the folks at Home Depot listened as well to what I wanted or needed.
Well, off to work on the budget, and more design changes.
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