Ready for Insulation

Well,  just scheduled the foam insulation for monday, and I have a little to do to get ready. Just a small punch list and I can take a break for a few days while the foam is completed. The last few weeks have not been kind to the schedule with black friday and an exudus of employees from the store coming at a bad time. I always have to pick up the slack at these times, and the store is the most important. I have worked many days in a row with only Thanksgiving off, does'nt bother me except I'm too scattered. But, the sheetrock will come after the foam and things will take off again. The ext. siding is complete, with the exception of the crawl space, and it looks great. The rough in electric is complete and the bill was presented to me. OUCH! By far the most over budget item, I have been dead-on with all my quotes, and this bill was almost double what they said it would be. Really upsets me, and I will deal with electricians differantly from now on. I will never be taken by surprise like that again, and I don't understand why the electric rough-in would be as much as the entire HVAC system and the rough-in plumbing costs together.  Oh well, it is what it is.  This is kinda the turning point of the project, it's a big deal to have insulation and sheetrock complete, and the focus turns to the interior projects. We also will have heat, and that will make everything easier, and I will be able to work late.  Well, everyione have an awesome day. SYOTMS hopefully. RJ

A Hike in The Gorge

All of these pics were taken within a quarter mile of our house. I took a wander to parts of the Gorge I have never visited, but still only stayed out a couple of hours. I never lost sight of the house.

Winter is Here

I did'nt get alot of work done this week, Thankgiving and Black Friday at the store took me away.  But Scott and Mike worked a couple of days and the ext. siding is close to complete. Theres only one thing in the way of foam insulation, a very small leak at the fireplace which has to be fixed of course. These things can be maddening, we will have to pull off siding and roofing until we find out where it is. The sheetrock man came out and did final measuring, and is ready to go when the foam is complete. I have a punch list of small items that must be done before foam, but should only take me a good day of work. I am so ready for the next phase of work, and believe things will go much faster now. Distractions of the holidays are not an issue now, and I can work straight through the season. Maybe I can make up some lost ground. This is a tough time keeping everything going, the store really needs me and I really need to be at the house. But, the electricity is on in the house and I can burn the midnight oil on interior work. We have had some visitors in the last week, and the same reaction is heard over and over. WOW!!!!! People really seem awestruck when they walk in, and as they walk through the house their impression grows until they hit the back deck. At that time, they are blown away. Then they see the deck fireplace and everyone just loves it. There is one thing that is becoming apparent, when the wind is blowing from certain directions it is brutal on the back deck. I expected this becouse winds whip through the Gorge into a wind tunnel of sorts. It is also what makes the deck so comfortable in the summer so I can't complain. I am starting to feel alot of satisfaction that I got the plan right, got the site right, and have created a very special place. It takes the sting out of other dissapointments right now. Hope everyone had a great Turkey day. Later RJ