
As '23 wound down, B Three began work with another repeat client in Flat Rock NC on a family room wing addition to a country home that dates back to 1890! The design was developed between the owners and us since the parameters were simple - essentially creating an east wing to mirror the master bedroom addition that had been added sometime in the last decade or two. The bulk of the space would be devoted to an open family room with a vaulted ceiling. A spacious laundry room and a full width screen porch looking south over the pasture and mountainside behind the house completed the scope. Altogether a respectable job, but wait there's more!
It became clear why the former addition had been built on the west side of the house (in spite of the need for some serious banking of the earth there), because the bulk of the house's utilities and comfort systems were arranged on the east end of the home where the new addition needed to be. These items included the overhead electrical service, fiber optic internet, LP gas lines, heat pump, whole house generator with transfer switch, the heat pump, venting for the gas furnace and water heaters, hose bib, the electrical feed to the well and a number of outbuildings. Now with cold weather in full swing and winter on the way, not many of these things could be interrupted long despite each of them needing to be moved to new locations around the forthcoming space. One more thing, the new build was to be installed right in the middle of the dog run. This required some serious coordinating.

At B Three scheduling is a matter of pride, something we have refined and even enjoy too. It is true that surprises will happen and rarely do we hit our schedule exactly as planned, but in our model the schedule details are ironed out in the planning and pricing phase. The key is having a plan and aiming for it. For this challenge, it was decided to create an extra schedule that drilled into the shutting down, relocating and restarting these utilities so that the real work could take place. The coordination of the Plumber, AC man, Electrician and Duke Power was key since many of the items to be moved required two different specialties plus some extra muscle from B Three's in house team. All this was to ensure that the family (including dogs) could live as normal - barring the construction project taking place right outside the dining room.

To make a long story short, the plan worked, allowing the completion of the real work on project almost without a hitch! It turned out really nice I think, with designated and tidy places for all the original utilities and equipment plus a few extras we added. This project was a great opportunity to put into play a neat plan and see it through. In spite of the worthy accomplishment of completing this addition, finally seeing the dogs turned loose into the new larger run may have been the most satisfying part!






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