Odds and ends of all sorts

When we roughed in the electrical, we sent power out to a box on the back of the house anticipating needing to run a water pressure pump in the cistern. It turns out we got a pump in the crawlspace instead ... which has been plugged into an extension cord for a couple years. It needs an outlet next to it, so I spliced one into an existing branch in the crawlspace.

Our display-model microwave was missing some vent covers. The store sent us replacements, so those got put in.

I routed low-voltage wires through the cabinets and fished them through the wall to supply the under-cabinet lights.

Remember that cabinet screw I couldn't reach once the sink was installed? I bought this tiny ratchet and cut a hex screwdriver tip down to squeeze it into a space barely big enough for my thumb.

I was up here today because Ian's crew was up here spreading topsoil that will get grass seed in a week or two.

I cut off the toilet bolts so the plastic caps would fit on top. Today I learned that an angle grinder wasn't the right tool for that job: the hot sparks embedded themselves in the toilet's ceramic glaze. Ooops. Thankfully few people poke around the bottom of the toilet, I guess.

I also finished getting the closet ready for drywall with more nail plates and tidied up around the cabin to make room for the next work day.

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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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