More Pictures.

POSTED BY: Josh
PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are some new pictures of progress. These are of the things that are getting done. The kitchen and the other two bedrooms are unchanged.

Click here to go to the Flickr page.

Getting Near The Finish

POSTED BY: Josh
EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING AT ONCE

So, I said I'd explain. The plumber and the heating guy told me there was no gas coming into the house. I told everyone about this a few days ago. We are being weigh-laid after all. When the gas guy saw that the old furnace was disconnected from the pipes, he had to lock the meter and wait for us to have the new one put in. As of yesterday the furnace was in place and connected to the ducting into the attic and second floor. Today he is finishing the first floor ducting and the plumber is connecting the gas lines. (I think)
The bathroom is being tiled. This should not take to long. John Wait, our general contractor told me it would take only about an hour. So he will be priming the living room and maybe the bedroom.
The last I heard, the plumber was going to be there doing the gas lines. I would assume that after that he would begin putting in the bathroom fixtures. We all know what happens when a person assumes, though. Of course this is dependent on how fast the tiles sets. That will probably happen over-night.
Yesterday the electrician put in all the light switched and outlets. They are all tied into the breaker panel. That made me happy. I think he was there today to finish the fire alarms. They weren't in last night when we went to look.
So, it looks like almost everything is going to be finished this week. I'm not sure when the plumbing inspector is going to come. I would hope he was called to come today. If that is the case then I can call N-Star and they will turn on our gas. I vaguely remember being told that the plumbing inspector only make appointments on Tuesday mornings. That would push us into next week.

:THE PLAN:
Laura is taking Friday off. She and I will be packing until then. I'm going to pick up the moving truck on Thursday after work. We can pack some of it then. Friday Laura will do what she can without me. When I get home we will finish packing the truck. Then we will drive it to Dedham and park it at the studio where I work. That night we sleep in Newton at Laura's parent's house.
Saturday morning we will get the truck and move in all of our things. Everything will probably be in one room and the cellar. Then we wait until everything is done.

:NOTE:
If anyone wants to help Laura on Friday let us know.

****NEW PHOTOS TONIGHT*****

More on Live Video

I'm on right now while at work if you'd like to see what I do.
http://www.justin.tv/jbarnatt


Josh

Post are Slow

POSTED BY: Josh
POSTING AGAIN SOON

We've been really busy with work. So, no posts. Also, there is no internet at the apartment right now. This Friday we will be moving out of the apartment. Although we won't be able to move in to the house right away. I'll try and expand on this later today. I'll be going there (to the house) to drop off some things and to take a look at what's been done. I'll turn on the web camera so you can watch if you want. If anyone is on let me know through the chat window. I'll walk the camera around. The address is http://www.justin.tv/jbarnatt. I'm leaving work at about 6pm. So tune in around 6:30 to 7:30.

The furnace is in. The gas is being hooked in today, the tiling is being laid down today. Almost there.

Live From the House

I tried this last week, but I didn't leave it on. Go to this link, http://ustream.tv/channel/barnattwork. You can see what we are doing right now.
I'll be here until around 8pm.

Josh

Seven Days To Go

POSTED BY: Josh
WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON

So, great news. The furnace is in the cellar. The bad news is, we've been paying for gas that isn't getting to the house. Apparently it is off at the street. The heating guy is coming over tomorrow, Saturday, to plan out where the first floor ducting is going. I hope that N-Star gets the gas fixed today. Then maybe he can get the furnace hooked in at least.
If this gets done over the week end we will have heat in the house. The tiling in the bathroom will get done, the paint can start going on, and we won't be freezing.
The electrician will be in on Monday to finish up and run power to the furnace. I beleive the plumber will also be there putting in the water heater.
We are scheduled to move out of the apartment on Friday. As it stands there will be a place to go to the bathroom, and clean up. Al though we may not have all of the finish carpentry done.
***************************************************************************************
*Amendment*
14:45 22, February 2007

The gas will not be turned on today. We have to have everything intalled and inspected before they will turn on the gas. I should never have called them. We may be delayed 1 week.

Josh
*********************

if we only had some heat

Hey there,

Well tonight I'm going to Cambridge to fetch some drywall primer for our contractor. We want a very specific brand of No VOC paint called Mythic paint. It just came out which is why the only place in MA that carries it is Tag's Hardware in Porter Square. Our contractor threatened to use his own primer if we didn't have the one we wanted there tomorrow and we really did not want that to happen. Mythic is non-toxic and contains no volatile organic compounds(VOCs)which is very important to us. The great thing about Mythic too is that they have an enormous range of colors. The options are nearly endless. If you can't find Mythic paint near you there are other no VOC options. One is Safecoat, another latex based paint, and milk paint which is an old paint created with the casein in milk (quick note: one of the 2 milk paint manufacturers/distributers in the U.S. is right here in Grafton, MA). Milk paint seems like alot of fun but the range of colors isn't as wide and you have to mix it to some extent yourself.
Josh is going to the house tonight to rip out the old ductwork in preparation for the new stuff. The furnace is proving to be the biggest headache of the process. We need the furnace in order to keep the house warm enough to paint and tile but the furnace may not get in until next week!!! which gets too close to our move in date (2/29)for comfort. I'm a little nervous but we'll see if we can get it in sooner. I'm off to the people's republic of Cambridge for 5 gallons of paint!

New Pictures

Hi everyone,

We put up new pictures of the recent progress.

See them here.

Furnace, Water Heater, and Insulation

POSTED BY: Josh
HEY LOOK WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL RENOVATIONS, FINALLY

I'll add more Thursday when I have time to write. Laura may add before me though. Anyway, I talked to the HVAC guy that works with our plumber John D'Agastino. We will be installing a High Efficiancy gas furnace. So far I have no idea what brand. As far as I can tell this will begin happening this week. The tankless water heater, I think, will be a Bosch or a Rheem. We'll add details when we have them.
I guess that leaves insulation. Well at least it's Formaldehyde Free. We couldn't afford the cotton denim bats. We needed 420sqr ft. At $63.00 per 53 square feet or $75.00 for 63 square feet it was too much. But, after working with fiberglass insulation from 6:00pm until 1:00am yesterday, I wish we had just gotten it anyway. Even though we would have had to drive to Stoneham to get it.

Last Weekend.

POSTED BY: Josh
THE CHIMNEY BIT MY FINGER

Last weekend Laura and I had a lot of work to do. Monday we had the Electrical Inspector coming and the carpenter coming to frame the master bedroom. One of the things was to get the chimney out. At around 6pm on Saturday there were about 5 feet of chimney left in the cellar. While I knocked it over, it broke into two pieces. Then, when it hit the ground, it snapped back together. The edge and fingernail of my middle left finger was inside that opening when the whole thing landed. The day ended there. My finger was bleeding all over the place and everything was dirty, especially my hands. So we had to get to a sink and disinfectant.
The day before that was going really well. Zach came over to help for a little while, and he had lunch at our new favorite eatery, Bakery On the Common. Laura did a great job getting the whole house cleaned. She got all the rest of the nasty old foam insulation off of the walls. As well as all of the debris out of the bottom of the bays between the studs. It looked great.
Sunday was more of the same things. I finished cleaning up the bricks. Laura picked up after all my messes, and started puttinh in some insulation in the bathroom. I also put in collar ties to help strengthen the structure of the roof.

In the next post, we'll talk about insulation, the furnace, and out hot water heater.

Let the Inspections Begin

POSTED BY: Josh
WHY DOES MASSACHUSETTS HAVE TO BE SO DIFFICULT?

Last weekend we finally finished the demolition. There will be pictures of what we did added soon. We were already to start insulating today after work. Rather, I was ready. Laura has had a cold and I thought she should rest. The electrician called me this morning to tell me that the inspector would be coming between 3pm and 6pm. I left work a little early, Thanks Guy, to meet him. Before he got there I talked with the carpenter about what he would be doing next. Everything was great. The inspector showed up and we walked through the house. He explained to me the reason why, in Massachusetts, you have to have an outlet every 6 feet. It's because lamp cords are 6 feet long and the state doesn't want people using extension cords. Therefore we will need to add two outlets. The other thing that was an not welcome surprise was the new outlet law. Starting in 2008, all outlets installed in Massachusetts have to have safeties built in. They have a spring loaded gate that slides in front of the slots in the outlet. This is because a kid could stick something inside and ground themselves. So the round plastic things aren't good enough. Apparently this state is entirely pepoled by morons.
We were given the OK though. Just as long as everything is fixed by the final inspection. I then asked, "So can I start insulating?"
He told me, "No."
I have to have the building inspector come over to sign off. Good thing I asked. So I called him, the building inspector. He can't sign off until the plumbing inspector does. Which he will try to do by coming later in the day tomorrow. The plumbing inspector is supposed to come tomorrow, hopefully between 9am and 12pm. While talking to the building inspector he tolded me the walls would have to be fire gaurded. This is done be making sure that there is nowhere for fire to go up the walls like a chimney.
So, after getting to the house 2 hours earlier than I expected, I wasn't able to get the thing done that I wanted to. I had to run around to find the materials I needed to do a different job. Then start doing the job at about 7pm.
I am now in bed just about to go to sleep. It's 26 past midnight.

Day Off Work

POSTED BY: Josh
FRAMING THE PORCH THAT ISN'T A PORCH

I need to buy some wood to frame our porch area. As it stands, the wall is an old paneling wall that sort of looks like a raised panel door. This is seperating us from vinyl siding and the outside. I'll be going to the lumber yard today to buy 2x4s. I'm trying to avoid Home Depot, but they are the only people open after work.

Small Rant

POSTED BY: Laura:
WHO LEFT THE DOOTIE IN THE POOL, OCEAN?

Okay, so this doesn't really have to do with the house directly but is important information about everyone's home, the planet. I read an article yesterday about these two moving islands of trash in the Pacific ocean. Trash migrates to these two spots that are at the center of these eddies and collects there. The plastic does not biodegrade so it floats there until it photo degrades, becomes brittle, breaks in to small pieces that sink into the water and end up in the bellies of fish and other marine life. This either kills them or ends up on our dinner plate. This seems pretty disgusting to me.
Josh had a great comment about it. He said the ocean is helping us out by putting all of this trash into two very accesible and concentrated spots for us to pick up. Now we humans have to do our part and go out there and pick it up!

ADDED BY: Josh:
FURTHER DETAILS

Here is a link to a more detailed article. Here.

Homeowners Should Not Wire Their Own House

POSTED BY: Josh:
ELECTRICAL NEAR MISSES IN HISTORY

Yesterday I had to run to the house at lunch time to pick up a piece of paper. This was very important because the roofer couldn't get paid unless we faxed this to the bank. While I was there I talked to Buddy, the electrician. He asked me a few questions about where to put some switches, I had forgotten to make notes as to where they should go. He showed me where the new outlets were going to be based on certain building codes. But the big thing that he showed me was what inspired the title of this post, down in the cellar.
The previous owners had done a little work, in the kitchen it seemed. When they ran the wires for the outlet, I believe it is the one the refridgerator was on, they spliced the wires outside of a junction box and left some of them bare. These wires were "hot" as we say where I work. This means they have electricity running through them. Not only that, but they put some big steel shelves right underneath this little disaster. The shelves were maybe an inch away from the bare wires. The plumbers almost moved the shelves without realizing the danger. Thanks to Buddy for warning them, and me. That's all being fixed now.
So heed my warning. If you are looking at a house, old or new, check to see that the previous owners didn't try to do things that they didn't really know how to do.

A NOTE ON INSULATION

We are trying to decide which insulation to use, and where in the house to use it. Our options seem to have multiplied yesterday while Laura was at work. Last night she came home with some info on a number of materials that are ecologically sound and very efficient.
One is Mineral Wool, or Rock Wool, or Slag Wool. These are all the same thing. It's most often used in commercial buildings. It's fire proof and sound absorbent. As well as being a hot/cold insulator. Info Here.
One of the others that seems to be a good option is Cotton Denim Batts. This stuff is similar to fiberglass insulation. But, it's blue. It doesn't use formaldehyde and it is affordable. Info Here.
There were quite a few others. I still have to look them up, but the paper is at home and I have to call the plumber. Hopefully after talking to him I will have some info on the tankless water heater and the high efficiency furnace that we are having put in.

Josh

New Photos - Repost

This weekend we got almost all of the demolition finished. I've posted the photos. You can see the photos here.
Here is Laura taking down the living room walls.

Our Toilet

It's 04:44 in the morning. We keep forgeting to turn off the heat when we go to sleep so I keep waking up in the middle of the night. Since I'm up I show you our toilet choices. The first is the Stanton, made by Sterling. The second is called Rockton,
made by the same company. Both are "dual flush" toilets.
They use .8 gallons on the small flush and 1.6 on the full. Click on the photos for a larger view.