Back to Electrical (Day 229 of 273)

It was a slow week, last week, with various diversions but progress is being made. Poured a 2'x4' concrete pad at the back of the garage, built the front and rear porches (no steps yet) out of pressure treated 2x6 and 4x4 lumber, attached more window and door trim, and cleaned up a bit.

Levi Ross came over and we went through the Aldes ducting system for the house. Because the house will be fairly air tight, you need to supply some fresh air on a regular basis. So the fan system draws air through some ports in the walls (adjustable) and pushes it out of the house at about 20 cfm. I suspect that the whole house air is replaced every 4-6 hours, but that's just a guess. Two of the exhaust vents are powered units, attached to fan switches in the bathrooms. Kick on the switch, and the motor ramps up to 100 cfm and draws from the powered register, not all four. So Levi and I went through the various types and lengths of pipe we'll need to hook up the vents and motor. While Levi was here, he fixed a leak in the copper piping attached to the hot water boiler. This leak developed after we had pressure tested the system and fixed two leaks in the Pex junctions. We repressured the system to 50psi and its holding after a week, so I think the whole radiant floor system, manifolds, and boiler (hot water heater) are ready for prime time.

Signed a contract for insulation. Only got one bid on this since the company came highly recommended and is local (PT). Stayed away from the fancy (and expensive) Icynene and BioBased 2-part foamy applications mainly because they are expensive (2-3x) and I don't like the way they drip down from the roof in the attic and crawl spaces, and the fact that you have to cut away the firmed up foam to make changes in plumbing and electrical. Rather, we went to a blown in fiberglass product and standard fiberglass batts. The blown insulation works well in crawl spaces and tight spot. The guys staple up a nylon webbing (looks like heavy duty spider webbing), then cut a small hole in it for a hose and blow in the fiber. Fills all the small nooks and crannies and you get a good insulation rating and a pretty tight seal. I budgeted $10k for the 2700 square foot house, 1100 square foot garage and attic, and the basement. Bid came in at about $6800, so I ran with it.

Our third drywall bid showed up so we did the math and selected a sub. We had a bid from Pacific Drywall in Brinnon (30 miles S of us) come in at $27.5k, which seemed high. Our friends in Quilcene had used a Tacoma company and did their similar size, but more open (less walls) house for about $14k, so we thought ours would be ca. $20k in the end. Then I got a bid from Franks Drywall (Chimicum, local) for $17.5k. He has good credentials and was recommended by several folks, including my framer. The main question came down to overhead drywall. Pacific Drywall was adamant that you need to use 5/8" overhead on 24" centers (vaulted ceilings in bedroom, sunroom, and kitchen) whereas the two other installers wanted to use a stiffer type of 1/2" drywall (CD board). The thinner board bothered me (sagging) and isn't as fireproof as 5/8", which is required in the garage by code. So, I made a counter offer to Frank for 5/8" on the ceilings, vapor barrier paint, and some modifications: we settled at $17.8k and everyone was happy.

Starting today (Monday, June 1) we have to get back onto the electrical work, starting with the kitchen and heading east. I need to get the plumbing, electrical and venting finished by the end of June for the insulation and drywall installers. Also the Architectural Committee is starting to worry about our progress, especially on the exterior. I say come on over for a shingling party, guys. So, it looks like there's no more time for farting around. Oh did I mention, we're going on a whale watching trip tomorrow and I have a 2-day race (Classic Mariners Regatta) next week end. There goes the schedule already.