Rocks and Faucets

The wiring passed electrical inspection last week with no fanfare. Photo (right) shows communications (black and blue) and power (orange, yellow, and white) above living room ceiling.

I’m not sure of the status of the plumbing, as Ray is hard to reach most of the time. He also takes jobs all across northern New Mexico, as far away as Santa Fe (1 1/2 hours), so I can’t just drive up to a building site and expect to find him. We cannot proceed with the interior until the plumbing passes inspection.

The reduced crew (Jake, Lalo, and Ulisses) filled window sills with foam boards and chamfered the edges in preparation for plastering the exterior. Eli and I discussed whether or not to wrap the outside of the insulation with a material that would allow rain water to run out behind the stucco. That would also require a visible band at the bottom of the wall, which looks unlike adobe construction. The International Residential Code requires it, but local county building code excepts it because of the dry climate. (I had considered such a drainage plane on the exposed west side of the house — the direction from which most rain comes.) Now we need to ensure that the local building inspector understands the exception.

I pumped up the tires in the mountain bicycle stored in my rented garage. This required remembering (after 60 years) that Presta valves can be screwed shut. I had purchased adapters for use with a Schrader pump (common to auto tires) but could not fill one tire. When I unscrewed the end of the valve I could inflate both tires.

So after siesta I rode to the job site on the bike. But it had rained during siesta and the outlook was for more rain. The crew — who was working outdoors — went home for the day. The rain had abated and it was still cool and overcast, so I played landscaper for a couple of hours. This means that I loosened packed soil with a pick, raked rocks out of the loosened and piled soil, and shoveled rockless (mostly) soil agains the foundation.While digging, I again noticed that I have patches of very sandy soil among the expanses of very silty soil. I would like to distribute these soil types differently and mix them (with lots of organic material — probably sawdust), but this is a huge task for one person with no heavy equipment. I still have months until the ground freezes, however!

In the late afternoon I decided to order the plumbing fixtures. The lavatory sink was the first. The manufacturer’s website says it comes with one or three holes. The seller’s site says it is ‘1-Hole’, with “color: white/3-hole”. I had to contact the seller to see what would actually arrive. Had the same problem with the lavatory faucet, which I want in brushed nickel, but the seller’s website changes descriptions when I go from a list of faucets to the particular faucet. Still waiting on that one.

The kitchen faucet is another, related problem of inadequate descriptions. My faucet in Seattle can switch from stream to spray and stays in the selected position. The faucet in my current Taos abode can switch from stream to spray, but when I turn off the water it reverts to stream. Fortunately, Amazon allows me to ask previous buyers questions. The more elegant faucet (from Grohe) switches back to stream. The other (from Kohler) remains in the position last selected. Thank you, Amazon.

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