fail...

it's not that i was necessarily expecting to pass the electrical inspection on the first shot...that would have been downright naive...

it's just that i didn't expect it to be such a major fail.

the bright spot is that the local inspector is very cool...lots of fun to talk to and not at all anal in that i-have-the-power-to-shut-you-down kind of way that lots of inspectors are.

all the wiring inside is great...just a few minor, easy fixes there...the main issue is with the meter. it doesn't help that the dude at the store sold us the wrong size wiring to run from the meter to the mail panel, but apparently the wiring inside the meter that runs through the weatherhead and connects to the service line is corroded (all my electricity is above ground from nearby telephone poles). and apparently, everything from the service line down is my problem...the conduit, the meter, the box...everything. apparently it is the homeowners financial responsibility to "maintain [it] to the city's specifications." which seems very odd to me, since i could also be fined for tampering with it once it's running...but that's the way it is...c'est la vie! there's no way i'm going to mess with the main power lines, so i'm going to have to hire someone...

also, the underground wire that connects from the main panel to the garage subpanel may or may not be up to snuff. so, we've got to dig it up and check it out. if it doesn't have the right kind of conduit, or isn't burried deep enough, well, then we'll have to deal with that...something we purposefully didn't mess with because it would suck!

the last of the big modifications - we have to drive 2 more 6' copper ground rods for the garage...since it's considered a seperate structure. this is crap. the two we drove for the house were possibly the most physically difficult thing we've done to the house so far. no joke. it SUCKED! so, yeah...i'll be hiring someone for that, too...

anyone know a good electrician?

electrical

we took a holiday from working on the house over the fouth of july weekend. i had a fabulous birthday and a fun get together with friends at the beach...


it was a great little break, but now we're back to work! the last few weeks we've been replacing the electrical. we're replacing everything, except one 240v outlet in the garage, including the main panel.

this is brad - he's a good friend of the family and the my resident "electrician." he and his wife built their own home and he did all the wiring...they also helped their son remodel his home.


we started by running wire. the outlets are all "piggy-tailed" together. once they're all attached, the final wire, or "homerun" is run to the box and attached to a breaker.



i've learned a lot about electical work and have managed to do a lot of work myself - i cut in the holes and installed the recessed lightning, run a lot of the wiring in the attic, wired the garage, etc. i actually know what i'm talking about when i get sent on home depot runs!

we're almost done - we have three more breakers in the house to attach, and four breakers in the garage. then there's only a little bit of old wiring still to remove, and then we'll be done. once the electical passes inspection, we can get started on the drywall! : )

face lift...

this weekend, the bombshell got a HUGE face lift! this picture of the front of the house was taken in january...


we started by taking off the siding...


then we knocked out the sheathing that was underneath...


we also took out the old windows and framed in two new ones that are the same size...


framed in a new doorway and hung new osb sheathing...


here's the "after" picture!!

it was a loooong day...with multiple trips to home depot and mclendon's...but i'm happy with all that we accomplished.

this should be the last of the major structural work to be done before i can move in...ultimately there will be a little porch with a hipped roof, but that is lower on the priority list and won't be done until after i move in.

patching the foundation

last weekend we used a 2x4 and shims to raise the floor joist so we could take out the rotten sill plate. after getting it out, we found lots of areas on the foundation where the concrete was crumbling and uneven. so, we mixed up some fast setting concrete patch and my dad troweled it in...


there were other places where the sill plate was still in good shape, but that still needed to be filled in with some more concrete, so we used a grout bag. it was difficult to squeeze out some times...


it was kind of like decorating a cake///but not as much fun, because you can't eat it when you're done!


new sill plate, bye bye old front door....

replacing a sill plate...

a few weeks ago we found more dry rot on the other side of the house...again, it was caused by the concrete steps being poured right up against the wood...


however, on this side of the house the sill plate is rotted basically the entire length of the house. the sill plate is the 2x4 that sits on top of the foundation and the house walls are built on top of that...


were not sure if the builders used pressure treated wood for the sill plate - it could have been before that was code - that could be why the rot progressed so far.



there are also sections where the concrete is crumbling...


so we removed some of the siding in order to take out the rim joist...


and are scabbing in new a sill plate...


we found a wood treatment that is supposed to kill the fungus that causes dry rot, so we're using that on the wood that is still solid...just to make sure.