Just the right hole in the ground

To get our electricity hooked up, we need to lay conduit in a trench from the meter base on the wall to the existing pit where the power company's wire pops out of conduit and connects to the temporary power pole.

We rented a toddler-sized excavator for a day. Jon dug the conduit trench while Christina measured.

Siggy cleaned up the lumpy bits in the bottom with a shovel.

While we had the machine, we dug another short trench to bring the water pipes over to where we'll install a reservoir tank. Siobhan did most of that digging and backfilling with the excavator (see top picture).

Since we had it anyway, Jon drove the excavator around attacking vine maple roots and smoothing out pits left over from electrical installation a couple years ago up at the shedlet.

Then we did a few odds and ends, like covering the vent holes with plywood blocks and cleaning up more low branches from the trees in the woods.

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Appliances and mirrors

In pursuit of being ready for final, I came up and installed the fridge and dishwasher with Jeff. We hung mirrors in the bathrooms.

It is DONE!

The final inspection was today. This guy is Levi, the county inspector, and as you can see, we passed! He only had two questions for me. One was about the energy efficiency credits and the blower door test, for which I had the compensating paperwork for the low-flow faucets already prepared. The second was asking for a smoke detector outside the bedroom; I pointed up and he saw that we already had one tucked into the alcove. And that was that! I got up at 5am to be certain I'd be here before the inspector, and I was ... by about five hours. In that time, I took another truckload of tool buckets down to the storage container, then picked up all the floor protection in the great room and vacuumed and mopped. It's glowing! Then I went back down to the storage container to get a hammer so I could glue in 32 wood plugs to cover the screws for the french doors. I fought with installing the screens, but the frames are too big! The manufacturer said "yeah we don't even make th...

First tile

Saturday Tile! Christina got some tile installed this weekend! Jon was racing ahead trying to get backer board down. I had to finish a couple pieces in the main bathroom before anything could be done. Then I got the laundry room filled in. Hector and his son Robert came over from Yakima to provide initial tile instruction. The first step was to get all the tile for the floor laid out and edges cut. Jon had purchased most of the rest of the Ipe deck surface boards in Seattle this week and hauled them up on the trailer. Each 18 foot board weights fifty pounds! Siobhan helped me unload them and stack them under the eaves. Sunday We came back for another morning of work. Christina got almost done thinsetting the first bathroom floor. Jon finished tuning up the subfloor in the upstairs bathroom and getting the backer rock board installed. Siggy and Jon took another little bite out of the deck, cutting the first five joists.

Howell Cabin

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