Siding

Plugged away at the siding most of the week.

Construction loan inspection and disbursement were supposed to happen Tuesday.  By Wednesday, still no money in the account.  Called Thursday - they forgot to put me on the schedule...  Luckily, there's enough money to carry us over to this Tuesday.

The mason came Saturday and finished the fireplace, hearth, and chimney.  Looks great (forgot to take a picture). 

Met with the geothermal HVAC guy.  Just need to finalize a few details and that can get rolling.

Plumbing rough inspection passed on Thursday.

Went to the house on Friday in the pouring rain and couldn't work on siding.  I wandered around aimlessly for an hour shivering before deciding to just go home and do nothing.  I think that's the first time that's happened.  I felt much more productive on Saturday though.  But Amy and I did get in our Friday date night: a trip to Home Depot after the kids were in bed.  So romantic.

Doors were delivered and installed on Friday.  I put the locks on on Saturday.  We can finally lock the house!  This may not seem like a big deal, but it means my car is no longer a traveling tool chest.



Pictures:

Got the front of the garage done over the course of the week.  Notice the white strap hanging on the wall near the top of the siding.  I am very proud of my invention.  May be patentable...?

Siding in the dark is tricky, so I finally put up the porch posts.

Got LOTS of help this weekend from Dad.  Started to set up to do this gable wall on Saturday, but the wind blew the ladder over as we were setting up staging.  Opted to hold off till Sunday.  The telescoping plank is a godsend.

With the weight of all the stuff hanging off my belt I have almost mooned the neighborhood on more than one occasion.

Paul came to help today even though he's still recovering from knee surgery!  He can barely walk, but he was still going up and down ladders and lugging cement planks around.  Good physical therapy?

Nearing the peak.

Vertigo anyone?

Amy's attempt to nail a clapboard from the top of a ladder.  Notice both hands off the ladder to use the nail gun and siding gauge.

Shortly thereafter hugging the ladder for dear life.

Smiling because she's still alive and because she knows she won't be going back up the ladder again...

And a special thank you to Amy and Sarah for coming back after dinner to bring coffee and help me finish up a section of the back in the dark.

He's Aliiiive!!!

Wednesday...
Me: The roofers want to know when you'll get the chimney done so they can waterproof it.
Mason: We'll come do the fireplace today since it's raining, then do the chimney Friday when things dry out.
Me: Great.  So the ledgestone you ordered came in?
Mason: Ledgestone?  They just gave me "Strip".  @%&#.  I'll have to reorder it.  But I'll still be there Friday to do the chimney.

Friday....
No mason.
Saturday...
No mason.
Sunday....
No mason.
Monday.... giving up hope
The mason showed up out of the blue and did the fireplace AND chimney in one day.  Well, almost.  He ran out of stone for the fireplace and didn't have the hearth stone or chimney cap.  But we're making progress!

National Grid connected our electricity!  No more generators!  This is what an electric meter looks like when you've used 00000 kWh of electricity.

Plumbers finished the rough in today and are ready for inspection tomorrow.  This is the the copper pan for the master bath shower.

Thanks to two consecutive 12 hour days put in by my dad, we were able to side a good chunk of the front of the house.  I started the day Saturday by falling through the porch joists when a board flipped up.  Luckily my feet his the ground before something else hit the joist...  Got a good bang on the knee though.  The last course above the porch went up in the dark on Sunday by the light of the LED on the front of the electric drill.  Thanks, dad!  And thanks mom for giving him up for the weekend and bringing us lunch!

Started siding the bay today.  Decided to give up on painting all the trim for fear I'll run out of time before the winter.  Just prepainting the sides of the trim.  I'll get to the rest in the spring...

He may take a while to get here, but his work looks great! 

Tuesday - Dig well trench.  Wednesday - well company calls to say they aren't coming because it's raining.  Friday - bail out well trench.   Monday - Install water line and electric power to well pump.  Tuesday through Thursday - rain fills well trench again (can't be bailed out by back hoe since there are pipes in it now).  Friday - siphon the majority through dad's borrowed garden hose.  Saturday - nearly pass out trying to start a siphon to empty the last of the water.  Sunday - trench finally filled back in.  No more water, hopefully.

Panel installed.  Power turned on.  Some rooms wired.  Now what?

A sighting: the mason hard at work. 

When it rains, it pours

With the massive amount of rain this, the entire lot turned into a muddy mess.  Good timing for the electrical service inspection, plumber to start, stone to be delivered, siding to be delivered, mason to finally show up, garage doors to be installed, well to be connected, etc.  No workers on site at all last week.  This week was crazy.  When it rains, it pours...

200A electrical service trench with conduits for electric, telephone, and cable.   You can see the fully shingled roof too!

Service entrance.  No meter yet (waiting for national grid): one week and counting

Garage doors are in.

Mason finished the stone veneer behind the wood stove today.

Plumbers roughed in the drain lines earlier this week.  Couldn't get up the driveway to do water lines today due to massive amount of mud.

Speaking of "mud," this thing better work...

I successfully wired one bedroom then Steve gave me some tips.  Did one more tonight.  Lots more to go.

This gives the "water service trench" new meaning.  Hopefully I can drain and prep it by Monday so they can hook up the well.  It takes A LOT of water to fill a 4' deep by 100' long trench.