Week 5--April 30

Week 5 April 30-May 4 The biggest item for the fifth week was preparation for the first inspection. There was also a pile of other things done. We got our new bathroom windows. And a lock on the door (in case the raccoon came back when we weren't home?). Also, the hole for the new stairs was started from the top down. I joked that what they were going to do was cut the joists and let the whole mess fall onto the existing stairs and get all over the second and first floors. Fortunately they cleaned out the hole. This was the mess that came out... Two bags worth! They also started the closet. This has been a design issue since the architect put it in. The roof is sloped, so how do you get two full-sized doors in there? The contractor talked to us and put in only one. Now, there is a lot of space you can't get to. The Lady Of The Manor wasn't pleased and wanted to talk to him. She hung around the next morning as long as she could, but then had to go to work. Of course, as she disappeared around the corner he showed up! I laughed and said to him, "You just KNEW the Boss was looking for you didn't you?" He made sure he saw her during the day and we will show you the eventual solution as it goes in. The brick layers came back and reinforced the old bathroom window hole (compare to the bedroom window beside it). Also note that there is now an outlet for the bathroom exhaust fan. That apparently has been venting humid air into the roof for some time! The space that they opened up is now taken up with: hot and cold water pipers, the sewage discharge, wire for the electricity for the room, wire for the heat pump that's going up there, phone, ethernet and coax. Whew. He is the very model of a modern Inspector General. (apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan) The inspector came as scheduled. The first item was that he wasn't even going up to the roof until there was a railing! The contractor said, "Give me 10 minutes!" He was given access to all the plumbing... And they rigged up a way to run water into the drain as a test. Apparently there were some questions about the front structure (to be resolved), the bath drain and the insulation over the pot lights. I feel better about the last bit. Once I saw the vapour barrier around the pot light boxes, I asked if we'd made a mistake going that route since it looked like there could be a lot of heat loss around them. The inspector asked that half the roof insulation value be above the lights. Here is the solution. The next day, the rest of the insulation arrived... ...and they began to put it in place.

Week 5
April 30-May 4

The biggest item for the fifth week was preparation for the first inspection. There was also a pile of other things done.

We got our new bathroom windows.

And a lock on the door (in case the raccoon came back when we weren't home?).

Also, the hole for the new stairs was started from the top down. I joked that what they were going to do was cut the joists and let the whole mess fall onto the existing stairs and get all over the second and first floors.

Fortunately they cleaned out the hole.

This was the mess that came out...

Two bags worth!

They also started the closet. This has been a design issue since the architect put it in. The roof is sloped, so how do you get two full-sized doors in there? The contractor talked to us and put in only one. Now, there is a lot of space you can't get to. The Lady Of The Manor wasn't pleased and wanted to talk to him. She hung around the next morning as long as she could, but then had to go to work. Of course, as she disappeared around the corner he showed up! I laughed and said to him, "You just KNEW the Boss was looking for you didn't you?" He made sure he saw her during the day and we will show you the eventual solution as it goes in.

The brick layers came back and reinforced the old bathroom window hole (compare to the bedroom window beside it). Also note that there is now an outlet for the bathroom exhaust fan. That apparently has been venting humid air into the roof for some time!

The space that they opened up is now taken up with: hot and cold water pipers, the sewage discharge, wire for the electricity for the room, wire for the heat pump that's going up there, phone, ethernet and coax. Whew.

He is the very model of a modern Inspector General. (apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan)
The inspector came as scheduled. The first item was that he wasn't even going up to the roof until there was a railing! The contractor said, "Give me 10 minutes!"

He was given access to all the plumbing...

And they rigged up a way to run water into the drain as a test.

Apparently there were some questions about the front structure (to be resolved), the bath drain and the insulation over the pot lights. I feel better about the last bit. Once I saw the vapour barrier around the pot light boxes, I asked if we'd made a mistake going that route since it looked like there could be a lot of heat loss around them.

The inspector asked that half the roof insulation value be above the lights. Here is the solution.

The next day, the rest of the insulation arrived...

...and they began to put it in place.