More siding, more inspections . . .

Happy Holidays and welcome back to progress on the Nutter Green Home. Over the holidays, we managed to take 2 1/2 days off, mostly because we were all sick! We rested on Christmas Eve and travelled to see Kenny's family on Christmas. We returned home on the 26th and were back working on the house on the 27th. Now that we're back at it again we are making some progress. We finished all of the rough in electrical and the HVAC and exhaust venting (for all of the bathrooms and the range hood) that needed to be done for the final rough inspection. The inspector came yesterday, and although we didn't pass, there's only a few things that need to be done to pass. Kenny said the inspector was pretty impressed with the house and said what needed to be done wasn't too bad. He did give us a provisionary go ahead - sort of a partial passing - so that we can continue with the insulation and drywalling the basement. The things that need to be done are only in interior walls and don't impact the basement or the insulation, so he said we could keep rolling while we finish up the few things to pass the complete inspection.

A few switches in the master bath needed to be moved, so Kenny did that today. There's some question about some bathroom lights, so we need to wait until January 2nd to call them for clarification. The rest of the items had to do with caulking holes in the top plates for fire stopping and fire stopping in the chase between the basement and the first floor. We also need to add a floor outlet in the loft near the railing because the loft is more than 12 feet in width and the railing is considered a wall. So we'll put a recessed floor outlet in with a cover on it and it will probably eventually be covered with carpet! ;)

We need to get the first course of siding on the whole way around the house so that the we can put in the outdoor hose bibs and exterior outlets. The security company is coming to install their system on Jan 3rd. Once those are all in, the spray foam insulation contractor can come out and spray our insulation in. That's supposed to be Jan 11th and 12th. At the same time or even before, the drywall guy can be drywalling the basement. Below you can see Kenny finishing up our second piece of siding on the back side of the house.

The next thing on the list is the solar PV installer and the solar hot water heating system installer. They may begin installing as soon as the end of January. As always, we'll keep you posted!

Electric's Almost Finished

The other day, Kenny's Dad and his brother-in-law Drew came up to help finish up the electric. We still have a little more wire to run inside, but they got the meter base and panel ready to go. Below you can see the meter base on the outside of the garage and the panel on the inside of the garage.

Here they are working on the meter base.

Kenny and I hope to finish up on the inside today or tomorrow and have everything inspected right after Christmas. The security people are scheduled to do their work January 3rd. We also scheduled the garage door opener installation for next week as well. Once we have all of that finished, the spray foam insulation people can apply their insulation in mid-January. Then we can move along with drywall and finish up the ductwork in the basement. As always, we'll keep updating as much as we can!

Plumbing, Siding, Finishing

Well yippy-skippy, we passed our plumbing inspection! We received the go ahead on Tuesday. The telephone, cable, and data is already finished, so Kenny worked today on running speaker wire. The security people should be coming soon to install the rough-in on their system, and electric should be finished up in a week or two. Once all of this rough in stuff gets inspected, we can proceed on with the spray foam insulation installation.

We've been really lucky with mild weather lately. Our best stretches of weather have been over Thanksgiving, and the past week. We've had nearly 7 days of near-60-degree weather! We were working at the house today in lightweight shirts with all of the windows and doors open and the sunshine streaming in. Kenny and I were dancing in the great-room to Elvis' "Blue Christmas" on the radio. It was so surreal. It's supposed to stay warm and dry until Sunday, so hopefully we'll have a very productive weekend.

Kenny and I finished up one side of the garage siding today as you can see below. It's looking pretty sweet! The middle picture is the top of the whirlpool tub deck that I worked on finishing today, and the bottom pic is an "artistic" view of the garage siding. Enjoy!

Blizzard in the Basement

Today Kenny and I spent some time wiring the basement. If you think about it, it's not an easy task when you consider the walls and ceiling are all covered in styrofoam. You have to cut out channels in the foam so that you can slip the wire in. Once you figure out the right tool for the job, it's not so bad . . . Just a big mess! Here's a look at how we got the wire into the wall. You can see Kenny easing the wire into the channel in the pic below.

Above you can see the channels in the foam and the wire leading down to where the electrical box will be.

Below you can see what Kenny looks like after a day of cutting the foam!

And finally above you can see the best tool we've found (so far) for cutting the channels. If our neighbors don't think we're a little wierd now, I don't know what will convince them!

Plumbing & Siding

This weekend has been fairly productive. Yesterday, the plumber finished the rough plumbing so that we can have it inspected this week. You can see from the pictures that we have our supply lines from the city water supply as well as the rainwater cistern supply lines installed and marked. Today, Brian and his nephew Jeff came over and helped Kenny with the garage siding for a few hours - it looks awesome.

Here's a few shots of the interior plumbing walls so you can see how jam packed they are. This one below is the plumbing wall upstairs on the second floor.

Above is the plumbing wall downstairs in the basement, and below is the plumbing wall on the main floor behind the kitchen cabinets. Notice the three supply lines: hot and cold city water and cold rainwater.

Below you can see the markings we have to place on our supply lines to comply with the local plumbing code.

Wire, Water, and Weather

Well, the weather was good to us this Thanksgiving extended weekend. We've had several days of sunny warm weather - above 60 degrees most days. Kenny has been working for several days straight and we've been fortunate to continue to have family help.

Thursday - Thanksgiving - Kenny was at the house at dawn working on the roof trim. Kris' brother Rick and his family were in town visiting, so they all visited early in the day for a tour. While Kris and Rick's wife Kerri went back to the house to cook Thanksgiving dinner and let the kids play, Rick helped Kenny finish up the peak trim before they called it an early day and came home for the feast.

Friday, Kenny was at the house before daybreak again and his dad drove up as well. Then a little later, Kenny's uncle Joe and his colleague John drove down from Columbus to run wire for data, cable, and phone. They were able to finish the whole house in a day, while Kenny and his Dad worked until dark. Kenny's dad spent the night Friday, so it was a full house - 9 people - and Kenny and his Dad were up working on the house by 6am Saturday. On Saturday they rented a lift to be able to reach the high portions of the north roof. They worked on furring strips, soffit, facia, and other siding prep. After Kris' borhter and family headed back to New York on Saturday afteroon, Kris and the kids went back to the house to help Kenny finish up and his Dad headed back home. Kenny worked well past sunset on Saturday night and we returned the lift and made it home by 9 pm - which made Saturday quite a long day.

Enjoy some pics from the weekend progress. Also note that on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, our plumber Donnie was able to run quite a bit of copper supplies, so the plumbing is moving right along as well. The sunset pictures are from Saturday night.

Weather, Grant Approval, and Siding Arrival

We've had a little progress this week. Kenny and I were able to get all of the house covered with housewrap and ready for siding this past weekend. Gravel was spread over the drive and turn-around areas near the house. It makes such a difference to be able to park right up next to the house instead of having to walk back. Although we had quite a bit of rain on Saturday, we were able to finish the house wrap and get most the the trim up to get ready to finish the soffit. You can see from Kenny's boots how muddy it was getting - not a great thing when you are working off of slippery ladders in the rain! We also finished framing the walls in the basement around the bath and mechanical rooms.















Then on Monday afternoon, the metal siding, trim, and gutter were delivered. It was just as interesting getting the siding back to the house as it was for the roofing. This time it took two drivers, two fork-lifts, and about 2 1/2 hours.

In the mean time, the mail was delivered and we received our notice that we had been approved by the Ohio Department of Developement - Office of Energy Efficiency for our Renerwable Energy Grant. This means that we will get our 4.4 kW PV system and solar hot water heater! This means that we should be able to attain our goal of a net-zero energy home. We will produce enough (or more) energy over the course of the year to offset our total energy usage!

Today, Kenny and I are planning to put the last 3 pieces of roofing on the garage roof, and the plumber is coming to get started on the waste drains and vents. We are hoping the plumber can be finished in a week.

That's about it for now. If the weather is nice, we're planning on working through Thanksgiving installing siding - so Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We're still hoping to have all the plumbing, hvac, and electrical inspections and spray foam insulation applied before Christmas. Then our goal is for drywall and interior finish work from January until spring. We're still holding on to a move in date by Easter, but who knows???

Update for the past week . . .

Above is Kenny working on a platform - he's installing the soffit on the southside of the house. Below he's in the basket of a lift that we rented earlier this week - he's working on some trim and finishing up the sheeting at the corners.

Above, here's me cutting some of the metal soffit. Notice my new work overalls - lined and toasty warm!
Below, my new washing machine - the one in our rental house broke down, so we bought our new one. It's awesome!

Helpers, Helpers

Things are moving along now, thanks to help from a lot of people. This weekend, Kenny's Dad, brother, and friend Brian pitched in - working on the ductwork. Below, Kaden measures and marks for Mommy!

Above and below - progress on the ductwork.

Above - Brian and Kenny working on the ductwork. Below - the new garage doors were installed on Saturday. We haven't taken the protective plastic off yet, but you get the idea.

Tanks and Trim

Here's Kenny still working on the roof trim - getting the most out of our nice, but shorter fall days

Below is the underground propane tank.
Just before sunset: a view of the south side with the covered underground cistern on the left. Today a water truck came and put some water in to keep it from floating until we attach all of the fittings and backfill it.

More mud and Roofing

The new driveway base is down!

Above: the electric line and trench just before inspection.

Below: Kenny and I finished most of hte garage roofing. There's three pieces that we're waiting for and then a few trim pieces. .

Above: The electric trench where it meets the house. This is where the electric meter and panel will be.

Below: A view of the current state of our front yard.

Weekend Work Update

Above: A nice morning view of our east side shade trees. These trees on the south-east side help to keep the house cool in the summer. The kids are having fun playing in the mud.

Below: Kenny and his Dad begin working on the garage roofing.

Above: The rainwater catchment tank (cistern) was delivered on Friday morning. It's a 1700 gallon tank and will be installed undergrond to hold water for our toilet flushing, washing machine, and outdoor hose spigots.

Below: A quick sneak onto the neighbor's property gives us this peek at the new house roof. There's only one piece left to finish, but it's a cut piece so we need to get some electric shears to cut it. This is basically the view of the house from the road too, but eventually we'll fill in the lower part with some nice landscaping.

Sewer Line Passes Inspection

Here are a few more pics of the sewer line going in. The tap in went well and we passed the before and after inspection. The inspector asked if he could be included on our first tour. Anyway, then the sewer/water contractor spent the rest of the day filling the trench back in. He finished up about 6:30 pm - just before Kenny and crew finished the roof. Then of course it started raining, so he probably won't start digging for the water line or electric until next week or later, since it calls for rain all next week too. Augh!
Now don't try this at home folks . . .
This weekend we hope to finish up the house roof and continue with HVAC inside. If we're really lucky, we might get to the garage roof or the rest of the house roof trim????

A Day Made for Roofing

Today was a beautiful early fall day. It was just one of those perfect days - not too hot, not too windy, but a nice breeze, and a nice blue sky with a few white clouds. Kenny, his brother, and his Dad literally spent from sun up to sun down putting roofing on today. Rain is expected tonight and tomorrow (actually there's a thunderstorm going through right now), so they tried to get as much finished as possible. There's about 10 pieces left that need to be finished - hopefully if the rain clears out, we can get those down in the next few days. We still have the garage roof and some trim pieces to do, but you can see from the picture above that the standing seam metal roof really has a nice clean look to it.
I spent the day taking pictures and "getting stuff." Above you can see what was my view from the highest point on the house roof looking north to the Tealtown Baseball Fields. Our shed is in the lower right. Below is Kenny securing down a piece of roofing. Below you can see the Nutter boys. Kenny is farthest down, his Dad is in the middle, and his brother is closest. They really had a system going!
Below is a view looking up from the ground. Can a sky get any more blue? This is as they were working on the first few pieces on the east end.

All in all it was a very productive, but tiring day. Kenny's Dad loved the fact that he had both of his sons working with him and not once did any of them try to throw another off the roof! I've got some more pictures of the progress on the sewer line and excavation that I'll post tomorrow. It's almost 10pm so we're heading to bed for some well-deserved rest. Kenny's Dad and brother probably still have another hour before they get home, so if you know them, make sure you tell them they did a good job today!