Incremental progress.

Posted on by David Maxwell

I left the condo just after five this morning. At the farm I caught a little more sleep before the plumber/electrician arrived around seven. While his assistant drilled holes we talked over the electrical plan. Everything looks pretty good, although after talking with Liz a few adjustments need to be made. It was nice and cool until about ten, then it got hot and muggy. After the plumbers finished I went to the supply store to look at fixtures. They had some nice stuff and I got a few catalogs for Liz. Then I went to the nasty buffet. The less said about that the better. My final stop was Lowe’s for caulk, spray paint, and a ladder. I wanted a twelve foot, but it was about a hundred dollars more than the ten foot, so I couldn’t really justify that. I’ll apply the savings towards some scaffolding. The plumber returned and dropped off a bunch of his supplies and we talked for a while. He is an interesting guy and I feel good about hiring him. Those two statements are unrelated, by the way.

Yesterday’s storms made a mess of the footings, so I scraped off the worst of the mud. Hopefully I can really clean them well tomorrow (maybe even with the shop vac) and seal them on Saturday. I’m not looking forward to painting on the asphalt, but it should help keep the crawl space dry. Then I can do a little grading around the house. That will make it easier to set up ladders and scaffolding when it’s time to do the siding, probably next week.

It’s getting to be time for Liz to make a lot of decisions. I know she is feeling a bit overwhelmed, but hopefully she can muster the energy to just power through it. She should be happy because the electrician and I figured out a way to get can lights on the vaulted ceiling in the kitchen and dining room. It will involve a bit of ladder work on my part, but shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. I’ll try to knock that out first thing in the morning.

Rainy, hooky, tubby.

Posted on by David Maxwell

Once again I arrived at the farm just after six. It was cloudy but didn’t start raining until nine or so. At that point it came down pretty hard and really started puddling. It made me glad to have a roof on the house! Unfortunately most of the work I had planned on doing today was outside oriented. Also frustrating was the fact that the plumbers didn’t show. I needed to show them a few changes to the layout. I waited around until noon, then left. I headed up to Donelson to get a bath tub. It wasn’t in that great of condition, but I liked the shape of it, so I bought it. It is pretty similar to the tub we already had. It will probably go into the apartment bath.

Now I’m back at the condo. Liz is nursing Luke. He seems pretty relaxed. The real test will be coming shortly when she runs out to the store and I am here looking after him. Hopefully he will just sleep.

Materials map.

Posted on by David Maxwell

I thought it would be fun to make a little map of all the places that I’ve bought materials for the house. Some are near, others far. Overall I’m pretty happy with all of the purchases. Right now I just have pins on the map, but I hope soon to have materials lists and descriptions, and even some pictures.

2000 Belshire Way, Spring Hill, Tennessee

224 South Royal Oaks Boulevard, Franklin, Tennessee

College Grove, Tennessee

2211 Carmack Boulevard, Columbia, Tennessee

533 James M Campbell Boulevard East, Columbia, Tennessee

112 James M Campbell Boulevard East, Columbia, Tennessee

Franklin, Tennessee

Columbia, Tennessee

Columbia, Tennessee

182 Theta Pike, Columbia, Tennessee

2413 Unionville Road, Chapel Hill, Tennessee

1221 Jordan Lane Northwest, Huntsville, Alabama

114 Powell Place, Nashville, Tennessee

Columbia, TN 38401

Nashville, TN 37214

Horse Cave, KY 42749

Monteagle, TN 37356

Fremont, MI 49412

Murfreesboro, TN 37129

Columbia, TN 38401

Columbia, TN 38401

Pulaski, TN 38478

Trenton, GA 30752

Double Springs, AL 35553

Columbia, TN 38401

Franklin, TN 37064

Pulaski, TN 38478

Spring Hill, TN 37174

Columbia, TN 38401

Re-inspection, cleaning footings, and spraypainting.

Posted on by David Maxwell

I arrived at the farm right at six. It was still relatively cool, and I took advantage and started cleaning the concrete and dirt off the footings so that I can seal them up and backfill the foundation. Even with the slightly lower temperatures I was still drenched with sweat within minutes. I didn’t have gloves and using the breaker bar was pretty rough on my hands, but I powered through. Once it started to get really hot I went inside and started laying out all of the plumbing fixtures. This involved spraypainting the floor. It was helpful to see it all mapped out.

The building inspector came a little before noon. I passed this time, having made the corrections that his colleague required. We actually ended up talking for close to an hour. He has a fifteen month old son, so lots of conversational topics. A while after he left my dad came by to get his lawn mower, and we talked briefly. The next visitor was my neighbor down the street Ron. I had met him a few weeks ago when he stopped by, and he came today for a little tour. He was very complimentary about the house. We talked for quite a while. He is a teacher in town, and we actually know a couple of people in common.

After Ron left I worked on the footings a little more, built a small wall in one of the bathrooms (in order to accommodate the tub), and started forming up for the pads under the HVAC units. I hit the road a little before seven. Traffic had cleared and the drive was uneventful. Liz and Luke were doing well. He was pretty calm. Liz and I discussed the electrical plan for the house, as the electrician wants to discuss it tomorrow.

Georgia in the morning, Luke and Liz in the afternoon.

Posted on by David Maxwell

I drove down to Trenton, GA around seven this morning. I took the back roads just because. There was only one woman at the store and she couldn’t operate the forklift, so she called a guy from their other store. He didn’t do a great job of loading the siding, but it was probably the best he could do. I took the interstate to the first Monteagle exit, then took Highway 41 down the mountain. I took a new route to Tullahoma, then proceeded through Shelbyville and Chapel Hill to the farm. After quickly unhooking the trailer I drove up to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Nashville. I was looking for a tub since the guy in Boaz never responded to my email. They didn’t have any so I came on back to the condo.

Liz and Luke were there and almost immediately I had a dirty diaper to change. And about three more in the two hours since. He spent some time in the pack and play, and we just did a bit of tummy time. He has nursed and taken a bottle of formula too. Hopefully he will nap soon.