The trench which includes the electrical cables in numerous conduits has been filled in. Here are two views, one from the road and one from in front of the garage.
Outside, they are priming the deck supports. Then they will add a fireproofing coating.
Speaking of deck supports, the stairs from the back yard up to the deck have now been framed (just in time to be primed and fireproofed).
The builder has installed a sample of the gutters. It is mounted on a little block, which will eventually be painted black to match the trim.
Inside, we had a meeting with the HVAC installers. We want to install the air handling units (basically everything with a fan) as far away from places where Daphne will hang out as possible. But they also need to be able to be connected to the ducts and to be serviceable. We think we came up with a location, which includes splitting the utility room into two separate rooms – one for electrical and water (yes, I know that those don’t mix), and one for air handling (HVAC, ERV air exchanger, make-up air and dehumidifier).
Here is the group having that discussion, with a proposed location for the ERV in cardboard and actual air handlers. What impressed me the most was that the HVAC installer can route all the ducts to all the equipment in his head when figuring out what locations would work.
And here is the plan we worked out.
No electricians on site today. But the builder has completed the insulation and sealing behind where the electrical panels will go. You can see it in this picture showing the wall behind the electrical panels.
The siding gets delivered later today. Next week they will start doing the siding, starting with the north side of the garage (as practice). Once the siding is done on the north side of the garage, they can install the propane tanks, which will be used to heat the house during the winter, during the construction. (This is only temporary – final heating system is electrical air-based heat pumps with forced air ducts.)
The siding is expected to take 6-8 weeks to finish and will be done by the same crew that did the framing. Meanwhile, work continues inside the house.
We met with the tile installer today and made a decision to use a porcelain ceiling in the master shower, matching the sides. We were going to have just a plaster ceiling, but using porcelain will keep the mold down (but probably add a few thousand dollars to the cost, sigh). We also decided that the quoted price for a fixed metal awning over the living room windows was much higher than we were willing to pay so we are going back to the drawing board to see if a constructed wood awning would be less expensive.
