Starting to Insulate the Floor

Insulation has begun...yeah!


Under the floor, in the crawl space, the insulation they are using is Closed Cell foam. They say it is Soy based foam, I think that it might contain about 15% - 20% soy. Closed cell foam was suggested for under the floor since it is damp and you don't need much for good R-value.


This is what it looks like before the insulation is applied.


In addition to the insulation the handle was put on the front door, we really like the look and now we can actually open it.

Bat Saga

We still have bats in the house so we hired someone to take care of them. What I mean is, patch all the holes in the house that they can get through and then put in "Bat Tubes", openings where they can get out but not back in. The problem is there are baby bats. He thinks the baby bats will be able to fly with the other bats within a week, they might be able to fly now. To me, they look the same size so I don't think it will be long now.



A pile bats. I am guessing there are about 25 or 30 bats in the house. They seem to be spread around different areas of the house, judging from the piles of guano.

I said that we expected the insulation to start on Friday but when we got there, we found that none of the contractors showed up. I guess we misunderstood when the insulator was going to show up, hopefully this week.

Boo Boo

I had gone fishing(in Alaska) so I had not posted anything for a while. But, not much had been going on, at least not very evident. Last Friday the building inspector came and most things passed with flying colors. There were a few minor problems that were fixed that afternoon. One problem that is taking a longer is this beam. The plumber got a little over zealous and cut a bit too deep into the joist. The inspector is making us contact an engineer to tell us how to correct this problem. We are waiting to hear back so we can do whatever he tells us to do.

Another thing we had to do, unrelated to the inspector, is spray for carpenter ants. Our carpenter, not to be confused with the ant kind, found some on the beams.

I have some exciting news, they are going to start insulating tomorrow. Finally some work that really shows the work being done.

Small Things

We were away for four days and a lot of small details were done in that time. This is not so small but most of the trim was added around the windows, more to come. Also, the area where the door and fire escape were, was patched with clapboards.


The area at the tops of the corner columns was added with a simple overlapped board. It is fitting with the trim that is around the windows; not too fancy.


A compressor hose was added all the way across the building; from the left side...


...to the mechanical room.


The plumbing vent pipe was finished; it now goes through the roof.


Additional duct work was added to the upstairs bathroom wall.


The grey pipe you see contains wires that will eventually go to the garage when built.


We asked for an outlet to be put in the floor of the Greatroom in case we want lamps or something in the middle of the room.

Plumbing and Start of Outside Trim

Things have been extreamly slow the last week, little to none has been done. But, yesterday things started happening. Tony started trimming out the windows, see below, and the plumbing will be complete today.


This is the configuration that we are going to use around the windows. In between the boards will be a plywood that can be exposed to the weather.


This is the tubing that is being used for the water pipes. A nice feature is the red for hot and blue for cold.


Some tubing that is in the first floor ceiling.


The hookup for the tub and shower.


Hookup for the washer.


Ice maker hookup, this is important because my wife is a iced tea addict.

Exterior Trim around the Windows

Tony, our carpenter picked up the boards for the trim around the windows on the exterior yesterday. Hopefully, he can start to put that on today.


We were not sure what we were going to do with all that space around the windows, put in clapboards, panels, or what. We decided to put this exterior sheathing and the trim. So there will be a flat area around the windows, if we want to dress it up in the future we can do that but for now this is it.

Sorry the last few posts have not been that exciting but that is how it goes. Most of the work being done is hidden from plain view. I expect the next few weeks things will start taking shape.

Waste Plumbing and Upstairs Wiring

I stopped by the house today and the plumber has been busy. He put all the waste pipes in below the first floor. This is the main line that goes to the septic system.


Plumbing for the shower/tub on the first floor.


Inside the tub.


The electrician was also there, these are the wires that are being sent up to the attic waiting for the upstairs to be finished sometime in the future.