8 February 2016

Sonny and Doug spent most of the day sheet rocking (i.e., putting up drywall to the sound of loud music).  They got all the main level ceiling done except for part of the master bath (waiting for the duct to be run from the exhaust fan to the house exterior).  They also continued putting up interior partition drywall.  Only had to take one piece down when we suddenly remembered that thermostat wire hadn’t yet been run in that wall.  Goodro’s made two deliveries: 30 more sheets of ½″ x 12′ drywall and 78 bales (approximately 4,460 square feet) of Roxul^® insulation.  That’ll keep the boys busy for an hour or two!  Steve worked on the radiant floor heat manifolds in the mechanical room and may have gotten a good air test on those loops.  You may recall (see the picture of the cellar floor on 29 May 2014) that, when we poured the cellar floor, we left a 16″ x 16″ void in the concrete, in the dirt under which is the piping that the guest bath shower drain need to connect to.  Steve and I discovered this morning that the actual drain hole in the base of the guest bath shower will be 8″ southeast of the void.  Even worse, you’ll perhaps recall that the PEX radiant heat tubing is right under the concrete and I distinctly remember running the tubing really close to the void’s edges to ensure that the shower floor would be toasty warm.  More to follow…but do you have any bad words I could borrow?  Casella Waste Management delivered a 30 cubic yard dumpster (the super-sized model) that was placed next to the woodshed and already has received many “deposits”.  The dumpster delivery driver was quite accommodating in spite of his nickname, Option Two.  Rumor has it that during past dumpster deliveries he has been known to say: “Option 1: I can put the dumpster over there, or Option 2: I can take it back away.  Your choice.”  Jim and James came back to continue building the garden retaining wall and start leveling out the patio.  Unfortunately, the ground has refrozen (high temp today was 28°) so, after an hour, they had to give up on the latter endeavor until spring.  Jim did take down the dead maple next to the patio: one swipe with the big excavator’s bucket and the tree was on the ground, still attached to the roots.  Now that’s power!  Cary and Larry came back late afternoon and ran the alarm wires for the sun room French doors and for the motion detector that will monitor the kitchen and sun room.  I spent the day doing lots of little electrical wiring jobs, including putting in the cans for the flush-mounted 3″ swivel accent lights that will illuminate the woodstove.  A tricky job but (three tries later and with some crucial help from Sonny) ultimately done to perfection.  At least, that’s my story…  Got the 2016 Addison County phone book in the mail today.  Now know why we keep getting calls for Sandie Ayer at our new house number.