Today began the coordination of three sub-contractors, simultaneously. Some work had to be done by New Guy to prep for the Plumber, but the Electrician had to move the panel box first. And the HVAC guy was there, too.
But first, a better head-on view of the mostly clean house.
I noticed immediately that New Guy and his Crew had FINALLY taken down the remnants of the fake header partition where someone in the house's history had closed in half the porch to screen it in. I'd been wanting to take this down since I bought the house.
It just constricted the whole porch, cutting it in half. You can see its ghostly outline, now. It's SO MUCH BETTER gone.
Then I started seeing signs of the Electrician. These two wires pulled through will be outlets on the porch, one on either side of the door, mainly for Christmas decorations next year- think potted lit Christmas trees and lighted garland for the future railing.
Inside the Foyer, I saw the wires dropped for the new overhead ceiling fixture. I'm keeping this wooden ceiling, which used to be the porch ceiling, and am painting it. I have plans for it.
I could hardly see anything inside the house, as usual, since I have no lighting. But we're working on that. All the HVAC guy's supplies greeted me in the Great Room. It was a welcome sight.
A box overhead the Living Area for a fan. There will be can lights in here, too.
Off the Little Bedroom, New Guy had put up the wall in the old side porch turned hallway. Now it's divided into the Little Bedroom's closet, and the other side has become part of the main bathroom.
Back in the Great Room, we see the Air Handler installed above the box built by New Guy. The area below will be the return. This is all actually in the Utility Room. The air return will face out into the Great Room, in the center of the house.
A better, head-on view of the handler. It has a t-junction above it for the duct work to run off of. The air vents will be in the ceiling.
It does take up a good bit of space in the Utility Room, but that's what this room is for anyway. There's still plenty of room for the washer and dryer. And the hot water heater will actually be under the front porch. I didn't even entertain the idea of putting it overhead in the attic.
So the picture above shows the unit as it sits in the house. And below it is this:
A box of empty void. This is where the return vent will be, facing into the Dining Room (pointing out the right, not towards you).
I took this picture so I could read the EnergyGuide on the Handler. The arrow on the sliding scale is ALL the way over to 'most efficient', which pleased me very much so. The unit outside is 15 SEER rated.
This is in the Utility Room, as well. New Guy built this wall, separating the main bathroom from the Utility Room. All this used to be one bathroom for Apartment A with lots of dead space. I've gotten a closet, a utility room, and generous bathroom out of the space.
Said bathroom, the main bathroom. This room is only about 5 feet wide, but about 11 or 12 feet long. You can see where we removed the old side door of the house and closed in the old hallway/side porch. The tub unit will rest against this wall.
The electrician put up 6 can light receptacles in the kitchen. 3 are in a row here from the doorway off the Dining Room running to the back door. Same scenario on the other side, but they will be above the kitchen cabinets, there. There's also a fan box in the middle of the room. I wanted the option of putting a ceiling fan in the kitchen, though I will probably just go with a standard kitchen light fixture.
And the new electrical panel box, behind the back door in the kitchen!
In the Big Bedroom, this wall is finally solid. Two doorways have been framed up and filled in, one that used to be the old side porch and hall, and the other where a closet used to be. You might not be able to tell what I'm talking about, but I sure noticed the difference.
And New Guy also braced the header for the back porch which came in to what will be part of the Big Bedroom's bathroom. Before it was just attached to the wall and I wanted there to be a post under it. Again, something you prob wouldn't notice, but I did.
And another parting shot:
This was taken from my car. I know it's dark but I just sat there for a long time tonight, looking at the house. I think everyone is finally able to see what I saw when I bought it. So many of my friends looked at me crazy when I bought this house. And they constantly asked me why I hadn't moved in yet for the past 2 and 1/2 years. But I can definitely say now it's been worth the wait.
It's finally coming together and looking like a house, my house. I'm very proud of it. And I can also say it's actually turning out better than I hoped, which is awesome.
I picked out bathtub units, vanities, a hot water heater, and started looking at toilets, faucets, counter tops, appliances, and light fixtures today. It was a fun thing, but also a little overwhelming with so many choices and decisions to make. It was also a little bit different this time since I wasn't window shopping anymore, I was actually for real picking out what I want to go in the house, and envisioning the rooms completed.
More tomorrow!
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