prairieman

Overall: We completed the ceiling over the breezeway, which will allow us to initiate exterior siding installation. A massive and fierce winter storm, stopped all work before the holiday weekend. VERY cold temperatures gripping most of the USA. Forecast has more normal temperatures returning for us by Wednesday next week.

Monday: cutting and fitting plywood for the breezeway ceiling. Purchased j-blocks needed as vinyl siding trim pieces to be installed around hose bibs and outside receptacles.

Tuesday: more of the same. we needed 20 sheets of plywood for the 12′ by 32′ breezeway. Then we had to cut and fit battens along each seam of abutting plywood.

Wednesday: Winter Solstice, AKA first day of winter. We installed the final batten late this afternoon. A gigantic winter storm has been causing weather related chaos in the western US and is expected to be here on Thursday afternoon, bringing brutually cold temperatures, snow and strong winds. With the front porch and breezeway ceilings completed, we are ready to begin siding installation. I have a couple appointments tomorrow morning, so have decided to shut down until after Christmas.

Thursday: Appointments kept, then drove out to Howard Ridge. I spent a couple hours at the site by myself, walking around both buildings, thinking and observing. I continue to discover minor enhancements and small things we can incorporate for little cost and are easy to implement while we still have open framing. I quickly document the idea and take a picture if appropriate and add it to an excel file / checklist I maintain. The vicious winter storm arrived on time this evening.

Friday: Minus 8 with a windchill of negative 25 this morning. Negative two degrees for today’s high temperature. The evening weatherman said that (high temp below zero) has only happened 18 times in Indianapolis since 1880. Awesome. Brrrrrrrr… Spent the day inside our cold & drafty rental home. Got caught up scanning receipts, updating various lists, and went shopping online for light fixtures. Found a site with stuff we liked at reasonable prices. Went on a shopping spree, purchasing 21 light fixtures, which seems like a lot (and it is) but we still have a long – long way to go with this important task.

Saturday: Stayed home all morning. More light fixture shopping, and visiting other sites for more ideas to enhance our home and shop. Alex and Lacey arrived from Oklahoma in the afternoon. We drove out the site for their first visit since construction got underway. They both said; pictures don’t provide adequate appreciation for what the project looks and feels like in person.

Sunday: Merry Christmas ! Spent the day relaxing at home, continued online shopping for building materials and producing this week’s post.

Overall: Moving forward, although short days and cold temperatures mean fewer productive hours each day. Exterior siding was delivered, and the front porch ceiling was completed. Completed central vacuum pipes and fittings for both structures. Still pulling wires for shop equipment.

Monday: Pulling wire and installing central vacuum pipe and fittings.

Tuesday: Same as Monday.

Wednesday: Spent time measuring the kitchen, pantry, laundry room and great room north wall to create drawings for the purpose of developing detailed cabinet requirements. After that… back to pulling wire and working on central vacuum plumbing.

Thursday: Got Kyle back today, so worked on front porch ceiling. First exterior finish effort.

Friday: Continued effort on front porch ceiling. Must be completed (same as breezeway ceiling) before we can apply exterior siding.

Saturday: Completed front porch ceiling.

Sunday: Completed central vacuum pipe and fittings.

Overall: The Brown county building department performed a rough-in inspection of framing, mechanical, electrical & plumbing systems installation. We passed with no problems. Fourth and final inspection will occur when we are done with construction, and passing that inspection is rewarded with an occupancy permit. Ordered siding this week and purchased material for the porch & breezeway ceilings.

Monday: Ran errands the entire morning. Lonnie arrived at the site for the building inspection after lunch. Passed the inspection, no problems. We are cleared for insulation and drywall to be installed. However, I have a lot of wires and other stuff going into the walls before I’m ready to call the insulation company.

Tuesday: Getting started on wiring yet to be pulled and central vacuum piping. Visited Black lumber for 3/8″ rough plywood to be used for front porch and breezeway ceiling.

Wednesday: ran speaker wires and cat 6 wire for cameras to the front porch.

Thursday: Kyle spent the day staining 19 sheets of plywood, while I spent the day installing central vacuum piping and fittings.

Friday: A repeat of Thursday for both of us.

Saturday: Spent the day at home. Planning, sourcing material, scanning receipts.

Sunday: Slept in and relaxed at home until afternoon. Used the afternoon to continue central vacuum installation, run speaker wires to the deck and breezeway.

Overall: We continue to inch forward. The onset of winter with cold temperatures and short days equate to fewer hours at the site. Kyle and I completed soffit and fascia installation this week (except for a small portion at the peak of the shop north wall. Called the Brown county building department to perform a rough-in inspection which is scheduled to be accomplished early next week.

Monday: Plumber and electricians on site today. The plumber completed his work for rough-in of pipes and drains today. Ralph and Joe are almost done with electrical rough-in. Kyle and I continue to work outside on fascia and soffit.

Tuesday: Both electricians on site again today. They advised me to call the county building department and schedule the rough-in inspection, saying they would be complete with electrical on Wednesday. Call made and the building inspector will visit on Monday next week. This will be the third of four building inspections. Structural framing, mechanical (heat & air con ducts), plumbing (pipes) and electrical systems (wires) will be checked for code compliance. Passing this inspection means we can get a crew to insulate walls and ceilings followed immediately by calling in the drywall installers.

Wednesday: Ralph completed electrical rough-in. Kyle and I continued with exterior trim. Just another day in paradise… wearing clothes in layers. A threat of rain tonite means muddy conditions tomorrow (sigh).

Thursday: We received a 1/4″ of rain overnight. Trying to walk around the outside perimeter means mud sticking to boots creating what I call mud snow shoes. We have lots of scrap plyood pieces, and use them as wood stepping stones. Road (or path) building instead of productive construction. It is what it is.

Friday: We nearly completed exterior trim on both structures late today. The north gable wall for the shop is taller than we can reach with the ladders and scafolding we have on site. Exterior siding is expected next week. We will rent a man lift to finish the fascia & soffit at the same time we install siding on the shop north wall.

Saturday: Spent a few hours at the site, taking note of things to be done after the rough-in inspection on Monday. Looked through the large box of fittings for the central vacuum system, which I hope to install next week. Finally, a thorough clean up for both buildings in anticipation of the building inspector. I have no idea how well general contractors keep project sites maintained (clean or messy) or if they straighten things up for an inspector. But my career in aviation tells me – if I am presenting something for an inspection, it should be clean and neat, as a direct reflection of the effort put into the project to be inspected.

Sunday: 20 degrees this morning, which came as no surprise. For obvious reasons; I closely watch weather forecasts. The morning was spent in front of the computer and drinking coffee. Went to the site after lunch to measure a number of things not called out on the floor plan drawing, to begin detailed plans for cabinets in the kitchen, pantry and laundry room.

Overall: A good week, with decent progress installing fascia and soffit, and reasonable temperatures to work outside.

Monday: Continuing with the fascia and soffit (F & S) installation. Ralph was here for a few hours in the morning, making good progress on electrical rough-in. A late start for Kyle so we only worked a few hours in the afternoon.

Tuesday: Ordered exterior siding this morning, since I can’t find a contractor to do it. The materials should be here next week, at about the time we will have completed the F & S. The central vacuum pipe and fittings arrived today- after placing the order on Sunday afternoon !

Wednesday: F & S on the shop west wall today. We have developed a decent process with me cutting material and Kyle installing it.

Thursday: Thanksgiving ! Spent a portion of the day, looking for light fixtures on the internet. I have about a dozen light-fixture-dedicated websites bookmarked. Each website has an exhausting array of light fixtures. Rain is predicted tonight.

Friday: Received a 1/4″ of rain overnight, making it slightly muddy at the site. Not a problem – we attacked the west wall of the house which is where the deck is located, which kept our boots from becoming mud-snow-shoes. With nice sunny weather, we completed the first gable of four.

Saturday: Spent a couple hours at the site, measuring and planning for cabinets, etc. Unpacked the box of central vacuum bits and pieces. Went on a much needed housekeeping chore after that. Lot’s of wood scraps, wire ends, small parts bags, saw dust and wood chips in the house and shop as a result of the various trades roughing in their material. Still a construction site, with an improved appearance for both structures.

Sunday: Brief visit to get some measurements I forgot to collect yesterday. Back to the house to apply the measurements to various tasks after the drywall is installed.

Overall: A full week of very cold winter temperatures. Working outside all day was exhausting. I increased the layers and types of clothing mid-week, making the situation more tolerable. I simply cannot find a siding contractor, so Kyle and I have begun installing soffit & fascia. Working on the portions of both buildings which will receive seamless gutters.

Monday: By myself all day. Working on central vacuum piping and inlet locations. Also worked on the shop electrical plan.

Tuesday: Kyle completed framing the shop 1/2 bath to accept the wall mounted toilet. I pulled wire in the shop building. Then outside to begin soffit & fascia installation.

Wednesday: All day installing soffit & fascia. Plumber also here today working to complete his rough-in task

Thursday: Warmest day of the week, but still in the low 30’s . Outside soffit & fascia installation continues.

Friday: HVAC crew was on site all day today, and completed rough-in of aircon ductwork, and ductwork for bath fans. Kyle and I installed fascia & soffit for the front porch.

Saturday: Stayed inside all day, didn’t even leave the house. Spent hours at the computer doing file maintenance, deleting emails, and searching for a wide range of construction materials needed in the next couple weeks. Also used the time to relax a bit. I was arriving home very tired all week after being outside in the cold all day. Hope to be more resilient in the coming weeks, getting accustomed to the winter weather.

Sunday: almost a repeat of Saturday, except for an early AM trip to Menards. My internet wandering, finally stumbled onto a terrific central vacuum website. Ordered 600 bucks of PVC pipe and fittings for the central vacuum system. On a side note; this was the first weekend since April that I was not at the site on Saturday and/or Sunday. Needed a break and it felt good to relax at home.

Overall: Interesting weather… unseasonably warm and sunny until late in the week. Thursday was the temperature peak at 75 degrees. I was wearing a T-shirt, operating a backhoe and having a great day. 48 hours later; we had 3 inches of snow on the ground and temps in the 20’s. Talk about “just-in-time” – we installed the last four (4) first story windows on Tuesday and all the garage doors were installed the same day. Both structures can now be categorized as being “closed-in”.

Monday: Worked on soffit framing for the east wall of the shop and installing OSB in the house mechanical room. I designed a very wide roof overhang on the shop east wall (4 feet wide) to visually “shorten/reduce” the heighth of the wall with the garage doors, to draw more attention to the front facade of the house. The large overhang requires additional framing members to adequately support the soffit. The mechanical room OSB will allow the plumber to more easily attach and secure the myriad of pumps, valves & manifolds running the slab heat.

Tuesday: Pella delivered the last four windows that have been back ordered since May. We wasted no time getting the windows installed. The garage door installer arrived to do his stuff.

Wednesday: Second day of work for the garage door installation. The shop has scissor trusses and I specified having the garage door frame rails follow the rising lower chord of the scissor truss, keeping the rails close to the ceiling. This requires using a wall mounted garage door opener. More expensive than the typical install, but results in a much “cleaner” shop ceiling.

Thursday: Rented a backhoe to trench drainage tile/pipe from the west wall of the shop, breezeway and house down the hill away from those structures. When Kenny graded the driveway and parking areas several weeks ago, he also graded the back yard. There was no way to install the drainage tile without crushing them, while he was grading the same area with a bulldozer. The warm and dry weather allowed me to delay this task until rain was forecast. These buried pipes will take rain water from the gutter downspouts and discharge the water into the woods many feet west of the buildings.

Friday: Constructed an access door to the shop attic for insulation installers and to satisfy the residential building code. Framed the peak of the great room for the eventual installation of a big-ass ceiling fan.

Saturday: Working at home on the computer. The same old business of scanning receipts to collect and submit for construction loan draws, and searching for materials and ideas as we continue to go from rough-in to eventual finished aspects. Ordered a central vacuum.

Sunday: Off to Menards on a Sunday morning, with a shopping list of materials needed for Monday, along with browsing interior door options, kitchen cabinets, light fixtures, apppliances and so on…

Overall: Another week of dry and warm weather, which is appreciated because we are waiting on four windows for the house and garage doors for the shop. I really want both structures closed in before cold weather strikes. Our rural electric utility finally arrived to trench permanent electric service. Since breaking ground in April, we have been using extension cords plugged into a receptacle box we wired up on the the vintage electric pole. A leftover from the nasty mobile home on the site when we purchased the property.

Monday: Kyle constructed a bulkhead along the laundry room for the plumber to more easily install hot and cold pex tubing. Ralph was on site, and we spent the day pulling wires in the shop.

Tuesday: Ralph was here for a couple hours, then had other business to take care of. Kyle took the day off, leaving me alone to ponder a variety of design related decisions.

Wednesday: One more day by myself. While I want (and need) contractors here helping me get this project completed sooner, there are still a ton of decisions to be made regarding overall design, materials, etc. Having the site to myself really helps focus.

Thursday: Ralph and Kyle were on site today. Ralph and I worked on various electrical rough-in tasks to include temporarily installing 3 shop light fixtures that Ralph and Joe have and are willing to sell me at a reduced price. Kyle was fitting and installing deck boards. Great progress by both of them.

Friday: REMC showed up this morning. I’ve been hounding them for weeks and weeks. They trenched the main service cable from the neighbor’s utility pole (and transformer) that sits on the south property line, to the south wall of the wall house (a distance of 110 feet) No more ugly wood utility poles. Kyle completed installing deck boards. The deck looks fabulous ! The garage door installer called to say he would be installing all 3 doors on Tuesday. Then Pella called to tell me; the last 4 main story windows will be delivered on Tuesday. Yea ! !

Saturday: Drove out to the site very early (an hour before sunrise) to turn on the 3 shop light fixtures Ralph and Joe have offered to me. By observing how well the south 2/3rds of the shop were illuminated, I can work up a reasonable and appropriate solution of fixture quantities, layout and spacing. Back at home. spent the rest of the morning on the internet; researching residential central vacuums. Spent the afternoon at the site running wire for shop lights. I have a tentative shop lighting solution.

Sunday: Watching the World Series Sat night, decided to sleep in – whenever, no alarm. I enjoyed the time change for that luxury; woke up this morning, and the clock next to the bed said: 8:40 (youza !) but the iPhone said 7:40 (that sounds reasonable) Spent the day at the site. Marked trusses for shop light locations and assessed the strategy. Easily decided: 100% go do it – so I wired the shop ceiling for the north end of the shop.

Overall: A week with our plumber, HVAC technicians, and electricians; all working to get their particular system – fully roughed-in.

Monday: Kyle and I installed all 8 windows in the shop building. Ralph & Joe were on site wiring the house.

Tuesday: More of the same, with only Ralph on site. I worked as his apprentice, doing the electrical grunt work while he focused on the more complicated tasks associated with electrician’s work.

Wednesday: Plumber and HVAC guys on site today. They completed their progress and are done until we have installed bathroom fans. Ralph was also here today. I spent a portion of the day answering questions from all three contractors. Most of the day was spent being Ralph’s electrician’s apprentice.

Thursday: Mike the plumber was still here today. Ralph was on site again today – a repeat of yesterday.

Friday: Managed to get our carpenter (Kyle) here and both electricians, (Ralph & Joe) – on site today. Kyle was late, but we installed the final entry door. Ralph & Joe have begun moving their electrical rough-in to the shop building

Saturday: Kyle and I installed deck boards all afternoon. completing 40% of the west deck area. I purchased a pickup truck today from Mike B. Will put it to work tomorrow morning with a long Menards shopping list

Sunday: Purchased a truckload of material in the early AM. Delivered it to the site, and waited patiently for a scheduled visit from friends – Jim, Kathy & Jack. I think they enjoyed my guided tour… Then went home on a rainy day to focus on the administrative side of this project.

Overall: Start of the week brought the coldest weather since April. More windows arrived to be installed. Wiring the house has begun.

Monday: Freezing temps overnight, with a cold wind and overcast skies. Worked at the site for a couple hours, then retreated home to work on the computer.

Tuesday: Another cold and cloudy day, reminding me that winter is just around the corner. One of the electricians arrived to begin wiring the house. The cold weather put a damper on productivity, so not much was accomplished. The forecast for the rest of the week is for warmer and sunny weather. Pella delivered 8 more windows, which are all intended for the shop. Should receive the kitchen windows in a couple weeks, along with the replacement entry door. The custom trapezoidal shaped windows in the great room are not expected until after the new year.

Wednesday: Both electricians (Ralph & Joe) were on site today. I helped them with the grunt work side of wiring a house, so they could be more productive with the skilled elements. The bank sent an inspecter to ensure my request for a loan draw was justified. Was also visited by a siding contractor, who will provide a quote.

Thursday: Worked by myself today, and that was perfectly ok. I still have electrical boxes to install, based on a lighting strategy that is still evolving and developing in my head. It’s a fun and challenging task, and needs to be completed so the Ralph and Joe can continue wiring.

Friday: A return to warm and sunny autumn weather. Ralph was on site for half the day, and I pitched in to help him. Still have significant wiring to be done in the house, but we are easily past the halfway point for that structure.

Saturday: Another day by myself, pleased to have completed electrical box installation in the house. Stated another way; all light fixtures, receptacles, and switches are located and ready to be wired. With that task completed, I moved on to the breezeway to begin the electrical plan for that room. Hopefully the shop will be easier.

Sunday: Working alone, but it’s Sunday so completely understandable with nothing specific planned in advance. Made it to 79 degrees, we are having great weather right now. I spent the morning online doing all sorts of internet BS. Material research, receipt filing, etc. Got out to the site at lunchtime. Spent the afternoon installing electric boxes, and prepping 8 shop window openings to install the windows tomorrow.