One day of many in the Home Theater ongoing SAGA!
I am trying to remember when this project initially started and I would have to say at least three months ago. The plan was agreed upon by the wife and I that she would get a remodeled kitchen and living room and I got to discreetly include a home theater in the same room. I consider myself fairly proficient when it comes to home repairs, remodeling, and woodwork so I planned to do as much of the work as possible by myself. I have found that my father was right, if you truly want it done right, you have to do it yourself.
So, I retiled the utility room and the upstairs bathroom. No problem. I hired someone to recarpet the stairway an the landing at the top of the stairs and they did a great job. ( I neither had the tools or the skills to make this cost effective to do myself).
The kitchen received new counter surfaces and appliances. The wife is happy and the garbage disposer no longer leaks (had to buy a new one. It was cracked but I did not realize that until I found out that the counter people don't do plumbing and I was on my own to get the disposer,faucet, water filter, and the rest replumbed.)
We picked out a Vermont Maple laminate flooring for the entry hall, living room, dining room, family room, and the study. All on the first floor.
But, where was I going to run all my wiring? I lost many a sleepless night trying to find a solution. With 18' ceilings, wire runs in the attic were out of the question. Since all the 2"x4"'s to the ceilings were supporting members, drilling a 2" hole through the bottom of every one on two outside supporting walls was also out of the question. What about the baseboard area?
This too had its problems since their was a tile fireplace on one side and a double door entry to the study on the other side. This would not work either.
So........I decided that a shallow channel cut into the concrete foundation under the future maple laminate flooring would be the best solution. Now I have a circular saw and a diamond blade that could do the job, but I would need a hammer drill to remove the concrete from the channel after the initial slots were cut. I decided that I would have a concrete engineer come out and give me an estimate for the job and provide some critical advice as to the ramifications of makeing such a cut would or would not have. I do not mind saving money but hacking into the concrete foundation on a two story home is not to be taken lightly. I truly thought that I would sleep better nights if I hired a concrete expert to make this happen and okay my design.
The contractor assures me that the cuts are shallow and will not compromise the structural integrity of the foundation. I agreed with his assessment and his price of US$500 to cut the channels seemed very cost effective considering all the other alternative or added cable lengths. One channel 18' long, 3" wide, and 1\2" deep would work fine. Two other channels were cut for the surround speakers and to bring power to the center of the room. These were only 1\2" wide and the same depth. The contractor agreed to this price if I would prepare the room before hand by hanging plastic over the doorways and the landing to prevent the inevitable concrete dust from covering the entire home and its contents. This would be a disaster as far as the wife would be concerned so I pulled the carpets and baseboards, chalked center lines on the concrete where the channels were to be cut, and hung plastic over all the entrys to the room and the landing. I had it prepared two days ahead of time and was waiting for the "concrete experts" to arrive first thing in the morning. The plastic was hanging perfectly and sealed the room well.
Well, they do not show so I wait. I wait some more and then call. They are delayed and will be there after lunch. I get some work done from the house and eagerly await their arrival. Sure enough, they make it and proceed to drag all their gear into the living room. I hover as I size up the crew and make a gut call that I better keep as close an eye as possible on these guys because all just did not seem right.
I show them the chalk lines and discover that I am speaking more Spanish than they are speaking English but how hard can it be to cut the channels to the proper dimensions without the contractor?
The saws fire up and I quickly realize that the dust generated quickly forced me out of the room. Undaunted, I went outside and peered through the window into the room from the outside. I quickly realize that my perfectly sealed room is now unsealed due to the opening of the windows in my brief absence. I quickly run into the house to try to stop them so we can better secure the plastic, resigned to the fact that a fine film has already covered EVERYTHING in the rest of the home. They once again resume cutting and I once again bolt outside to peek through the now very dirty windows. I manage a glimpse only to see the circular saw blade dissappear into the foundation by over half its width. I bang on the glass, almost breaking it. I turn and run back into the house and the maze of plastic to inquire in very poor Spanish what he is doing. I reiterate the required depth and he adjusts the blade in my presence from the 3" he had interpreted from the contractors directions to the 1\2" needed to prevent structural compromises. I feel somewhat relieved and went over the dimensions on paper with him to make sure they understood.
The saws fire up again and since the first cut was down the centerline, I just thought it was going to be one of many cuts down the channel area so that it could be removed with a hammer drill. WRONG! They begin to cut three inches to the side of the center line. This time I get smart and run through the garage to grab a mask before trying to enter the room that now more resembles the inside of a flour bin than a habital family room. I yell stop and once again try to explain what I want but technical terms in spanish are lost on me and so I picked up the phone and called the general contractor. He showed up within 30 minutes and proceeded to speak in much better spanish to the two "craftsman". Fortunately, I understand spanish much better than I speak and quickly realize that even the contractor is having trouble explaining what needs to be done and how. After repeated attempts, he finally gets it straight.All the while, he can not understand why the channels have to be perfectly aligned since they are being covered anyway. I assure him that I have my reasons and they include hiding the wires behind a tv stand where they exit the wall. I am not sure who looked more confused at this point, him or his staff but being profiled for audio\video ideosyncracies is just part of the process and I took it in pretty good stride considering.
This story could go on for some time and I could try to relay to you how upset my wife was with me, the contractor, the "concrete experts", and the condition of the home after they left, but suffice it to say that my wife fully supports me and would choose me over any another contractor at any price.
