Electric Days

My friend's father who is an electrician is coming up this weekend and she volunteered him to come assist us with the electrical rough-in. It's a barter deal: I'm playing music at her wedding this August.
So we've been in electricity high-gear, studying codes and planning where we want switches, fixtures, etc.
As much as it can be an oppressively humongous project, building this house is so good for me when it teaches me how the parts of a house work. I can remember being a very young man and being disgusted by the idea of a stud-wall house. It seemed so deceptive to stuff everything into the empty walls and then cover it up with trim. Now I see the logic in it. I've been so corrupted I can even understand why someone might use (gulp, wince) vinyl siding.
So no building pictures today. But I'll post a couple photos which show how early spring looks here. The warm weather has been a few weeks ahead of schedule for a month now.
This hill is what we call Horsepoop Mountain. It's a 20 minute hike uphill from where we're staying now.


These are some baby irises that popped up last week. One of the friends we're staying with keeps a magnificent flower garden out our bathroom window. These are the first.


This link will take you to a page which really helped me understand the wiring rough-in.



Here are the electrical drawings. It feels a lot like I just turned in a research paper.









































This last photo shows the electrical plan as revised after the rough-in, just before insulating. You can click on it if you want to read the details.

The arch is framed- whew!

This is the end of the dance room where the arch meets the gable end. It's also the end of interior framing. It's always a relief to get to the end of anything, even if it is the first part of the above-ground building process!





Next to happen is the plumbing. I took my drawing of the drain and vent system to the inspector the other day and he answered my questions and told me the plan was up to code. There was a moment when another inspector stopped his cubicle to ask a quick question, at which time the plumbing inspector took the clipboard my drawing was on and held it up near his chest so the other inspector couldn't see. I think these guys are being generous to guys like me for helping do things well while not holding us to the letter of the code, carrying that burden of doubt on their own shoulders.




Tomorrow I plan to line up where the pipe is going to go and drill some holes. I must say I'm a little nervous.

If I don't get clear about it I have a couple plumber friends to run to. There's always trim and siding to work on.

Coming Along

We're enjoying an unusually warm winter these days. I'm sure there will be another storm or two, but it really feels like Spring tonight with soft rain falling. It's not even supposed to get below freezing for the next week. I'm happy to announce that the arched ceiling is framed in after weeks of work. Next job is to tie it to the outer wall with framing materials and to do that we first had to pull the wall back to plumb. It had bowed out over the past year and so I chained it to the other wall and squeezed them together with a come-along.

Why is it that chains and come-alongs get me excited? Maybe it just makes me feel like mighty-man to use my own body and some gears to do something superhuman. Bicycles are like this, too.

This warm weather is bound to make our road a mess. So this weekend might be a good one to go visit my friend who's putting tinted plaster on his drywall. It's an alternative to the standard mud-and-then-paint system that sounds appealing. If I can work with him for a day or so maybe I'll get it. Anyway my most faithful laborer is busy getting ready for a certain St. Patrick's Day party.
Slainte!