The basement remodel continues. Those plans I drew for the permitting had to be re-measured based on site conditions so we could plan for plumbing, cabinetry, and the rest. This is one job where site conditions takes on a whole new meaning.
To get the plumbing in, they had to take up the cement floor. Under that was a ledge of rock so they had to clear that ledge to run the water lines. What was left was a dirt pit. Dirt that had not seen air since the 1890s.
I got a call from Tommy SIlva to go over and re-measure/re-draft for plumbing placement as the plumbers were coming to run lines in a few days. In construction you have to drop everything and re-arrange your schedule to accommodate the construction schedule, so that's what I did. The guys working were landscapers. The head of the crew, the client, and I all measured in dirt against a rock foundation wall. We had to climb down about a foot into the underworld.
For those of you who think that measuring is easy: think again. We had no place to measure from. We had to measure off of a snap line (the pink string in the landscaper's hand) and it took teamwork! First we had to figure out how to do it, then it took all 3 of us together to measure. Two on the snap line and one on the tape measure.
Making things more complicated, there's a bump out for a bay in the foundation which means you have to measure in 3 places to get a dimension off of the bay. And the foundation is jagged and rocky. The framing is up now, and a new cement floor is down. I nearly jumped for joy that our measuring came within 1" of actual. That was a mere feat.
There's no more dirt pit and this job site is kept so clean you can eat off the floor. The framing is beautiful. Almost like finish work. I love trades people who do excellent work. If only all my clients would hire labor this talented! This is going to be one nice basement. Now we are onto product selection. To be continued……
