fail...

it's not that i was necessarily expecting to pass the electrical inspection on the first shot...that would have been downright naive...

it's just that i didn't expect it to be such a major fail.

the bright spot is that the local inspector is very cool...lots of fun to talk to and not at all anal in that i-have-the-power-to-shut-you-down kind of way that lots of inspectors are.

all the wiring inside is great...just a few minor, easy fixes there...the main issue is with the meter. it doesn't help that the dude at the store sold us the wrong size wiring to run from the meter to the mail panel, but apparently the wiring inside the meter that runs through the weatherhead and connects to the service line is corroded (all my electricity is above ground from nearby telephone poles). and apparently, everything from the service line down is my problem...the conduit, the meter, the box...everything. apparently it is the homeowners financial responsibility to "maintain [it] to the city's specifications." which seems very odd to me, since i could also be fined for tampering with it once it's running...but that's the way it is...c'est la vie! there's no way i'm going to mess with the main power lines, so i'm going to have to hire someone...

also, the underground wire that connects from the main panel to the garage subpanel may or may not be up to snuff. so, we've got to dig it up and check it out. if it doesn't have the right kind of conduit, or isn't burried deep enough, well, then we'll have to deal with that...something we purposefully didn't mess with because it would suck!

the last of the big modifications - we have to drive 2 more 6' copper ground rods for the garage...since it's considered a seperate structure. this is crap. the two we drove for the house were possibly the most physically difficult thing we've done to the house so far. no joke. it SUCKED! so, yeah...i'll be hiring someone for that, too...

anyone know a good electrician?

electrical

we took a holiday from working on the house over the fouth of july weekend. i had a fabulous birthday and a fun get together with friends at the beach...


it was a great little break, but now we're back to work! the last few weeks we've been replacing the electrical. we're replacing everything, except one 240v outlet in the garage, including the main panel.

this is brad - he's a good friend of the family and the my resident "electrician." he and his wife built their own home and he did all the wiring...they also helped their son remodel his home.


we started by running wire. the outlets are all "piggy-tailed" together. once they're all attached, the final wire, or "homerun" is run to the box and attached to a breaker.



i've learned a lot about electical work and have managed to do a lot of work myself - i cut in the holes and installed the recessed lightning, run a lot of the wiring in the attic, wired the garage, etc. i actually know what i'm talking about when i get sent on home depot runs!

we're almost done - we have three more breakers in the house to attach, and four breakers in the garage. then there's only a little bit of old wiring still to remove, and then we'll be done. once the electical passes inspection, we can get started on the drywall! : )

face lift...

this weekend, the bombshell got a HUGE face lift! this picture of the front of the house was taken in january...


we started by taking off the siding...


then we knocked out the sheathing that was underneath...


we also took out the old windows and framed in two new ones that are the same size...


framed in a new doorway and hung new osb sheathing...


here's the "after" picture!!

it was a loooong day...with multiple trips to home depot and mclendon's...but i'm happy with all that we accomplished.

this should be the last of the major structural work to be done before i can move in...ultimately there will be a little porch with a hipped roof, but that is lower on the priority list and won't be done until after i move in.

patching the foundation

last weekend we used a 2x4 and shims to raise the floor joist so we could take out the rotten sill plate. after getting it out, we found lots of areas on the foundation where the concrete was crumbling and uneven. so, we mixed up some fast setting concrete patch and my dad troweled it in...


there were other places where the sill plate was still in good shape, but that still needed to be filled in with some more concrete, so we used a grout bag. it was difficult to squeeze out some times...


it was kind of like decorating a cake///but not as much fun, because you can't eat it when you're done!


new sill plate, bye bye old front door....

replacing a sill plate...

a few weeks ago we found more dry rot on the other side of the house...again, it was caused by the concrete steps being poured right up against the wood...


however, on this side of the house the sill plate is rotted basically the entire length of the house. the sill plate is the 2x4 that sits on top of the foundation and the house walls are built on top of that...


were not sure if the builders used pressure treated wood for the sill plate - it could have been before that was code - that could be why the rot progressed so far.



there are also sections where the concrete is crumbling...


so we removed some of the siding in order to take out the rim joist...


and are scabbing in new a sill plate...


we found a wood treatment that is supposed to kill the fungus that causes dry rot, so we're using that on the wood that is still solid...just to make sure.

it's a jungle out there...

my back yard is out. of. control.


it's amazing how much bigger the yard is now than when i bought it in the dead of winter...

i took a weed wacker to it for a good 2 hours the other night...and this is only as far as i got. i used two tanks of gas and 20' of line.


i really like the walls in the back, though. i dig the old-world style.


i want to build up this lower wall a bit more (the one you can barely see underneath all the clippings) and have this be a raised garden bed...

drawings....

my dad likes to draw things. it's kind of one of our family jokes...that he can't explain something without drawing it. i don't know how many times we've been at a restaurant as a family and my dad has started drawing on a napkin. but, i guess if it worked for pres. hinckley... ; )

at any rate, as someone who learn visually and hands-on, i really enjoy these. i've learned a TON!

here's a scale model of what the front of the house will look like when we relocate the front door. we're going to build a small porch our front. there will be a brick wainscoting...but the wing walls are still under debate. the porch may actually end up being a little smaller thank this...but you get the general idea.


the porch steps...although i can't remember the names for all the different pieces, i do know they're all important. and we will be using extra, extra, extra thick vapor barrier - no more dry rot for me! *grrrrr....*


a rough sketch of the framing of the front door and extra support beams that will be needed to support the porch. it will be a while before the porch is actually contructed, but we're going to put the elements in now, while the walls are open, so there will be less work later...in theory...


a very rough sketch of the exterior. the front is going to be brick with board and batton siding, while the sides are going to be lap siding. the brick will be a used look with dark colors, the board and batton and trim will be white, the lap will be gray, and the shutters will be charcoal blue!


piles of drawings...

fixing the garage roof...

brett and danny are doing a great job and the garage roof is almost done. the tar paper is looking good...


but the pile of junk left behind is not so stellar...and i took this pic after i'd already loaded roughly one load to take to the dump.


i thought it was just dirt, but turns out my gloves gave me a pretty awesome tan line...


it was a gorgeous day...but after loading and unloading the truck all by myself, i was a HOT MESS!...

have i talked about how fabulous my parents are today? because they are!

i had a volleyball tournament this weekend, so my mom and dad worked at my house. on saturday they installed a new window in the kitchen that will be right above the sink...pretty fabulous, eh?


there is a great window outlet in maple valley called millworks. i got this window for $50. the same basic thing would have cost $300 from home depot. i got to the house just in time to help clean up.

on monday, my team had an early departure from the tournament, so i was able to get to my house and help install a new door in the side of the garage.

first we removed the drywall from the inside and framed in a new opening. that made cutting out the siding really easy from the inside.



here's a little action shot for you...my dad is a master of the reciprocating saw. (i am his apprentice, and i'm getting pretty good...i'm not too shabby with a skill saw, either!)

yup...that's how you make a door...


pretty fabulous...

battered and bruised

last weekend at the house was rough. we got a lot of the junk wood loaded up and while my mom took it to the dump (half a ton of rotting, rat pee covered wood), my dad and i worked on the kitchen floor. we only had a few more floorboards to put down before we could call it good and move onto the next project.

well, as i was trying to lower myself down between the floor joist, i put my heel on the concrete pier in the foundation...and slipped. i banged my left arm in two spots on the way down...

i also hit my side, and have a bruise on my ribcage..."luckily" i was next to the main floor beam, so it actually "caught" me as i fell backwards...if it wasn't there i would have fallen straight through and landed flat on my back in the crawlspace.

this picture really doesn't do it justice...there are so many lovely colors that just don't shine through....purple, blue, green, yellow...it's brilliant.

not two seconds after getting up and trying to get on with work, i got a mother of a sliver embedded in my right hand. my mom had to perform surgery when she got back from the dump.

it was a good day.

awesome in fact.

tonight i'm getting an estimate to replace the garage roof - our recent rain storm definitively proved what i had suspected - it's leaking. i ran into an old friend at church on mother's day and he owns his own roofing company now. go figure...

tomorrow i'm getting another estimate and advice on what kind of heating/cooling system to install. this is the thing that's holding me up the most right now. i need to get an electrical permit to do all my electrical (we're all ready to start), but i need to know what type of heating i'm going to have in order to apply for the permit.

i have a volleyball tournament all three days this weekend (last one of the year!), so i'm not sure how much work we're going to be able to do. i'm hoping that we'll at least be able to install the new kitchen window and side door in the garage. we'll see...june is nearly hear and while i feel there's not much more to do before i can move in, i'm not convinced it'll happen by the end of the month.

plumbing

last weekend we replaced all the plumbing. and when i say "all" i mean, everything but the waste line to the kitchen sink...and when i say "we" i mean, my friend matt and his dad. : )

check out their awesomeness!

the bathroom walls are back courtesy of my fabulous father! this pic is taken looking through from the kitchen...


this one is from the bathroom doorway. obviously the tub will go against the back wall, the toilet over the black pipe in the ground, and the pedestal sink to the left of that. note the gorgeous new main stack! ooooooo....


the old stack! eeeeeeewwww...
(does anyone happen to know if cast iron is recyclable?)


here's the new closet for the 2nd bedroom/office - the small section to the right is where the washer and dryer will be, then the larger closet will house the water heater and storage.


i bought a stack washer/dryer at the sears day-after-thanksgiving sale that are still sitting in boxes in my parent's garage, but at least now i have a new washer box! puuurdy...


hot and cold for the kitchen sink, as well as a brand new, easily-accessible shut off valve. matt used "pex" a flexible plastic piping and attached it to copper fittings. the awesome part about pex is that if the water freezes, it will actually expand instead of bursting, then when the water thaws, it will go back to it's original shape. pretty awesome stuff!


also, we installed a line for a refrigerator ice maker...faaaancy...
(i probably won't even be able to afford a fridge with an ice maker by the time i'm done with this, but it's good for resale value at any rate...)


i did install the new hose bib (practically) all by myself...but of course i forgot to take a picture of it...

thanks again to the lindstroms for all their help...and for saving me tons of money on this job!

up in the attic

about a week ago, while knocking down the wall between the bathroom and 2nd bedroom/office, we thought some rat droppings had fallen out of the ceiling. i called and had the company who cleaned my crawlspace come out and take a look.

luckily it wasn't rat poo, but it was some really weird, old insulation with tiny little black balls. the insulation guy wasn't sure what it was, so we decided to get rid of it...just to be on the safe side.

they came out on saturday and hooked up a giant vacuum...


3 hours and five GINORMOUS bags of insulation later...




there may just be some extra storage room up there afterall...