Wednesday, August 25, 2010
$1 gas bill
We know. MORE PICTURES! But first we have to report on our 3rd energy bill since moving in. . . and more or less fully using appliances and fixtures. Sure, it's summer in NC. And one of the hottest on record. But last year, where we used ~$30 in natural gas for hot water and cooking. this past month, we used $1. It was so low, that our utility company imposed a $10 service/recovery fee. Of course, we'll report back in January, when the gas furnace will be in service.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Wow. What happened to our blog
A bunch of posts were suddenly added late and out of sequence. Hmmm. Well, let's just say, we are much further along than the top pictures show. We've been living in the house since ~June 5th. A lot to catch up on, so hopefully we can post some more recent pics soon.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Slight progress
It has been a slow week, but at least the siding is up!
Having the doormat placed back where it belongs makes the house look welcoming, even if the entire interior is still a maze of framing and wiring -
The light at the end of the tunnel?
Having the doormat placed back where it belongs makes the house look welcoming, even if the entire interior is still a maze of framing and wiring -
The light at the end of the tunnel?
Monday, March 8, 2010
Up goes the siding
Finally! We didn't even ask for it, but they started on the east side of the house. Which is good, because we were getting kinda tired of seeing the big black (tar-paper) box as we came over the high-rise bridge. Exterior color? We're taking suggestions! Grey? Kai picked yellow (no surprise there). Together they figured on blue-black-purple to match their stuffed snakes.
Our own first major contribution (to construction)
Distributed cableTV= of course.
Network ports throughout the house = why not.
Prewire for whole house audio = might as well.
So it started this past weekend, thanks to Brian Thomas of CopperDrop (thanks to John LoPicollo for setting me up with him). 100ft of home theater cables, 500 ft. of 2+2 wire bundle (the green stuff below = 2 cable + 2 cat5 for data/phone). 1000 ft. of cat5 for audio control and 1000 ft. of speaker wire (or more, still need to do the second floor). Good thing we have a real crawl space! And praises to the guy who invented auger bits, probably a relative of the inventor of the sawsall. But a wireless drill - even a 19.2volt - can handle about 5 joists before a recharge. And the batteries don't charge in that time. But probably just as well. . . the shoulders and elbows can only handle some much torque at a time.
The cable, phone and internet will be distributed from a panel in the closet under the stairs (green cable in the first pic below). The whole-house audio will be handled from the same cabinet that will hold the home theater in the living room (1/4 way there in the second pic below). Oh, and i waited for the electrician to do most of his stuff on the first floor (third pic below) so I wouldn't get in his way.
Network ports throughout the house = why not.
Prewire for whole house audio = might as well.
So it started this past weekend, thanks to Brian Thomas of CopperDrop (thanks to John LoPicollo for setting me up with him). 100ft of home theater cables, 500 ft. of 2+2 wire bundle (the green stuff below = 2 cable + 2 cat5 for data/phone). 1000 ft. of cat5 for audio control and 1000 ft. of speaker wire (or more, still need to do the second floor). Good thing we have a real crawl space! And praises to the guy who invented auger bits, probably a relative of the inventor of the sawsall. But a wireless drill - even a 19.2volt - can handle about 5 joists before a recharge. And the batteries don't charge in that time. But probably just as well. . . the shoulders and elbows can only handle some much torque at a time.
The cable, phone and internet will be distributed from a panel in the closet under the stairs (green cable in the first pic below). The whole-house audio will be handled from the same cabinet that will hold the home theater in the living room (1/4 way there in the second pic below). Oh, and i waited for the electrician to do most of his stuff on the first floor (third pic below) so I wouldn't get in his way.
Railings and trim
And then Chris headed out of town (again). . . lots of progress again. Railings on the porches and the first of the trim around the window. We decided to not have j-channels around the windows (built in trim) so that we could have more authentic looking trim and window sills. So we originally decided on cedar for longevity (and because that solid trim - azek and other pvc pvc trim is bloody expensive!). But the cedar didn't come in 2x stock. . . so treated for the sills. So why didn't we use treated throughout? Similarly, the band between the first and second story - pvc=$$ per linear foot, cedar=$ per linear foot, pine wrapped with aluminum = $.5, treated = affordable. Hindsight wins again.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Okay, it's been a while (again). . .
Most folks down here (and in the rest of the country) have heard that we had some snow. Chris was out on Hatteras Island when it started and drove back through it on a Saturday morning. So Larisa, the boys and Peter headed over to the house to check it out (figuring a picture of snow on the house during construction would be a 1-time deal).
Most folks down here (and in the rest of the country) have heard that we had some snow. Chris was out on Hatteras Island when it started and drove back through it on a Saturday morning. So Larisa, the boys and Peter headed over to the house to check it out (figuring a picture of snow on the house during construction would be a 1-time deal).
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