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The job. A 1,200 sq ft condo in a building from 1908. Wood joists, aluminum wiring, three layers of old plaster. The owner wanted an open living area and lighting on full automation.

The technical problem. Once the plaster came off it turned out the header over the planned opening was not carrying the load. We stopped work for two days, brought in a structural engineer and put in a new steel header with drawings and a log entry.

The result. Four days behind schedule, all of it documented. The header cost — $1,700 — went into a change order as its own line before we started the work. The rest of the estimate did not move.