Clean up time

Insulation day three... The taping of seams.

And some foam around the windows.

And then all cleaned up.

Ready for drywall next week.

Notice how the hot sun is not shining inside. It's almost cool inside too.

But outside its a sunny deck.

Bathroom looking good.

If you wondered where everything went... Well much went downstairs, but a great deal was crammed into the den here.... I am told its best to have one side of the interior drywall in place before the insulation goes in. So next week.

Once the interior walls are insulated the crew will be back outside putting the shingles in place.

The painter continued second coats everywhere. You can see that last row of cedar siding finally went up as well.

And now for a few days away... So much will be done when I am back late next week!

That thing about the door closing and the window opening....

Insulation day two....

All the insulation is in place for the exterior walls and so is the vapour barrier. Here is the woodstove corner.

There is still insulation hanging around because the interior walls will get some as well. The interior insulation will be more for sound. This the same view from farther away.

This is my bedroom.

Every opening in the vapour barrier still needs to get taped...power outlets, pot lights, fans.

There will be a fan in the bathroom and a range hood fan. I also will have a cold air vent near the woodstove. But yes, when a door closes I suspect I may like to open a window open for fresh air.

I'll be snug as a bug....that I am fighting

It is a small house.... because it's hard to take pictures inside. I guess I can't really say that because people do take pictures of really small- tiny homes. I have not taken such pictures. I have trouble trying to capture all the work that is happening in the walls and in the ceiling....

Yes it was insulation day one. Roxal R14x2 or R28 in the walls.

And later I returned, after a few hours waiting around in town to see a Doctor, (he did not say bronchitis, but noted things were a little noisy on lower right side). I did not hang around long inside the house as they were doing the R40 fibreglass in the ceiling. I did not want to breath any of that today.

The walls are all done and I would say that the ceiling is about 2/3 done.

The painter was on site as well today staining the cedar shakes for the gables.

It was a messy smelly task. That is why they are outside.

And that, my friends is it for the day, as I chose not to hang around on the deck.

Instead it was back to the cottage by the sea....

I will miss being this close to the ocean.... But it will be my home.

Okay one from the files..... The lot before I bought it!

And today... Because I had to go back and take another picture!

Gutterly confusing....

North side siding done and getting a second coat of paint.

Inside the plumbing has been lowered, so as not to obstruct the dryer vent.

It poured rain in the morning and while I slept in trying to get healthy, it looks like the crew thought about starting the insulation in my bedroom....

Ah, but the sun came out and it was another great day outside, so that's where the crew spent the rest of the day.

I noticed this on the deck..... Which kinda confused me....?

It's a gutter with appears to be in place to catch the water from the front of the deck and deliver it to the drainage at the side of the house. ...... Really? I may have said nice things about the gutter guys yesterday.... But.... I sent the picks to my contractor who is out town competitively pricing stuff. He was as shocked as I was! Not sure how they thought railings we're going to be attached.

And so by the end of the day the back of the house was done. 

Albeit a second coat of paint, the shingles on the gable ends and the deck need to be completed still.

Yet another look at the hydro pole, the tree and my hydro pole. Okay no more close ups until lines are running somewhere, promise!

I did some work today.... I traded a couple of my many hostas plants in here for a licorice type plant with a neighbour.... Planted snugly next to each other in hopes of deterring the deer!

Hostas Hoofsters?

House construction going well... Health slower than I would like.

First off I wanted to show where on my pole the hydro lines will arrive. You can see there is a clear path. What does not show too well in this photo is the path the cable lines will take to my roof. Possibly the branch in foreground is in the way. I am told it it is not a really big deal if these lines touch trees, so we will see.....

Look more stuff going on... Gutters!

I don't feel like using this venue to advertise... But the gutter people, (who are also the window people, who are a local company), have a cool truck that makes and spits out the gutters. It was cool.

The siding is not finished on that side, so I waited to see the gutters up on the other side. We did not have great choices of colours. I think this works alright with roof, trim, siding...

I think my house looks nice next to my Italian plum trees too.

The crew painted the soffit boards on the deck. The painter put the second coats on the front siding and trim. And yes, you can see the front gutter getting installed.

The job was not quite finished as the downspouts are not ready yet.... 

So look at the temporary solutions....

My oh my that siding looks nice behind those trees!

Now my contractor was on site doing some work as well. We noticed a problem- that should have been addressed earlier. My washer and dryer will be stacked in a tight little nook in the hallway. The taps are not installed at the right height. Well, they are at the right height to hit the dryer vent! They will get lowered. There will be a panel in my bedroom closet which will give limited access to taps and plugs. The hose attached on the picture below was for the painter who wanted water access.

At some point of my walking around the site, I noticed my transplanted yucca plant was gone.

What's with that? 

The electrician does not remember when he last saw it. Deer eat yucca, but they don't pull them out of the ground, root and all. Is there a yucca thief in my new neighbourhood?

I chatted with the neighbours on the back lot and others down the street....

Meanwhile inside the contractor was putting vent hosing in. This first picture is the bathroom fan. Perhaps turn your head to the left when you look at it.

Here is the pipe for the dryer vent and behind the range hood fan vent.

I said I chatted with the electrician... They were by to install strings! 

The strings are there for the electric floor thermostat wiring to get installed after the drywall. At least that is what it looks like.

And of course siding the north side continues. 

This was close to the end of the day. I don't think there were planning on finishing... Running short on nails I hear.

I said deer like yucca plants. I read that on a website.

I KNOW deer eat hostas... From last year and from this year. I may try and put fencing/ wire up tomorrow, eventually planting something smelly like fennel next to ward off the hoofsters from my hostas.

Loving my apple tree.

Saturday Post

Did you wonder if I had forgotten about you? Did you think it had been raining?

Nope... I just caught a flu bug that's all. 

I stayed in my pjs all day on Thursday and only ventured out for a few hours on Friday. The weather has been great so that means the crew have working outside. Upstairs front siding complete!

Downstairs will be a surprise...well I know what is going there, you will have to wait. 

The electrical box cover is in place and a plug in has been finished and is ready to use when power is connected. 

The dryer plug and the bathroom plug are also in place. 

Once the power is hooked up we need to be able plug in heaters to dry the drywall mud... The stuff that goes over the seams. 

The shingles were delivered by my contractor. They will need a stain. 

A closer look up top on the deck. 

Pretty snazzie, eh?! Yes it needs the second coat that will even out the colours. The painter is done with the south side second coat. 

Then there was the hydro pole and the tree...Up went the ladder and contractor with a chain saw. 

And the tree got a bit of a hair cut. 

The hydro lines should be able to come to the pole now. I am not sure if one more branch needs to come off... Because the cable lines come off the top of the pole to the house. Well it's not really the top of the pole, everything comes to about 17 ft up the pole. We will see. 

Dug up a bit of the driveway, we will use the soil elsewhere and a load of gravel will be put down for the driveway. 

The crew were working on the north side of the house today. They were cutting all the finicky parts around the power and cable. 

But how far did they get on a Friday afternoon...? I never made it back to site at the end of the day, as my bed was calling. 

And so today is Saturday and here is where they left off. 

The forecast calls for most of next week to be sunny. I suspect they may finish the outside before getting to the insulation. 

We will see. I hope to have regained my health by next week.