Mechanicals

Not much to update lately of any excitement.   The only person to really work over the 4th of July week was Steve, the HVAC guy.  But when Monday came, we had a full house!  HVAC, plumber, electrician, exterior trim guy.  The place was rocking!

Monday, the electrician nailed up all the electrical boxes.  We walked thru the house Monday night and made notes on what we wanted moved or changed.  It has been the most stressful piece of this project to date.  And if one night wasn't enough, we did it again Tuesday night. 

When, in the process of deciding where exactly the floor outlet should go in the living room, your husband asks "Well, where is my chair going?"  ...because every man has a chair they call home.  It is their sanctuary within the house that the woman takes pride (i.e. control) in decorating.  So when I tell him that his chair will not be in the living room and he asks where it will be and I say in your Man Cave in the basement... well, let's just say the rest of the electrical discussion was a little stactic-y. 

I guess 2nd only to the electrical decision was the stress of where to put the A/C compressor.  The builder / HVAC guy wanted to put it right outside our master bathroom / bedroom window.  Seriously?  Remember the picture I posted of my kitchen window and the others adjacent to it? Having designed the house for nice views on all sides, we didn't want to see this blob adorning the house.  Nor did we want to hear it right outside a window.  Since it's going to be zoned, there may be a time when the A/C is running upstairs, but I have my north facing kitchen window open.  So after much consternation, we settled on putting it next to the small deck and putting shrubs around the deck and hope it will blend in.

So we survived this phase and I walked thru the house with Dan, the electrician, one morning and made quick work of all the changes ... this of course against our builder's wishes.  They don't like it when we talk to the subs because it will only impede the schedule.  Ok.  I'm sure they could have gotten the electrical changes communicated much quicker, but I'll be ok with the schedule slip (??).

Other excitement ...all of the windows are now installed, the chimney framing was completed, the fireplace arrived and was installed, the doors arrived today (without the 2 sliders which were apparently damaged in transit and have to be re-made ... ouch!).  The upstairs shower was installed.  There is wire, PEX tubing and HVAC duct work running everywhere.  We have about 40 can lights installed.  The master shower was framed.  They measured for the kitchen cabinets.  I finalize the order in the morning!  Woohoo!  I'll try to get the drawings from her and post them here. 

Cody, from Tuscarora Wood in Covington, OH, measured for the wood floors.  They sell reclaimed lumber milled into tongue & groove flooring.  We have some of the flooring that we took out of our house that we'd like to use.  He took a look at it and since it is a full inch thick, he can re-mill it to 3/4" with a new tongue & groove and it will blend in with the other nicely.  They will also provide treads for the stairs.  The wood will be in the entry, the living room and the kitchen / dining area.  It is going to be stunning!  We may also have him cut down some of the beams we took out of the house.  We plan to put some on the ceiling and one for the fireplace mantel.

OH... the driveway was cut in ... not sure if it's going to be big enough ... you can be the judge.  The trim is going amazingly slow...slower than slow.  When they do show up ...once a week, they might get 2 windows done... in 8 hours.  I see that soon becoming the critical path to the exterior finish.  We shopped for stone yesterday and brought 2 samples home.  The sales rep gave us an address for each sample so we could see it in full scale.  We did pick the fireplace stone and the pieces and parts that make up the hearth and mantel support.  Preston has been busy making cabinets for the kitchen, mudroom and laundry room.

Well, I guess a lot has been done ... just not very picture worthy.  But here are some anyway...

house and the BIG driveway!  Ulterior motive .. less grass to mow.

front door, no porch yet, but windows are framed ... will be painted white.

exterior doors arrived today.

Laundry room - we are using PEX tubing instead of copper...cheaper, quicker to install and no one wants to steal it ;)

Wood burning fireplace.  Wood box will be framed to the left and then built-ins on either side.  Remember when the foundation oops almost eliminated the right built-in?

The framing of our shower.  The exhaust fan is sitting on what will be the bench.

2nd floor shower

This is the view from Colton's bedroom looking over the garage.  This space sort of presented itself.  Although we aren't putting a door there now or finishing the walls in the storage area above the garage, it could become a very cool hang out space in the future.

View from Colton's room into the family room.  They are going to put OSB on the backside of the wall, insulate and then put up drywall. 

Spider web of HVAC duct work above the 2nd floor.