Author Archives: ellen
LEED Rough Inspection
I have been emailing my new project person from Energy Logic for over a year and he has been very helpful, but now I needed to have the rough insulation inspection before we covered more of our Roxul rock wool … Continue reading
Big Snakes…
These two guys were in our front yard near the deck. I did some research and they are bull snakes that can imitate rattlers. That is supposed to be a defense but people often kill them for the imitation not … Continue reading
Storage!
We are drowning in building supplies that are not being used right now or were extra from earlier projects. One large item is extra rock wool insulation that I over ordered for the house. We have seven full bolts of … Continue reading
Attic platform
I finished building the attic platform over the guest bathroom and pantry. This area is going to hold the ventilation system and also encloses the plumbing vent on this side of the house. We have the walls up around the … Continue reading
Wabi-sabi Garden Gate
I often have the pleasure of meeting someone special while purchasing Craigslist items. Some folks are all business, which is fine, some are cautious, which makes sense, and some are very friendly and sharing. I have to say that connecting … Continue reading
From Heating to Cooling in One Week
I bought a little something to help with cooling this summer. It is an older Convair Award 2000 portable evaporative cooler. Again from Craigslist and only $20. I brought it home just in time as today is in the upper … Continue reading
Interior Doors
I decided to buy these craigslist doors and I worry that they are not quite right for the house. They are just made out of 2 x 6’s which would normally have a tendency to warp but these seem to … Continue reading
Arizona Wisdom and Geometry
We lived in Arizona for almost 15 years and learned to love the flora and fauna native to the state. Despite years of living in the midwest, we had read about saguaro cactus, prickly pear, creosote bushes, palo Verde, mesquite, … Continue reading
The Gathering
Not of family but of materials. I have been craigslisting for weeks looking for doors for the master bedroom. I may have found some but have to go see them this weekend. I was taken by a set of arched … Continue reading
Family is Precious
We spent a wonderful week in California with our newest grandson, Wolfgang. He was born on Christmas Eve and this last weekend was his 100th Day celebration. His mom is Korean and the 100th Day is a traditional celebration called … Continue reading
Rough Plumbing Inspection
Although we were not really ready for it since the walls are not all up yet and only some of the plumbing is installed, I asked for a rough plumbing inspection to find out if the plumbing I am doing … Continue reading
Stud Wall Plans
I updated the stud wall plans to reflect a few of the changes from the original drawings. I’m using Sweet Home 3D which I downloaded for free several years ago. When I tried to open it I got an error … Continue reading
Lowering the Tub Drain
I had to break out the concrete around the tub drain to get the elbow low enough to provide a slope on the tub drain. I had to reveal enough pipe to glue on the elbow under the floor surface. … Continue reading
A Door in the Wall
Wall number one now has two sides–meant for each side of the inside entry door. The next step is a door in the wall. We plan to have an airlock entry. This is an old idea, to block off direct … Continue reading
Floating Walls
Way back in 2012 when the first wall was about to be taken down, I took this photo of the floating wall in the master bathroom. A floating wall is not fully connected between the ceiling rafters and the floor … Continue reading
Thinking about the Tub Drain
Sometimes my brain just trips over itself when trying to solve a problem. I happened to have a lift and turn sink drain from the granite vessel sink installation that I realized had a long enough stem to use for … Continue reading
Happy Happy First Wall
Today was a red letter day! The first wall went up. It is pretty exciting. Dave decided to use screws instead of nails because he thinks they will make a sturdier wall. We are using a 24 on center 2 … Continue reading
Tub Drain Problem
I have two problems with the tub drain. First the nice quality Moen drain that I bought is too short to reach through the hole to a pipe below the tub. It is only 1 1/4″ deep and the opening … Continue reading
Our Roman Tub
I looked for installation instructions for the used tub that I bought on Craigslist and found this very similar if not the same tub at The Bath Works. This one costs over $6000 and it is cast of “Silacore” a … Continue reading
Cleaning the Spa Water
The spa water was getting dirty. There was sand on the bottom that did not seem to be getting to the filter. So I bought a small Intex vacuum kit to suck up the dirt through the filter system. Unfortunately … Continue reading