WHAT’S HAPPENING?

It’s Cold. Very, very cold.   I have absolutely no desire to work on the house this weekend, because it’s supposed to be cold then too.  I’m glad that John kept pushing as hard as he did to get everything under roof, and to get as many of the windows in as we could, because it’s going to make it so much easier for us to work in the house.

HOW MANY MORE WINDOWS HAVE TO BE PUT IN?

Actually, we only have two double hung, insulated windows that need to go in.  And today, we officially ordered the insulated units that are for the front of the house.   On those front windows, we decided to go with 1″ insulated units.  We opted for safety glass, which is what you have in the side windows of your automobile.  And, we went with the low-E coating, which, in the wintertime helps keep the warm in, and in the summer, it helps to keep the cool in.  We also decided to not go with a tint.  We went with clear, so we can see all the colors in God’s beautiful world, just the way He made them.  We decided to go with the tempered glass because of the fact that we have such a great big space there.  And, with the low-E coating, on larger pieces of glass, you have a little bit of a reflective quality - so sometimes you have issues with birds flying into them.  We have several Red Tail Hawks and some Turkey Vultures and a few Pheasants, plus all the normal birds.  So, the tempered glass, because it is a safety glass is a little stronger and resilient than regular glass.  

SO, HOW’S IT GOING WITH WRAPPING THE HOUSE?

We have one little piece that needs to go on for the Tyvek - where there are two double hung windows.  When that’s on, we’ll be able to finish putting in the last of the double hungs.   The house is actually so much warmer.  Even with the big open front, you can still actually feel the difference with the Tyvek and the windows.  There’s still a lot of heat going out the front right now, but there is definitely a difference. 

HOW’S IT COMING WITH WIRING, PLUMBING, ETC.

We had one of our HVAC guys out last Friday and we’re having another one out this Friday.  We’re getting two quotes like we normally do on everything.  We’re getting quoted, not only for a heat pump with propane as the main source, but also for geothermal.  Geothermal is more expensive up front, but I think if we can handle it financially, that would be the way to do it.

What I didn’t know was that, the HVAC people prefer to come in before the electrical people.  So, we’re going to hold off on the electricity until we have everything with HVAC ready to go.  But what we’re working on now is the placement of the bathtubs, sinks and the toilets - and getting all of the drains marked where they need to be.  That wont interfere with the HVAC.  So that’s going to be our next step that we’ll work on inside the house - but, after we get the windows in. 

HOW MUCH MORE CONCRETE HAS YET TO BE POURED IN THE BASEMENT?

We have one more corner, and then we’ll be finished with the basement.   But unless it warms up this weekend, we probably won’t be able to pour.

HOW ABOUT YOUR OTHER QUOTES?

We have two quotes on siding.  We just need to make a decision about which company we’ll go with.  They all say that the siding will be about seven days out from whenever we order it.   We’ll need to have some kind of a lift truck or a cherry picker to do the siding and the big front windows.  I don’t know which will come in first, but we’ll use the lift truck to install both.  So, that will be our next big thing - getting the windows placed and the siding on.

DO YOU HAVE POWER TO THE SITE?

We still do not have power hooked up.  The last three days have been so windy, that PP&L could not come out.  They had so many downed poles and wires, due to the high wind.   We came home yesterday, and I don’t think we had one garbage can left.  It was incredible.

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?

We need to get one more door.  We have the front door and the side door, but we are trying to pick out a door for what will be the daylight basement.  We’re having an issue deciding whether we want to have a solid panel door, or one with a window in it.  We will also have a security system, which was not as expensive as I thought it would be.  The security people will have to meet with the electrician to get it approved.

Also, I will be happy to tell you that our French drains did a marvelous job when it rained last week.   They pulled all of the water away from the inside of the basement.  It was brilliant.  The other thing we’ve noticed with the rain, is where we need to level out the yard in different places.

HAVE YOU HAD BUILDING INSPECTORS OUT?

Our next building inspection will be for framing.  Part of it is done.  The next part that we have to have done will be before the drywall goes up.  They will have to approve the electrical and the HVAC and the plumbing.  We have a bright yellow sheet that tells us when we have to have all of our inspections.   When I open up my house building book, that’s one of the first things you see.

THAT’S A LOT GOING ON.

Yes it is.  And with that, I think we’re about all caught up for this week.