Electricity... Finally!

I was going to call the electricity company today and complain about my electrical not being on yet (I passed electrical inspection last week), but I decided to drive by the house first. Last week, I could tell that they ran the underground wires from the house to the pole, but they hadn't ran the line up the pole to the actual wires. You can see the wires there on the pole kind of dangling.

Well both of these pictures are from last week. I noticed today that the wires were no longer dangling and were ran all the way to the top of the pole and were connected to the live electricity wires. So I ventured down into the basement, plugged the sump pump into one of the sockets and switched the 200 amp service on. Hearing the sump pump start up without my little generator was music to my ears! I gave the HVAC guy a call and let him know that the basement should be dry from now on so he can come and install the furnace. I hope he can get that done within a weeks timeframe...

Siding Complete

I know it's been a long time since I updated this, but there wasn't much to report until today. The siding is finally done! The funny thing is that the progress had slowed down some last week because here in Michigan, deer hunting season started and apparently alot of my contractors are hunters, so they were gone for most of last week.

I didn't have my regular camera, so these pictures are from my cell phone. Not the best, but you can get the idea. :) I also had my electrical inspection which passed with flying colors. So now I have to give the electrical company a call so they can hook me up for service.

I am hoping that within the next two or three weeks, I'll start to put up the insulation and then drywall. Luckily, I have some volunteers that have said they will help, so I'll be putting a call in for that. :)

More Siding...

More Siding. I took the day off today and ended up meeting the guys that are working on the house. They were out there all day. It was beautiful day for this time of year. Upper 60s and not a cloud in the sky. In this picture, you can see one of the guys up in the ladder installing the siding.

Except for the back, the entire garage is almost completely sided.

The back of the house is finished for the most part. It appears as if they are doing the easiest parts first. The front of the house has a lot of corners, so I'm sure it will take alot more time. The siding contractor said that he should be all done by Tuesday. Looking forward to being able to check that off the list of things that need to be completed.

Siding and HVAC

Yesterday, the contractors started putting up the siding. It's looking good so far. I was hoping they would have more done, but I guess it's not as fast a process as I would have hoped. It looks like another two to three days and they will have it done. These pictures are from this morning. It rained all day today, so they did not do any work today.

Here's a picture of the garage. They got most of the siding on the front of the garage done. I like the way the siding contrasts with the windows. Can't wait to see the finished product!

I had to break down and get a small generator. It rained again today, so I went out and pumped a little bit of water out of the basement. This morning, I paid the money to Detroit Edison so they can come run the electric line to the house. It will take them about two or three weeks before it gets done. So, until then, this generator is going to be my best friend. Interestingly enough, today, the guy at Detroit Edison tells me that I should have had them put up temporary service when I put the foundation in. Now this isn't the first time I've spoke to him. I've been speaking with him on and off for the past two months and he never mentioned this. Maybe I wasn't asking the right questions, but at least now I know for next time...

A quick shot of the ductwork in the basement. I won't have the contractors install the furnace in the basement yet. With water in the basement, it would not be the smartest thing to put a furnace down there. I'll wait until after the electrical is installed and the sump pump functioning 100% of the time, then I'll have it done.

Heating Ventilation And Cooling (HVAC)

Work on the HVAC system has begun. They started upstairs and are working their way down. According to the man in charge, they should be done by Tuesday. So I'm looking forward to that. Once they are done, the electrician will come back in just to make sure everything looks okay. After he's done, then I'll call the carpenter to also give it a last once over before I go for what's called a "Rough Inspection". Basically, the building inspector comes out and checks the plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. So I pray that everything goes according to plan.

This is ductwork in the front of the house going up to the bedrooms upstairs. The picture before is the ductwork above the kitchen. I sent in the paperwork and money to have the gas line installed on Thursday. I was told it will take approximately 5-6 weeks before someone will come out a run the gas line. Not quite the timeline that I wanted to hear, but I can't do anything about that.

On an unrelated note, I noticed that the workers had built a small firepit outside my house to keep warm. It's getting pretty cold up here. The temps are in the 40s/50s and will soon be getting colder.

I am hoping to have Detroit Edison (the electrical company out here) come out and hook the house up to the electrical service within the next two weeks. I had to go out to the site yesterday and cut down a tree branch that was touching the electrical pole that is on my property. The branch was about 3-4 inches thick. The field service guy from Detroit Edison told me that I would have to cut down that branch before he would send anyone out to hook me up.

Now, I just need to call both the phone company and the cable company and have them run service to the house as well. I will have to remember to do that this week.