Monday, June 4, 2012

Day 86 - Concrete Update and Final Inspection

PM called bright and early this morning. He inspected the slab and then spoke to the concrete supervisor. Mr. Concrete (my name for him) says it was a windy day and it dried out the surface quicker which resulted in the cracks.

I only partially believe Mr. Concrete's explanation -- Weather history for April 10th (Here) says winds were 8mph with a max of 18mph out of the north west, which is almost exactly the average for the whole month of April. May was a little less windy, and June was pretty much like April. However -- 3 sides of the garage were already framed when they poured (protected by the wind) with the West facing doors open. This would give their explanation some weight, because the 1/3 closest to the north wall (most protected from wind) has no cracks.

PM is going to apply something called Crack Master  to seal them off, and I am probably going to end up doing a 2stage epoxy at some point also. I know eventually this will drive me nuts otherwise. I want to have the drywall seams finished and painted in there first though, and maybe give the slab a year to settle before I coat it.

---
Final Inspection attempt #1 was today. Noticed around noon that attempt #2 had already been scheduled :-) By 3pm the following note was posted next to the FAIL status "final elect verified - master shower glass by door unable to verify safety/temp/ - wtr. her combustion - need fireplace operating and access to kitchen stove gas connection. "

Nothing seems too much of a concern on that list. Possibly water heater combustion... Fireplace works (witnessed it on friday), so not worried -- and the stove gas connection is a sore point with the inspectors I think. A house across the street has an issue, so they are probably hyper-sensative to gas leaks.

Side note about gas appliances. I ordered 2 gas/co2 detectors today. One for the furnace room (Water Heater and Furnace) and one for the kitchen. I know you can smell gas, but it will be good to have an
audible alarm in case there is any leak. My biggest concern is a toddler turning on the stove but not lighting it... resulting in a slow leak in the kitchen.


--- UPDATE at 6:30 pm ---

I talked to our PM and none of the inspection issues are of a concern to him (or me).  Seems like stupid stuff, he wouldn't want for them to slide out stove to show gas connection or turn fireplace on. Expected everything to be on and prepped.  Seems sort of petty, but I'm sure they will pass tomorrow.  Looking down my street there is only 1 house that passed on the first attempt.

Cracks look a lot better now, but not great.   I'm just going to live with it at this point and keep a close eye to make sure it doesn't change over the next year.   A little dirt in there and it will look like a normal garage eventually.

Final Grading tomorrow, Gutter re-route Wednesday. Final cleaning today.  Just missing a fridge and some grass.  

Also,  I contacted the landscaper today to get a quote for 100% sod.  We have about 5700 sq ft that is supposed to be seeded (back yard) and not sodded like the front/side (7000 sq ft).    My estimate is it will be somewhere around .35/sq ft minus the value of the seeds and labor RH paid for.   Hopefully we can swing it, but too late to include with the mortgage.    The more I see my neighbors fully sodded yard the more I wish I had included it from the beginning or added it sooner.   Highly recommend 100% sod if possible.  




4 comments:

  1. I'm glad our lawns are fully sodded in our entire neighborhood. It can't be cheap to pay for sod for half an acre! I wonder what makes RH decide which developments get fully sodded and which ones only get partial?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The sod about 7500 sq feet of our lot (lot is .35 acres) but the back yard (5700 sq ft) isn't. Strange, I know.

      Most of the lots are .25 and .28 acres, so the back yards (seeded part) are really small. maybe 30x 90 at most. So 2700 sq ft vs 5700.

      This is making my head hurt. Hopefully I will have some pricing info tomorrow.

      Delete
  2. I wonder what the sod vs. seed decision is. None of the developments near us seem to do sod -- only seed. Couldn't really be a climate issue; it's not like Ohio and Pa. are that different.

    I completely love that you checked out the weather forecast for that day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I smell BS I do research ;-) If slabs were that susceptible to wind damage there would be more cracks. Most are poured with no walls framed, which should mean more wind issues.

      I know that sod works best in the North and the south, but not the middle... Not sure why, but I ran across that somewhere.

      Delete