FIRE!!!

...in the fireplace. Yep, the fireplace is now hooked up and working. The outside air kit (draws air for the fireplace from outside the house instead of taking the nice warm air from inside) still needs to be ducted but for now it doesn't make a difference. Its going to be a little tricky to run the duct so for now I'm putting it off. It has to go down through the floor into the garage, along an inside wall, drop down out of the joist space, turn ninety degrees run for another 10 feet before going out the wall under the deck. I figure the ducting is just going to get in the way for now so I'm waiting till later to finish it.

I also got 3 of the upstairs bedroom windows in. I'm leaving 1 out to make it easy to get onto the roof.

Last Friday I went out and rented scaffolding. I then spent Saturday putting it up (and taking it down) on the garage end of the house and putting up the house wrap. I was also going to put in the 3 small windows the dining room. Unfortunately when I held the window up I realize that they had switched the dimensions and I had tall narrow widows (1'x2') for long short holes (2'x1'). For those of you that don't know anything about windows, they come with weep holes on the bottom edge to let any moisture out from inside. If I had used them they would have had weep holes on the side. I went down yesterday and they are replacing them for free sense it was their mistake. I'm keeping the wrong ones and going to use them in the garage which has no windows in it.

Sunday I had a few friends over to help me sort through the scrap pile the framers left. It had everything in it, plywood, OSB, dimensional lumber, garbage, etc. With the help of Steve, Mike J, Mike W, and Tammy (thanks guys!) we got it all sorted into piles and away from the house. Now I can easily get around the house instead of tripping over a pile of boards with nails sticking out. We also installed the last of the sliding doors. Now I just have to wait for Milgard to come out and glaze them (put the glass in).

This weeks mission is to get the great room windows in, the back side of the house wrapped, and install the two windows in the master bedroom. Then I can jump back to plumbing..

Roof over my head

The roofer finally finished the roofing last week. It looks great. I had him install a bunch of tie offs on the peaks so I can clip my safety line on when I have to get up there. Climbing up consists of getting onto the lower roof, either with a ladder or through one of the upstairs bedrooms, then putting a ladder from the lower peak to the higher peak. I had the tie offs installed so I can tie the ladder down to the roof and then clip my safety line on the upper roof before getting off the ladder.

I've taken a break from the plumbing to start installing windows. It should be a lot more pleasant to do plumbing without the wind blowing through the house. I started with the smallest one in the master bath, then moved onto the entry and powder room windows, and then onto the basement. The hardest part is putting the building wrap on as it seems to be windy every day. Steve came over on Sunday and helped me put the dining room slider in. Because its such a large door Milgard has to come out and put the glass in once all the sliders are in place.

Today (Monday) the fireplace company called to let me know that they would be out to install the fireplace. Before I could get back to the house the sales person called back to ask if I was going to be there. It seems they only sent 1 installer out. As the fireplace weighs in at 350 lbs he was going to need a little help getting in. I went home and we used the loader to lift it up onto the deck, then wheeled into the house. Having lived most my life with a large fireplace in the living room this one seems tiny by comparison (it only takes 20" logs). Unfortunately, due to Washington enviromental standards I didn't have a lot of choice in the matter. The nice thing is that it meets all the highest standards so I can use it pretty much anytime (read: no more burn ban BS). He didn't have all the parts yet, and has to have the chimney cover custom made so its not ready to use yet. But in about a week I should be able to get a little heat in the place and have window in so the heat stays in. Yea!!!!