Plateau Becoming The Great Plains?

TUESDAY'S CREW tore it up for me!
A huge shout to (back L-R) Kevin & Becky R., Ashley & Tyson W., Cody T., (front ) Ken and Jill V., Elizabeth P. (not pictured Matt & Laurie W.)!

Saturday
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Today was a good but tough day. I only had my sister Mary until 11:00 and then Jane M. help with the house. Today was also the intrastate rivalry of football - Iowa Hawkeye vs. Iowa State Cyclones, which I'm sure had some influence on attendance as well as the weather was perfect for folks to be starting their own yard winterizing. While it started out chilly (43) it warmed up nicely to be a great day (around the mid 50s I think). We had fantastic food once again (chilly that absolutely hit the spot!) unfortunately it was just the three of us that ate it.

As we were eating we discussed how the inspection of the electrical finally got approved yesterday and how that hopefully will move the project forward. Then I reminisced about the movie called "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks about this house he bought with Shelley Long that ended up falling apart and then needed a contractor to fix everything. The master stairway fell as Tom was bringing up the stove-heated pot of water for his bath on the second floor. After risking life and limb to get up the stairs, he pours the water into the tub and as the last drop spills from the pot, the whole tub falls through the floor, etc., etc. The story being related to me not because of the pitfalls, but because every time something new would happen and they'd ask how long until things would be fixed, the contractor would always reply "ohhh, two weeks. (smile)" I can totally relate to that. It seems as though I've been saying we're THIS close to hanging drywall and that it'll start in TWO WEEKS. Inevitably there is something that pops up that requires two-three more days of work that needs to happen before I can get the inspectors in. Then they come back with a list of things to do that takes 3-4 days, etc. As Cheryl E. had mentioned at lunch today, 'sometimes you hit a plateau." "Yeah," I say, "but it sometimes seems this plateau is turning into the Great Plains." We all kind of chuckle, but then not. Just gotta hope that things continue to go well and the weather remains good so that we can continue to work every night and keep pushing as best we can.

Today Mary came back to finish the furring of all of the studs on the third floor. That is now complete so I can officially begin installing insulation on the 3rd floor. That's major progress because that allows me to get ahead a little so that when the final plumbing rough-in (RI) inspection is done, then a group can start hanging drywall right behind that while others continue installing insulation. It keeps things staggered so that progress can be made.

Speaking of the plumbing inspection, the plumber came over Friday and installed 2/3 of a new cast iron main drain and some other items. After doing his work he gave me a call and said he'd stop by today. Stop by he did, unfortunately it was to deliver his own little list of todos that I need to complete before having an inspection this Friday. The good news is that the plumbing inspector seems to be a bit more relaxed than the electrical, but still has a number of small things that need attention. although I was feeling good about my progress, I got another list of must-dos that Jane and I only started into today by framing out the cast iron pipe in the basement and also connecting the 2nd floor existing bath/shower drain pipe to it. That may sound simple, but it took us all afternoon to get the correct fall and cutouts in the studs. We accomplished quite a bit today even though the group was small in numbers.

I will now spend the remainder of this week getting that to do list done before Friday.

Tuesday
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Skipping to Tuesday evening, I've just finished working with another small group from church that volunteered for work that more than made up for the shortage on Saturday. As it turns out, having the extra day or two helped me to be better prepared for tonight's group to get most of the aforementioned plumbing todo list completed. HA! The Lord truly knows what he's doing and I need to relax and trust Him. It's a blessing that the group came tonight instead of Saturday as we finished more than 3/4 of the plumbing list as well as started a few other projects in the basement like some additional wiring, boxing in the heat ducts and running water lines for the outside spigots. Had I not had the additional time, I would not have had the materials needed to do the work and the Lord knew that. I just need to relax.

It just gets a bit trying some times because I'm getting a bit anxious by not being a long term routine. I so badly would love to be in a house that feels like home, that I can walk in and throw down the work bag, hug Ellie and start in on making dinner and relaxing for the evening with her by playing 'food' or reading books. I know it's just around the corner, but it on days like Saturday, it feels like a millennium away. Having fantastic friends and family have once again shown me that I need to trust the Lord and that he always provides in time of need.

Speaking of need, I could REALLY use 20-25 people this and next weekend for sure to start the insulation and hanging of drywall! If you haven't gotten Matt's email asking for volunteers this weekend, please try to fit me into your schedule as I've finally gotten to the edge of the plateau and I feel like I'm starting to climbing again.

Because I can't just let one of the (if not THE) biggest cheaters in our time go into the HOF without some sort of message - click here..

Those Darned Inspectors

This weekend was another great weekend of getting things checked off the to do list, the unfortunate thing was that the list continued to grow half way through the day!
I had a crew of my two sisters, my brother, Shana D, Amy T and Matt B. that really put their shoulders into the work and got quite a bit done. Before I get into the weekend's work though I want to mention the help that showed up during the week.

On Wednesday night, my good friend Mike M. and his two younger brothers, Andrew and Nathan, along with Brittany V, can over and we installed 80% of the backyard irrigation system in about 3 hours. We actually worked so late we ran out of daylight and couldn't get it all completed. They taught me how to set the heads and install the junctions so that I could complete the sprinkler heads and such and they didn't need to be there to help. I'm excited about the idea of having grass back there instead of dirt or a forest. We're making progress.

Then Thursday night Ron V just showed up and wanted to help. So he pulled electrical lines for the basement that hadn't been completed. It was a tedious but very-needed job that made inspections go well (we'll get to that later though). Then on Friday, Russ V. was in town and he and I took the evening to install a few more sprinkler heads and plumbing joints. It had rained about 2 1/2" of rain the night before and needless to say it was messy. I had a great time though with Russ doing hard, physical labor that a couple of times left us laughing as well as grunting though the bog.

On to Saturday's work day. I had all the supplies and was ready to rock and roll as folks strolled in. My brother was first and we immediately started in on the the LAST vent through the roof for the 2nd plumbing system! It was a glorious moment I tell you to be done with the drain lines that started over 2 1/2 months ago when we broke the concrete in the basement and put in a new connection into the main stack. (Truth be told though, the plumber has a few things to finish like replacing part of the cast iron stack and making a connection that we added for the existing bathroom - but that's on HIS list of to do ;-) There are still a few things on the wet lines to complete this week and I can have the plumbing inspection - yahoo! After that inspection is complete it's just the heating and cooling - which I just heard from the installers will be completed this week as well.

So we finished that, put my sisters and Shana to work furring out the third floor ceiling so that there is more room for insulation (poor Shana). ;-) Actually my sisters worked well together and got a huge amount done with only one small dormer left to complete, so it's waiting for them.

About half way through the day (lunch time and I was really hungry by then) I received a call from the electrician that he had finally heard from the inspector. It was an 'okay' inspection'. There were about 12-15 things that needed to be changed/fixed before he'd allow us to move forward. CRAP! So the work day schedule just got rearranged. That list had officially become the Bible for the next three days so that we can get a final approval. The electrician had said he was also going to come up on Tuesday evening and work on the larger, more technical items like wiring the larger appliances, rewiring the dining room, etc. So we went to work on things like hanging new boxes for the bedroom ceiling fans, running new wires for a few missing outlets, adding safety clips in can lights and fart fans and a host of other like items. Needless to say it ate up the rest of the day. It was good to hear from the inspector, but a bit deflating that the list was so long.

On Tuesday Jeff the electrician was up from Pella and worked the afternoon doing his big jobs on the list. I honestly cannot begin to thank him enough for all that he has done on this house. He has really made the very technical aspect of replacing all of the wiring in my house very simple for me. I never realized the extent of the complexity of wires it takes to power today's average home could be so great. It has made me appreciate even the simplest thing like a wired door bell that needs to be thought through from the beginning so that it's in the right place and done correctly.

Then on Thursday Brittany came up from Pella one last time to help me before she heads off to Spain to study for the semester. We spent the evening running a few wires but mostly re-wiring all of the can lights in the basement and kitchen since they were made up incorrectly. A huge pain to do and it made us miss out on Dairy Queen that I had promised Brit because it took us past 9:30 to finish everything. SO Brit I owe you a huge Ice Cream Sandwich when you get back because that final push made the inspection on Friday possible.

Which brings us to the inspection #2 on Friday. WE HAVE THE ELECTRICAL APPROVED (except the basement and the stinking ceiling fan boxes)!! YAHOO!! YIPPEE! That means only the plumbing and the heating and cooling are left before insulation can go in! Man we are SO close! If you think about, please say a quick prayer that these final two utilities are completed this week so that we can move on to the next major stage this coming weekend.

Thank you all who have helped get the electrical to the stage of completion. I can't wait to turn on the lights with a switch so we don't have to continue the 'drop light musical chairs' every night as we work. The day light is getting shorter and the approval of electrical is a major step.

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.