At Home In The Woods

[Obed]

The wall behind the hall vanity bowed outward toward the vanity a little in the middle. The countertop installers installed the backspash so that one end was flush to the wall which meant the other end of the backspash was very far from the wall due to the wall's bowing in the middle. They should have made both ends the same distance from the wall. My wife pulled the backsplash off the wall before the silicon caulk dried. She had the countertop people come back out and reinstall the backspash in a more reasonable manner.

 

[Obed]

Here's the office/dining room after the new painters painted. They did a much better job than the painter we let go. The new painters made the trim guy's work look great. This painting crew was recommended to us by the trim guy.

 

[Obed]

We are in the middle of a cold snap. It is colder than it normally is this time of year. Tonight it is forecast to get down to the mid to low teens. A couple days ago I plugged in the heating pad that we have set up below our camper's black/sewage tank. I also turned on the drop light that is below the black tank's dump valve to keep it from freezing shut. Here's a description of the cold challenges we faced last January.

I had hoped we would be able to move into the house before the cold weather reached us this year but we didn't make it. I'm hoping we don't have to do the chamber pot routine again.

 

[dstig1]

Very nice! You are getting pretty close to that CO!!

 

[scoutcub]

Here's the office/dining room after the new painters painted. They did a much better job than the painter we let go. The new painters made the trim guy's work look great. This painting crew was recommended to us by the trim guy.

Obed -

I absolutely love the upper and lower moldings, and chair rail....it makes such a huge difference from a normal wall. Some very good looking windows as well....and paint....and fixtures.....OK, I love it all.

Kudos to you for taking the time to document with such detail every step of building....not only will you have a permanent record of your efforts, but poor slobs like me that haven't built yet can reference your thread and get all kinds of assistance!

Fantastic job, keep it up!


PS.....Any plans for the pole barn when the house is done??:laughing:

Frank

 

[Obed]

Smoke Detectors

This morning at 6:45 AM the smoke detectors went off. I went out to the house and couldn't find anything wrong. All the detectors were sounding alarms so I could not tell which detector sensed a problem. I think I've heard the alarms going off before but am not sure. There is fine construction dust in the air. Could the dust cause the alarms to sound? We are going to talk to the electrician abot this.

Also, is there a way we can prevent all 7 detectors from alarming? I' like only the alarm that senses a problem to sound the alarm so that we can quickly find the problem without having to wander all over the house.

Thanks in advance for your comments,
Obed

 

[srs]

Smoke Detectors
Could the dust cause the alarms to sound?

Also, is there a way we can prevent all 7 detectors from alarming?
Obed

Obed, when I had my house built the plastic bag the smoke detectors came in were kept on the whole time the house was under construction because of all the dust. There was no need to vacuum them. If you still have the plastic bags I'd recommend you put them back on or cover them up with some other material.

 

[medicshawn]

I would guess the alarms were set off by the heating system. Dust settles on the heating strips in your heat pump and it gets cold the heating strips come on and burn that dust off. Usually happens the first cold snap then it's not a problem the rest of the season. All the smoke detectors are tied together as a safety. Some brands of detectors will have LED lights and the detector that is alarming will show a different color light, may be flashing or solid.

 

[ruralruss]

Russ,
That sounds interesting. Can you give me a MFG and model of your filter equipment?
Thanks for the idea,
Obed

Obed,

I will look at it but may not be able to get the information back to you until next week. Heading north for Christmas with the family. I am not sure the information will help you because it is just a standard 2 piece water softener with out the salt tank and instead of resin pellets in the cylinder he put in around 8 layers of specific shaped, decreasing size aggregate. If sediment is a problem in your area you can probably find one from a local water softener company. Just give them the description above, they should recognize it if they sell them.

Check these out

Aqua Clear Water Systems | Knoxville Water Softeners | Kinetico Water Filter | Drinking Water Systems | Water Coolers | Knoxville Water Treatment | Knoxville Culligan | Kinetico | Pure Water | Water Purification | Water Filters | Water Filter | Water

in Lenoir City

There is also a place in Morristown called Alpha Water Softeners

and google show a Culligan in Knoxville. Culligan is usually higher in price from my experience.

By the way have you had your water tested, if not you may have other filtering needs.

Russ

 

[dodge man]

I just wanted to comment on your progress. I think your house is going to be great when its all done. The progress and photos are good to see.

About your water. Have you had the water tested? You can buy kits that will tell you how hard the water is. We have a water softner and filter. Our filter looks about like yours but maybe a little bigger, and it works well. Our softner is the traditional kind that uses salt and it works well also. You don't get salt in your water, that is all backwashed down the drain when it recharges.