New Foreman, New Workers, New Issues

Restored breakfast/service counter 36" x 62"

With the separation from our original architect/builder complete progress on our house gets underway in earnest.  Ideas for modifying some of the design elements were made without our approval (more specifically my approval) in a couple of areas which I had not expected.

Wall removed without my consent

Grade of interior and exterior floors were poured even contrary to design details



Final second floor design showing the good air flow

   Apparently the new foreman thought he knew better and decided to deviate from the approved plans without our concurrence.  This was met with some surprise and required some rework which all agreed the cost would be bared by the new foreman and his crew.  In the design we had included an overhang of 10-12 inches for a breakfast nook area/service counter (the nook is now 36in x 62in) which faced the dining area the foreman was not familiar with this concept and decided it was not needed so had it removed!  In addition to the breakfast nook we had a full (interior) wall separating the staircase from the dining area; the purpose was to allow for an area to install a floor to ceiling A/C unit that could cool the entire open first floor should we decide one was needed.  With the electrical distribution panel just a few feet away in the bodega on the other side of the wall this would be a pretty straight forward addition should we find it was needed. This wall would also allow us to install hand rails on both sides of the stairway to provide better stability for our small children and elderly members of the family to transit the stairs without fear of falling.  The foreman was not privy to these long term plans and once again decided it was not required and removed the wall!  The third change made without our consent had to do with the front bedroom windows, the design afforded us large windows for the dual purpose of providing more natural light and plenty of opening for natural breezes (when the A/C is not in use).  Our new foreman decided he would reduce the size of the window and move the A/C opening down to the lower area beneath the window, something I was not happy with.  But once again after insisting we follow the blueprints and conveying to him our reasoning things were quickly restored to the original design.  We felt it would be better to position the A/C units high on the wall since heat rises the unit would first begin to displace the hotter air near the ceiling and drop to the floor giving a more timely and efficient effect to the cooling and this has been very successful, though I cannot ascertain how much more effective this arrangement is I’m comforted by the fact that at least in my mind it makes good sense.  The additional window area has pleasingly added more light to the room as well.  To my surprise when a recent batch of pictures arrived I noted these changes with shock and concern.  In discussion with my family arrangements were made to restore these features and thus recover our original concept.  Another non-conformance to the blueprints that occurred during construction that I only discovered late in the build (really too late to correct) was that contrary to the detail of the blueprints the floor of the exterior “L” shaped passage was to be 5cm lower than the interior floor height but when the slab was poured it was all leveled to the same height.  Though this oversight was a bit disappointing it hasn’t been too problematic thus far.  With the new crew working at a good pace we realized that we were progressing more economically than we had anticipated, this allowed us to create a third floor room with a window and electrical outlets to be used as overflow and in a pinch as a fifth bedroom.  The room is very large covering the entire width of the house and having full height in the center and sloping ceilings on the sides that conformed to the angle of the roof and ending with walls approximately 3 feet in height.  The floor area is about 20ft by 15ft, quite spacious for a house this size.  In all of these instances I realized that my family were probably not all that familiar with the details of the blueprints and probably did not realize the forethought and effort that went into the design and more than likely did not think the changes were going to raise any alarm.  This I believe is one of the areas where I wished I had spent more time conveying the concepts and design features to my family, it was also surely a result of the challenges of a long distance build that I had not considered.  I had the understanding that blueprints would be followed and where issues arose or design alterations were brought up they would be discussed by all before moving forward.  Unfortunately this probably occurred without me and having knowledge of the reasoning behind this design elements myself and having not conveyed them adequately to my family I was left out of these conversations until I discovered the results in pictures sent to inform me of the progress.  With the final floor plans in place one can easily see how the alignment of doors and windows allows for full flow of air through the house which has allowed for a large reduction in the use of A/C units for a good portion of the year.  The leveling of the outside “L” shaped passage with the interior floor would prove to be somewhat bothersome when flooding events occurred after the build was complete but more on that in another post.