Elec-tricity, Eeeee-lec-tri-ci-ty

The electrician has been busy, busy, busy. He took down the dead wires from the light pole in the yard. We decided to keep the yard light on the pole, 'cuz it's dark out here at night!
He got power to the garage and shop. Hooray! Now Dad and Mike can start on that list of projects I gave them. ;)
We have lights in the new entry, lights down the stairs, and a light over the back porch. Mike will no longer bruise his shins trying to get out the door in the morning. We have a thermostat for the radiant-floor heat. So nice! Note that the light switches both actually work now, and the outlet is no longer in the dead center of the wall.
Mike loves the blog!

Rainy Days and Tuesdays

The taper guy just keeps on doing his thing. It'll probably be Monday before he's finished, but such is sheetrock!
The carpenters were back today and installed insulation under the in-floor heat under the kitchen. I'm a little worried that it's in upside-down. Shouldn't the reflecting side be facing the hot pipes under the floor? Just sayin'....

No electrician today, it's been raining non-stop. The yard is a sloppy mess, and the driveway is no better. At least it isn't snow.
Update: I'm told there is reflection on both sides, so it's all good. Whew!

(Sheet)Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay

Sheetrock is up, even around the "cold room" in the basement. The sheetrock guys were here and gone in about an hour. Fast!
I call this one "Black Cat, White Room".
Mike tore out all the cracked plaster in the kitchen, and found no insulation behind it. Guess who's 3-hour project turned into a 2-day one? This was taken after he vacuumed out all the dust, composted dirt, and old mousy poo, sprayfoamed the gaps, and put up insulation, but before the plastic vapor barrier went up. I was watching Naomi run the Twin Cities marathon on Sunday, so I missed all the colorful language that went along with the project. Luckily half of this wall is no longer considered exterior, so it didn't need as much work.
Here's the beautiful new drywall Mike hung all by his lonesome. What a guy!
The insulation guy sprayed this green smelly foam all around the sill this morning. Hooray! This alone should save us a LOT of money this winter.

Walls. Walls are good.

The walls are insulated, sealed, and waiting for the insulation inspector. Yes, we have insulation inspectors in Minnesota. If you live here, you know why.
The inspector stopped by at about 8 o'clock this morning, and by 8:20 we had this: These guys are fast!
And we have heat! This set-up is a little more complicated than what we had before. Mike's hoping the plumber will give him a crash course in Zen and the Art of Boiler Maintenance. I think it looks like one of Wallace and Gromit's contraptions. Maybe it makes toast.

October Road

A new vent in the bathroom, since the window is gone.
That's the vent going out the new roof. All the electrical for the porch is roughed in and got the stamp of approval from the inspector today. The insulation and drywall go in tomorrow (in theory).
The old junction box got re-used (again). The electricians have been here all day, and probably will be tomorrow, too.
Steps and a new coat of paint
The door jams were clad in aluminum and the siding is back on. Do you like the blue door? I don't know, I was hoping it would be greyer.

Good Morning!

I really hope the plumber finishes the heat today, because it's 39 degrees this morning. Brrrr!

A new door! They built a little step for us, too, but it needs a little leveling, don't you think? Anyway, I like it much better than the "deck" that was on here before!