Insulation and Electrical

Work has slowed down a bit because of Christmas and just some schedule/timing issues. We are entering the home stretch though.

Some work was done on finishing up the interior framing and plumbing but the most obvious changes over the last few weeks have been the electrical and insulation. In short, all the outlets are in place and the switches for the light are done. The ceiling and wall insulation was put up but a subcontractor who is also going to do our drywalling. Since there is only so much that can be said about this, on to the pictures.

First off, the skylights in the den and kitchen/dining room make a HUGE difference. Even when it is overcast a fair amount of light comes into the room. I'm really happy with them. Also, with the heavy rain and light snow we've gotten lately, I know they are watertight.

The washer and dryer are getting a workout with the whole family together for Christmas. This is the plumbing from the backside before the drywall goes up. You can see the PEX water supplies and the assorted PVC drains and vents. The blue tube is just a color coded piece of PEX to help keep the cold water supply easily identified. The vent for the dryer hasn't worked out the way we wanted. The plan had been to go through the wall and out the back of the addition but it isn't going to happen. We are exploring going into the attic and out through the roof.

The HVAC ducting is in the ceiling and ends in these round registers so they will match the rest of the house. You can also see the wires that will eventually go into ceiling canisters to be the overhead lights in the kitchen/dining room area. It is pretty funny how relatively simple the most important things in the house are but how silly little extras tend to be the fiddly complicated parts.

This is the back wall of the utility room/shop. Most of the wall outlets in there are double boxes with two outlets on a 20 amp line. The washing machine is on a separate line so, if I really needed to split things up, I could use that outlet as well. All in all though, I'm hoping seven outlets will get the job done for me. The switches to the left are for the back light and a three way switch for the overhead light.  Plan is for a semi-industrial looking fluorescent tube fixture.

The outlets are all up high for easy access and are protected by a GFI outlet at the beginning of the run. Installing the outlets was actually one of the few hands on parts of this project that I've done. It felt good to be involved and it worked out that I had time and the required knowledge to do this. The outlets had a different method of connection than I was used to. I really liked it though. Instead of pushing the wires in through the back or try and loop them around the appropriate screws, theses guys have avmetal clip that is screwed down to firmly hold the wires in place. Way less fiddly than the other ways if you ask me.

The box pictured above has the switch for the exhaust fan installed. The paints I use on the toys I make are non-toxic and don't smell but the spray acrylic and other finishes I use on occasion can really be pretty intense. I have a nice window in the room I intend to take full advantage of but I felt an exhaust fan was a must. It is on the opposite side of the room so when used with the window open, I should get a decent cross ventilation situation going.

The den will have wall mounted lights (dare I say sconces.) That space has really come together but some of the brick work needs to be repaired and we still haven't settled on the entrance doors to the room. I really like how traditional French doors would look, but they do take up extra space to allow the swing of the door and we need to accept that they will open most of the time. There are other options though... we're keeping an open mind.

One bit of semi-goofiness that happened was insulation was installed on the interior wall between the den and utility room. It was a mistake but being a glass half full kind on guy, I'm gonna say that it might help with some of the noise reduction in that part of the house. I don't think firing up the table say at 10pm will ever be a good idea, but in general, less noise for the others in the house is better. (As long as they can hear me scream for help.) Teddy likes that there is still a cut through there though. All the better to get on the other side and wait to attack me when I come through.

 A scene from my upcoming novel

"Snow Falling on Mud"

So, we are about seven months into this in terms of real work. (Not counting the initial planning and some preliminary work.) I'm anxious to get it finished and in use. My guess is about 6 or 8 more weeks to be "done." Winter hasn't been too bad so far but January and February is real winter around here. The house is noticeably colder but the recently added insulation has helped. Drywall and the caulking of the windows and doors should start to give us an accurate feel for how the house will be going forward.

Happy New Year.

New Electrical and Gas Line for the House Addition

My father-in-law once said, "Well, you can only get so excited about a new pair of pants." He was right.

Yes, you need new pants every once in a while, but if you are a regular guy, they are gonna be pretty much like 95% of the other pairs of pants you've ever owned. It is hard to get excited about replacing something you take for granted with something else that you are going to take for granted.

Which brings us to our gas line and new electrical box. AKA - our new pair of pants.

Our old electrical setup left something to be desired. While there were no fires or amazing showers of sparks coming off the wall in our pantry, we couldn't toast something while microwaving something else. Also if you vacuumed with anything bigger than a nightlight plugged in to the same line, you threw a breaker. Not that I ever vacuumed... but just saying.

Did I mention the unprotected power supply line that used to run along the inside wall of our house?
Not that we had plans on ever severing it, but I guess that is why those events are called "accidents."

So, we had an electrician come in along with his assistant and over the course of two days they put in a new service panel, wired everything up and put the box for a new meter on the side of the house. We are now the proud owners of a 200 amp service panel. (The addition will include a shop/utility room so the additional power will come in handy.)

We put the call in to have a new power drop to the house put in after the gas line work was done.



The old  gas line stretched around to the back of our house. Sort of like an enormous "J."  The plan was to mount the new gas meter on the side of the house, clear of the new construction and cut the "J" short into a sort of backwards facing "L". Basically, putting in a 90 degree elbow and about three feet of new pipe.

After calling Miss Utility (I think her first name is Shirley), we got all set up to have our lawn spray painted various colors representing various utility lines. (Just FYI, yellow is the gas line color.) We put in the request to move the meter and they told us it would cost $75 for them to send someone out and tell us how much it will cost to move the meter.

If restaurants worked like that...
"Excuse me, waiter... what are your specials tonight?"
"Monsieur, I will be happy to tell you... for ten dollars.
However, I will graciously take that $10 off the bill if you order it."

I'd go to a different restaurant, but seeing as how there isn't a different gas company to go to, I smiled and grabbed the checkbook.

In the meantime, our plumber re-did our interior gas lines to set us up for the eventual move of the meter and to allow for things like our new hot water heater.

A couple of weeks later, the gas company guys show up with their trucks at about 7:00am and waited outside our house. I went out to talk to them and they explained that they couldn't start doing anything until after 9am. 
"Why?"  I asked.
"Because of noise ordinances." They replied. 
Ok.
I started to ask them why they didn't just come by closer to 9, but hey, who am I to tell other people how to do their jobs.

They also told me that  they had to rip out all of my gas line all of the way to the street.
Company policy.

Actually makes sense.
They figure how often does that line get touched?
Every 50 or 75 years?
Why not replace it when you have the chance? So they did.

The only bummer was that instead of a three foot trench, I ended up with a 60ft trench that ripped up half of the only good patch of lawn I had. Well... they did put down grass seed when they finished.

The electric company showed up about a week later. Well, two guys and a rather handy mini backhoe from the electric company showed up.

They dug the trench for the new electrical line parallel to the new gas line so that the power line could now be buried (at no additional charge!) They also rather nicely dug up a little stump that was in the way. In doing their work they had to dig of the OTHER half of the only good patch of lawn I had. They did no put down any grass seed.

Our utilities to the house are now in order. The side of the house is a big mud flat and I should have moved sooner to put down additional grass seed but live and learn. It looks like a construction dumpster is going to end up parked there anyway.

Last post I mentioned that I thought I might have drawn a box around the wrong plot when I turned in our Special Permit request. I called the office the next day. They were very pleasant and pretty much laughed at me and said they really don't need that paper to be correct. They just need that piece of paper to be in the folder to make it complete.

I appreciated the honesty.