House Guts

I have not really had time to post over the last 6 weeks on the home since the framing was completed plus Laurie and I got Married on Sept 6th and went to my uncles condo in Cozumel for a week. Im actually writing from there now as our return was delayed 4 days due to hurricane IKE closing Houston IAH airport.

I will also post the pictures later this week.

The last 6 weeks the guts of the home went in. Plumbing and sewer lines from top to bottom, All the electrical and security. I installed all the multimedia plus chases for future needs.

After Gallaway plumbing connected the Geo-Supply water lines from the well, Shane and I ran temporary power into each of the Waterfurnace units and were able test the A/C and air pressure for each room. The temp difference from the return and supply was 18degrees on unit 1 and 28degrees on unit 2. Im very happy so far. We did upgrade one unit before we ordered it so we have dual 5 ton into 5 zones total but might change that to 6 once we test after the Sheetrock is completed and we test again.

The water reclamation went in a week ago consisting of 3 tanks. Stan Rollins was concerned with moving the new tanks off the truck down our side slopes into the backyard so he used 3 smaller tanks vs 2 large. We have 2 750Gal and 1 500Gal totaling 2000Gallons all connected together with a 4″ line at the bottom. The Geo-waste water and the rainwater lines are also connected at the top of the 1st tank and any overflow will rise to a higher 4″ line and travel down the backyard underground to the creek behind us. All tanks have a sealed porthole on top so irrigation pumps or cleaning can be accessed at a later date.

Last week Comfort Insulation spent about 4 days installing the foam insulation on the outside walls and some ceilings. All of the walls have about 4″-5″ which should be about an R14-R17 just in foam. Ceilings (floor of attic) will also be foamed then an addtl 18″ of blown fiberglass will be put on top giving us close to R45 to R50 Air Tight!! Air leaks are what kills most of a homes heating and cooling energy needs.

Sheetrock is almost completed at this point. Once that is done our walkout basement floor will be stained then cabinets and trim work will start.

Outside were about to have a stone wall installed to hold up the earth where the pool will be and brick should be starting very soon as the 1st 20 of 100+ pallets were delivered.

Quiet time

Well as of today things are quiet. The plumbers finished up all the rough in work on all floors, connected the city main and also the geo well lines to the home. I had them run 1″ lines from outside all the way in to the basement 1st where I have a main valve handy. The city service then drops to 3/4″ and 1/2″ through out the home and the Geo well water remains 1″ service to all outside faucets and both Geo water furnace units across the home.

We also signed contract with Rinehart Services Co for 2 Water furnace units. A 4 and a 5 ton unit with 5 digital zones controlling dampers for the home plus both units will provide hot water during a/c of which Im planning on installing a second hot water tank for the 5 ton unit and also connecting to a future outside solar panel system for hot water. Possible in the winter Im hoping with a ground mounted system protected by the home facing south I might get enough warmth to help cover the radiant slab heat needs without too much gas backup.

Shane Rinehart of Rinehart Services will be onsite in a couple days to begin installing the ducts starting from the basement mechanical areas into the 20″ floor truss system and hopefully up to the 3rd floor office avoiding the attic space completely. It looks like we can do it, just have to place it and see. If all goes well the geo units will arrive the following week from the factory and be connected. I will run temporary power to each unit and should be up and running in a couple week. Might be a really night place to work in for the remaining construction, Less sheet rock and painting.

Last, the natual gas / wood burning fireplaces arrived. We installed a large unit in the living room and a med 3 glass sided unit in the area between the kitchen breakfast and family room. We went with both gas/wood to save on energy costs if we choose to burn wood more of the time. It might be messy but wood puts out more heat.

We are still entertaining prices on Foam insulation for the walls and attic. Seems the 2 I have talked with on site each recommend something slightly different so I think its going to come down to personal choice and what I feel is most efficient to protect the home from the outside temps. We will meet with another local contractor this week for what I hope might be the last bid tho we still have time.

Electrical should start next week. Im finishing up the electrical plans when I have some time and will be meeting with our Electrician this Friday. Im planning on doing some of the work myself to keep some costs down and will also be running 100% of all the voice, data and video security since thats my gig.

Laurie and I are also expecting our 1st pool & spa bid very soon so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Some pictures below.

Kitchen Fireplace:

Last of the roofing:

Basement french drain, Plumbing & Security

May 31, 2008

Stone was filled around the outside of the walls to complete
the french drain system on the home. More will be delivered Monday.

Plumbing work was started in the basement with the drains. Since we are going to install water retension the Tubs/Showers will use
a second drain system to the underground tank.

I installed a Toshiba network cam on the site for time lapse and security. Its working pretty good.