Painting the garage was a bigger project than we anticipated. Do projects ever go faster and easier than expected? Why paint the garage to begin with? 'Cause if I didn't, I'd have to increase my medication. It's a personal problem.

The sheetrockers had left their scaffolding in the garage. When we were building the columns yesterday, Chris suggested I might use it to paint the garage. Today, just as Jen and I were finished assembling it, someone from Scott Bone Drywall drove up and looked at us and said "you're not going to be very happy with me today." Layne was kind enough to deliver his dad's scaffolding which we used instead.

Chris loaned us his propane heater. It will drain a five gallon tank in less than an hour and a half at full burn -- looking like it ought to have a hot air balloon above it. Kept the garage toasty. We tried to avoid burning while we were spraying "This product is known to the State of CA to cause cancer, birth defects, extraneous appendagii, etc" thinking that the product of KILZ 2 paint combustion probably isn't safer than the unaltered paint.

Originally, we thought we'd just prime it, but after a single+ coat of KILZ 2 (about 7 gallons?), it clearly needed a 2nd coat. At 2:30am Friday morning, Jen ran to Brigham City Walmart only to find they didn't have any more. Aack. And we weren't sure what to use for a topcoat, that we hadn't planned on using anyway. So she came home.

Ironically, Benjamin Moore's paint has high ratings from Consumer Reports, and is sold at Walmart, so Jen stopped back on the way from meeting with Marilynn Allred-Hennessy, design consultant, at Dal Tile (a little later on Friday) and picked up 7 gallons. That was enough to do one coat and a few trouble spots.

All in all, kind of a hassle -- but soon forgotten -- and I'll like the way the garage looks forever. Well, for as long as I hold an opinion about such things. We thought briefly about starting epoxy on the floor while it is so empty, but we have more pressing concerns.

They finished putting in the septic system today. Or so they thought. The gravel was too large and the inspector wants them to pull it all off, and put smaller gravel down instead. Worried about silt infiltration. As you can read off the concrete, the 1500 gallon vault tank comes from Lindquist out of Ogden. The same people that will entomb the rest of you when you don't care about houses or other worldly things.


Five hundred and fifty five linear feet of shallow trench (12") with 12" of capping fill. A neighbor who owns a nursery is going to deliver fill for the cost of moving it ($80 per load?). Ten loads?

Chris and I built tapered columns for the tops of the posts today, Wednesday October 28th. I think I scared him when I mentioned trying to tackle it, but I was very glad to build them with him while he was giving direction. We got five of the nine built, and only one partially installed. Jen drove up and saw the one column up and wondered what we'd been doing all day. Someone, who shall remain nameless stepped on the top of the rock on the column and fractured the mortar. We attempted to glue it back on with silicone. I think the rock guys may have to fix it when they come back to do the basement fireplace.

C.H.I insulated steel double sided garage doors delivered and installed by Windsor Door Sales Inc. out of Ogden. R value of 8.07. These are Chris's standard. Very nice.

Mudding and taping took just over a week. Actually, the taping was fast. They had machines that looked like a bazooka with a fishing reel of tape on it. They would dip them in a bucket of mud, and then apply the mud and tape together. Very fast. The additional coats of mud and sanding took the rest of the week.

Chris got the furnace running on Monday, October 19th. It is a high efficiency (96%!) that is only ducted to the basement (radiant heat upstairs). I thought more of the heat would move up through the stairs etc. but it does not. So, the downstairs is warm. The furnace creates a small steady stream of water when it is running. I've been plugging the grinder pump in periodically to evacuate the water (gallons!), but I need to get the pump permanently wired.

This picture is from Wednesday evening. By the end of Friday, October 16th, all of the sheetrock was hung. They had two crews working simultaneously. It felt like too many people to count -- but they would somehow all fit in a couple of mid-sized vehicles. They brought their own microwave, somehow dialed in a spanish speaking radio station, and filled the porta-potty to overflowing.

Tuesday, October 13th, Sheetrock delivered. Later in the day, while I was changing a couple of very last minute electrical items upstairs, Jen was marking outlets on the floor with a Sharpie in case they were buried and lost by the sheetrockers. I heard a tremendous crash, and then quiet. I thought "hmm, no one's screaming, guess everything is OK". Pure genius. Twenty seconds later I hear "Michael". But more like groaning than english. Jen had been trying to reach behind a leaning stack of sheetrock, and it had tipped and landed on top of her, badly bruising her leg and pelvis, and throwing her to the floor causing her to hit her head and pass out. We both felt like geniuses. Thankfully Jen was fine. Really sore, but fine.

Siding materials:

CertainTeed Weatherboards "Cedar Lap Siding". "The products are manufactured using a multi-step high-pressure process combining Portland cement, fly ash, wood fiber and specialty additives. [It is a "green product"] ...made from recycled materials and sustainably harvested wood pulp. These products are impervious to wood boring insects, resistant to UV radiation, have a Class 1 (A) Flame Spread Rating (considered non-combustible), will not rot, and have superior impact resistance. 50 year warranty." Cool.

Greg (siding installer) talked us out of getting the pre-painted product. He feels that the finished product looks better if it is painted on site (no paint spots where the siding was nailed). Not to mention we came out budget neutral vs stucco or vinyl siding -- if I do the painting.

On top of:

Pactiv GreenGuard Raindrop House wrap. "Provides advanced moisture management. Drainage channels move water away from the wall. Protects against air and water infiltration." Of course DuPont (maker of Tyvek) thinks their product is better. Some builders think 30# felt is the only way to go based on long term track record. Long story short, I think the critical function in our house is keeping water out, which I think this product will do very well. I don't think we'll have vapor issues due to the Icynene insulation on the inside, and exterior foam insulation on top of the sheathing.

On top of:

Owens Corning Foamular 250 Rigid Foam Insulation. As previously blogged: extruded polystyrene foam sheathing (R value of 5). "...for exterior walls contains hundreds of millions of densely packed air cells to provide exceptional thermal performance. It’s also virtually impervious to moisture, preventing loss of R-value due to moisture penetration."

Aack. I've climbed out of the time sucking pit that was doing the electrical myself. Well, I had help from a few friends and family members, but it still stretched on for eight weeks. I enjoy electrical work (maybe even more now that I think I know a little more what I'm doing) but it took much longer than I was able to predict.

So the posts I'm about to insert between now (Oct 11th) and August 9th are retrospective. And they reflect just how sieve like my mind really is...

Greg started the siding on Tuesday. We ended up using an inch of Owens Corning (pink) extruded polystyrene foam sheathing (R value of 5) rather than the Atlas polyiso foam. The Atlas had an R value of 6.5/inch but cost 50% more... The green (in the photo above) is a vapor barrier.

By today, Friday October 9th, they'd covered from the kitchen door on the SW corner to the front door on the NE. He is using CertainTeed's WeatherBoards fiber cement siding.

They over-sprayed the walls a little, and then shave off the excess with a long saw blade. This results in some large piles/large garbage sacks. Lance (the installer) said that they used to grind it up for use in blown in applications, but it wasn't worth the labor. Today (October 7th) he sprayed the roof decking and clerestory. In large open areas they stretched plastic across, and then sprayed the plastic.

Tuesday, October 6th. Finished installing the motor/controls for the three operable clerestory windows. They're pretty neat. They'll operate off of a thermostat on a remote control, and each have rain sensors that override and close the windows in inclement weather.

Cardall's Insulation foamed the main level walls and sill plates with Icynene. It expands 100x to fill and seal the walls. The installer had a little trouble getting the temperature of the delivery system right because of some colder temperatures this morning. It sprays on at about 150 degrees F, and then gets above 200 degrees as the chemicals react.

Thursday, October 1st. I have no idea what took so long. Where did September go? As of Wednesday, all I really HAD to get done before Thursday (4-way inspection) were the electrical panels. I started about 4pm and finished about 8am. Two panels. Maybe 75 circuits. It was my favorite electrical task, but I remember it as a sort of never-ending trip into purgatory.