The House Project: Permanent Power Coming!

We went over to pick out toilets and sinks today at Consolidated Supply on Five Mile Road in Boise. Marilyn, the woman who was handling our order, clearly enjoys her work. Even better--our choices for faucets and finishes just about exactly matched the order she just submitted for her new house.

Tuesday the builder had me call Idaho Power and request them to switch from construction power to permanent power--which means that the electrician has put in the panel, and he is ready for Idaho Power to move the meter.

Here's where the meter will go:

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Here's the circuit breaker panel inside the garage:

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The roof trusses have been the critical item as far as schedule, and after a few delays, they finally arrived--and they make an impressive pile.

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The front porch posts are now in place, just waiting for those trusses.

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The crane to lift the trusses in place was supposed to be here Tuesday, then Wednesday evening (maybe Thursday morning). But the crane broke down, now it is scheduled for Friday.

In the meantime, most of the exterior panelling is in place.

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I've had a few questions from a reader whose husband is a builder in Oregon. Apparently, some aspects of this house would not conform to Oregon building codes--but upon further questions, it appears that these are all related to water damage to wood.

There's a reason that building codes are different between here and Oregon--and water is one of the big differences. The air here is no dry that water damage (except that which is caused by a permanent water leak) is extremely rare. It is so rare that few people ask for a water damage inspection report when buying a house. (It still seems like a good investment.)

Apparently in Oregon it would not be kosher to have the door sills at grade level--but as you can see from this picture, the concrete work actually is at a slope, so even very heavy rain isn't going to flow into the house.

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Last house entry.