Electrcial, Roof, and Modified Showering

This weekend the electricians came and put all the electrical wiring up, attached the boxes for plug, cable, and phones, drilled holes in the outdoor ceiling and walls for outside fixtures, and swept the house free of sawdust. Its really coming along now, with almost all the exterior work done. Bob will create a punch list hopefully sometime soon so the trades can make some adjustments (the big ones for sure will be filling in the concrete where they had to move a pipe and moving our master bathroom sink pipes over a bit). After that's complete - let's hope two weeks or less - the concrete stain folks come in a do their thing. Then its on to the sheetrocking. I would say after that it'll move pretty fast.

We are facing a small road block because it turns out we actually do need a building permit from the county. I suspect the county only does this because they want to tax people properly. In our area they don't have a building code or inspectors. Looks like they don't really care what you build, just want their money. The snag will probably come from the septic end (the one area they really are picky about). If they do due diligence in their research they will probably come to the conclusion that our 10 year old septic system is outdated and insufficient for the new house. If that is the case we will face the extra cost of a new septic - +/- $10,000 (!!!).
The bank won't issue any more draws until we get the permit.

Roughing it isn't so bad. Our hot water heater in the old house quit working before we tore down the house. I was showering at the gym or taking a pot bath (hee hee) and Rich was just taking cold showers (hee hee). But thanks to Rich's brilliant mind, we now have hot showers. The solution you ask? A 100' garden hose and a garden hose nozzle with shower application purchased for $40 from Home Depot connected to our el cheapo utility sink in the garage (which is on a separate 15 or 20 gallon hot water heater for the washing machine) running out the garage window, along the back of the house, over the dog kennel roofs, and into the bathroom window. Rich thinks that's the best idea he's had in awhile and I have to agree. It was nice to take a hot shower after picking through construction debris all day.

Here are some pictures I took yesterday evening of the latest progress. I included pictures of angles/rooms you haven't previously seen.

Rear and side of the house from hill behind house.


Hall bathroom with master bedroom on other side of framing.Media room with fireplace in. It is elevated because we (I) wanted a hearth to sit on.

These are the can lights Rich requested in the media room. The back four and front four are on different dimmer switches to create a movie theater atmosphere. Steve and Linda's house was our inspiration for that. This is the uncovered side porch. The window is the side of the living room and the door on the right of the picture goes into the utility room.

Linus on top of demolition pondering the world
1/2 a day's worth of a trailer
Growing trash pile
In case you ever wondered why trailers break apart in tornadoes, look at the roof construction (1 x 2 boards with what I believe is particle board and a thin metal roof)

This used to be Mike (and then Matt's) bedroom and bathroom. All gone. That door leads to the rest of the trailer which will be gone next weekend.