Field Notes

,

AUTUMN IN THE NORTHWEST

,

I love the foggy days here.  This is the view from our front porch.  It is so very Twin Peaks, isn't it? 

northwest-fog.jpg

This is a busy time of year, as projects that started not long ago are hurrying to get "dried-in" - meaning plywood sheathing on, the roofing installed, building paper up on the exterior walls, and windows installed.  All of this happens while the plumbers, electricians, and heating systems subcontractors are busy running all of their lines (the "rough-in phase" of their work.)  

This is what that phase looks like for an interior space being remodeled:

rough-framing.jpg

And this is what it looks like for an addition:

rough-framing-2.jpg

Note the lovely green tarp that is temporarily protecting the area from rain (not foolproof, but the best affordable option there is).  

Strange things found during demolition

On this project, we knew that there were several layers of flooring -- we could see evidence of the top few layers after removing a floor heat register.  We did not know, however, that there was a total of 7 layers over the original subfloor.  Starting from the top, you'll see in the photo:  vinyl, 1/4" underlayment, vinyl, 3/4" particleboard, vinyl, MDF, fir.

Remodeling always reveals things that you just can't see before you start tearing things apart (also known as unforeseen conditions).  And, those typically mean additional cost during construction.  

In addition to your known/budgeted project costs, you should have money set aside to deal with these situations when they occur.  As a general rule-of-thumb, that amount should be at least 10% of the project's construction cost.  And, the smaller the project, the larger your contingency fund should be.