Monday, January 15, 2018

Kitchen Addition Post 5

The Perils of Construction in the Winter
After getting off to a great start and the framers working really fast, the project dramatically slowed down as the holidays approached. It was difficult getting trades lined up to work and finding time ourselves to put in additional work. Fortunately our offices had some extra days off after Christmas and we were able to make progress.
The electricians (South Strand Contractors) got their rough-ins done. This took some time as we were quite specific about the location and function of each outlet and switch. We also had several circuits ran for future projects we want to do. All the additional load meant we needed a new electrical panel, this one is fortunately located inside the house unlike our existing exterior service panel. The plumbers (Craig's Plumbing) were also able to get started and roughed-in. We added a secondary hot water heater to serve just the addition.
Johanna and I spent several days around New Year's framing the new ceiling and correcting a few uncovered issues. Even though we were only able to raise the hallway ceiling 5 1/2", it visually makes an enormous difference. The snow storm came at the worst time for our addition. The space is fully connected to the existing house, but is not yet insulated.  After a couple of nights of the temperature hovering around 53 in the kitchen, I started insulating what I could without covering up electrical and plumbing for the inspector.
This week the exterior Nichiha panels should start and hopefully the deck boards will follow close behind.

 Even this small bit of insulation and some great stuff made a huge difference in temperature

Repairs to the "Corner of Troubles"