P.S. I love this condo and would never leave no matter what, so I may be willing to put up with more than other owners who are not as permanent. In any event, I will be happy when it's all done. At least I did not plan to be away the rest of the year after our visit to Val and Jim in June, so that is good. Some people have vacation plans set, so they may be apprehensive about anyone working in their units when they are gone. The contractor said if that is the case, then those owners must have a representative present when the walkthrough of their units takes place, although not for the actual work. I would not even consider not being present for the duration of the work in my unit, but then I'm not working outside the home now and can be present.

 

I'm awfully glad were not there.
My wife is manic about plastic in water bottles etc.
She hates the stuff.

 

a friend had the polybutial pipe replaced with copper in the mid 90s. The work went pretty fast, little mess and overall painless.

 

Well, the project has started...I got the assessment last week. Just deciding whether to pay it in one lump sum or spread over 12 months. I'm guessing work in my unit will take place in Sept. They will be working on several units at a time, so the replacement could take a week and the remediation another week.

 

Update: Work on my master bath will be done in Sept, and guest bath and kitchen in Dec. So at least it won't happen all at once. In order to avoid tearing out the vanities in the bathrooms, walls/closets behind them will be accessed. So more area of work than I realized initially. But can't be avoided. I don't want my vanities removed. Kitchen will be more or less as expected. I'm hoping the work behind the tiled wall in the master bath can be done from the hallway. But that is to be determined. It is a small space and obstructed by ductwork. I have already contacted my tile supplier from years ago about tile in the two baths that may need replacing in the event of damage. I hope he can find a match or very close. I have a couple of samples to take to him. Also, any remediation beyond drywall and basic painting will not be done. So that is an additional cost for me beyond the assessment. Oh, goody. The company does have a website for the project which has been very useful with floor and work plans. And the project manager and chief engineer were here yesterday to discuss some issues with me - very helpful. I'm as prepared as possible!

 

No real updates yet...tile man says the carrara marble in the guest bath could be more of a problem to find than the onyx in the master bath. Hard to believe I remodeled this place 10 years ago! Seems like I just posted those threads about the kitchen and baths. Getting boxes to put stuff in that I have to empty from closets, vanities, etc. Also ordered a clothes rack to put clothes from one of the closets on during the work. This may result in a major downsizing of clothes from both our closets, which is a side benefit.

 

Just found out yesterday that all water will be cut off from 8-5:30 each day for four days later this month, so a bit of an inconvenience. Major pipe replacement for risers that feed water to the whole building.

 

Well, I had the project manager in my unit again today because I had more questions. Turns out that the previous plans for the two baths may not be the plans after all. They are finding surprises when they get into the walls, despite having maps of the infrastructure. So I will not know for sure how the work is going to be done on the baths until they start on the top two floors in my tier. The kitchen appears to be pretty set.

 

I am using a restoration contractor I've used before to do the work that won't be done by the pipe replacement people. Their rep came yesterday to give me an estimate (worst case) for the master bath area. I won't know what access the pipe people will use to get to the risers and other pipes until a few days before the work actually starts on my unit, because they have to actually open up in the top floor units (19th and 18th floors) to see what's behind the walls. Maps of the building infrastructure have not been completely reliable as to the location of risers. So...I have more than one scenario to deal with. I'm concerned that even if the tile doesn't have to be removed in the shower, working behind it may damage some tiles. Haven't heard back from my tile man yet as to availability of tile, but I need to buy enough for the whole wall (and maybe some extra) just in case. Master bath is in Sept and guest bath/kitchen in Jan. I will be documenting the process as usual with pics.

 

Bad news...work behind the bathtub fixture wall in the master bath can't be done from the hallway. So the wall tile has to come down. At least I know well ahead of time. Probably means the master bath will be out of commission for about three weeks, between the work done by the contractor, the work done by the pipe people, and the inspections. Not sure yet how they are going to access the pipe in the wall behind the dressing room vanity. Maybe from the closets behind, maybe from the wall next to the vanity, maybe pull the vanity. MsP not happy. Ugh...