FEB-C-11
THE RAPID SERIES OF CHANGES
IN DERWOOD,
UNDER NEW PROJECT MANAGER, MIKE MCKEESON, AND
THE SPECIAL ARTISTRY OF PAINTED TILES, CABINETRY, BOOKCASES, CEDAR AND STAINED
HARDWOOD, AND FIXTURES AND APPLIANCES GOING IN ALL WITHIN A WEEK
BEFORE FURNITURE DELIVERY
THE WEEK FOLLOWING
Where to begin? In the welter of activity that is swarming
over Derwood, this is the rush to completion in which all the component pieces
are put together in a froth of choreographed teams warping and woofing the
final product. There are big changes
now, and not the slow and subtle “infrastructure work,” but the final product
is coming into focus.
It is a lot like having
grandchildren: having been gone a month,
the startling changes in this interval are much more apparent than for parents
whose daily contact makes so few noticeable changes that they almost miss the
growing up and moving out as it happens before their eyes. I have been out for almost the short month of
February, and this is the right time to have done that, with a number of the
nearly completed subsets of work now assembled into a whole, with teams of
workers weaving in and out of the house and driveways. There are truck traffic jams, and competition
parking. One day, of the daily visits I
have made and the interval photographs that I will assemble into the album of
progress to be displayed in the Grand Opening house warming party in the nearer
future, there were 13 trucks and twenty one people of six different
subcontractor sets as well as D G Liu’s main contractor crew working here. And at least one big change took place in my
absence.
MIKE MCKEESON, THE NEW PROJECT MANAGER,
TAKES OVER FROM GLENN MURREL WHO HAS LEFT
On Monday morning, having awakened
as I have all week around three AM and got started on a full day’s work put in
before noon, I got a call in the morning from Mike McKeeson whom I had not
known before, who identified himself as from D G Liu, and wanted to go over
some things with me as to details as the height and placing of towel bars, trim
packages and other items that dealt with the completion phase. I made an appointment to come out to meet
with him, and as I drove up, I spotted Dale Kramer’s truck behind me. Dale came over and asked if I knew what was
going on this week. I said I had just
now arrived from the Horn of Africa, which he knew since I had sent him a
couple of emails of my activities there.
He said, “Glenn Murrel quit. He
had been very eager and interested one day as he took Jeff our business manager
around the job to show him what progress had been made, and he was quite
enthusiastic about it. He then abruptly
quit the following day, and it was heard from someone else that he had a
building job on the
I opened the front door and went in
with Dale as he introduced me to Mike and we went around to see the progress on
many different areas. I will review it
from top to bottom, and then tell what very big changes have occurred just this
week, during two days of which I had to come over for a substantial amount of
time to set out final course corrections by Mike McKeesons’ and Sandy Shelar’s
requests.
On entering the living room, there
were many things that immediately struck the eye. The finished drywall has now been painted and
the colors are very pretty enlivening each room. “Straw” is the color of the Living room walls
and Desert Tan is the color of the Den.
The very bright kitchen and Breakfast Room has a paint color known as
“Nacho Cheese.” The avocado kind of
master bedroom color is called (?) hemlock sprig.
Another Mike, one of our goose
hunting partners from January 2, had just completed the fine cabinetry work in
putting up the fine-grained wood bookcases in the library along with the widow
seats. We walked around to see the
latticework, which is still going up on the outside, where the two independent
heat pump and A/C systems are in place, controlled by thermostats in the Great
Room and the Dining Room. There was a
moment of panic when it had not been realized by Sandy Shelar that the former
Dining Room window was not bricked over but was a finished pass through,
letting in a lot of light from the e Great Room skylights. She had anticipated a
TAKING IT FROM THE TOP:
THE MAJOR MOVEMENTS THIS WEEK TOWARD COMPLETION
Top to bottom, the following is what
has been happening this week, some of it as I have watched and photographed it
as it is going in. The attic is still a
disaster zone with everything pushed over into piles that have collapsed on
themselves and everything has the layer of dust covering it that is the color
of trash. But, the closet in the attic
has been lined with cedar and the door attached and knobs applied.
The walk-in closet off the master
bedroom is completed with built in shelves and hangers already in place. The trim and windows are intact around the
bedrooms and the new fire and smoke alarms are installed. I was supposed to get an inspection for just
the alarm system, for which the
I am ordering a new propane tank to
be placed under the deck next to the heating oil tank, and a line run to the
cook stove top, which, at this moment, is the only gas appliance, with all
others electrical. There is a used water
heater that is the backup water heater, also electrical, but since it is
outdated, the Blake And Wilcox plumbers are tossing that out, leaving the newer
oil-fired one. Now is the time for heavy
hauling, since Mike McKeeson explained that he does not want this kind of thing
happening through finished space.
Already they had a problem, with one pedestal sink cracked and replaced,
and a series of the cabinetry doors in the kitchen were scraped, possibly by
one of the big vacuum cleaners. I asked
if they refinish them. “No,” was the
reply: “They all go to some landfill.”
Seven doors are being replaced by the perfectionists for a mark I had
trouble seeing.
The toilets went in and were
connected (one half of the requirements for a house, according to the loan
inspector, a functioning bathroom and a kitchen.) All the kitchen appliances are brought in for
delivery next Thursday for both a walk through and the settlement of the loan
on Friday following –only a week away now.
Medicine cabinets and over sink lights were installed in all four
bathrooms, but especially in the fine piece of furniture, which is the vanity
for the powder room. A new Toto toilet
was ordered in when it was found that the ten-inch clearance could not
accommodate the 12-inch commode ordered, so a substitute was made.
As I was going around with Mike,
he was making the detailed marks such as where the toilet paper holders will be
attached to the walls, and where the towel racks will go for both small hand
towels and bigger shower towels. The shower
door glass cabinetry was installed in each bathroom. The submersible pump was turned on and the
pressure brought up. It was pointed out
to me that in the salvage of several plumbing fixtures, almost all the copper
piping had been torn out and replaced with vinyl. But, one area particularly still had a
galvanized stand pipe behind the water pressure tank that has a spot of rust on
it and it would have a limited life expectancy in a brand new house in which it
is the only obsolete thing---other than, perhaps, the owner.
So, in the “do it right”
tradition, I decided that rather than having the plumbers come back within a
few years to change the pressure tank and gauges and that single piece of
galvanized pipe, we need to replace this last piece of the “old house.” So, it is now brand new, and it is ready to
handle the higher volume of the demands of extra bathrooms and the higher
volume of the hot tub and the whirlpool.
The electricians are following the
tangle of spaghetti wires they have inserted to replace the coaxial cables and
have brought them all down to a new circuit breaker panel taking out the old
fuse box. All the trim and hardware such
as brass doorknobs was selected and installed on the all-new doors throughout
the house. There was even a pair of
doors that were left over, which was not accounted for in the plans. The Powder Room vanity was cut out to insert
the ceramic bowl and the holes were also put in for the hot and cold taps. The kitchen has had the new garbage disposal
hooked up and a new water faucet line was sent through the kitchen wall under
the Bay Window to accommodate the herb garden.
The outside light fixtures have arrived, and I selected the center of
the oval out at the turnaround for the fourth new light to be put.
Dale suggested a husband and wife
team of a landscape architect and a stonemason to work over the outside walls
that have been torn up in the traffic in and out. He also said that in moving downstairs from
the new house, the encounter with the residual of the old original building
structure is startling. A corridor might
now be made in the design of a way to finish the rest of the basement so that
it would come up to the standards of the rest of the house. Dale has just got a new digital camera and
had a chance to walk around with it and shoot photos as well as take a few
measurements and make some drawings, so we are not over adding new items yet to
be further renovated.
TO BE CAREFULLY ASSEMBLED,
AS WELL AS AN ADDITIONAL FURNITURE ORDER
I took photos of this process, and
many others of the “works in progress.” This
is definitely going to be a “signature piece” of the kitchen—a unique,
one-of-a-kind custom artist’s work of art!
I left to check on the delivery of
the appliances from the Great Indoors next Thursday and also to set up an
appointment with the Suburban Propane dealers to come out to add that piece of
the puzzle. I may also finally add
(after the conclusion of the rejection of the too high price that was balked at
by Glenn and me on the original gutter installation) some form of the gutter
guard or leaf topper to the all-new vinyl eaves that replaced the copper eaves,
which have been torn out. Only a few of
the downspouts are noted to have the conducting black buried tubing that
conducts water away from the house. That
will be added to the list of things that I had gone over thoroughly with Glenn,
which Mike is hearing about for the first time.
A lot of the repairs are from the rutting of the drive by the big trucks
and the smashing of the mailbox and the culvert at the entry to the drive.
AND, NOW, THE NEW HARDWOOD FLOORING
GOES IN AND THE SANDING AND STAINING IS ABOUT TO BE
DONE
On the most recent visit, there was
a lot of noise of nails being pulled and saws being used to bevel the fine
hardwood flooring that has been stacked in the Great Room. It has now gone in and the smell of the sawdust
is worth keeping in the house—giving the “new house” smell that is patented in
“new car” smells. The flooring is being
matched around the den and library with that which is in the dining and living
rooms. The hardwood stairs will be
stained the same light color just a hint of red, in American Walnut, matching
the floors. The risers will be painted
to match the foyer wallpaper, which will be going in next week. The new banister, which has been installed,
will be stained but the railings supporting it will be painted. Sandy called me to go over the details of the
front door entrance way, with the special custom made door not yet arrived,
with it s customized hardware. I must be
an unusual Interior Designer client—since I am not a frou-frou type and did not
expect a Martha Stewart makeover. But, I
also have to trust Sandy, who is good, practical and detailed with an overall
good design—a unique opportunity to do it all over form the ground up, with an
intact interior space to make it right.
None of the electrical switches are
connected yet, and both the electrical charges and the unusually high heating
bills are seen as to their cause, since the doors are open to let in the
workers and their equipment and stuff, and until today there was no door separating
the attic from the heated air of the downstairs. There were three oil tank filings this
month—whereas I had never previously had two in a winter. But, I am not present and controlling the
excess fuel consumption in both the oil and electricity, and that may need to
wait until I am there—which looks like several more months before that will be
happening. I looked over the tangle of
stuff in the basement, and saw that the “Grandkids Room” (My term for the “exercise
Room” on the architectural plans) is completed except for new overhead lights
with the fluorescent lights having been removed. The bathroom is now intact with a new low
profile over sink lighting system, and it is painted a neutral gray.
The garage now has a new garage door
opener, as well as a custom garage door, since the profile is low for the high
rise above the track unlike most garages.
I will need that to be activated by a garage door opener and a similar
electronic key to unlock the basement door so that I can get in the house with
my hands full, as is usually the case.
Several of the work crew have big pick-up trucks, F-250’s or Toyotas,
and two have the Ram 2500 lariat Diesels.
I asked if they thought their trucks would get in and out of the garage,
and they thought they would, although it would be tight. A fair amount of driveway work needs to be
repeated since the delivery of forty four tons of crush and run distributed
only in the arc of the drive around the back; the “pad” at the shed, and at the
Leopold Terrace side, and the perpetual low spot will have to be filled in, as
well as the heavy rutting that the big rigs have grooved into the driveways,
with a number of items knocked out of place along the wall and adjacent to it.
COMING BACK TO A NEW AND FANCY HOUSE,
ON RETURN FROM
So, this has been a top to bottom
tour of the new house, which is shaping up as beautiful as its plans. There is a bit of schizophrenia in coming
back to such detailed work as this, when I had been considering only the minor
details of life and death and health for desperate people for the past several
weeks. There are definitely several different worlds I shuttle between and
there are many lifetimes I move between on a regular basis.
I had been told I might not be
able to go away because of a series of pending decisions, regarding the
house. Regarding the editing of the book
“Surgery and Healing in the Developing World” for which there would be a real
rush to get it done soon after delivery the first of February—and it has not
been heard from despite repeated emails again.
There are decisions to be made—for example, the application as a
doctoral candidate in the ELDP program at the Ashburn Virginia GWU campus with
a period of “residence” in June—during which time the NYLF has me booked to
lead a group of pre-medical students through
I must now go to the Brazilian Embassy and hand in my application for a
Brazilian visa for the port from which I begin my Amazon cruise on April 15—and
that is several trips from now, with Tahoe, and Taiwan to be arranged in the
next weeks—as the furniture goes in to the New Derwood!