Managing seven trades on the same day

With the homes approaching completion, managing of trades has become more complex.  Ideally, one trade would occupy the house in isolation from any other, allowing them complete access to all of the power supply and space, and provide the opportunity to control dust, noise and cleanliness without having to interact or coordinate with anyone else.

Of course, since this is the construction industry, at least one trade will not show up on time and another may show up unexpectedly or even early.  This results in congestion and overlap, but is usually manageable.  Today (Oct. 9) we may have reached a new all-time high for trades on site at seven.  Fortunately we can spread them among interior and exterior work and the two distinct projects.  On site today were;
1. tile setter - started and finished applying sandstone tile to the fireplace
2. hardwood floor installer - completed hardwood on upper level of the 3012 unit
3. paint sprayers - full crew has arrived and is spraying in 3010
4. exterior metal cladders - the crew installing the AL13 architectural panels has arrived and begun prep work
5. electrician - head electrician arrived to supply a pot light sample and coordinate future work
6. aluminum railing install - crew arrived and installed our powder coated railing on the back deck of both houses
7. quartz countertop installer - most of the quartz slabs arrived and were installed along with the sinks in the 3012 unit

While the trades many not be pleased with this high level of site activity, it definitely makes the contractor happy!

Tile progress part 3

The tile setter has now prepped the basement shower with the waterproofing material and installed the stone shower base.  

Hardwood install

The hardwood floor install began with some difficult landing edge pieces.  Install will continue for the next four days. 

Tile progress part 2

Tile installation is continuing and now on the main level at both front and rear foyer.  We are using a natural stone at the rear and the subfloor material is a cement board rather than a ditra matting due to the small size of the stone.  Fireplaces and basement shower is next to be installed.  

Staining the stairs

For the stair stain we were able to find a nice custom blend to approximate the shade of the cabinetry in the house.  With the stairs prepped, we were ready to finally begin staining the wood material.  This proved to be a considerable effort due to the large amount of exposed surface area of the exposed structure of the entire stair assembly.  Once fully stained with two coats, we will apply one to two coats of sealer material that is suitable for walking on.

Ready for  the second coat of stain

Uppermost flight has a second coat on, this is the final tint

Prepping the stairs for stain

We have moved our stairs along into the finishing stage by first prepping the complete assembly for stain. To do this we hand to cut over 100 plugs to fill the holes left from the lag bolts used to fasten the treads and landings together.  This was a huge amount of work and led to an additional sand and vacuum process.  We also filled many of the holes and imperfections with a stainable wood filler. With the prep done we are ready to apply two coats of stain.

 In this instance we are boring the holes deeper to allow use of larger plugs.  The plugs are considerably larger than normal so we are using a 3/4 inch hole saw to cut them.  They fit nicely in the hole and are glued into place using regular wood glue

Plugs are setting up and ready to be cut off

Plug is cut off and can now be sanded flush with the tread

Poured sidewalk

With cold weather approaching quickly we now are in more of a hurry to complete exterior work.  Our concrete crew lead by Harold was back to pour the front walks.  

Main bath tile

Tiling has now progressed into the main bath.  Additional tile is applied so the room will not require wood baseboards and will be much lower maintenance and easier to clean.