Dry Wall

Arrived home this evening from a short vacation to the Lake of the Ozarks.

We immediately went in back to see how much of the drywall was installed. It looks to all be hung but not all finished (mudding)

The space, just like someone told us, looks much larger now. Much brighter too. One nice thing is they drywalled the downstairs bathroom, including places that didn't have drywall to start but did need it. Of course the downstairs bathroom was a complete mess and we cleaned it sufficiently to use tomorrow.

While we were gone they crew had to come in the house to drywall Kanohi's closet. So, when we got home we had to do a quick mop. Not a big deal just wanted to get the dust.

At dinner we discussed how we were both hoping to come home and find the installation all done and the place somewhat clean so that we could open the doorway and traverse via the house, not outside. But the back is a mess so outside to go downstairs will continue.

Dry Wall

Today the dr ywall was delivered for installation on monday. Piles upstairs, downstairs and up against the walls. All the needed supplies as well.

All the gaps were caulked as well.

An old item. The second photo is of the north wall on the outside. It is fire rated drywall cover the SIP. Over this the exterior finish will go.

Our hope is come tuesday the drywall will be done and we'll be able to move from the living room into the new space without going outside.

Inspection and my head!

Passed the insulation inspection.

Got a back door.

Banged my head on the stair railing.

Tomorrow - dry wall is arriving.

At least I am not bleeding.

Done Foaming

All done! The wrapped up around 3 PM. After spraying the foam they then scrapped clean the studs and did a quick vacuum inside and even outside. Of course there's still a thousands of bits of foam stuck to things but that is to be expected. The smell is already gone

To the photos:

In front, they did the inside and gap from the outside where the new wall meets the old.

In the kitchen the wall thickness doubled to match the back room SIPs so they filled most of the space. They had a bit left in the tanks so they emptied them out on this wall. A bit thicker than specified but that is a good thing.

The most fun part is the access above the pantry to the flat roof. It's like a big foam bubble.

One of the photos is of me in the pantry looking up, you see the access window to the left.

The other shot is me in the attic. You see in the doorway and out the now open window to the flat roof. Apparently code now dictates that it has to be painted with fire rated paint. Originally it was going to be left as you see it. For the doorway, we are installing two doors to increase the R (insulation) value)

Still to foam/caulk:

A gap in the front where the new wall meets the house,

Two conduit runs in the SIP that go outside

A gap where the south SIP meets framing

Foam Away!

They are working mighty fast!

Basement is done, front outside, which is not much, is also done. I can hear them underneath me doing the inside of the porch area. The smell is not much but there are definitely fumes so i don't stay too long watching.

It is fun stuff and the crew is very good. Deft touch to get the gaps and not over-spray. As they spray you can see it expand. Dries very quickly and you feel the

heat coming off as it cures. I shot some short video of the installation. Once i rotate it, i'll post it. In the mean time here's some shots.

The last is one of the trucks. Everything they need.

Pre Spray Photos

Three shots of the walls prepared for the foam. The plastic is to protect things you don't want to have foam stuck on . The 3 guys are wearing plastic suits. Good thing it is not too warm today!

The just started spraying. Gonna go check it out in a minute.

My Passion - ha

Well, it is true. I'm neurotic about closing off the air gaps. And here it begins...i've been in back hovering around the insulation crew asking questions, because i like to know, and having them foam small gaps.

They have two trailer trucks with the chemicals and equipment. Big 55-gallon drums of the chemicals. One hose from each and they mix at the spray tip to make the foam. Right now they are setting up, one guy is foaming around the windows while the other put plastic on the ground and around the windows and anything else we don't want to get foamed.

Apparently there is always a bit of over-spray.

They estimate finishing around 1 pm.

Doug's Passion - Insulation

Neurotic Doug will be staying home today to fret and hover around the insulation guys. Since this is the most important thing for us (energy efficiency), I am grateful Doug is able to do this. I am sure he will upload a bunch of pictures today of pink cotton candy or yellow foam.

Framing inspection and more

Passed the framing inspection this morning. A couple small things to correct like a missing floor joist hanger and a cracked floor joist that will need a new beam sistered on to it, but nothing that is going to stop the work.

Drew did a lot of cleaning and today was caulking gaps between the floors. Apparently the gaps through which conduit runs needs to be sealed off for fire code.

The insulation company is sending two crews on Wed., instead of one crew for Tue. & Wed. So they'll be done in one day. This works better for my schedule since i intend to be home to observe.

Drywall is being delivered on Friday and depending on their schedule installation may begin as well. Sure hope so! Once the drywall is installed it will be ok to open the passage from where we are living into the construction space. We'll have a temp. interior door but no more walking outside in the AM to take a shower or use the bathroom.

Speaking of doors - we'll be reusing all but one of the old doors. The one we won't use is the plain slab door that went into the utility room. It is about a cheap a door as you can get. The other 3 are original doors that separated the main house from the back porch. We'll need to buy one to go between the old and new basement; this is to keep the heat downstairs.

On a sad note, two massive elm trees came down across the street. Looks so barren now.

Tidying up

No much to report on in the last few days. 

This morning Drew was over cleaning up much of the debris in preparation for the insulation installation on tuesday.  There's a new pile of 2x4 for some additional framing. Kanohi enjoyed jumping on them last night. 

On friday we went to the tile store.  We are set on the entryway.  A tile that looks like slate.  Nice and dark and will contrast nice with the maple floor, stairs and railings.  The bathroom is not quite set. We were planning to do the traditional hex tile but they only make the black in a matte finish that we don't like. We'll see. 

Met with archi-Tom to get the final low-down on the railings. He had a very specific design in mind and we needed to get a clear picture on what it is. Basically a narrow open design. 

HVAC and more

Yesterday i managed to be home when the Village sent over the plumbing and electrical inspectors.  Passed both with very little comment.  Drew needs to tighten down a couple electrical conduits but all was fine on the plumbing.  Next are the framing, insulation, and drywall inspectors.  Who knew there were so many!  

Today theHVAC crew was here installing the pumps and pipes for hook up the radiant floor heater.  It took them all day but it is done and ready to go. They also installed the vents for the bathroom and kitchen.  They had to punch two new holes in the roof since it is against code to vent into the attic and there's no room in the sofit. I see two pipes to pump heated air out during the winter.  Will definitely make sure they seal well when off.  We also have a new sub-breaker box.  

The area by the main water line and in-line hot water heater looks like a massive highway junction. Lots of pipes coming and going and branching off. 

The pump for the radiant floor is quite the piece.  Apparently we are only using its most basic functions - on/off.  It has the ability to have zoned heating, variable temperature and other fancy stuff for more complex operations. The water in the radiant tubes is completel segregated from the rest of the water supply so the pump is also a heat exchanger. 

Windows Installed

A very exciting day today with plenty of electrical work.  Good suggestion Mark, I'll take some reference photos the electrical conduit. We've an additional circuit box and the old, original two boxes have been removed. Fortunately, those old boxes were not in use.  The utility room is much cleaner now with lots of old wire and pipe removed. 

The big news is the windows arrived and are all installed! 

We are very happy to have them in. You can really see how the space works and i am pleased with the floor level window in the kitchen. This evening archi-Tom stopped by to take a gander and was also pleased. The floor level window was an idea we picked up in Japan at my Aunt's apartment building. 

One odd thing was the large gap above the lower street side windows.  There's about a foot of 

distance between the top of the windows and the SIP.  Not a big deal, since it will be foamed in, but it seems like a big difference between the architectural drawings and the reality.  Archi-Tom, going from memory, thought there was more of a ledge for the windows to sit on.  As it is, they are level with the entry way floor. We are fine with in since they are on the same level as the existing basement windows and people on the sidewalk are not eye level with any of the windows. 

The egress window onto the future green roof is in place.  I climbed up there tonite and it is a nice vantage point. The hardware to open it is not installed so i was not able to climb out. 

Other activity today was furring strips on the SIP ceiling.  I need to make sure Drew sealed the splines since they did not build them properly (did not foam/caulk between the two 2x12) and you could see light - kinda defeats the purpose of R-52 insulation. 

Need to make sure they foam behind the electrical boxes that were installed in the SIPs as well. 

The bathroom and kitchen windows are still the old ones.  We'll need to ask what is the status on those.  Seem odd that they did not arrive with the others. I'm wondering if they were not ordered. 

Fascination with the Porta-Potty

On a non-construction related note, what is up with the general public using the portapotty in our drive way? I am pleased to be able to offer this public service, but what about the sanitation or using your own bathroom? What, you are going for a walk one evening and thing - wait, I really need to go; what luck there is a toilet right there in front of the garage. And the teenagers - couldn't you find something better (and more sanitary) to do in your free time other than to hang out in the "honey bucket" after school. Sigh, I will have to reflect and put myself in their shoes...oh wait, I am using the portapotty too.

electrical work

Nothing worth taking picture of but progress is steady on the electrical installation.

Plenty of shiny new conduit running all over the place. We had to have them move the box where a future ceiling fan will go but everything else looks fine.

In some places they were able to reuse the old gas pipe to run new wires.

Drew said the windows are arriving and will be installed on friday! yea!

Downstairs Photos

Two crews working today, electrical and carpentry. The carpenters did some nice work today. More metal framing under the landing, which now has the radiant heat tubes in place. They are not fully hooked up yet however.

For the utility room they made an executive decision that we love. The kept the angle of the old wall and moved the location of the door. Earlier we were discussing the matter of the wall as the drawings indicated a 90 degree wall. But, if we did the door might bump the washer and it would be a tight fit. Keeping the full angle wall made it too crowded by the new doorway from the section.

Solution...keep the angle of part of the wall and just move the door.

The last photo is looking up from the basement through a gap in the floor into the main floor bathroom. At the bottom of the picture is a PVC waste pipe and some cooper service line. You can see the rafters and insulation in the attic hanging down. It is in the gap that we hope to put a laundry chute into. If it happens it will be a small narrow one because of the pipes and studs.

Electrical, electrical

Who would have thought so many decisions would have to be made on outlets.  But all is well.  A little tricky wrt locations since the SIPs have electrical chases in them already at predetermined heights.

The photo is in the kitchen. You can see the old power outlet. The black pipe is, we think, old gas tubes that now have power lines in them.  Our house used to have gas lights.  All the service in the kitchen is required to be of a higher level (power), so it is all new. 

Picked out the kitchen cabinets - cherry.  Doug's favorite.  I think my mother will be working for Martino until she is 90.  A shout out to Zimmer Hardware in Palatine.

Framing

Not too much action today.  The big deal is there's now more of a door to the back.  We now have a sheet of plywood on hinges with a lock for a door.  Beats the sheet of plywood that was nailed in. 

A bit more framing was done in the new basement. More wall studs, this time along the old foundation so they only go 1/2 way up. The doorway that opens into the space under the landing was framed up with wood. Drew did a nice change on his own.   He moved the door location to align with the stairs to the first floor.  This way when the door is open you face the back of the stairs and can use this space as storage and access the crawl under the landing. 

Kitchen Sketch Up