We Are Powered Up!

 

We have POWER in the house!

This is such a big milestone heading into winter. After many delays trying to get the supplies we needed, things finally came together and we were able to turn on a few circuits. We now have some lights and a few outlets working. The days are dark early now so it is so nice to just turn on a switch in the house. Better yet is the ability to run electric space heaters until we get the radiant floor system up and running. We can't get over how cool it is to have a lit up house in the dark!

We were delayed all through the early fall due to canceled or backordered supplies as well as some family related things. If there is one thing we have learned by building this house it is that timelines mean nothing. 

We could not get the electrical panel that we needed. It took us several weeks to finally find the one we needed in stock. The wire was also an issue. We ended up buying a 500' roll of 4/0 awg aluminum and pulling three lengths of it together with a ground. We then had to schedule with the power company to turn off the power to the barn for 24 hrs so we could connect the extension to the house. With some special electrical grease we were able to partly push and partly hand pull the bundle of wires though our underground 3 inch conduit about 120 ft into the house utility room. It went much easier than anticipated and we did not need to use a winch.

The barn end of our extension to the house gets reorganized!

Other than electrical we have been continuing to work on sheet rock. It is a long, slow, messy part of the build. All the curves mean that most pieces of sheet rock need to be scribed to the dome exterior. We are getting faster but it is still much slower than installing square sheets. 

Last winter we were stuck in a loop polishing our concrete floors. This winter we are stuck in a loop hanging, taping and spackling sheet rock. We hope to be done with it by the New Year.