Week 6

The brick in the front is down and the framing of the master bedroom and garage begins. To speed things up Steve askes if can stick frame the roof over the badroom instead of using trusses. I agreed. We often do that unless the roof is too complicated to make last minute calculations. By the end of the week I can see both spaces.
The dormer window is delivered and installed and it really looks good on the inside even though it is still covered with blue plastic tarp. I met with the Amish roofer and asked for a price on using copper as well as regular metal. The copper roof will blow out the budget so I opted for a copper look metal that will remain shinny. The cost is still fairly high, higher than I expected and normally I would get another bid but Steve is not comfortable handing this installation to someone else. Steve is very good at working with me to make important things happen without breaking the bank and we worked it out so the metal roof could be installed. 
I am still waiting for the proposal from the HVAC contractor and decided to get another bid so I had another company that does both HVAC and plumbing come by. Steve's plumber never came to the site and I really wanted to talk about what needs to be done and how we were going to do it. I am also looking at installing an instant hot water heater for the kitchen and the added bath. Pete the technician was very helpful and educated me on my options. I am waiting on his proposal too.
Steve tells me we are 4 days ahead of schedule and that should be good news.  
Confession: I am behind in my selections and still have not finalized the kitchen layout. I tend to design and change things as we go. Not good for the schedule or the budget and it is the type of thing that normally discourage my clients from doing, but I am aware of it and I am making sure I know the cost of the change and if I can trade it off for something else I don't need as much. My aim is to not go over the budget and one way to do that is to take something out when you add something in. I will also forfeit the change if it will considerably delay the work.
See Pictures http://adventures-in-remodeling.blogspot.com/p/week-6.html