A New House-Update #29 Long-With Pix

[Karl Laustrup]

February 28th, 2006

Well, I got to the house and expected to see the insulation truck there. But no truck. No one. About 7:45 Greg and his helper showed up and started working on the siding again. By the time the day was finished they had the west wall and the north wall finished. They'll be back Wednesday and finish the east wall and the remaining soffit so the ceiling can be insulated after the drywall is hung. The remaining south wall will have to wait as the window hasn't come in yet. Because of the special entry [no steps] the grade has to come up to meet it. This means covering a portion of the wall with dirt. Brian is on vacation until Friday so we're kinda stuck until then.

The insulators did show up about 10:00 I guess. I was away getting my propane tanks filled so I can keep the garage warm. It's still been cold and the wind has been constant around 10-15 MPH. The insulators got quite a bit done. Probably only a part day Wednesday. Drywall is scheduled to be loaded Wednesday also.

Norm the electrician came by again and tied up a couple of loose ends in the house before the insulators covered everything. Probably won't see him again for a while now.

Got a few pictures of the siding, but couldn't get any inside. I'll try to get a couple of the insulation in the morning.

32970
West facing wall. The large vent pipe is for the tankless water heater. Gonna check to see if it has to be sticking out that far.

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North wall. This wall is 60' long.

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The tankless water heater.

That's about all for now. Thanks for looking.

Karl

[Jim Dunn]

Really comming along nice Karl. Is this your retirement home? Or are you always building and selling?

We built 30 years ago and couldn't think of moving.

Jim

[Karl Laustrup]

Really comming along nice Karl. Is this your retirement home? Or are you always building and selling?

We built 30 years ago and couldn't think of moving.

Jim

This is our retirement house, so to speak, Jim. Of course that's if they don't tax us out of it. :( I hate packing and moving. :( :(

My wife was born on this property [1 acre] that has been in her family since the early 1900's. It was sold back in the 60's to a relative. When we moved back here in 1993 we were looking for someplace to live and ended up moving in with LOML's uncle, who at the time was 80. He was having a hard time by himself with meds, driving [he was pretty sight impaired] as well as hard of hearing. Our job was to help him in turn for a place to live, which in the beginning was only for a period until we could find our own place.

We ended up taking care of her uncle until his death at 90 in 2003. In the meantime he bequethed the property back to my wife. So, as you can see, we have no plans of going anywhere anytime soon. In fact the property will become our granddaughters [of whom we are legal guardians] after we're gone.

Karl

[Brad Schafer]

will be interested to hear what you think about the HWH as you start using the thing. i've got a 40 gal power vent right now and am considering tankless when this one goes paws up.

house looks good,

b

[Ken Fitzgerald]

You're makin' progress Karl! It won't be long!

[Bart Leetch]

Karl

How many Sq. Ft. is your new home?

[Ray Bersch]

Karl, you will love the solar tube - I have one in a bath in my home in Maine - when we remodeled we removed a window and my wife insisted on natural light - what does she know, I thought (but not aloud!!) - well, it is great. So then I but two in my daughter's family room which is on the north side of the house and has few windows - what a difference - I was skeptical with the north side location, but it does work - of course a better sun orientation would be even better. Just do the installation before the sheetrock is up and the ceiling insulated - a retrofit is not fun.

The vent pipe for your water heater does not have to stick out that far - your plumber will cut it back later. Some guys just put a 45 degree "elbow" on the terminal end, but there is a better looking cap that is made to fit on the pipe - be sure the plumber has that in mind so there are no further difficulties.

It sounds like the problems with the plumber are not from incompetency, just personality and communication - this is not uncommon in the construction business and so you need to work around it to be successful. Head off future problems now. Ask him to return some evening (with the GC) to go over all your fixture choices (including faucets and know all the brands, model numbers, colors, etc.) Some fixtures have different rough-in specs (for example, a handicapped toilet vs regular toilet or a sink with a vanity vs a pedestal sink), in other words, don't assume he knows what you expect - be sure he does. And do this before sheetrock.

Great job.
Ray

[Bill Lewis]

Karl, you will love the solar tube - I have one in a bath in my home in Maine -You know I've seen these things being hawked at just about every garden show, home show, and county fair for a long time. I always thought there were a very good and practical idea. I've never been inclined to install one because I could never saw it on the DIY market.

Karl, Ray has some good advise, it's never too late to make sure the lines of communication are absolutely clear.

[Dennis Peacock]

Looks real nice Karl!!!!! Thanks for the update.

[John Miliunas]

Hey Karl, I'm starting to get this real uneasy feeling. If I didn't know better, that place looks a bit more like a house than it does a shop! :eek: Naaaaaw...Couldn't be! :D Anyhow, all them windows plus, the solar tube will make working in there a pleasure! The caveat being, of course, that you'll need to be extra careful about kickbacks from the TS, so that a piece 'o wood doesn't become a projectile and smash through one of those windows! :D :cool:

[Karl Laustrup]

Karl

How many Sq. Ft. is your new home?

It's going to be right at 2400 sq. ft. as I recall. Not sure exactly, but that should be pretty darn close. That doesn't include the basement.

Karl

[Bruce Page]

Looking good Karl!
About those solar tubes, I’ve always been under the impression that they were extremely inefficient when it came to their R-Value rating. I was going to install one a few years ago but changed my mind when I thought about all that expensive heat going up the tube. Have they been improved?

[Jim Becker]

You know I've seen these things being hawked at just about every garden show, home show, and county fair for a long time. I always thought there were a very good and practical idea. I've never been inclined to install one because I could never saw it on the DIY market.

I was really taken by how much light they put out after my mother had on installed in her central FL kitchen. Amazing. I believe you can even order them from the 'borg, if I'm recalling correctly. Installation shouldn't be difficult at all as long as you know how to deal with the roof.

--
Nice additional progress, Karl.

[Bart Leetch]

Karl

I was interested in how many Sq. Ft. your house was because you said the insulation installers hadn't finished your house in one day. I don't know when they started & quit work. When I installed insulation in the 70's I used to be able to do 2 - 3 1500 Sq. Ft. houses in a day or the equivalent by my self. Of course we didn't get paid by the hour. We got paid 1 cent per Sq. Ft. in the walls & 1 1/4 cents overhead. I usually made around $20 an hour. Being paid this way you have to hustle.