Nearing Completion

I have wondered for weeks about the temperature inside the house. So I finally moved my thermometer to the bedroom window in the new house. This morning it read 54° F inside and 15° outside. (It was 11° outside at dawn.) All this heat came from the sun and people working over the past weeks, held in by lots of insulation and an air-tight house.Even though the sun shown most of today, by the end of the day the indoor temperature had dropped to 52°. That is because there were plumbers, cabinetmakers, countertop folks, and carpenters going in and out all day and the garage door was open most of the day to air out fumes from staining wood for the mud room cabinets.

Indirectly, that means that the sink and toilet were installed (and working) and the kitchen mostly finished. The washer and dryer are now connected, but we had to move them around a bit so that the bifold doors would not interfere with the washer door. All the trim around the bifold doors is complete, but needs a final painting. All the baseboard is installed, along with four doorstops for the interior doors.Even more indirectly, the ductwork now connects the furnace to the house. As soon as we pass the gas plumbing inspection we can get a gas meter and have heat. All the gas piping, from meter location to bath, furnace, kitchen, and garage, has been under pressure for a week. The pressure has not declined: no leaks.

The kitchen cabinets are complete except for the toe kick boards. There the slots to admit air to the space under the floor need to be enlarged. If they are enlarged, the fiberboard will be too weak, so I have purchased hardware cloth to support them from behind.

The counter tops were installed, but one piece of backsplash was mis-measured (to the great consternation of the craftsman). However, the mis-measurement was for an electric outlet that penetrated the back splash and which I did not want, so it will simply be covered when the piece is replaced next week.

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