So Danny came back out on Friday and moved the compressor 30 feet and around to the backyard corner of our house. Lou came out Saturday and ran the electrical to get it back up and running. Set up the HVAC inspection for Monday but he didn't make it until yesterday afternoon. Either way it passed. Hooray! That means Building Final is all that remains.
So for Keely's last day of summer she chose to paint her new room (our old room). Fortunately, she chose to just paint an accent wall raspberry. Can you imagine the color? Pix will come soon. She did an amazing job taping it off, cutting it in, and then rolling the wall. Honestly it's a better job than most adults I know could do.
Needless to say, the last day of summer for us was busy with tasks trying to get the house just that much closer to finished. By around 8 I was toast. Took a shower while family started eating and then joined in. A half hour later, when Deacon went to take a shower upstairs, I heard the lilting tones of minor panic: "Dad, the shower's not draining!" Yep. He was right. He was standing in about an inch of water and it had no plans to leave. Then I notice the toilet is backed up. A quick plunge and - nothing. Toilet's clogged and shower's clogged and it's 845 and I'm not sweating again and barely able to think with a naked child standing in an inch of soapy water and all I can do is manage some loud screaming at the ladies downstairs to "give me a minute!" After I calmed down, I called my plumber and he said he'd come out first thing in the morning. Deke got cleaned up and we decided it was back to downstairs living for another night.
5 a.m. came loud and clear with the oddest "PLONG!" sound I've ever heard. Turns out the shower and toilet were slowly draining. Every now and then an air bubble would make it's way upstairs to the toilet where the emitted sound was amplified by the megaphonish bowl and then echoed in our spaciously tiled bath. Not a good night sleep but plumber came this morning and fixed it. Small oversight on his part underneath the house that took just 30 seconds to correct. That was a ray of sunshine on a rainy day.
An hour later I cracked a water line in the basement trying to shut off the old washing machine line that kept slowly dripping. Another call to the plumber (he said he didn't have any jobs today) meant he'd fix that while I could keep working.
Then he came. Yes, the Building Final inspector. I'd scheduled it for Tuesday but the computer system didn't give him the message. When I called yesterday she took the appointment over the phone. Nice man came in, looked around, and asked where the carbon monoxide detector was. I panicked. What? I know the electrician put one in. I remember him saying so. Quick call to Lou and he said it was downstairs as code only requires one per house not per floor. Inspector tested and approved. Then he asked a couple of questions about the unfinished porch and the missing mechanical room door off of the laundry. Both are projects of mine I told him. He said, "If you're good with it, I'm good with it." Signed the permit and left with a smile. The permitting phase has ended. Getting a Certificate of Occupancy is all that remains.
So thanks to a wonderfully creative and patient wife, two resourceful and helpful kids, some very talented contractors, and a whole slew of giving neighbors, friends, and family we're done. Now I've got a punch out list a mile long but the walls are painted and we have electricity and running water. That's finished in my book. We'll have an Open House in the next couple of weeks after I get more finicky stuff finished and kids get settled in their rooms. I'll post pix soon.
