New Windows, Failed Inspection

Much to report today. I’ve been kind of busy with work and haven’t kept up. The biggest news is that we have windows! Yippee! Of course, such great news must come with a caveat, and this time the caveat is that the ‘grills’ in the sunroom are of 2 different heights. The grills are inserts between the panels of glass that divide the light and 3 of the windows have grills that are 2 inches shorter than the other 3. The dealer promised us 3 new windows within 3 weeks, but said we could install the wrong windows until the news ones arrive. But, despite this problem, it’s great to have windows!



The other news is that I failed the insulation inspection. The inspector said he wants all gaps in the floor caused by plumbing or electrical to be filled with insulation. The idea is to provide a fire break and reduce the spread of fire, in the event that fire breaks out on the first floor. Along this theme, he also discovered that there were some missing fire breaks in the framing of the stairs. The builder said he would fix this.
So, what remains is getting the insulation inspection, some drywall, the porches framed, and then the siding. Not too bad.

Lazy

Not too much to report. I’ve been kind of lazy lately and I’ve let a few things slide. I did manage to get the foil insulation over the Kraft paper in the ‘dead space’ above the 2nd floor hallway. It wasn’t too hard and it actually looks better than the partially torn up paper. I also pulled the TV cable and phone wires into place. I still need to get the rigid insulation in the place where the dining room window was. This probably will have no effect on the overall R rating of the house, but I still feel I need to put something there. I’ve also been thinking about maybe putting more ‘reflective’ foil insulation in the dead space above the front porch against the west side of the upstairs. I’m afraid that this area above the porches will get hot and might radiate into the house, especially the west side. But, I’m not sure if it’s worth the effort.
I still need to file that addendum to the plans and schedule an inspection of the insulation.

Vacation to Italy

Well, here it is March already and things have pretty much screeched to a halt. No windows, no drywall, no porches, and no changes anytime soon. The general contractor, Dave, is going to be on vacation in Italy for the next two weeks, which means nothing will get done is his absence. For some reason, the delivery of the windows won’t happen until Wednesday of this week, although they were scheduled for Monday. This means, although the windows should have gone in before Dave left, they won’t go in until after he gets back. Frustrating. I have asked (practically begged) that he get the 9” ductwork for the kitchen exhaust put in before he leaves so that I can finish up the insulation and get it inspected. At least I’ll have SOME sense of accomplishment.
Getting the insulation inspected reminds me that I need to walk the plans addendum to the city. The addendum excludes the requirement that we put plywood where the basement door to the backyard is. Originally the architect had planned to remove that door and replace it with plywood, which would ‘strengthen’ that portion of the exterior. However, after building began, I decided that I would like to keep that door. It makes it a lot easier to move things from the basement to the outside and the glass portion of the door helps give the stairs some much needed natural light. Apparently the engineer doesn’t have a problem with that, but the city does have a problem, until we can get the addendum filed. I will need to get this done before Dave gets back from vacation.