EEEK!

Well, the local mouse population has already discovered that our new insulation makes a pretty comfy home. A few days ago, I noticed a round hole in one area with a pile of cellulose insulation lying in front of the hole. Brad the electrician suggested that a mouse may have taken up residence there. I packed the loose insulation back into the hole and the next day, the hole had reappeared. Clearly, drastic measures were in order so I set a mouse trap baited with peanut butter.
Upon checking the trap on Christmas day, I discovered the culprit. So, I set the trap again and nailed his buddy yesterday.

The drywall was delivered Friday and is spread all over the house ready to be hung. The drywall contractor was supposed to start yesterday but didn't show. This was after a conversation on Friday with him at which time we discussed the expectation that he would start Wednesday. Due to the snowstorm yesterday, I was willing to give them a "pass" on not showing up. They were a "no show" again today so I have a call in for the owner. As long as I work with contractors, I will never get used to their practice of not showing up and not communicating the reason. A simple phone call would seem to be a normal business practice.

DRYWALL STAGED AND READY TO GO

I finished up the low voltage wiring and ended up with probably 30 to 40 runs back to "central command". I ran lots of wire that may never be used but wire is not very expensive and it is a lot easier to install now rather than later.

 CO-AX, CAT6, SPEAKER WIRE, OH MY!

In order to make it easier when working from above, I ran all the wires through a section of PVC pipe which I installed through the top plate down into the wall adjacent to my "central command" closet. The end of the pipe in the attic is long enough such that it will rise above the attic insulation. This will make it a breeze to drop additional wires down into "central command" if the need arises. as you can see in the pic below, I installed an additional pipe section which will give me additional flexibility to separate the wiring in the future.

I also drilled a 2" hole in the bottom plate so that I can bring wiring into this same area from the basement. Someday, someone may thank me for the forward planning.....or, they may think I was a crazed engineer!



INSULATION

The house got a bit tighter yesterday as the insulation contractor insulated the exterior walls and also the ceiling of the basement workshop. They also foamed the concrete foundation wall which forms the east wall of the workshop.

The insulation is cellulose and is blown in with water so that it sticks in place. They then scrape off the excess so that it is flush with the edges of the studs.

I am hoping that the combination of the dense pack cellulose along with 6" walls will provide and extra measure of sound insulation for a quieter home.

                              BEFORE                                                               AFTER

For the ceiling, they have to first install a mesh that will hold the cellulose in place. I don't envy these guys as it is a very dusty job.\

JOHN POTHAST HARD AT WORK

In the above photo, you can see the mesh stapled to the I-joists.

SPRAYED FOAM ON CONCRETE FOUNDATION WALL

CLOSEUP OF FOAM

The sprayed foam shown above is very energy efficient and is somewhat impermeable so it makes for a nice job where there is the potential for moisture such as basement walls. It is somewhat "pricey" so it is not something you would typically use to fill the entire wall cavity for a framed wall. Many builders combine this product with fiberglass in the framed walls. They use about 1 to 1 1/2 inch of sprayed foam which tends to seal against air leakage and then they install fiberglass which fills the rest of the wall cavity to provide the additional needed R value at a reasonable cost.

The spray foam is also used to seal and insulate the band joist.

On Wednesday, the county inspector cam bu and OK's the rough plumbing. We won't require another inspection until the "final" which, as the name suggests, is the final inspection.

I spoke with the drywall contractor today and he will start hanging drywall either Christmas Eve or the day after Christmas. Between now and then I have to finish the low voltage wiring for ceiling speakers, smoke detectors and any other security system wiring. I also want to install some blocks so that it will be easier to mount things such as towel bars later on. Finally, I will be making some minor changes on some of the framing.

I'M BAAAACK....!

I apologize to those of you who have been clamoring for more. It seems that I have been neglecting my blog. But, there hasn't been much excitement on the home front.

The plumber and electrician have been doing the "rough-in" phase of their work and should be finishing up this week. The electrician was far enough along that we were able to get his work inspected by the county on Friday. While here, the inspector also signed off on the framing as well as the HVAC.

BRAD ARNETT-ELECTRICIAN

Pothast-Loxley out of Versailles will be doing the insulation and the plan is for them to blow the walls starting Wednesday. He had one of his guys out about a week ago to do some preliminary work such as caulking along the bottom plate, installing baffles, and foaming between the window frames and rough openings.

BRIAN WITH POTHAST-LOXLEY

I have been spending quite a bit of time at the house and have been enjoying just puttering around out there. Since I don't earn a living at it, I just take my time and work at a slow pace. Over the past week, I finished up putting a "catwalk" in the attic. Once they blow about 15 inches of insulation in the attic, getting around up there becomes a real challenge. If I ever have to revise or add some wiring or perhaps inspect the roof from the attic, the cat walk will be a real asset. Without the catwalk, one ends up wading through the insulation whilst trying to figure out where the trusses are in order to avoid crashing through the ceiling. Brad the electrician complimented me on my foresight. I'm sure he has slogged around in attics of many homes, ankle deep in cellulose. It's not obvious in the picture below but the catwalk is raised about 15 inches above the bottom cord of the truss to get it above the insulation.

"CATWALK" IN ATTIC

 Late this past week I put Barb to work insulating the garage. This is the only aspect of the insulation we handled ourselves. I decided we would just use fiberglass batt insulation for these walls rather than having Pothast-Loxley blow them. Installing fiberglass insulation is light duty work and pretty straightforward as long as you measure and cut carefully. I think Barb did a real nice job! Probably saved a few hundred dollars doing this ourselves and it only took about a days worth of work.

GARAGE INSULATION

Over the past couple of days I have been running the low voltrage wiring which doesn't require a great deal of skill. Unlike the electrical wiring, building codes generally don't apply. This is something I handled on our last home as well. Low voltage wiring includes co-ax for TV, Cat6 data for networking (e.g. internet), wires for ceiling speakers and wires for the security system and smoke detectors. I have a closet in the utility room and all of the wiring will be run back to this central location. This closet will house any hardware such as a router, receiver and amplifier for audio, security panel, switches, etc. As I listen to streaming audio almost exclusively rather than a radio, I may place one of my "retired" computers in this closet for that purpose.

The picture below represents a small portion of the wires we will eventually end up running into this location. All of the wires are labeled so that there will be no confusion about what goes where. Looks almost like spaghetti at this stage.

WIRES LEADING TO THE "CENTRAL COMMAND" CLOSET

We are on schedule to start hanging drywall around the 19th or 20th. That's when it really starts looking like a house. Between now and then, I will need to finish the low voltage wiring and a few other odds and ends. Some of the low voltage wiring will be left in the walls for future use rather than bringing it through the walls and installing wall plates now. Consequently, I will be making a chart so that I know the location of all these hidden wires if/when I decide to use them.