Howell Cabin

Christina, Siggy and I spent our independence day at the cabin. When we arrived, there was a rafter of six turkeys wandering around our lot. Siggy and I built a scaffolding for the great room. Then I worked on sealing the easy-to-reach rafters back in the bedrooms. I filled the big holes with spray foam and caulked the little gaps. I got ten of the 18 holes fixed today. The other eight require the scaffolding or some dubious ladder arrangement; I'm "looking forward" to them. We'll also have to come up with a nice way to trim them out eventually; they were a little ugly before and more so now.

Jeff reminded me that one of the things we'll need for final is a "blower door test" which determines how much air leaks out of the house. It's required to be under a certain level to encourage efficient use of heating energy. I got a hold of a contractor who could do the test, and Christina and I met him today. Before he arrived, I called the county to be sure I understood the rules. Along the way, I discovered that our on-demand electric water heater (which uses zero energy during times we're not there) doesn't qualify for the necessary energy "credits" required by our permit, so it looks like we'll be installing a heat pump water heater. And then, when Brian got here, he pointed out several places where we were going to have vigorous leaks, mainly the 18 places where the collar ties pass through the ceiling into the rafter cavity. He refused to take our money for a test, saying we should seal up those leaks and he'd come back later. Dang! ...

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