JuneUpdate

Work Continues on Just About
Everything

Electrical installations continued with completing the installation of Ceiling Fans in the Guest bedroom, loft,
kitchen and master bedroom. When you have a vaulted ceiling the fan needs to be dropped to a usable height.
This fan is in the Guest bedroom and is operated from a switch on the wall. The wiring for this fan was run after
the ceiling tongue and groove was installed but before the insulation and sheeting for the roof. Planning ahead is
the key to a custom electrical system installation.

This is the master bedroom ceiling fan. In this case it was mounted directly to a beam. The kitchen fan however
had to be mounted to a cross beam that was installed between two beams. The location of any cross beams had
to be identified and the beams installed before the tongue and groove ceiling was installed in order to run the
electrical wiring.

Here you can see the cross beam that holds the kitchen ceiling fan in place. With the installation of these fixtures
all the electrical outlets and fixtures inside the house are now functional. We still have the outside outlets and
lights to hook up but those will have to wait till all the porch decking is installed. We will install all the garage and
shop electrical components after the majority of the house finish work is completed.

We also spent a day completing the installation of the guest bathroom vanity, shower and toilet. We now have
two fully functional bathrooms. Two down and one to go.

This is the guest bathroom toilet. Just to the left is the shower unit. The shower is identical to the master
bathroom unit. There are no bathtubs in this house simply because we didn't want one. As you can see we
still have a lot of final triming to do but that's a job for next winter.

While I was installing the guest bathroom fixtures the "boss" framed in the bookcase in the loft. This would
have been wasted space due to the AC return duct residing just below but it was easy to convert to very
usable space.

The "boss" also finished the installation of the tongue and groove on the back wall of the bonus room. We still
have some T&G work to do on the dormers but with this wall done 99% of the interior T&G is now complete.

We began the finish stairs installation by completing the T&G on this wall. Note the insulation under the stairs
support. The other side of this wall is open to the crawl space so insulation is required here just as in any normal
exterior wall.

With the wall complete we can now begin the installation of the finished risers and treads. The riser material and
tread material is all included in the package. The risers were nailed into position using finish nails while the
treads were installed by counter sinking 3/8" holes and screwing the tread in position on each stringer. The
holes will be filled with a dowel and finish sanded prior to coating with polyurethane for a nice finished look.

Here are the completed treads and risers. Now for the railings.

In order to begin the railing installation we needed to remove two temporary supports and install the finished
posts in their place. These temporary supports were installed when we assembled the beam and purlin system
long before the roof was installed. Here you can see one of the supports which is simply a couple 2x4's nailed
together in a "T" configuration.

With the temporary support removed the finished 6x6 posts were installed. These posts serve two purposes.
One is decorative and the other is to support the railing system as you will see in a minute.

Now you can see how the posts help support the railing system. The railings are inset into both the newel posts
and the beams. 3/8" holes are then counter sunk into the railing and it is screwed into the posts. The holes will
be filled with dowels just the same as the stair treads and will be finish sanded before polyurethane.

Unlike the rest of the railing system which has two railings (top and bottom), the stairs only have one railing. This
is because the balusters are directly mounted to each stair tread instead of a bottom railing.

The balusters are ripped from 3 1/2" x 1 3/4" material supplied in the package. They are then cut to length with a
45 degree cut on each end (for the double railing part only). For the stairs each baluster is custom cut to length as
you will see in a minute. They are installed just like the railings and stair treads with a counter sunk 3/8" hole
and screws.

Here you can see the first section of railing completed.

When it comes to the stairs there are two balusters on each tread. Both are different lengths so the must be cut
individually. Here I am fitting one of the short balusters in place prior to installation.

The railing system is now complete. The posts on the stairs are bolted to the stringers with two 3/8" x 6" bolts.
This provides a lot of strength to the entire railing system.

Here's another view of the complete stair railing system.

A quick word about smoke detectors. Most building codes require smoke detectors now days and ours is no
exception. We installed detectors at the highest point on each floor and in each bedroom. They are wired on
their own circuit and all tied together so that if one goes off they all go off. Not only are they on their own circuit
they also have a battery backup in case the power goes out. Cheap insurance to safeguard your family.

Another word on protection. Insurance companies will tell you that damage to a home from a washer line that
leaks averages over $8000. This device costs about $150 and will prevent your washer lines from bursting. The
washer plugs into the unit which in turn plugs into the wall. The water lines are run to the unit and the washer
lines hook up to unit as well. The unit prevents the washer water lines from being pressurized unless the washer
is in operation and shuts off the pressure once the washer turns off. It also has a sensor that will detect if the
washer is leaking and if so it will shut off the water to the washer. Just imagine how much water would pour out of
one of those washer hoses if it burst when you weren't home. A foot of water in your basement or crawl space is
an easy possiblity, not to mention the damage to sheet rock walls, ceilings, and floors. Cheap insurance to say
the least.

With the smoke detectors and washer protection unit installed we turned our attention to the half bath ceiling.
We installed a dropped ceiling in this area to hide water and waste lines from the guest bath above. This section
hides the waste line from the toilet above. You can also see the rough in box for the bathroom fan. These fans
will all be installed in about a week.

This dropped ceiling above the vanity hides the waste line from the guest bath shower.

With the inside of the house pretty livable we turned our attention to the outside. Here you can see the beam
support we installed to add strength to the back porch area where a hot tub will eventually be located. The beam
is made of three 2x8's and is supported by a pressure treated 6x6 sitting on the concrete pad.

Here's a better view of the 6x6 post that supports the tripled 2x6 beam.

The beam runs under the floor joists at half span. The 2x8 joists which are 12 inches on center are doubled from
the beam to the end of the porch. This will provide ample strength in this area to support a hot tub later. After
this project is done, we're going to need it.

With the back porch structure finally complete we turned our attention to completing the log siding on the garage.
Our monsoon season will start in about a month and we want to have all the log siding completed by then. What
you see here is about 4 hours work for the two of us. We will complete this section tomorrow and move on to
siding the bonus room dormer. The last section will be the side of the garage with the doors. That section is
pretty well protected from the weather so if the monsoons start before we get that section done it's no big deal.

That's it for this month. Next month we hope to complete all the log
siding and have all the porch decking and railings installed. If we get
time we'll also install the exterior electrical fixtures as well.

Check back Soon