Rough Rough Mechanical Inspection and Snug as a Bug in a Rug

Week 18: This week brought significant changes inside and outside the house. On Monday we had our rough mechanical inspection. It was interesting to walk through with the village inspector and listen to what they are saying. There were a couple items that really did not make a whole lot of sense and I must commend Mike for keeping his cool. We met for over an hour going through the plans and what they wanted changed. One change is that we had to put a gas shut off valve to the fireplace in the framed structure and have an access panel to it. I think that will look crappy to have to have a door when we could have easily just put the shutoff in the basement. The inspector was adamant about it being there. So we will have to comply. We have to get some drawing from the architect on a couple items and add a little more support here and there. Overall it went pretty well. They did not stop us from continuing on with the next phase which is insulation. The inspector also made a comment on the framing of the vaulted ceiling that it was some of the best he has seen and is very solid. It gives us comfort to know that they are doing it right. On Tuesday, the insulation started. We were able to install the insulation but before we can continue past that, we need to have a re-inspection and the new drawings. We have several layers of insulation, with the first layer being closed cell spray foam. It is a polyurethane that dries quickly and acts as a vapor barrier as well. I think we have about an inch of that. We would have done a thicker layer if the cost was more economical. Instead, we added a second layer of blown in cellulose. This is a wet cotton like substance that sticks when sprayed. It did look like a snowstorm in there with the cellulose floating around. In some walls, namely downstairs, there is a third layer of the pink batt insulation. This is because with the cinder blocks and inside framing, the wall cavity is large. Before they even started the spray foam they went around and sprayed a low expansion spray foam in all the cracks in the walls. Since the walls are not sheets of plywood, but individual boards, there were gaps in between. They also had to spray a orange foam in all the holes and around the conduit, HVAC ducts and pipes as a fire stop. Mike said the R value of our insulation is going to be between an R20 and R30. It is going to be a tight house and comfortable. I was able to be over there with shorts and a t-shirt with a window and door open and felt very comfortable. Now if we pass the re-inspection, we can go to the drywall phase. The drywall will be delivered and we hope to start on Wednesday. John the electrician is still busy now pulling the wire to the main electrical panel and will be hooking them up this week. Outside, John from J2 Concrete, came by and cleaned the basement, fixed the window wells and put in the windows and fire escape ladder. He also finished the rough grading, which makes the outside look even better. Gone are the last of the big dirt piles. He next will be pouring the cement for the piers under the stairway bump out and the sidewalks, pouring the pad for the air conditioner, and pouring the porch and cement stairs at the front door. We are still trying to nail down the siding options we want. The siding design that Ferd our architect designed is not going to work with the cement board so we have been looking at other designs. We hope to have this done by Monday so that Mike can order the supplies.

Here they used a low expansion foam to fill in all the gaps between the boards. It took most of one day to do this.







Here is the orange fire stop spray foam that seals the cracks around a HVAC duct.







Here you can see it around the electrical conduit and drains.








More fire stop around the conduit and data cables.








Here they used foam and caulk to seal the cracks.








Here is the first layer of insulation. It is closed cell spray foam. This is the master bathroom west wall.







Here is the south wall in the kitchen with spray foam.








The master bedroom with spray foam.








South wall of the master bedroom with spray foam.








Here the spray foam was used in the crevices under the floor joists.







This is the skylight in the master bathroom with spray foam.








Here is the vaulted ceiling with spray foam at the end over the master bathroom.







Here is the second layer of blown in wet cellulose.








Blown in cellulose.








Master bath West wall with cellulose.








Here is the kitchen with cellulose.








Cellulose in a bedroom.








Master bedroom with cellulose.








This is the ceiling in the master bedroom. They put these up to allow air flow behind them so that the attic space can breath. It also helps keep the foam from shooting out the side of the house.






This is what the ceiling loos like afterwards. They put a fiberglass mesh screen over it to keep the cellulose from falling down.







Here is a shot of the master bedroom East wall and ceiling.








Here is the vaulted ceiling going to the master bathroom.








This is the kitchen ceiling. The insulation is there because of the balcony above it.








More of the kitchen ceiling.







Here is part of the third layer of batt insulation. These are R19.








Guest room with batt insulation.








More batt insulation. You can see the cutoff where the cinder blocks are located and only spray foam and cellulose are there.







Batt insulation in the fireplace room.








Here they excavated out the window wells and connected the drain to the drain tiles.







Here are the two new windows for the window wells.








Here is a shot of the emergency escape ladder.








A view from above. There is a drain tile that has a drain right next to the window.







Here are the data cables that have been pulled to their locations.








Here is a early shot of the electrical panel. I will get an after shot when John is done hooking everything up. We may need to get a pony panel since we have so many circuits.






Wires ready for final connection to the electric panel.








Light switch in Kathleen's room.








Many a wires.








Neatly twisted lines.








Her is an outlet that will have data lines next to it.








Wires around cellulose.








More wires and data cables.








This is the vent for the furnace. There is also one for the hot water heater.







Here is rough grading in the back.









Rough grading in the front of the house. No more dirt piles.







The southern grading.

AMPed up with Soffits

Week 17: The house seemed more quite than usual. Must be that it was mainly just John, our electrician, that was working form sunrise to sunset. I kept asking if he was sleeping there. He was there late into the evening and on Saturday. He has been working feverishly trying to get all the electrical conduit, switch boxes, and power receptacles in so that we can have our rough mechanical inspection on Monday. We also had the framers out to build the soffits and the stair wall. It is starting to take shape inside. If we pass the inspection then it is on to insulation. Next week also has the concrete guys out again to hopefully finish their part. We still need to have the pad poured for the AC outside, the two new piers under the stairwell, the window wells need to be finished, and they are working on the mudroom connection to the old house which had a leak. I also forgot to add a picture the other week of the new water meter. It has a Sensus RadioRead system that allows for radio signals to read the meter electronically. We are also working on finalizing the tiles, starting to get landscaping proposals, and Anne is starting the light fixtures. We bought one form a tent sale at the local hardware store for the mudroom ceiling. We also were out and about and purchased a slightly used espresso coffee system. It probably retailed in the upper $2K new and we got it for $200. Our village was having a sidewalk sale today and the owner was a kitchen designer who is moving to a smaller storefront ans was getting rid of many items that will not fit. We are now looking for a location to install in the new kitchen. Hopefully Mike can work his magic.


Here are the electrical boxes for the kitchen.







Kitchen lights.








More conduit around the existing plumbing.








The trifecta-heating, plumbing and electrical in the kitchen








More kitchen conduit and many lines going up to the master suite.









Maze of runs.







The conduit runs up in the master suite.











Here is the new wall for the stairs. We decided to keep the stairs open underneath rather than build the walls and have a few lighted niches. We like that you can see from the kitchen stairs all the way to the wall on the North.






Another view of the wall .







Here is the new water meter with the radio transmitter.








Here is the new design in the foyer. Since the stairs had to be moved due to the structural beam. we had to do something with the slant of the stairs. Ferd designed a cutout that we can either leave open or frame in and will have a down light to highlight. It is bumped out a little from the existing wall.







Also because of the beam location, the main dropped soffit size had to be reduced, but it still will look nice. There will be a LED ribbon light on the inside the circle.






A closer look at the drop soffit.









The soffit extends south a little past a main structural beam and then travels west and goes just past a steel pier and then goes back northward.





Here is what it looks like going past the steel piers









This was done also to hide the water line that is going to the master bathroom. Instead of drilling through the main structural beam, they piped it underneath it. The new soffit will hide that.





Here is the dropped framing for the dinning room light. Ferd has designed it for a nice pendant light. We more than likely will be getting an affordable one now and switch with a more contemporary art one later.





Here is a view underneath the dinning room framing.









This is another round framed soffit that will be over the island.








A closer look. Took a bit of time and effort to build but it is worth it.






Here it is with the 4 recessed light boxes. It took the electrician a lot of time to get all the boxes evenly spaced and centered. Looks more easy than it really was. We really like our electrician. He gives expert advice without being pushy. He makes great suggestions and gives his opinion.




We are also running data and voice cables to several locations with RJ6 (coax cable) for the TV's. We were hoping tho purchase a special bundle that has the wires we want together in one bunch, but of course they have them in older rated cables and the new ones are special order only. So, more labor for our electrician, but he is making his own bundles. He was successful in getting those wires pulled this week as well.

A-Mazing

Week 16:The rough-ins continued this week. Near the end it was basically just John, our electrician doing his work. The plumbing is done and the HVAC is nearly completed. Looking over the maze of pipes can be overwhelming. There aren't too many paths that the different trades can go, so many have a multitude of pipes by each other. It truly is an art to see how things come together. It is also gratifying to see how the plumbers have protected their pipes with metal plates on the studs, so that we can't inadvertently screw into them. The french doors have also been installed and need fine tuning. We had to do a quick redesign of the kitchen layout due to the main structural beam installation. The original plans did not have it being replaced. Because we had to do so and the location where we had to put it, the stairs had to be moved a bit. In doing that, one of the steel piers was too close to where the island was to be located. So, we met with the architect and they quickly changed a few appliances around and redesigned the island a bit. Once we had that in place, we were able to concentrate on getting all the kitchen and bath cabinets ordered. We are now finalizing the stairs and millwork. Along with that, we are finishing the tiling and flooring selections and will start on the lighting next. Not too many pictures this week, other than pot lights, switch boxes, vents and pipes.

Here are the french doors that will exit to the deck, eventually.











Here are the water lines, drain lines, vent pipes all in a row.








More venting, electrical, heating and drainage pipes.







Here you can see the protective metal plates to protect the pipes from screws.






Electrical lines to the master bedroom.







 
More drains and pipes.









Drain and water lines.









Here are the rough-ins for the master shower on the right and master tub on the left.






This is the cold water flex pipe for the refrigerator. It is curled in a box to protect it and keep it neat.












Protection for the HVAC supply. This is to protect from the flooring.





Here is the new heating/cooling duct line over the main stairs.









This is the insulated duct line going to the stairs. It is insulated since it will be in the attic space.






Here are the bath van vents going to the exterior of the house.







Here is one supply vent as it heads up to the master bedroom.








Here are some pot lights which had to be rearranged due to all the beam corrections that had to be done.







This is one of the duct lines that we will have to pt a soffit around.








This is the dryer vent.

More pipe protection.








The framing of the stairway to the basement.