Great Deal Completed by the End of the Week

Thanks to Eric, Eric, Derek and Anthony for their outstanding job this week.  We were fortunate with the weather and they busted their humps getting much accomplished this week. Kudos to them.  Thank you.  Below are the pics.  Basically, the first floor framing/sheathing has been done (exterior) and they put down the flooring for the second floor.  Next week, framing for the second floor and up!

Next week, we are going to have the first visit from Dedham Bank -- lets see how that goes. 

On the cabinet front:  We met with one person Friday night who pretty much shocked us on the cost of cabinets.  He was marketing the Medallion line.  Perhaps we have alot of them.  Or, we are choosing to go with a color/quality combo that is very costly.  Will confer with Eric next week and confirm.  The person we met with Friday night was extremely helpful, but at the end of the day, we are trying not to go over budget.  So far we've done extremely well, and going 2x budget on cabinets is hard to swallow. 

A couple of Lowes visits over the weekend to look at different offerings and and evaluation of comparable cabinets took alot of our time...  I think it was worth it...

Anyway, we found out that Lowes sold the exact same cabinets, but they call it the Schuler line.  We got some numbers, and they are running a huge sale on cabinets generally.  I'll let you guys know who we go with and why.  We haven't decided yet.  However, the woman at Lowes was extremely nice and was very helpful in providing us some guidance, and clearly apparently Schuler is running a sale for the month of August that might work for our benefit.

I'll keep you updated. 


So here are the pics:

Alex and Matt in the open 2nd floor:

View of the family room from the new master bed floor:

Another view looking down:

View of how the second floor will connect with existing house:

View from the sidewalk in the front yard:

And finally, Eric admiring the work accomplished.  Thanks Eric. 

Hot off the Press! - July 29

Hot off the press (ur, phone).  A few minutes ago, Eric Busa just texted me a photo of the 2nd floor master bedroom floor,  I can't wait to see this in-person!

The other Eric, the guy in the hat in the photo, suggested I was a bit too slow with updating my blog... How's that!

-Chris

Thursday, July 28 -- First floor done!?

Here are some pics on the progress made today.  Getting closer day by day!

Below is a pic that Eric Busa texted me.  I think that is Eric (not Busa) and Derek posing for the pic.  It looks like Eric is posing with his arm in the air -- hamming it up for the camera.  Or, is he balancing himself so that he does not fall...

Wow, second floor starting!

View from back of yard -- first floor framed and sheathed!

View from the backyard.  Wow!

Great Progress Today - Wednesday July 27

Great progress today.  As you can see from the pics below, Eric x2, Derek, and Anthony have done alot to frame a good part of the first floor addition.  Also, with some additional help from Eric Busa's brother, Nathan, they group put up a family room wall as you can see below.  Eric Busa tells me that it was a good thing we didn't see it go up!  

It's really starting to take shape and we're starting to give tours to our neighbors.  I really appreciate the support and tolerance of neighbors who have to hear pounding of hammers, nailing of nailing guns, and the noises of the delivery trucks in the early AM.  I hope they can see how excited we are about this project.  I apologize for any inconvenience.

Here are some pics of how it looks as of today, July 27th. 

Below is the view from the other side of the street:

Below is the view from the corner of the backyard.  You can see the headers installed over the garage doors.  Of course, you can see the family room rear wall!  It went up all at once! 

Below is an interior view of the family room wall. 

Below is a view from the backyard.

I'm thinking of a deck instead of a patio.. Will have to consult with Eric... 

Also, good news.  Massachusetts will have a tax free holiday August 13-14th.  So, we should be making a list on things to buy to save 6.25%!  Given the scope of the project, that will be a huge savings!
Again, great progress.  We're really happy so far for having gone with Eric and his company. 

By the way, I got home from work around 6pm today, and Eric was nice enough to offer andcome back to the worksite and consult with me for an hour about next steps.   Eric and his crew should really should be proud of the work that they are putting together.  My wife and I surely are proud and appreciative.

I know that there is alot of work left to do.. so far I feel it is in more than capable hands. 

Also, we heard from a couple of cabinet people this week.  We are setting some times to meet, and I'll update you after we make a decision.

Please email me with any questions.  We are learning quite alot from this process.

-Chris

Framing -- 1st Floor -- Busa's Team- July 25th (Tuesday)

I think I made a good decision thus far going with Busa Construction and Development.  We started this on July 11th, and we are 14 calendar days into the project and look below and see how much has been accomplished.

I promise to put together a history of how this place looked before it started.  In the meantime, look at the great progress we made today (even with Eric having to lose his AM at jury duty.)

First floor -- street view

First floor - side view  -- you can see the rear bump out for the expanded kitchen from the view of the new family room

Eric working with Deanna offering suggestions.  One great thing so far has been working with Eric on design suggestions.  Eric's been awesome providing options on all facets of the build.  He's definitely taking pride in his work.  We think it's going great.  

Garage being framed out too!

Also, the bulkhead was delivered and installed -- I think Eric went with EF Shea.  Looks good.  We hope we can paint the red.

Oh, by the way, the lumber is being supplied by National Lumber (Newton).

The kids put together  a time capsule tonight to bury.  I think they are really starting to get into the addition.  It's been hard for them to "get it" until they started to see the framing.

Rob Harris from National Lumber called to verify windows.  Good thing he did because we had to make some changes after speaking with Eric.  Thanks Rob for confirming.  Great customer service!

First floor decking starting to be put in -- Monday, July 25 - Busa Team

The first floor joists/decking has been started by Eric Busa (Busa Construction and Development) and his team.  I got a group picture of them.  See below.

Above, left to right:  Anthony, Eric Busa, Derek, Eric.    




Here are also some pics of their progress through Monday.  Wow, the actual lumber part has started.

 

Friday - July 22

Danny and the other person from Trillenium worked in 100+ degree temperatures to fill back the foundation.  Eric Busa, while on the beach at the Cape, told me not to bring out any heineken lights :), however I couldn't help but bring out some bottles of water.  They did it though; they filled everything back, and I got to see some great work with the escavator and the bobcat.  They also poured in some rocks/gravel for the cement flooring  (to be done later) as you can see in the pics of the garage.

Danny told me that he'll be back to do the drainage later during the project.

We drove down to a wedding in NYC knowing that the foundation walls are pretty much done!  What a week!  A lot was accomplished.  Thanks everyone.

Here are some pics of the progress from Friday.  Next week starts framing!

Our new two garage goes here!

Our backyard 

nice view from corner of lot



Foundation is waterproofed and forms are off

Even though Eric Busa was on vacation enjoying the cape this week, he was still moving the Fairway Drive project forward at a superfast clip.

Today is Thursday, July 21, and we're expecting the City of Newton to inspect the foundation etc. before backfilling.

So this week, the concrete people were here and they poured in the concrete (I think on Monday).  Unfortunately, I was at work and didn't get any pics.  Apparently, they were pumping the concrete to the backyard from the front of the house.  My neighbors tell me it was pretty cool.

On Tuesday/Wednesday, the people from Accurate removed the forms off the foundation walls.  Thank you guys.  And on Wednesday, I think Eric's crew did the waterproofing.   Here are some updated pics.

We also placed our windows order with National Lumber.  Rob Harris was great to work with and his team (Don Callen) got us a very competitive and fair price on windows.  We priced around windows with many stores (big box, i.e., Home Depot/Lowes) and direct from certain window manufacturers.  All else being equal, we went with Rob/Don and National Lumber because of customer service and fair and aggressive pricing.  Thank you guys.  We'll be calling regarding doors soon, I'm sure.

We are also in cabinet shopping mode.  Will update you as well.  We met with now two people and there are many styles to choose from.

If you have any questions, please email me.


-Chris

Formings have been installed

People have asked me who is working on the project so I'm trying to write the names of who Eric (Busa Construction and Development) is using as sub contractors.  If you have any questions, please let me know. 

Thanks to the people at Accurate Foundations, the forms for the foundation were installed on Saturday, July 16th.  They worked real hard and fast under a hot sun, and finished it!  They'll be back on Monday if all goes well to pour the foundation, etc.  Eric Busa indicates that the concrete supplier is top notch, and has the best mixes.  He's going with Bill Melone for the concrete supply.  Also, tomorrow the concrete pump people -- Scott at Independent Pump -- will have this huge pump that will take the concrete around/over the house!  Will post pics if I can get it.

Also, another of Eric's crew entered the cast of characters.  Anthony!  Apparently, he's not shy -- here is a pic that he sent to Eric for the blog.    

 

Here are some pics on how it looks now, and how it go here with the people at Accurate.  It was only two weeks ago that we began the actual work (i.e., demolishing).

We're making great progress!  Eric is managing this right to schedule.  And, the schedule seemed aggressive to be honest.  Thanks Eric!  Here is a pic of Eric admiring what he is putting together (on a Saturday!).  I promise to get a better pic than that.

I think other projects this work week is to backfill (can't wait to see more work of art from Danny at Trillennium) and remove the foundation forms...  I think the bulkhead is being brought in from EF Shea.  The week following will be the start of framing.  

Here is a pic of the truck that Danny's been using for this project.  You can never have too many pics of a truck.  I actually have a mini movie of Danny escavating that is on my phone -- willl try to put that on there too.

We also met with a kitchen cabinet person on Saturday.  Will update you as we go along.  He was very helpful and sent us some sample 3D designs to consider already!

We started appliance shopping -- this is going to be the subject of many many posts.  We went to a few stores and will tell you about of buying experience.

Will finalize windows this week.  We intereiewed a couple of people.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

I received some inquiries on how the house looked originally -- will post an entry this week with some history as shown via pics.

Footings are In!

We are moving at a quick pace now -- The hole was dug on July 11(Monday), and the excacation was approved by the City inspector on Tuesday. Yesterday (Wednesday), the concrete people put in the footing! See the pics below.

We are now finalizing the windows and interviewing a few places to get the best quote. Will let you know who we go with.

Cast of Characters

I've received some views from as far as Alaska, so let me put together the cast of characters so far with my initial impressions.

This addition is being done in Newton, MA.

General Contractor:

Eric Busa -- Busa Construction and Development (Newton MA) -- Nothing but super things to say thus far. Organized, honest, caring, nice, what more can you say or want in a GC.

His Team:

So far I met Eric and Derrick (sp?) from his team. Great guys. Seem to work real well together.

Architect:

Eddie Danielson -- He is great to deal with. I highly recommend him. Eric Busa recommended him to us, and Eddie's been super. Old school, and really works with the client and listens to what we care about. He's not like some architects that want to design 100 homes that THEY want to live in. Timely. He did great to get us going on this project.

Bank:

Pauline Dzengelewski at Dedham Institution of Savings is great! I'm financing a good portion of this addition and met with a few banks. I can't say enough about Pauline and Dedham Bank. The terms are reasonable and fair (unlike some banks). So far so good. I highly recommend her if you're thinking about doing an addition.

Surveyor:

My parents said if I didn't have nice things to say, not to say it. No comment. Biggest and only delay thus far. Did I say that the delay was really really long.

City of Newton:

The City's been great so far. The kind people at the desk at Inspectional Services were very informative. And, the Engineering Dept, Planning, etc. have all been very helpful. Also, thanks to the Historic Preservation staff as well. There are a few hoops you have to go through in Newton, so if you have any questions, please let me know. I'll try to help from my experience.

More to add later.

Day 1 -- We are finally prepared to start our addition

I will write more to explain how we got here.. but the picture speaks volumes!  All the kudos go out to Eric Busa who is managing this whole endeavor, and his team.

I will try to get names of the everyone so that you can appreciate their work.  The person using the escavator is definitely skilled at his craft!

This is my first time doing a blog.. so please bear with me as I get better at this.

-Chris