Drying out

The garage door was installed and came out better than I had hoped .  The quality of the door exceeded my expectations and the door operator is extremely quiet.  This picture of the garage door shown along the edge of the sumac grove in winter's mantle gives a small hint of what we hope to enjoy in the coming years.  (The sumac grove, not the garage door.  Well OK, we hope to enjoy the garage door too.)




After two long weeks of battling moisture problems in the insulation, we were rewarded with good news from the insulation manufacturers about our concerns.  GK Insulation came back today to repair some of the settling problems that showed up in the pictures from last week.  I related my concerns about the moisture conditions to the installer, and he immediately called the technical gurus at Nu-Wool Insulation (headquartered in the area) who showed up within an hour.  

We discussed my concerns about moisture and the potential for mold, and they assured me that there would not be a problem.  The cellulose insulation has borate added as an anti-fungal treatment.  I erroneously mentioned in the last post that there was also a pesticide in the insulation.  The borate will serve to prevent the formation of any mold.  Where there is no borate between the drywall and a stud, the installation of construction adhesive will be sufficient to isolate the wood from the paper backing on the drywall to prevent the potential for mold. 





We lost a day on the outside to poor weather, so we have about one more day of installing the foam sheathing and the fiberglass lath.  I have been installing the trim around the windows and doors.  To prepare for that, I have been installing a "nailer" which is a rip of plywood that is screwed over the foam and lath.  This holds the lath in place, provides a depth gauge for the cement plaster, and provides a place to fasten the wood trim.



The electricians were able to finish up the basement and garage.  We now have the permanent lighting in the basement with all of the outlets and mechanical equipment disconnects installed.  We have more utility in the garage with lighting and additional outlets for our work area.   

 

The plumbing is finished.  I ordered a water meter so that we can monitor our consumption.  The best piece of plumbing equipment is our water treatment equipment.  We think we have found a viable alternative to salt based water softeners.  We have had a couple of our brighter friends review the scientific credentials and bless the premise.  The Nuvo filter changes the PH in the water by adding citric acid which kelates the metallic compounds so that they will not bind to any other metallic object.  This protects our pipes, mechanical equipment, showerheads, aerators, dishwashers, etc. from accumulating those nasty accretions that undermine their effectiveness.  





There is no taste from the treatment, all minerals just pass through the system (including ours), there is no salt getting flushed into our drainfield and thus back into our aquifer, and there is no energy input for the backflushing required in a water softener.  The annual cost of the chemical is about the same as the cost of salt with out the energy cost.  If it works for us, our "friends" who have the intellectual capacity to determine that it should work, will try it out in their own homes.   Annual reports forthcoming.

Snow launching off the roof is rather spectacular.  A few inches accumulation needs a couple of good hours of sunshine to lubricate the metal roof enough to start an avalanche.  We have ordered snow guards which we will not install until next summer after the solar panels have been installed.  When the snow does hit the ground it compacts into a solid mass, and requires a good deal of effort to extract. 

The internet installers are coming to test the signal strength tomorrow.  If it works out, we will get the antenna installed.  The drywallers have commitments until Tuesday or Wednesday next week, but will make short work of the installation once they get started.  The exterior trim will continue with the receipt of the window sill material.