Thursday, September 8, 2005

House Project: Electrical, Mechanical, Raptors

We went up Wednesday evening to go through the house with the electrician and tell him where to put light fixture, how many outlets (above and beyond what the code requires), light switches, etc. The electrician is also our neighbor down the hill, which is certainly convenient.

Driving up Sunburst Road, it looks more and more like a house.

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You can see heating and air conditioning vents beginning to appear.

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Getting ready for the furnace and water heater.

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The windows are in! Ansco is the maker; these are a low-E glass, with about 58% transmission, the rest is reflected back out to keep the house from overheating in summer.

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Roofers hard at work, apparently without fear of falling.

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Here you can see the vent for the kitchen.

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Yesterday, tubs and showers were in the right rooms, but they weren't permanently placed yet.

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Raptor overhead!

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The builder asked me if we want to spend an extra $1000 to insulate under the floor--apparently not required by code in our county (yet). Since we are going to have tile floors, and it gets cold in winter, I'm sure that it will pay for itself in several years of reduced gas bills.

I went up there today to resolve a question about shower stall placement in bathroom three, and I wish that I had brought my camera. There was a swarm of plumbers and roofers at work, and the LP tank was being dropped into the ground.

One guy was dressed too nicely to be construction, so I asked if he was a building inspector. It turns out that he works for the insulation contractor. I asked him about the building code requirements: R-38 for the roof, and R-19 for the walls. I asked him what it would cost to go to R-50 for the roof--and since it was only about $420 more, I told him to go for it. My guess is that it will pay for itself in reduced heating and air conditioning costs in five years--and she that was about right, in this climate.

The last house project entry.

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