Month: August 2026 (Page 2 of 2)

So disaster struck. We failed the plumbing inspection on Monday afternoon. It turns out that the range is not approved for use in Massachusetts. Anyway, here is what the range looks like now.

Massachusetts has an long list of approved plumbing and gas fixtures and appliances. We knew about this because we had to avoid using some plumbing fixtures that were not on the list. But when you by a range from a Massachusetts Lowes, you expect to be able to install that range in Massachusetts. Well, it turns out that nothing from the Kucht brand is on the approved list. So we had to remove the range.

After scrambling a lot, we finally found a Daphne acceptable range that we can pick up from the warehouse on Thursday morning, install before noon, and get inspected at 1pm on Thursday. That may cause the occupancy permit to slip until next Monday (which would be fine) or next Tuesday (which may be a problem).

Meanwhile, I now have to fight with Lowes, who sold me an unusable range. They said it could not be returned unless I get the manufacturer involved, which I am working on.

This is crunch week, where we try to get everything finished and inspected so that we have an occupancy permit by end of week (Monday at the latest).

The good news is that they finished installing the luxury vinyl tile flooring on the main level. We had to get the crew to work both weekend days, but it was all finished by around 4pm on Sunday. Here is a video of the process. The start of this video is the installation of the splash guard in the kitchen, which was over a week ago. Then you see the flooring get installed in the living room, kitchen and master closet.

And here is the living room after the flooring has been installed. We have turned on all the lights so you can get the full effect. It looks like Daphne’s calculations for lighting strength was good enough to illuminate the room.

This morning they installed the kitchen range, which is propane. This is our only non-electric appliance. In this picture I opened the cabinet above the range so you can see the exhaust fan as well.

As we were leaving, they were setting up for the HERS testing. This involves installing a giant blower over the front door and measuring air leakage. We did not stay for the test, but I have this picture of the front door getting set up.

Plumbing inspection is today at 1pm. We did not install the water softener yet, and will hold off until we can get most of the outside spigots switched to use pre-softened water. But that can happen after inspection and even after we move in.

Also at the house today were the construction team installing the baseboards, and the electrician finishing up the electrical system for an inspection in a few days and the painter doing touch up. I will probably visit the house every day this week, so there will be a lot of posts.

We went over to the house mid-morning. They looks to be about 70% done with the flooring, although they have some tighter spaces left to go, which will take longer.

Here is the finished game room floor.

We bribed the team yesterday with some real Turkish Delights that my daughter picked up in Istanbul. Then, the builder picked up pizza for the crew to keep them working later. It seems to have worked and it looks like the flooring will be done in time.

Once the flooring is in place, they will add the baseboards which are currently painted and ready to be installed.

We are now in the home stretch. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the wrong flooring was initially delivered, so we had to rush a new shipment of the correct flooring. The correct flooring arrived yesterday and today they started installation.

Here are two pictures of partial flooring. The first is the game room and the second is the living room. They are being done together since there is a door between the two rooms so the flooring extends across both rooms.

I also have a short video showing the process of installing this type of floor.

So what’s with this post’s title, you may ask. Well, next Monday we want to do the plumbing inspection. Everything is in place for that inspection (I have a few pictures below) except for the toilet in the guest half-bath. That toilet can not be installed until the flooring is installed in the guest half-bath. So while the flooring does not have to be finished by Monday morning, it must reach as far as the guest half-bath so the toilet can be installed for inspection.

Speaking of plumbing, here are some pictures. First is the master bathroom shower, and you can see the toilet on the right side.

Here is the second floor bathroom shower.

And here is the laundry room.

Outside, they have done the first layer of paving of the driveway. There will be a second layer added later.

Daphne spent a few hours this morning installing plants in the back yard. Here are two sections of the yard.

Also in the house this weekend were the painters and the window washers.

Speaking of plumbing, we have hit a snag. The Concord water is very hard so we are going to install a water softener (which is not needed for the inspection). But now we realize that softened water is very bad for the plants. So we will need to redo some of the pipes so that the exterior faucets will not go through the water softener. This work will have to be done after inspection.