Project Diary, continued
(click on small images to see larger versions)

May 2-9: Roof trusses were installed atop the second floor panels, and the roof is sheathed and covered with building paper - making it nearly weather-tight.

May 22: Roof shingles for the new garage/office were delivered, and the next day the roofing subcontractor's crew completes the roof installation in one day.

 May 31: The siding is nearing completion on three sides of the garage/office; most windows have been installed, and the interior partition walls and the stairway have been framed.

June 1: Insulation in the addition has been installed and inspected, and blocking for the bathroom fixtures has been added before the drywall is hung.

June 14: The electricians have dug the trench that will carry power and telecom wiring from the house to the garage and laid the pipes which will hold the wires. The power and telecom pipes are kept two feet apart to minimize interference. Drywall has also been hung and taped in the addition, and covered with a coat of primer.

June 18: As part of the effort to fix old problems uncovered during construction, the contractors dug a trench around the foundation of the existing house addition. They later installed rigid insulation up against the shallow footings (and insulated the above ground foundation wall from the inside), a solution designed by Studio Z and accepted by the city authorities as protection against frost heaving.

June 25-26: Drywall for the garage/office was delivered, and rough electrical work on the office interior has started.

July 9: Rough electrical work has been finished, including running wiring through pre-molded channels in the structural panels to outlet box locations. (Lesson learned: when using SIPs for construction, it is easier to run wiring when the panels are being assembled than after they are in place.) Conduits were also added to bring telecom wiring, which will connect to the main house, into the future "server closet" in the office space.

July 13: Siding is nearly finished on the garage/office and the addition, and construction has begun on the small deck attached to the addition. The underground wiring conduits have been hooked up at the garage, and the meter box and new electric mast are ready for connection by the electric utility to bring power to the garage for the first time.
     Drywall is up and taped in the garage, and the floor tiles have been installed in the addition.

July 23: The project manager tells the startled homeowners that he's discovered a huge nest of carpenter ants in the main house; the nest was uncovered while removing the roof overhang of the old, existing addition to the main house. The ants are dispatched with boric acid powder (as recommended by the county agricultural extension office), and the carpenters replace the damaged wood.
     Problems left by the ants are less serious, in the carpenters' view, than those left by the mid-century workmen who failed to center the second floor of the old addition above the first.

August 13: Painters have been working on the exteriors of the addition and garage and have nearly completed work on the interior of the garage/office. In addition, the local electric utility has made the service connection at the garage with a "mid-span" attachment to their power mains -- this will eventually service both buildings.

August 24: The electricians have returned to connect the buried conduits to the main house, and to pull the wiring through those conduits which will bring electric, telephone, cable TV, and computer network services to the house from the garage/office. Once the wiring is prepared, they disconnect the old electric service (and meter) from the house and hook the existing panel in the house to the buried line coming from the new main panel at the garage.

August 29: The new cedar deck off the back door of the addition has been finished.

September 12-14: Landscapers have come to install the "hardscape:" a new patio (made of tumbled concrete pavers) and walkways built with bluestone slabs cut on site. They also perform final site grading, restore the back lawn, and set in new plantings and trees along the driveway.

September 20: One more visit from the cement mixers. The driveway contractor prepares for the new drive and pours the cement in one short day. They are careful to pitch the drive so water drains away from the garage and from the house.

early October: Once the (much-delayed) garage door arrives, and final touches are added, the project is finally compete.

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