House Renovation Update: Lots to Say

Okay, so it has been a while (almost 3 months) since I posted about the house. I got busy and kinda forgot to post, I've had it on my to do list for at least a month and a half. I have many excited items to share, so here it goes.

In September, we completed the gas heating and hot water conversion. This took our contractor, Atlas Glen-Mor, 2 days to complete. On the first day, they took out the oil tank and old heating system, that meant we did not have water hot water for 2 days and did not have water at all for only couple of hours. On the second day, they finished up installing the new gas heating system and hot water heater. I have to say the guys who installed our heating were excellent, I could not ask for more. I would recommend Atlas Glen-Mor to anyone in the Boston area who is looking to convert to gas heating. 

National Grid on the other hand was not that easy to work with. After the heating inspection was complete we were told to call National Grid to have our gas meter/gas turned on. This was a Wednesday, they told me that they would not be able to come out and turn on my gas until Monday. That would have meant a whole 5 days with no hot water. I preceded to tell them that I have 2 little kids in the house, how was I suppose to manage that long without hot water, they told me that there was nothing that they could do. Needless to say I found this unacceptable, after a few well placed calls to government officials, they came and turned on our gas that day. So, I guess there was something that they could do.

In October, we had our meeting with the Zoning Board of Appeals in our town. Our architect, Edrick vanBueuzekom of EvB Designs, was well prepared and the hearing was a breeze. One of our neighbors even came and showed her support. The design was approved!!! 

Now our contractor is gathering bids from subcontractors and we can not wait to start the next stage of this project. 

I am busy de-cluttering our house and getting ready for the holidays. 

National Grid Gas Line

Another step forward toward our construction process, last week National Grid came and connected the gas line from the street to our house. During the planning process of the renovation we decided that we would change over from oil heat to gas, but first we needed a gas line.

We put in our application for the line in June and paid the $500 to National Grid. Last week they came and installed the line. Anyone who is thinking of doing this I recommend that you put in your application in the spring that way you have plenty of time before they stop digging in the mid fall, at least in Massachusetts.

I have to say that the workers that did the digging were excellent. They dug a hole in the street and another one near our house. Next they drilled under ground and connected the line. When they were finished you almost didn't know that they had done anything, it was so neat. Later that night, someone else came by and paved over the hole in the street, very efficient.

Other than having to wait from June to August the whole process was relatively easy.