We have our “final” inspection on the house/addition today. I don’t expect that we’ll pass on the first try, since nobody else I know has been able to pull that off. The final inspection punch list is empty for now, but Chris (our inspector) will probably give me a list of things to fix once he’s had a look around.
I still have some non-inspection work to do–things like door- and window trim, telephone/network wiring, hanging some (plug-in) fluorescent lights in the garage, etc. I also want to install two “extra” smoke alarms in the front rooms of the house. These aren’t required, but it just seems sensible to have these in every room, (except places where they’ll be sounding false alarms–the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room). The wiring is installed for these, and I have the smoke alarms, but I can’t find their wiring harnesses or mounting rings. :\
Sadly, I’m probably going to have to stop working on the house for a while. Our permit for Barb’s quilt shop will expire in mid-June, unless I can get it inspected before that time. There’s not a *whole* lot of work left to be done before the next inspection (rough frame and electrical):
* Stucco/siding transitions (east and west sides)
* Rough-in exterior lights (6)
* Re-flash windows
* (McCann) Exterior lath, stucco prep
* Fix bowed stud on south side of building
* House wrap south side of building
* Rough-in spotlights for design wall
* Rough-in ceiling lights (T8 fluorescent tubes), switches (2 banks, 3-way switches)
* Rough-in wall outlets (5, including two 4plex)
* Rough-in ceiling fans (2)
* Compressor closet: outlet (dedicated), overhead light, switch
* Compressor plumbing
Final inspection is tomorrow! Our attic fans are both permanently installed, and the attic is relatively comfortable except from late afternoon until nightfall.
The whole-house fan is wired, tested and operational. Our new fan is a 2-speed unit, whereas our old one had three speeds. We rarely used the medium speed on our old fan, so I guess this isn’t a great loss. The new fan seems quieter on the high speed but a bit noisier on low speed, compared to the old fan. (A net “win” I think, since only the high speed was ever much of an annoyance.)
I got the kids’ closet lights installed and managed to slice up my hands pretty well. (These are surface-mount fluorescent fixtures, lots of sharp metal edges.) I’m glad that I had the foresight to put 2×4’s in the closet headers where the fixtures get screwed to the wall. No drywall anchors–they’re screwed straight into cripple studs, so the fixtures are rock solid!
The required smoke alarms are installed. I have two more that I’m going to install, but they’re not required for inspection so they go to the bottom of the list.
I’ve got to go to work today, but I’m off tomorrow for the inspection. I still have a few things to do tonight and/or tomorrow morning:
* Clean up the light- and switch wiring for the attic lights.
* Wire and install ceiling light in entry.
* Run power to the smoke alarm network. Install two “extra” smoke alarms, time permitting.
Ariana, our 16-year old cat, suffered complete renal failure a few days ago. The veterinarian confirmed it this morning, and even with heroic treatment there was almost no hope for her survival. The vet euthanized her about an hour ago. We brought her home and buried her in the back yard. After we finish construction, we’ll plant one of our fruit trees near her final resting place.
Four days ’til our final inspection. Our last two tradesmen (for [phase 1A][phases]) were out today–masonry and HVAC.
Kevin McKeever is our mason. He came out yesterday to salvage as many of the old bricks from our original chimney as possible. This morning he and his assistant built the chimney up about seven feet, installed the counter-flashing and chimney cover/spark arrestor. They mixed the old bricks in with new ones, and it blends very nicely.
Meanwhile I’ve been busy myself. I got the dishwasher bolted into its cabinet last night. It was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be, because I couldn’t get the darn thing plumb and level. I finally realized that either the power or water line wasn’t in its proper place, so when I tried to lower the back of the unit it was getting stuck on the water or electrical line. We pulled the unit all the way out of the cabinet, taped both the water and power lines in place on the back of the unit, and slid it back into the cabinet. After that the adjustments were easy, although the cabinet opening is just a little too short (maybe 1/8″) for us to get the dishwasher *perfectly* plumb. But it’s pretty darn close.
I also got one of the attic fans finished. The other one is mounted in the gable, although it’s currently wired with a temporary appliance cord. The important thing is that they both work. They’re keeping the attic much more tolerable and extending the time I’m able to work up there. I should have no trouble finishing the other tasks in the attic this weekend.
Final inspection punch list:
* Install smoke alarms. The wiring is done, except for power feed. Other than that, all I need to do is put up the ceiling mounts and attach the smoke alarms.
* Install fluorescent lights in the kids’ closets. Wiring is done, just need to put the fixtures on the walls and hook them up.
* Finish installing second attic fan.
* Finish wiring and test the whole-house fan.
* Clean up the light- and switch wiring for the attic lights.
* Wire and install ceiling light in entry.
Final inspection in six days! Over a third of the items on the [final inspection punch list][fipl] got done today. (Unfortunately none of the attic work got done.) I have to go to work tomorrow, so I’ll probably only get one or two things done in the evening. But I’ll be at home again on Friday or Monday (depending on our HVAC contractor’s schedule). Either way, that’ll give me a 3-day weekend to finish everything else.
* Install the last few (5) switch- and outlet covers (utility room and garage).
* Install last two exterior outlets and weather-proof covers (front porch and outside the new bathroom).
* Install final two exterior lights (outside the back door).
* (sub) Patch the ceiling in old bathroom hallway.
* (sub) Pour the concrete pad for the A/C condensor.
Now that the ceiling is closed up, we’ll be able to use our new whole-house fan (as soon as I finish wiring it). The weather has cooled off again, (I don’t know if it even hit 70°F/20°C today), but it will certainly warm up again in the near future. With our old fan we used to get by quite comfortably up to about 95-100°F, and that was without insulation! It’ll be interesting to see how hot it gets before we can’t stand it and have to turn on the air conditioner.
A few days ago I finished a book by Robert I. Sutton PhD, [The No Asshole Rule][]. The title may be a little off-putting for some folks, but as the author explained in an interview, there really isn’t a polite word that has the proper connotations. (I’m paraphrasing from memory, sorry.)
This book is primarily concerned with how to deal with assholes at work. It’s a fast little read, and I’d definitely like to get other people’s opinions on the book. (Especially my coworkers’!)
[The No Asshole Rule]: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0446526568/
We have about one week left before our “final” inspection. (Final in quotes because I haven’t heard of many people who pass their first “final” inspection.) Our [punch list][] is still fairly long, but many of those items aren’t required for inspection, e.g. baseboards, window trim, etc. Here’s what needs to be done during the next seven days.
I’ll be home tomorrow since Don and J will be working, so I’m going to try to finish the attic work in the morning before it gets too hot. (Plus, once the attic fans are both running that will help control the temperature in the attic.)
[Claire]: http://sonicchicken.net/blog/wordpress/2007/08/31/claires-visit/
[Marseille]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille%2C_France
[Caroline]: http://carolyn-b.skyrock.com/
[mbaqu]: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/
[SF advice]: http://sonicchicken.net/blog/wordpress/20070901/sf-tour-ideas/
[Jelly Belly tour]: http://jellybelly.com/Cultures/en-US/NewsEvents/Stores/Jelly+Belly+Visitor+Center+-+Fairfield.htm
[Music Circus]: http://www.sacramentomusiccircus.com/
[world clock]: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/personal.html?cities=330,1440,217 “Clock showing times in Marseille, Sacramento, and UTC”
We hosted a French foreign exchange student, [Claire][], last summer. It was such a rewarding experience that we signed up again.
Claire was a *Parisien*, but we wanted to become acquainted with people from other parts of France. So this year we’re hosting a *Marseillais* (a person from [Marseille][]) named [Caroline][]. We’ve already had several email exchanges with Caroline and her family. She’s coming to stay with us for three weeks in August, so we’ll have 2.5 weekends for touring. (She arrives on a Friday evening, so that first weekend will be partially blasted by jet lag, I’m sure.) We’ll probably visit:
* [Monterey Bay Aquarium][mbaqu] (and Monterey itself);
* San Francisco, twice (keeping our [SF advice][] in mind);
* and the [Jelly Belly candy factory][Jelly Belly tour].
You may be asking yourself why we included Jelly Belly among such hallowed destinations. The fact is we already had plans to see “My Fair Lady” at the [Music Circus][] this summer, so we needed to find something relatively quick and close to Sacramento for that day. Besides, Barb and the girls thought it was pretty cool the first time they visited the factory, and I’ve never been there.
We spent one day in San Francisco with Claire last year. It was a long day, it felt rushed, and we had to skip all kinds of cool stuff. This year, we’re going to try two trips to SF. And if we can work out all the details, one of those days we’ll bring along our bikes and go riding on Angel Island, through Golden Gate Park, and anywhere else we think to ride.
Finally, I thought I would post a useful web site that I found when Barb and Caitlin went to Sweden a couple of years ago: The [world clock][] page shows the time in both Marseille and Sacramento. (Obviously you can customize this to show whatever cities you wish.) The city names on that page are linked to the current and forecast weather, which I thought was pretty slick. (Looks like it’s cool and raining in Marseille, while we’ve had a couple of 35°C days here in Sacramento.)
We’re all eagerly awaiting Caroline’s arrival in August!
We’ve had a couple of relatively minor setbacks over the last two months. Back at the beginning of March we went to pick up some stuff from our storage unit in Galt (about 30 minutes south of Sacramento). I noticed that the radiator temperature gauge was red-lined all the way back home, so once we unloaded the truck and let it cool off a bit, I took it to our mechanic. His diagnosis: a blown head gasket, among other ills. The repair estimate was almost $2,000. I love this old truck, but it’s over 20 years old with a quarter million miles on it, and I’m pretty sure this is just the first of many expensive repairs. So it was time to buy a new truck:
I haven’t gotten rid of the old truck. In fact, after watching the bonus features on [Who Killed the Electric Car?][wktec], I’m thinking about converting it to an electric vehicle. I’ll need to pull the motor et al, anyway, so perhaps I can sell those “scrap” parts to help pay for the conversion.
Our next problem was our clothes dryer. It’s been taking quite a while to dry the clothes lately–usually two full cycles per load. We checked everything we could think of, but we couldn’t figure out what the problem was. Last week the dryer crapped out completely. Another 20- to 25-year old device, so we decided to just buy a new efficient unit. Barb did the research on this and decided to buy an [LG dryer][]. We designed the laundry room for our electric dryer, but we had a gas line plumbed in “just in case”. Well, “just in case” happened! We couldn’t get an electric LG dryer for at least a week, so we decided to try the gas dryer. I had to make some changes to the gas line coming out of the wall, but after a few trips to the hardware store I managed to get the gas line and a new rigid duct connected to the dryer.
Our washing machine is the same age as the dryer, and it isn’t performing as well as it used to, so we picked up an [LG front loading washer][LG washer] along with a stacking kit so we could put the dryer on top of the washer and reclaim some space in the laundry room. We were a little concerned about the LG washer because of a few negative comments that Barb saw on the web. Most of these claimed the washer was noisy. I noticed that the manual is quite explicit about installing the washing machine perfectly level, especially when installing on a wood-framed (versus concrete slab) floor; otherwise, it’ll make noise that can be heard throughout the house. So I grabbed my 2′ level and asked Barb to keep an eye on the bubble while I adjusted all the feet. It took less than 5 minutes to level the washer, a task made especially easy due to the offset wrench that LG included in the parts bag. I ran a small test load of laundry per the installation instructions, and the only time the washer made *any* vibration noises was right at the beginning of the spin cycle.
I’ve got to tell you, this washer is pretty freakin’ amazing! It uses very little water, it’s extremely quiet, the clothes are just barely damp at the end of the wash cycle (so they don’t take very long to dry), and *clean!* Even Caitlin’s socks! (She’s brutal on them, always walking around in socks/no shoes. Being a parent is pretty aggravating sometimes!) We’re using the same detergent etc as before, so I think the change can only be due to the new washing machine. By the way, the best price we found was at Sears. Just one final note–don’t bother with the “venting kit” that they offer. It’s just a piece of flex ducting and an elbow. You’d be better off using rigid ducting, and the parts are cheaper at a hardware store even if you have to buy a pair of tin snips to cut the duct to length.
I’ve been pretty busy at work *and* home since Christmas, and I can’t find the USB cable for our camera. Both things have kept me from blogging as much as I would like, especially regarding our remodel. But a few things have happened recently that are definitely worth posting.
First, we’ve finished our new bathroom! (Why is this a big deal, you ask? Because I share this house with my wife and two teenage daughters. Having two bathrooms is **HUGE** news!) Our plumber was out about two weeks ago and finished hooking up the shower/bath and the toilet. And I finally got all the vanity outlets, lights and switches wired up, along with the exhaust fan. I still have one fluorescent can light in the ceiling that’s burned out two tubes within a few months, which I need to investigate.
Second, our cabinet maker got all the trim and touch-up work done on the cabinets and installed the foot rail under the bar. (Here’s where I’d *really* like to insert a few pictures. Why in the heck did Kodak have to use a proprietary cable on their camera?!?) He also got the under-cabinet lights working reliably–looks like they were drawing too much power, so he installed some lower wattage bulbs. The lights haven’t given us any trouble since.
Third, our big fancy stove is finally 100% operational. (The two “extra low” burners hadn’t worked since we installed it back in December.) It took the service company four visits (and 3 parts orders), but they finally got it working on Tuesday.
That’s all the big news. I also updated the [punch list][] and got to mark two rooms (the new bathroom and the nook) as “complete”. There are also some rooms/areas that are very nearly finished: entry, great room, kitchen, laundry/utility room, bedroom hallway, and the kids’ bedrooms. We still have quite a bit of work to do in the game room (the old dining room), garage, attic, and the exterior of the house.
We still a lot of work ahead of us, but the house is getting more and more comfortable. 🙂
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