Day 171

Progress:
So we kind of met our new framers today.  They aren't as personable as Bob but I like them (they may have had earplugs in too but they were very involved with the job they were doing).  I can't see the inside but they seem to be going at a good pace.  It looked like they were starting on the porch but I wonder how much they do to the porch and how work will be done by another crew for the things like the pillars or pressure treated wood (pretty sure that is what it is).  Felt like a creeper again though taking photos and I didn't want to interrupt the guys really to explain my non-creeper status.

Day 170 - Trusses (yesterday)

Progress:
To confirm the mortgage prices from the last blog we will be 1.04% higher than we were because our rate expires for the mortgage on March 12, 2012 and the house won't be done by then.  So at 1% higher in five years it will cost us a bit over $13,493.40 (too bad they couldn't throw in a garage...high hopes hey?).

 

Anyways, on a brighter note our house is starting to look like a house!  Mike (the construction manager) phoned us yesterday (which is very nice and greatly appreciated) to give an update regarding the house.  We found out that we no longer have a Bob the Builder anymore and that a new crew will be starting on our house tomorrow.  I don't recall if he said if Bob was moving to another house or to another company.  I believe he said that the rough ins will be started hopefully next Wednesday and maybe an inspection in two weeks and then we will get to do our first walk through.  I was very happy with the call...and especially that the call happened.

You can see the base of our balcony.  We are very happy with how the balcony is being built as I've read a lot of horror stories on people building balconies (even professionals) and it's safe to say those stories didn't end well.

Our tub...it's in our backyard :P

The trusses really look neat.

Day 165 - Meeting

Progress:
So a couple days ago we got a call regarding setting up a time that we could go in for a meeting with Jayman in regards to the progress or at this moment lack thereof.  They (construction manager, superintendent, and the area sales manager) mostly apologized regarding the extreme delay and the construction manager took the full blame for it.  It's made us feel a little bit better that they took the time to meet with us but to be honest I think the thing that will make us feel the best is seeing progress.  The area sales manager promises that he'll call us every week to give us progress updates which is another nice thing.  They answered the questions that we had but the biggest question we have right now is when will the house be done (it's understandable that they can't answer that one as there are so many variables) and especially how much will the interest in our mortgage go up because we'll have to get a new rate.  To put it in perspective we were approved at 2.25%  and even if it were to go up a percent it will be an extra $224.89 per month.  That doesn't seem like a lot but lets give you more numbers: it will be an extra $2,698.68/year and if we didn't pay off the mortgage early it's at 30 years which would be an extra $80,960.40 in the lifetime of the mortgage.  That $224.89 adds up quite fast.  Also doesn't count for every month they go on is another month putting rent into someone else's pocket instead of paying towards ours.  Anyhow, enough of the number talk.  In the end they were kind, informative, and they called us for the meeting instead of us hounding them.  We will see how things go because actions speak louder than words.

On the brighter side there has been progress to the house itself.  They have put the fourth wall up which is extremely good for the house but bad for me being able to take photos of it.  You can see through the windows that there seems to have been a lot done on the second floor.  It is very hard to see the progress through the second story windows though ha ha.  We were at the house the day before yesterday so I saw what the second floor looked like.  I just forgot my camera which is too bad.

Our eyehole to the second floor.

The window in the stairs.

Look!  It's the starting of our balcony!!

Day 160 - Going Jayman Speed

Progress:
Well, I can honestly say that Jayman is consistent.  They are consistent with lies and also with being slow.  It is to the point that we have stopped putting stock into what they say.  At first it was "oh you're framing with be started in the next two days"..."early next week"..."in the next couple weeks" and so on.  After four months of that it is now "Oh we'll call you next week regarding this or that" (the most recent that is to call regarding the very turtle pace of our framing).  We were "told" that framers should be able to frame a house in 14 days.  I ignored the "it'll be done in 14 days" and just hoped for MAYBE getting it done in a month. 

Well, it was a month on the 24th.  Yes, granted that there have been the Christmas holidays as well as New Years.  What I do not get though is the work ethic (note: I still very much like the framers as people i'm just concerned with the time it's taking).   If it was a very uncommonly warm winter and you knew in two weeks we were going to have a very VERY cold snap, would you not work longer hours so you can get more done knowing that you wouldn't be able to frame much while it's -42 with wind chill?  I sure would!  Give me 12 hour days in the warmth that even 4 hour days in the cold hands down (I would know, i've worked in -47 BEFORE wind chill one night on a 10 hour shift and believe me it sucks Only Siberia Was Colder).  Plus another thing I don't get is these people are paid by completion.  The longer they take the longer it takes them to get paid.  Who knows, maybe we don't even have the same framing crew anymore...it's Jayman and they pay them crappy so maybe they said "heck with this job, i'm going to find a new one that will put food on my table". 
 

Day 146 - Second Floor First Wall

Day 144 (yesterday) - Stairs and Windows

Progress:

Day 139 - Secure Foor/Roof

Progress: