Roofing Off

The old 3-tab composite asphalt shingle on the lower roof is off. We found five layers of this stuff, and the recommended maximum is two before you're supposed to strip it all and start over. One layer or a dozen, it doesn't matter for this project because we're installing metal roofing and we need a bare roof on which to mount it. Metal has a much longer life, is lighter, and has better heat reflectivity than asphalt.

Ganging Up

Justin spent well over 24 hours this past weekend working with the rockin' electricians. They ate, drank and slept wiring, and didn't leave until nearly midnight on Sunday. Their time was well spent as they passed inspections with flying colors on the first round.

Here's a great example of what J and the guys from Statewide Electrical put together. You'll notice the switchbox above has room for 5 switches. We're trying to minimize the "wall acne" (a term coined by Susan Susanka in our remodel bible, The Not So Big House) by ganging as many of the switches together as logical. Furthermore, we're trying to order the switches in a sensible manner. This is to decrease the flicking on and off of lights trying to find the correct one. Few things bugged me more with our last house than trying to turn on the outdoor light and instead starting our 90-decibel garbage disposal. Our friend Shawn M. once did it late at night while visiting. I think it nearly killed him.

On a green note. The metal recycling guy stopped by this morning, as he does every Monday. We're usually pretty good about leaving all scraps out for him, but, in the haze that was this weekend, managed to dump some of the wiring. I walked up to the house as he was fishing it out of the dumpster. Though we've never met, I can tell that he's good people. He only takes what's on the street or in the dumpster, and never comes on site. I think he has his regular rounds, and seems to know the construction crew. What a great mutualism.

Foam Prep

The spray foam insulation crew was in today to prep the windows, doors and inside walls with protective plastic and plastic backing. Click on the image for better detail of the first floor, which presently looks like something out of the movie E.T. Here's another photo from a different angle.

We're insulating the interior walls and first floor ceiling as much for energy efficiency as we are for sound proofing. Icynene spray foam has good sound dampening qualities and it can be applied quickly. And since it doesn't have to be cut into polygons like batt insulation, we can fill in all the little nooks and crannies around electrical fixtures, wiring, plumbing, ventilation ducts, windows and doors that would otherwise be escape holes for heat and sound.

• 5/7 :: Mark adds : When I see the shots from the other angle I think Flight of the Navigator, but ET works too . . .

Deck Update!

Okay, maybe not too much to get excited about here, but the remaining stringers are in and the corner stringer is nearly finished. The decking material hasn't arrived yet, but when it does this part of the project will quickly roll forward. In the meantime, we've been finishing up some porch design details, such as identifying which brackets to use. We've also been planning the deck rail post positions and how we want to run the cable guardrail system through them.