This week got off to a slow construction start, but we made some good progress over the weekend. The electrical is oh so close to being done. We also put together a list of “to do before inspections” and “to do before drywall”. The list is still a bit daunting but at least we know what needs to happen.
1. After the craziness of the last few weeks, we took a couple of nights to get reorganized.
Sadly, the garage did not get the same attention.
2. Kyle finished the wiring for all six(!) smoke/CO detectors.
To avoid a deep electrical box, we used 1/2″ pancake boxes for areas where we had existing ceilings. For the bedroom, it worked like a charm and the drywall was very cooperative.
For the old plaster in the 2nd bedroom, it was a different story. Fortunately, we’ll be covering this ceiling with 1/2″ drywall (this is the only plaster we couldn’t demo since there’s a large pile of attic insulation on top).
3. We also finished the wiring in the loft! Since we think this will make a great sleeping nook for overnight guests, we gave a lot of thought to the sequence of lighting to ensure that the no one would have to go up or down the ladder in the dark. So we installed two switches at the top of the ladder – one that is wired to a switchable outlet on the opposite side of the room and one for a light above the ladder. We also ran cat 5 and co-ax cable to the middle of the gable wall, with the idea that the space might make a sweet little office too.
4. For the living room lighting, we’re doing two runs of low voltage cable lighting. The install for this was not exactly fun and involved running non-metallic conduit from the basement up through the living room walls and out between the exposed joists. Kyle then fabricated a custom blocking assembly to accept the special 2″ j-boxes.
The two remote transformers (one for each run) were then installed in the basement laundry room and a couple runs of armored cable wired them to a nearby junction box. Ugh. These lights better be awesome. Just sayin.
5. We’re still plugging away (pun intended there) on the structured media panel. Kyle finished the cat 5 and co-ax cable portion today, but we still need to install the gigabit switch and wireless router. Yeah. Yeah!
6. We continue to neglect our yard. However, this time we have pretty yellow flower weeds!
7. Depressed from the realization that he would not be going camping again, Bailey slept most of the weekend. Thanks a lot Bails…you’re a real help.
So that’s what’s going on over here. We’re also continuing our investigation of different furniture potentials, designing an affordable but semi custom stairway storage unit and redesigning the layout of the basement.
There’s really no “off” switch, y’know?