Labor Day Welcome

I try to fit in plumbing into a tight space

Well the Labor Day 'break' has come and gone and we're still pushing forward but there seems to be somewhat of an excitement building for me. I have been talking for the past few weeks that we were hoping to start the drywall in a few short weeks, but there inevitably would be more things that would pop up that had to be completed before we could move to the inspections - which is what really determines when insulation and drywall can begin. This weekend (and again last night) myself and a crew of folks really accomplished a lot to get ready for the inspections on Thursday and Friday of this week.

I was sitting in the very comfortable plastic decks chairs last night after working a few hours with Jane M and Brittany V and they couldn't even remember what we had done on Saturday because things are starting to blend together even in their minds. To which I replied, installed 90% of the wet lines for plumbing, poured the slab of concrete for the heat pumps (AC units), Sean graded the yard and we made a ton of space available in the garage for storage of building materials yet to come - oh and Ron V. installed the drop ceiling in the washer/dryer room on the second floor on Labor Day since he had some time. Then last night we finished installing the copper adapter stubs for the sink and toilet shutoffs and pulled the wires for the AC units and placed the shutoff boxes near the cement slab for the AC installer to place when he's ready. Crazy amount of work when I list it like that. Oh and Brit also re-installed for the 2nd time the can light over the crapper in the master bath. The list just keeps on growing. AND I spoke with my childhood friend for a half an hour last night about the installation of the irrigation lines that we'll hopefully put in tonight barring any major catastrophes at his work that he'd have to deal with first. So it's been a very good couple of days. Hopefully I'll be able to keep pushing on some of the little details so that the inspections go off without a hitch. the plumbing still worries me a bit because the showers aren't completely made up yet and it's a bit iffy that the inspector will let things pass. Time will tell I suppose.

Shana D crimps fittings/Jane M installs water lines

The mess that is plumbing/Brit installs a hot water line

Brit installs the drain box for the washer/Concrete mixing on patio

Kirby does some 'heavy lifting'/ Sarah & Ron mix up some magic

Sean grades the back yard before irrigation


This past weekend Ellie and I were invited to a neighborhood party in the new neighborhood and were the guests of honor. A pretty cool thing and made a great impression. 'Little' things like this keep reaffirming me that this was the correct decision. We met probably 25-30 adults and 10 or so kids in the couple of blocks that surround us. It was great to put some names to the faces that I've seen mowing yards and out walking past the house. There are quite a few folks that walk in the evenings and most walk past the house to 'check' out the progress. All wondering what's really going on inside the brick walls, so I gave everyone a walk through tour. Some had been through before and some hadn't but all were excited to see the progress. Many times I heard the old phrase "a diamond in the rough" come up in conversation. While that's probably true, I definitely know how much rough this diamond was in and greatly appreciate the help I've had in polishing it up! It was a great welcome to the neighborhood and I hope to have everyone over at my place next year for the Labor Day picnic to give another walk through that hopefully will feature walls and finished rooms.

Have a great week everyone and I hope to see you all at the house soon.