Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Mud and paint

From the first delivery:
To today:
That's a whole lotta mud on these here walls. And it looks BEAUTIFUL!

We are getting close to painting. Guess We'd better figure out the colors, eh? The girls and I hit Sherwin Williams this morning and this is what we came up with.
The majority of the house will be a nice beigey color to contrast with the white trim. I know, not too bold, but I really don't like painting so I have to live with it for a loooong time.
This is what Amanda picked out:
And here's Hailey's choice:
And for their bathroom:
And for the throne room. Just the purple. And gold curtains. And a mirror, mirror on the wall...




Monday, December 30, 2013

Pissy McPoopyface

Since Tom is obviously cranky, I shall counteract him.  The appliances are in the house!  Ok, technically, they're in the garage, but at least they are on the property and that makes me very happy. :)


Sunday, December 29, 2013

Fine, I'll post.

Mike the heating guy came out, tried a part, no luck, took data and is consulting his up line. The problem appears to be a failed Pressure Expansion Valve. We rented a heater, again. I do love burning die$el. 

There. I posted. Good night. 

Update... with pictures!

Here are some updated pics. The fireplace has Durock now. It's ready for the stone. Or tile. Or paper mâché if that's what we can afford when the time comes...

The master bathroom:
The master's shower (this is all Tom's vision)
The master water closet:
The 'hall' into the master closet because apparently, you can't have an electrical panel in a closet anymore:



Garage doors!!!

Who has garage doors? This lucky girl does!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Is somebody in trouble?

Once again, I'm learning more than I wanted to know about stuff. I have done a detailed review of the heat pump, and am confident the controller, thermistor etc. are working fine. What I did however discover is that the IN/OUT ports of the ground loop are reversed. The problem that triggers the fault is due to a lack of heat transfer from the refrigerant coil to the water coil. I sure hope the unit is not damaged! Bad timing with Christmas, but at least nobody is here trying to work. 

Monday, December 23, 2013

Uh oh

So the heating system has been chugging along with the house getting progressively warmer. Tonight I come in, and pump is off and a red light is on. Get out the book, put it into diagnostic mode, and read a fault code for "FP1", defined as a thermistor being below a limit setting of unknown value. Whatever THAT means!
Time to figure it out!!! I was about to return the badass 2 heater we rented!
More soon....

Friday, December 20, 2013

Christmas

This is going to be the last Christmas tree in the mobile home. Next year will be in the new house!

First snow of the season this morning:

Amanda and Titan testing the ice on the pool. Lucky for them it held.

Having an early morning burn in the snow:


Thursday, December 19, 2013

I want to live here...

Sunrise from the master bedroom...

Living room with more mud:

Hall wall with central vacc outlet:

Den. This is their mixing station:

The kitchen:

Dining room coffered ceiling:

Downstairs hall with den in the distance:

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Mud

Just a couple quick pics of the first coat of mud going on. There's also another big rental heater in the living room to get the temperature up high enough to dry the mud. That is a topic Tom can extrapolate on. In depth. 
Craftroom (and Titan!)
Loft

Monday, December 16, 2013

Drywall update

Drywall has all been hung. Just the cement board in the girls' shower to go. Amanda and I got the remaining Sheetrock scrap out of the house but Tom had the truck so it's piled in the garage. :-/.  Tom guesstimated there would be 1 load of scrap. I figured on at least 2-3. I believe we will be at 5 loads when all is said and done.

The tapers have been hard at it. The corner bead should all be done today and they are starting the first coat of mud.  I'll get some pics tonight after they leave. I will be very happy when all the high work is done and the scaffolding can leave my living room!

Tom and Scott installed the attic ladder, also. It will be nice to have easy access to the storage area.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Another heating update

I'm gaining confidence as the system settles in. Manifolds are being fed about 85-90 degree water, causing me to think its time to begin working on the controls. The house is a comfortable mid-60's but it should be warmer still for curing of the mud that is being done now. A surprising thing I discovered today was the first domestic tank is up to 149 degrees! That's the bonus heat we get. That finding motivated me to hook up the re circulation pump for the hot water distribution, which caused both tanks to circulate together and thereby dropping the temp to tho 80's. I'm sure it will be back up to hot again tomorrow. 

Thursday, December 12, 2013

It's a beautiful way to start the day...

This makes all the trauma of installing those windows worth it. Sunrise this morning. :)

Drywall, Day 6

Drywall is basically all hung. Inspection has been requested for today. They still have the Durock to hang in the showers but I believe that's happening on Saturday. Our caterpillar is slowly turning into a butterfly.
Garage aftermath before clean up.
Kitchen.
View from kitchen. Nook area.

Living room viewed from kitchen.
Kitchen viewed from living room.
*sigh* my beautiful entryway.
Upstairs and hallway viewed from living room.
Dining room and entry 
Den

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Late

It's late, I'm tired. Sheetrock all but done. I had to take down a piece of cement board to get a vapor barrier behind it. We're a bit behind, and Jim has a bit of pickup still to do. 1800 pounds of rock gone to the dump and more to go. Should have rented a tote but too late now. 
2am enough for now...

Chugging Along

Manifolds 77. Floor low-to-mid 60's. supplemental heat blasting through the last ten gallons of fuel before we return it and the dehumidifier.  Freakin' cool to have the house sheet rocked and warm!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Drywall, Day 5

I can't speak highly enough of Jim and his crew. They have done such a great job of hanging our drywall. It's been a pleasure working with them! 
Loft area
Hailey's room
Hailey's room, different view
The kitchen!!!!
Dining room on left. Hall on right.

I can't believe we will get to live here...





Sunday, December 8, 2013

In the face of cold....

Heat!

I think the biggest issue was trying to commission a new system along with actually needing higher temps than typical right when we get a cold snap. But we are making good headway now, with manifold temps passing 70 and floor temps ranging from upper 50's to mid 60's. I know we have had a boost (rather a reduction of loss) from the drywall lid and the monstrous heater we've been feeding diesel to. Temps outside are rising now, and I'm hoping we can quit the heater after Monday night and let the geo system stand on its own. We are also running a dehumidifier, which is collecting ZERO water. I don't know if it's because we don't have enough heat or due to the low ambient humidity. I think it'll go back to Pilchuck Rentals also on Tuesday. 
Walking on water is easy if you know how!

Sunday. Day of rest???

I can't call it Drywall, Day 5 yet because they didn't work today. But Tom and the girls did while I was in Olympia doing a Christmas card class. I came home to the entire upstairs, living room and dining room being papered as the taper will be working in those areas next.
Upstairs Hall
Loft Area
Dining room
Living room