Front door, faux ridge beam, and finishing the siding

Saturday

 

We installed 36 feet of 2x6 below the ridge, to support another varnished board we'll attach tomorrow. The varnished board will give the impression of the ridge beam protruding through the vaulted ceiling. Back at the design stage, we chose a narrower (12 inch) ridge beam to keep down the weight to make the installation less difficult.

 

While we waited for the varnish to dry on the pretty boards, we installed the front door.

 

Situation normal: when we actually tried to put the door in, the hole had shrunk to 1/8" too small. We had to pull the header board out and bump it up half an inch.

Sunday

Varnish dry, we put the pretty boards in and screwed them from behind.

With the front door in, we can finally wrap up the last three siding panels. One on the northwest corner was waiting because a ground wire snaked out of the house to protect the temporary pole. With the panel inspection complete last fall, we got rid of the temporary pole and used power from the panel. So today we finally snipped off the ground wire and installed the missing siding panel.

The last two panels are either side of the front door we installed yesterday. With these installed, Jon could install the last electrical fixture for a light to the right of the door (not pictured).

Siobhan and Eliot installed fire-resistant caulk in plumbing and electrical holes to keep fire from spreading between floors.

Eliot framed in a bench in the upper loft that protects a plumbing vent, and added a couple nailers needed for drywall.

All these tasks are on our short list that has to be done before insulation & drywall covers up everything in the walls.

Monday

Last year the plumbing had nominally passed inspection, but it leaked a little air in the test. That made us uncomfortable.

The conjecture was that we'd put too much pressure into the system for the temporary plugs in the precision German shower fixtures. So we replaced the temporary plugs with the actual shower valves, sealed with plumber's grease. We retested the plumbing, and it held pressure for four hours. Satisfied.

Siggy and Siobhan helped Christina pull the temporary stair treads out and trim them to make room for the drywall installation, then nail them back in.

 

Siobhan hung out at the second floor window and caught this video of lunchtime at the robins' nest!

 

 

 

Christina added screws and shims to the French doors to be sure they're strong.

Jon sanded and oiled half a pair of collar ties.

Siggy reconfigured his wood pile into a tiny cabin.