The guys just keep plugging along. Today’s noon report goes like this…Mid 80’s (and rising) temps combined with a dew point of 62 make for more misery on the tear down.
The house keeps looking smaller and smaller. The entryway on the West and the screen porch to the East made the house look a lot bigger than the 880 (sq ft) footprint of the existing foundation. Its amazing that there were four bedrooms in only 1400 square feet of house…we’ll be nowhere near that efficient !
Noon on day three finds the house a whole bunch smaller. The light rain and 74 degree temperature has the demolition crew feeling a whole lot cooler.
A front and back view of the house taken at noon on day two of the demolition. It is really HOT and humid today…high temperature 94 with a dew point of 60. These guys looked absolutely miserable.
Getting the building permit approved by the City of Minnetonka and having it in hand brings forth a whole variety of feelings. We are very happy to get started with the building process but a little anxious about what lies ahead. The process for getting a permit has been frustrating…primarily because the City is not good at communicating with applicants. The plan was submitted on May 1st…approved by the zoning department June 1st…made available for “pick up” at the city desk June 12th.
Mike Kloti’s house plans, the grading and erosion plan, and the survey have all been checked and approved. The process forward should work something like this..
So…the permit was approved the end of last week (more on that later). The demolition crew started bright and early this morning. The plan is to cut the house up into little pieces and haul it away in roll-off dumpsters (no kidding). By noon the crew had about 1/2 of the roof off and were starting to dismantle the upstairs rooms. They expect that the process will take about five days.
Removing the trees is really gut wrenching. The two maple trees were 48” and 50” in diameter and stood 70-80’ high. They provided a lot of shade and greenery. The lot looks naked with out them standing tall. Unfortunately both trees had substantial rot in their trunks. One half of tree to the right was hollow almost 40’ up. The tree to the left was split down the middle to the ground with a large rotten section in-between. The arborist we consulted advised that both trees were at the end of their lives. It makes me wish that whoever planted them had chosen to plant oaks instead of silver maples.
The tree service folks got to work on the four trees that will be removed as a part of the new home building. The two maple trees were in really bad shape. Each had large hollow sections running from the ground far up the trunks. The birch in the front and the ash out back would probably not have survived the excavation operations slated for early next week.
We engaged Katie Hunsley of miller dunwiddie Architecture to develop an Interior Design plan for the “L” shaped house. Deb and Katie have been been sorting through countless paint chits, carpet samples, ceramic tiles, faucets, sinks, cabinets, you name it… A detailed plan has risen from the chaotic pile of samples that will please and surprise almost everyone!
Katie has added the interior design details to Mike Kloti’s drawings and delivered a detailed spreadsheet with specifications for all of the products. Katie will continue to work with JLM as the “L” shaped house is built to ensure that the design elements are both available and practical. Both Deb and I have enjoyed working with Katie throughout this process. She has helped to make this sometimes contentious topic a really fun exercise.
We engaged Katie Hunsley of miller dunwiddie Architecture to develop an Interior Design plan for the “L” shaped house. Deb and Katie have been been sorting through countless paint chits, carpet samples, ceramic tiles, faucets, sinks, cabinets, you name it… A detailed plan has risen from the chaotic pile of samples that will please and surprise almost everyone!
Katie has added the interior design details to Mike Kloti’s drawings and delivered a detailed spreadsheet with specifications for all of the products. Katie will continue to work with JLM as the “L” shaped house is built to ensure that the design elements are both available and practical. Both Deb and I have enjoyed working with Katie throughout this process. She has helped to make this sometimes contentious topic a really fun exercise.
The Natural Resources folks at the City of Minnetonka have finally approved the grading, erosion control, and silt fencing plan. The fence was installed yesterday. The protection around the trees we are “saving” goes in today. The city will (hopefully) inspect the fencing and then will move on to the rest of the building permit process (zoning and plan checking).
A panoramic view of the front showing the silt fence and the “abandoned” gas connection…
The silt fence making it’s way into our neighbors yard and around the back…
The protection around the trees…
