31 January 2016
After
checking that our WiFi router still is working properly, and comparing
different color temperature LED bulbs sequentially in the same lamp fixture,
Chree, Geisha, Shlomo, and I took a long walk on the lake in the morning. The lake level is 18″
below the top of the dock, the ice is 9″ thick, and the water temperature (2 feet below
the surface) is a refreshing 34°. The
dogs not being aficionados, Chree and I went by ourselves to see a matinee
performance of Chicago!, put on by students from Middlebury
College and directed by Doug Anderson, Executive Director of the Middlebury
Town Hall Theater. Really, really
excellent show!
30 January 2016
Chree
and I went down to Rutland in the morning to buy a phone so that we will have
more reliable communications in the house over what our cell phones are (not)
providing. We also paid a visit to Home
Depot for more electrical supplies.
After lunch, we took our computers over to the new house to try out our
WiFi network, only to find that we couldn’t get an internet connection. Called Bill Mills and, it being after 3 o’clock
Saturday afternoon, was not surprised to get his voicemail. I was surprised (and very pleased) when
he showed up 20 minutes later. He
replaced the network router and everything appeared to be working normally when
he left. In the evening, Perry and Steve
came over for our weekly sauna.
29 January 2016
In
the light of day, found that Delores was half off the driveway and I missed
ramming her into a tree by less than 2 feet.
Glad I stopped when I did when things went awry last night! A few sauna stove ashes under her tires
and she pulled back onto the driveway and then down to her usual parking spot
with nary a difficulty. Sonny and Doug
spent the day putting up the garage ceiling ⅝″ sheetrock, getting somewhat more than half done… the worst half, where
the sheets had to be fit above and around the garage door tracks. Steve finished putting the PEX radiant floor
tubing into the under floor pan tracks then went back to roughing in the PEX
red and blue water lines. Tom, with some
minor help from me, started wiring the pantry subpanel and activating some of
the outlet and lighting circuits on the main level. We now have lights in the living room with
which to test the appearance of the various LED color temperatures. We also have a garage door opener that works! Bill Mills from COMCAST arrived at 8 (as
scheduled). With help from Lenny Cram, he
pulled coaxial cable into the basement from the telephone pole next to Kate’s
driveway, through the previously buried 2″ conduit, and thence into the utility room. Bill set up our WiFi network and telephone
service. Mid-afternoon Lorenzo Wood and
Larry Stevens showed up. Cary Marshall
from the alarm service of the same name was looking for a place for them to
work out of the snow, so sent them over to start wiring our alarm system… 5
days sooner than previously scheduled. Apparently
“occasional snow showers” in Vermont is
equivalent to Washington, DC being paralyzed for days, as we had 3″ on
the ground by the time all the workers left.
So fired up the Kubota and blew the mess away. Chree said I was just looking for some
justification for the snow blower’s expense… Chree spent the afternoon
preparing Soupe á l’Oignon Gratinée and a salad, with Babas au Rhum for dessert, which Marty & Merry
seemed to enjoy. Sure is nice having a
real chef in residence!
28 January 2016
Kevin
was here early in the morning to get payment for the woodstove alcove stone he
ordered from RMG Stone Products yesterday.
While he was here, we discussed how to insulate the wood framing around
the chimney from the 6″ flue pipe that will run between the woodstove and the chimney. The upshot of that discussion was that Sonny
and Doug removed a large chunk of that framing, clearing the way for Kevin to
construct a 4″ thick concrete block enclosure around the flue pipe between the chimney
and the back of the alcove’s stone / cement walls. Sonny and Doug also finished framing the
cantilevered mud entry bench seat. The
Goodro’s truck came bearing 13 sheets of ⅝″ thick x 12 feet long drywall (that stuff be H∙E∙A∙V∙Y) that will become the garage ceiling sometime
soon. Steve continued installing radiant
floor heat tubing, getting all but one small section done. Theresa Giles, an independent property
appraiser under contract to the National Bank of Middlebury, came at 1030. After Theresa left, Chree and I headed north,
doing errands in Middlebury and Burlington.
Stopped at Goodro’s to pay off our account balance and order the
fire-rated door that will be installed between the garage and mud entry. Mid-afternoon, while at The Lighting House
having fun spending LOTS of money, Pete’s RV called to say that Delores was all
fixed. Turns out the forward air
conditioner just had some loose connections, the hydraulic jack alarm was sounding
because the reservoir was two quarts low, and the starting battery was
completely shot. Stopped on the way back
south for a short visit with Alverta. Got
back to Fern Lake with the RV well after dark and tried to back her down the
driveway. That did not go well, but
seeing just how badly things are will have to wait until daylight tomorrow…
27 January 2016
Sean
was here for most of the morning. He,
Chree, and I toured the house and made good progress in resolving design
issues, e.g., where lights will be placed, how tile will be installed. As always, Sean showed his impeccable taste
and eye for detail... not to mention considerable tact. We won’t mention the three-way switch
practical joke he pulled on me just before lunch. After reviewing the carpentry work list with
Sean and me, Sonny eased the binding on the garage people-door that has been
sticking ever since it was installed.
Better, but not yet completely fixed.
Doug put in some of the framing for the storage room soffits that will
hide ductwork in that space. Sonny and
Doug worked on building the mud entry bench seat in the afternoon. Shawn and Luke returned and flipped the
pantry electrical panel so it is now right side up. Steve spent the day continuing to put in PEX
radiant heat tubing. Tom continued
wiring the basement and then, after Sean and Chree overruled my decisions about
how the master bedroom lights, outlets, and switches were wired, rewired the
master bedroom. Chree and I went down to
Rutland after lunch to order telephone, internet, and television service from
COMCAST… and then make a quick (yes, you read that right) visit to the DMV
office.
26 January 2016
Doug
finished putting in the radiant floor pans.
Shouts of joy were heard when the last one was done. Steve started attaching PEX tubing to the
installed pans. Sonny installed MDO trim
pieces below each of the three sunroom skylights and attached extension jambs
to the kitchen window that was ordered (by mistake by Goodro’s) without them. Tom continued wiring the basement. Delores must have heard that she was going
into the shop today, ‘cause she refused to start (starting battery completely
dead) until I kicked her into behaving with the coach batteries. [You’ll recall from previous episodes that
the coach batteries are trickle-charged whenever Delores is plugged in to the
electrical grid, but the starting battery is only recharged by the engine
alternator.) Once she was started, none
of her hydraulic leveling jacks would retract… and the jack alarm was sounding
continuously. Managed to pry up all the
jacks… but the jack alarm continued to sound.
Donned a pair of really good earmuffs and started for Burlington,
figuring some road vibration would soon silence the alarm. Dream on!
Once Delores was parked at Pete’s RV and the ringing in my ears had
mostly subsided, Chree and I went back across town to The Lighting House on
Shelburne Road, where we found several pieces that we liked, including a
fixture for the foyer that we both absolutely loved. [Go to vermontlightinghouse.com and view item
CLT1714 in brushed nickel.] From there
we went back across town again to Best Tile where we met up with Bryan Arnold.
After much thrashing about, Chree and I (miraculously!) agreed on tile for
everywhere tile will be in the house.
Next stop was back across town yet again to The Granite Group to double-check
that the tile we had chosen for the guest bathroom floor would harmonize with
the colors in the neo-angle shower we ordered for that bathroom. They did!
Then we went on to Lowe’s (‘cause I can’t come to Burlington these days
without spending money there) where we checked that the tile chosen for the
master and guest baths would harmonize with the vanities we have ordered. They did!
After buying a few more electrical junction boxes, we declared victory
and retired from the field of battle.
25 January 2016
Sonny
and Doug spent the weekend (I’m sure) eagerly looking forward to installing
radiant heat pans again today. Which is
what Doug did all day. Sonny also worked
on that project in the morning then (being senior) transitioned to putting a
double layer of ½″ plywood sheathing on the master bathroom pocket door, needed to bring
the door framing in plane with the 2x6 wall.
Steve worked some more on drainage plumbing, then spent several hours
drilling holes in the main level floor joists, through which the radiant floor
heating tubing will be run. Tom continued
the lower level wiring. Late afternoon
he energized one of the lighting circuits and, voilá,
we now have illumination where once there was only darkness. Chree and I drove down to RMG Stone Products
in Castleton where we met Kevin Haight (Goose Creek’s masonry subcontractor,
who built our chimney last year). With
Courtney Potter (an RMG sales rep) we toured their stone yard and found three
gorgeous slabs of soapstone which will become the lining (top, bottom, and
sides) for the wood stove nook and the floor for the wood bin. The price was only 3X the budget, but, what the heck, its only money! Chree and I then went over to Hubbardton Forge, a lighting manufacturer also located in Castleton, whose wares we had admired during our internet searches. They don’t sell retail out of the factory, but we were directed to Handmadeinvermont in Wallingford (just south of Rutland), a Hubbardton Forge dealer. There we think we found wall sconces for the sun room and a matching pendant light for over the kitchen table, again blowing the budget to smithereens.
24 January 2016
Caravanned
up to South Burlington to visit and have lunch with Alverta. Then Alex, Katy, and Devin headed back to the
Boston area while Chree and I made another raid on Lowe’s for electrical
supplies. In the evening, Lynne visited with Chree for a couple of hours while
Perry, Steve, and I took sauna.
23 January 2016
Alex,
Katy, and Devin arrived with the sun this morning for an overnight visit. Chree, Katy, and I spent a couple of hours
deciding paint and slate colors for the house.
Good mediator experience for our favorite daughter-in-law. Took a couple of walks on the lake and
stopped in for a visit with Marty & Merry.
A very relaxing day!
22 January 2016
Sonny
and Doug spent the day doing their contortionist routine, i.e., installing
radiant floor pans. Tom, with occasional
help from me, continued putting in lower level wiring. Steve was here for most of the day working on
the plumbing rough-in. Shawn and Luke
returned with the right electrical panel, the right wire, and the 125 amp
circuit breaker. However, they installed
the subpanel upside down for some reason, which I discovered while inspecting
their completed work before they left.
Not acceptable, so there will be yet another visit. Sean came by during / after lunch to inspect
progress. As usual, he had lots of ideas
about how to tweak the ongoing work to improve the final appearance of the
house. Not too many lights and
switches have to be moved…. After Sean
left, I made a dash into Brandon to get napkins (Chree likes to have them on
the table at dinner instead of just using her jeans; she’s funny that
way). As dusk came on, I made a futile
effort to clean up the house a bit, finishing just as Chree and the dogs
arrived after an 8 hour 45 minute trip from Virginia. Most fortuitously, she escaped the Washington
area ahead of the blizzard.
21 January 2016
Sonny
and Doug say that, after a day putting radiant floor pans up, they’re going to
charge their chiropractic visits to the project. Completely understandable! Steve spent most of the day connecting pieces
of the plumbing drainage system together.
Shawn Lathrop and Luke Charlebois from Peck Electric came to install the
electrical subpanel in the pantry that will power all the house main level
circuits. Unfortunately, they brought
the wrong panel, the wrong wire, and didn’t have with them the 125 amp circuit
breaker needed to isolate the subpanel from the main panel down in the utility
room. So, after measuring to make sure
they knew how much wire would be needed to connect the two panels together,
they left to regroup. Dennis came by
right after lunch to review the plumbing and ductwork progress and answer
questions. He quickly figured out a
solution to the problem of how to get radiant floor heating under a portion of
the master bathroom shower that was stuffed full of HRV ducts. (Answer: remove the ducts, install the
radiant floor pans, and then reroute the ducts in a soffit extension through
the shop lavatory. Guess this is why
Dennis makes the big bucks!) I spent the
day putting in outlet and switch boxes, then drilling holes through which
wiring will be run to those boxes. Got
the second guest bedroom, the guest bath, and the lower hall mostly done. Steve and I also figured out how to route the
exhaust from the guest bath fan so that malodorous vapors don’t get sucked back
into the HRV supply piping. Not, mind
you, that I’m accusing any sons of ours of ever creating malodorous
vapors… Late afternoon, made a raid on
Green Mountain Electric Supply for another 2,000 feet of wire, plus other
accoutrements. It’s a good thing we have
a healthy upper limit on our VISA® card.
20 January 2016
Heard
the snow plow go by out on Lake Dunmore Road during the wee hours, so got up
well before dawn to clear the Triangle Square Circle driveway. With that complete, took the backhoe off the
tractor, which made a HUGE difference in the way the tractor handles; was way too
stern heavy with the backhoe on. Only
problem is that I now have to park the Kubota very, very carefully in order to
get it into the garage with all the other toys equipment being stored
there for the winta. Listen carefully
and you may even hear the answer when I tell Chree we need to erect a
barn. Sonny and Doug spent the day
putting up radiant floor heating pans, which are attached with ½″ or
⅝″ x #8 hex head screws. I think the guys are eating them for snack,
‘cause by mid-morning they were out of the screws that Goodro’s delivered yesterday
(which was all that Goodro’s had in stock).
So into Middlebury I went, cleaning out the supplies of those screws at
Martin’s, Aubuchon Hardware, and W.K. Miles Lumber. Steve was here most of the day continuing the
plumbing rough-in down in the basement.
Tom Hobbs also returned for part of the day, installing more duct work. Tom Morrissey and I made excellent progress
with the electrical wiring, finishing the entire main level except for running
wires to two smoke detectors. The 1,000
foot roll of AWG 12-2 wire is G∙O∙N∙E, gone already! Ditto a thousand feet of AWG 14-2 wire. Not to mention many hundreds of feet of 12-3
and 14-3 wire. Yikes! At the end of the day Tom and I started
wiring the most complex circuit in the house: 7 switches, a motion-sensing
light, and 7 other lights down in the basement.
19 January 2016
The
sum total of my productivity for today: two electrical outlet boxes
installed. Started out by waking up and
noticing lights on over at Triangle Square Circle. Someone forgot to set his alarm… (but, then again, it was nice to sleep in to
a decent hour). Had meant to leave for
Middlebury at 7:30 to drop off the Kubota for repair, plus do some other
errands. As I was about to finally leave
shortly after 8, Sean arrived. Then the
Fyles Brothers propane truck pulled in.
Then Steve and Tom and Sean and Steve and Sean and Sonny had questions. Finally got headed down the road shortly
before 9. Got back at 10:30 to find Sean
still here, but having missed a visit by Kevin Haight to talk about stone work
for the wood stove chase. Champlain
Valley Equipment called almost immediately to say the Kubota was repaired…
under warranty. One of the hydraulic
hose couplings had failed internally. Answered
forty zillion more questions and then it was lunch time. Sonny and Doug put in a little more blocking,
but spent most of the morning talking with Sean. Steve spent the day continuing the plumbing
rough in, running the PEX water lines to all the plumbing fixtures on the house
main level. With no help from me, Tom
finished wiring the kitchen, which pretty much completed the wiring for the
main level. In the afternoon, after the
Goodro’s truck delivered some more LVL’s for the stairway half wall and a few
thousand screws, Sonny and Doug started to put up the radiant floor heating
pans between the floor joists. Bryan
Arnold, tile and slate flooring installer from Precision Tile, came by to scope
out the work he will be doing. After Bryan
left, I put up the aforementioned electrical outlet boxes then, as it was
starting to snow heavily, went back to Middlebury with the trailer at 3 o’clock
to retrieve the Kubota. Driving was a
bit dicey. Once safely back to Fern
Lake, used the snow blower to finish clearing Kate’s driveway. Marty and Merry came down for a fabulous
dinner prepared using recipes in A Man, A
Can, A Plan: 50 Great Guy Meals Even You Can Make! That about says it all.
18 January 2016
Snowed
4″ overnight, so got up extra early to exercise the Kubota. All was going fine until I got to the shop
door behind our house. For no apparent
reason, the hydraulic cylinder that raises and lowers the snow blower
attachment stopped working, with, obviously, the snow blower in the
down-on-the-ground position. The Kubota,
she no steer so good (at all!) with the snow blower in that position. Was able to back up into Kate’s turnaround
area, but (after several attempts) getting the tractor around the corner and up
the hill in her driveway was never going to happen. Called Champlain Valley
Equipment’s Service Department and the helpful person there suggested I check
all the things I had already checked. So
I hooked up the trailer, dragged it through the snow out of winter storage, and
backed it down the hill. Amazingly, I
was able to back the Kubota up onto the trailer with no problem. Getting the Tacoma, trailer, and tractor back
up the hill… that was a big problem. Got
halfway up and then slid backwards all the way down, which made controlling the
trailer, shall we say, a bit of a challenge.
Fortunately, Sonny has a large pickup truck and I have 100 feet of steel
cable (for logging). Hooked Sonny’s
truck (stationed at the top of the hill) to the Tacoma and up the hill we went
with no difficulty whatsoever. Will
finish the journey to Champlain Valley Equipment tomorrow. Spent the rest of the day helping Tom Morrissey
with wiring the main level of the house, including replacing all the 3″
round with 4″ round ceiling boxes. Sonny and Doug framed in and installed the
track hardware for the pocket door that will provide access to the hot water
heater hidden under the stairs (‘cause there isn’t room for it in the too-small
utility room). They also applied ½″
MDO to the half wall at the bottom of the stairs to further strengthen that
wall. Steve was here most of the day
continuing the plumbing rough-in. He
pretty much finished all the piping on the main level by the time he left.
17 January 2016
Up
to Burlington with Lynne, who was absolutely not thrilled to spend 2 hours in the electrical
department at Lowe’s filling a shopping cart to overflowing with various and
sundry. The people behind us in line to
check out also were less than happy…
Then we fetched Alverta from her Residence and took her out for brunch
at Pauline’s, her favorite restaurant. All
was fine until Lynne ordered a monster Bananas Foster for dessert, which, of
course, I had to help her finish. No
dinner for me! Perry and Steve Ingram
came over for another wonderful sauna.
16 January 2016
Usual
Saturday routine. Slept in ‘till 7 (oh,
what decadence!), cleaned Kate’s house and a couple loads of laundry, ran into
Middlebury to do errands, and spent several hours cleaning up the week’s
construction mess in the house that is not yet a home. One of the errands was to take the
wheelbarrow tire back to Rouse Tires to have a tube put in. This being a small town, the manager (of
course!) remembered that he had recommended I put a tube in the tire when I
brought the wheel in a couple of months ago to have the rim resealed. Also removed all the remaining 3″
round ceiling boxes that Tom and I had put up.
Some of those boxes will be repurposed for wall lights and smoke
detectors, so all is not lost.
15 January 2016
Only
geese at Fern Lake today. For the first
two hours, Sonny finished installing the KOMA®
blocking for the various exterior west wall vent hoods and Doug sistered the
joists under the master bath shower pan that had been cut down (and thus
weakened) to create the shower pan depression.
Sonny and Doug then spent the rest of their 8 hours building the solid
railing on the main level that surrounds the stairwell. And when I say solid, I mean rock-solid; that
critter ain’t movin’! Tom and I finished
wiring the north end of the main level, then transitioned to the sun room and
environs. As we needed 3″
round boxes for wall-mounted lighting fixtures, I scavenged them from the
ceiling. Mostly I did the carpentry part
of the electrical wiring (putting up boxes, installing blocking, drilling holes
in studs and plates, and generally making a mess of things), while Tom figured
out what wires needed to go where and then pulled them from box to box. He and I also spent some time after lunch
searching the internet, but not finding, the Panasonic ceiling exhaust fans I
want for the master and guest bathrooms.
After protracted BS from the legal department at our bank in Virginia,
they finally allowed Chree to sign (for both of us) the papers that trade the
rights to our first and second born male children in return for some of
the money we need to finish building the house.
Whew!!!!
14 January 2016
Tom
Hobbs, Sonny, Doug, and Logan were all here right around 7; Tom Morrissey arrived
about 8:15. Dennis and Steve pulled in
at 9, bringing with them the Enertech Hydron water-to-water heat pump (the
heart of the geothermal heating system).
After the heat pump and 30 gallon de-super heater hot water tank were
moved into the utility room, Dennis, Tom Hobbs, and Steve spent some time cursing
the architect scratching their heads figuring out the best
arrangement for all the heating / air conditioning / ventilation
equipment. It all will fit… just
barely! Dennis and I also spent some
quality time reviewing the various options with respect to controlling the
foregoing equipment and mitigating dust and fume pollution problems in the shop. Meanwhile, Sonny finished the last little bit
of framing for the vaulted ceiling, then moved on to tearing apart several
sections of shingles on the house west wall in order to install 5/4 KOMA®
blocks onto which will be mounted the HRV’s 9″ square supply and exhaust vent hoods and the
wood stove’s 6″ square combustion air intake hood.
Because of where those hoods have to be mounted, the KOMA blocks had to
be supersized. I’m sure the people
living across the lake will have no trouble seeing them. Doug spent an hour putting in more blocking
then put more R15 Roxul® insulation in the basement walls. After lunch, Sonny and Doug worked on the
stair railings, including modifying the half wall at the bottom of the stairs to
make it stronger. Meanwhile, Steve
continued roughing in plumbing lines and Tom Morrissey used up all the AWG 14-2
electrical wire we had on hand… and made a dent in the 1,000 foot reel of AWG
12-2. The Goodro’s truck brought another
boat-load of material… right in the middle of lunch. Then, in keeping with the finer points of the
7-P principal, right after lunch I drove to Goodro’s to run up the account some
more… and get another 250 feet of 14-2 wire at Green Mountain Electric Supply…
whose staff now calls me by name when I come through the door, which is not a
good sign. Saw people out on the lake
ice as I came back. When not being
distracted by this, that, and the other thing, from time to time throughout the
day I drilled holes in studs and helped Tom pull wire. The UPS guy showed up at dusk with a package
from WAC lighting. That’s W∙A∙C, not whack… at least according to how they answer their phones. Sounds wacky to me. (Pause for groans from the audience…) Any who, the package contained the two 4000K
DISC lights I ordered the other day.
Fast service. That’s the good
news. In the not-so-good-news category,
the mounting holes for the lights are 3½″ apart, which won’t work so well in a 3″
round ceiling box. In fact, the lights’
instructions call for a 4″ square ceiling box. Looks like
we’ll be doing a little deconstruction as we continue wiring the house…
13 January 2016
Snowed
some more overnight so got up at 4:30 (gaack!!!!) to attend to some paperwork
(i.e., figure out how to pay bills from my rabidly (sic) diminishing store of funds)
and clear the driveways. Only a 2″
accumulation, so the snow blower barely scratched the surface, as I have the
skids set at their maximum elevation (for this year, at least) to minimize the
possibility of picking up a rock. Took a
half hour to clear both Triangle Square Circle and Essmont Lane (Kate’s
driveway). Was t’ Goodro’s at 6:45,
which is before they officially open, but Mark Thomas (one of the four owners)
was already there and ready for business.
Unfortunately, they had nary a 3″ round ceiling box, either. Got back to Fern Lake just after 7 to find
that Sonny Torrey and Doug Devoid were already present. Set them to work building the missing portion
of the vaulted ceiling in the sun room. Sonny
worked on that all day; Doug helped, but also spent 3 hours installing
additional blocking per Sean’s work list.
Tom Hobbs and Logan pulled in at 7:30 and went back to work
ducting. Tom also got started putting in
the utility room equipment. Tom
Morrissey got here at 8:15 and continued wiring the main level, with occasional
help from me. He left for the day at
noon-thirty. Steve Poplawski from Ryans
arrived somewhere in here as well and got started on the plumbing rough-in. The Granite Group truck brought Steve enough
“stuff” to finish filling the north side of the garage. Sean came by mid-morning and spent several
hours putting together a two-page work list for his troops. I spent most of the day answering questions about
what goes where and de-conflicting the placement of ducts, lumber, pipes, and
wires. To decompress after everyone
left, spent an hour cleaning up some of the considerable mess which ensues when
seven guys go crazy… building.
12 January 2016
Long
day!!!! Was at Green Mountain Power at 6:45 only to find that they didn’t have
any of the items on my shopping list, most especially the 3″
round ceiling boxes that we needed for today.
Tom Hobbs and Logan got here at 7:30 for another full day of
ducting. Tom Morrisey and I spent the
day drilling holes in studs, installing outlet boxes, and running wire hither
and yon. For the record, Tom did the
master bedroom and I did the living / dining room. Note for carpenters: don’t put nails or
screws in wall studs anywhere near 24″ up from the subfloor; Tom and I both now need
new 1″ drill bits… (grrrr!) Left at 3:30 headed for Burlington (in the snow). After dinner with Alverta, made a raid on
Lowe’s, only to find that some greedy homeowner had cleaned them out of 3″
round ceiling boxes the other day and their resupply hadn’t arrived yet. Rats!!!!
Didn’t stop me from putting a few hundred more dollars on the credit
card, though. Got back to Fern Lake at 9
after only one encounter with black ice… things got a mite squirrely there for
a moment.
11 January 2016
Tom
Hobbs and Logan arrived at 7:30 bearing a gift: the Venmar AVS E15 heat
recovery ventilation (HRV) unit, which, though cute and small, doesn’t stop it
from being quite expensive. The guys
spent the day running / connecting / insulating duct work. Mid-morning the First Corporation 8VMB air
handler unit was delivered. That’s where
the air conditioning (cold air) will come from during the two weeks in August
that it is needed here in Vermont and also where hot air can be generated
should the radiant floor heating need supplementing. Mr. Jonsered and I had to have a serious talk
with a tree that snapped off during yesterday’s winds and fell across the
driveway. Tom Morrisey arrived at 8:15
and we spent the day putting up and wiring ceiling boxes in the living / dining
room, kitchen, upper hall, master bedroom, and walk thru closet. Many decisions on the fly about where lights
will be installed. Somehow things look
different in the flesh than they do on paper… Ran out of boxes late afternoon.
10 January 2016
High
winds and rain forecast for today (and the weather guessers got things right),
so just before dinner we’re having a thunderstorm… and the temperature was in
the mid-50’s this afternoon. Highest
wind gust recorded by my weather station was 22 mph… but I strongly suspect the
trees surrounding the house’s backyard considerably attenuated the huffing and
puffing. January in Vermont this is not! Went over to Lynne & Perry’s at noon to
let their dog out to pee. As I crested a
hill on Fern Lake Road discovered that a large tree had come down… completely
blocking the road. It’s a good thing:
(1) the tree was dead so it broke into many pieces upon hitting the road, (2)
I’m strong, and (most importantly) (3) the Tacoma’s brakes work just fine. A few minutes industrious labor had the road
cleared. It being raining when I got to
Salisbury, Lizzie refused to pee. So went
back again at 4:30 with better success.
In the meantime, finished installing the electrical outlets for the
north side of the shop (circuit #34).
Whoever decided to use #10 wire for the shop circuits should be
shot! Those wires just don’t want to
bend back into the junction box once the receptacle is attached! While I was working away the power went
out. Counted to 10 and the generator
turned on, warmed itself up, and started feeding electrons to the house within
a minute. There’s no doubt when the
transfer switch kicks on or off… you can hear the clunk throughout the
house. Schlepped (or was it slid????)
down to Marty & Merry’s for another wonderful repast.
9 January 2016
Today
must be family day… though I didn’t find that designation on the calendar. Completely unexpectedly, my brother, Steve, and
his longtime girlfriend, Mary, came knocking on Kate’s door at 9. They were down from Calais and thought they’d
stop by. After a quick tour of the house
they went off to buy slate for the cabin's hearth at Vermont Specialty Slate in
Ferndale. An hour later, Perry stopped
in, having just been next door looking at a job for Marty & Merry. I spent most of the day tearing out and
rebuilding the south wall of the linen closet, which had been a bit of a hack
job ‘cause before Christmas I kept having Doug Devoid make the door smaller and
smaller. Chree likes the WAC Lighting
DISC lights (in a 4,000K bright white light color), so Sean has
hit another one out of the park. Perry
and Steve Ingram (who resides at the south end of Fern Lake and also happens to
be a Goodro Lumber salesperson) came over after dinner to sauna.
8 January 2016
Sean
and Tom Morrissey (a man of many talents who subcontracts to Goose Creek) arrived at 9. Tom will be leading the house electrical
wiring gymkhana, ably (?) assisted by yours truly. We spent a couple of hours touring the
premises and then going over the electrical plan. Only two minor changes (so far) from that
review. Sean has become enamored with
some LED lights manufactured by WAC Lighting (DISC light, part number FM-306-930-WT), which he just installed in another house Goose
Creek is building. So enamored, in fact,
that he dragged me (not screaming too loudly) up to Vergennes after lunch to
see them up close and personal. Sean is
right, those lights have some significant advantages over the traditional
recessed lights we had planned to install.
So, since I was already halfway there, I then went up to Lowe’s in
Burlington to procure 1,350 more feet of electrical wire, a whole passel
of junction boxes, plus many other goodies.
That’ll make VISA sit up and take notice! Stopped by to see Alverta on my way back
south, good son that I am.
7 January 2016
Tom
and Logan were here just before 7 and left at 3… headed for an emergency
furnace replacement job; pity the poor soul whose house is without heat with
the temperature just touching 32° today.
They spent the day installing more pieces of the air conditioning and
house ventilation duct work. So far
their workmanship looks just fine… and you’ll be happy to know that they are
NOT using duct tape on the duct work. I
spent the day once again finalizing (yeah, right!) the house electrical
plan. Just too exciting for words!
6 January 2016
Andy
Tracy arrived just before 8 with two of his workers, Tom Hobbs and Logan
Marsano. We spent an hour reviewing
where all the ductwork will be installed, then I left for an appointment in
Middlebury. Andy had departed by the
time I returned to Fern Lake at 11:30.
Logan left mid-afternoon to build air boxes in the Boot Hill Metal Bending
shop while Tom continued cutting holes in the main level floor through which
the air conditioning ducts will run.
Somehow it seems a bit strange to be installing the air conditioning
before installing the heating when the temperature is well below freezing
outside. As Tom was leaving just before
sunset, he discovered that The Granite Group’s truck had visited sometime this
afternoon and left $3,800 worth of plumbing and heating commodities on the
ground outside the garage. Needless to
say, we moved the lot inside before Tom left.
5 January 2016
Woke
up to ice starting to form on the lake.
Chree left for Virginia just after 7.
Cause and effect???? Hard to say… By noon, the lake had completely frozen over. That was FAST!!!! Mid-morning went into Brandon and Middlebury
to do errands. Spent the afternoon
updating the electrical plan based on Glen Peck’s lighting recommendations.
4 January 2016
Chree
and I schlepped down to the Rutland DMV office first thing, arriving in time to
be first in line. An hour later we both
had a (temporary) Vermont enhanced driver’s license (EDL), a (temporary)
registration, and plates (GPM 986) for the Forester. (Note: an EDL can be used, in lieu of a
passport, to drive across the border to/from Canada and Mexico, but supposedly
can’t be used to board an airplane. So,
with the EDL, you can drive to Montreal… but can’t fly there. Our government at work!!!!) After a quick pit stop back at Kate’s place,
we drove into town to meet with a National Bank of Middlebury officer about
obtaining a construction loan. Sean met
us there (briefly) to sign on the dotted line as the General Contractor. Returned to Fern Lake (where the wind chill
was – 9°F (yes, that’s a minus sign; Chree was sooooo not
thrilled). At precisely 11:58, when the
azimuth of the sun was exactly 180° east of north (i.e., due south), I aligned the
weather station so that it reads the wind direction accurately in degrees True…
as opposed to degrees Perkins, which it had been doing since installation. Glen Peck arrived right after lunch and spent
a couple of hours helping us to design the lighting scheme for the house. While in the midst of that discussion, Dennis
Senesac from Ryans and Andy Tracy, owner of Boot Hill Metal Benders in Monkton
(who Ryans uses for duct work installation), arrived unexpectedly (they were on
the schedule for tomorrow morning). So
we quickly finished up thinking about electrical matters and then transitioned
to thinking about air conditioning and ventilation matters. In the afternoon mail, we finally got
a bill from Spafford’s for installation of the well pump and associated piping,
a job that was done in early July last year.
3 January 2016
Snow
flurries all day. Chree and I assembled
the Davis Instruments Vantage Vue® professional-quality weather station that Santa
brought me for Christmas. The data that
sensor suite provides is accurate enough that NOAA will accept it for
forecasting purposes. The sensor package
eventually will be mounted on the sun room roof, but, as the roof was slick
with snow today, we elected to set it up temporarily over top of the septic
tank on the west side of the house.
Merry (super generous person that she is) gave Chree the 1968 edition of
Julia Child’s The French Chef Cookbook
for Christmas. So, in what I hope will
become a long-running tradition, Chree made salpicon de volaille (diced chicken
in white wine sauce, for those of you whose French is a little rusty) for the
four of us to have for dinner. The
Lapidii, just back from 10 days in Jamaica, were looking decidedly tanned. The dinner, as always when Chree does the
cooking, was delicious… and fun.
2 January 2016
After
New Year’s festivities with Frank, Fran, and Anne in Connecticut (which
included a foray into New York City to see Kate starring in Shear Madness) followed by an overnight
visit with Katy, Alex, and Devin in Massachusetts, Chree and I drove up to
Manchester, NH in the Tacoma to take possession of her new 2016 Subaru Forester
2.5i Premium, red in color. (And, yes,
the car does have heated seats!) We then
convoyed to Fern Lake, arriving mid-afternoon, to find that Kate (kind soul
that she is) had left the heat on for us in her house. Only an inch or two of white stuff, mostly
ice, left on our driveway (Kate’s had been plowed). No problem for two 4WD / AWD vehicles, even
without studded snow tires. Snow on the
house roof had about half slid off. The
inside of our house was a water pipe-friendly 40°, just as expected. The lake, indicating 35°F
two feet below the surface (which was 18″ below the top of the dock), had nary an ice
crystal.
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