SNOW!

Fri16nov07
Levi and I were back on site installing meter box shells, with window and door folks here as well. Though no snow, it was definitely a COLD day and muddy, me dressed a bit like Charlie Brown, though wearing my on boots for stability and warmth, mud caked or no [smile]
The task was a first for me, and fairly straightforward, with the "measure several times cut once" idea at full forward; the boxes are inserted flush with the outside wall, so we’re cutting through exterior plaster/insulation, the OSB sheathing, and occasionally into interior studs to set them in proper alignment relative to exterior electric feed (and the yet-to0be-installed front porch/steps of each unit). Four of the five completed in the morning (the fifth is a bit different, serving as a hub for all five in addition to the box for the unit itself); Levi returned to work with ground wires in the afternoon.
Door and window installation begun yesterday continued today as well, done by guys from the company we purchased them from. About 30% are now in, with the rest to be done sometime next week. Installation is being provided free of charge by these professionals, so completion will be on their timetable.

Thu15nov07
SNOW! Slushy snow and freezing temps, with enough sticking through the morning hours to toss a snowball and form a miniature snowman or two on the lumber stacks! Pretty to watch, muddy as all get out to work in, and my boots seem to be mud magnets! Or rather, clay, the consistency of what potters throw… would that the shapes and general mobility of that process be so in today’s tasks [laughing] Imagine continual mud build-up 'til your boot soles look like 1 inch thick clay plates, and you begin to get the idea... the earth here is hard and heavy on a dry day, literally like stiff modeling clay when wet... bonus weight resistance walking, perhaps, as there must be a pound or more of it on each boot that reattaches itself as fast as I can get it off! As for the rest of me, a decidedly Charlie Brown fashion statement... lots of clothes on to stay warm!

With that backdrop (or would that be a “top” drop?) Levi and I began installing electric meter boxes while our window/door supplier began installation of the same. The windows they use are tall single pane combination units… depending on which way you maneuver the handles to open/close them, they can be opened inward swinging from side hinges, or inward from a bottom hinge… each window does both. No screens on windows here, or if so, I’ve not seen any.

The installation process is similar to our process, using shims to level and square them within the rough frames. No taping on the exterior, though, as these windows are set in about 3 inches from the finished outside wall. They fill gaps with spray foam insulation as soon as each is set in…


Wed 14nov07
We contracted for the digging of exterior water and electric trenches, effectively converting a week or more of digging by hand to less than a day’s work with a backhoe… the Martha Stewart phrase “It’s a good thing” comes to mind [whew] That set us up to lay the clean water pipe and main electrical lines… very muddy, me in borrowed rubber boots four sizes too large with gloves stuffed in the toes in a creative effort to keep them more on my feet than off… slugging through piles of mud from the trench, there was more than one moment of tell-tale “slurping” sounds as my boots attempted to release themselves prematurely!

Separate pipe is laid for each unit and connected to the rough plumbing inside a heating tool that melts the interior plastic of the connecting joint and the exterior plastic of the pipe enough to push the two together and fuse them as the plastic cools. It seems a fragile connection given the force and fluid that will travel through it for its lifetime! The cold temps gave the pipe a life of its own… it is stiff as is, and coiled like an oversized garden hose, though the make of the pipe itself is less flexible than that.

Once rolled out and connected, each was pressure tested for leaks, and partially buried to make sure they stayed where placed; there is a 4” wide thick yellow plastic strip that is buried on top of them as well indicating that something is buried there… kind of a physical version of calling the utility companies for line placement as we do in many areas of the US.

The same procedure applied for laying the main electrical cable, again so stiff (and considerably heavier!) due to temps that we walked it out along the field adjacent to the build to straighten it before feeding it in to each unit via the pre-dug trenches.