Wires

OK, let me try to get back on the wagon.  I know I still need to post beautiful "reveal" photos, but the reality is we are still doing work and have boxes everywhere!

In a couple of places, I eliminated or moved walls, which presents a problem since in an Eichler, the wiring is run up and on the ceiling.  With a normal attic, you would simply pull the wires up to the crawlspace or attic, drill a new hole, and drop them down.

But, with these houses, especially if you have a foam roof, it's much more involved:
- cut through waterproof layer
- cut through inches of foam
- cut through original tar and gravel
- find wires underneath protective metal brackets, and if needed cut brackets

I used a circular saw and tons of razor blades to cut through to the metal, then a Dremel to carefully cut the metal to the point where I could bend it.

If you're thinking of stripping your roof down to the tongue and groove wood, you can see how much work this is, and explains why the estimates I got for a total roof redo were almost double the cost of adding foam and recoating.

Being the nerd that I am, I had to run Cat5E and RG6 to every room (in some cases multiple runs per room).  I ran these over the roof and had them foamed in when the roof was done:

Back it up

Clearly I've falled off the wagon on the blog.
Things got really busy with the final push towards move-in, so every minute counted.
Despite that, there's still work underway, so I haven't been motivated to post final pictures, because, well, we're not done yet.

I decided if I don't start posting little bits, I'll probably never finish this blog, so here's a first step back.
Let me recap the timeline:
Jan 2, 2011: bought the house
Jan 3, 2011: began demolition of the interior.
May 9, 2011: moved in

What happened in between?  A high level checklist, which I will detail later:

• demolition.  Ripped everything out to the studs.
• beam repair/replacement
• pulled up old tile flooring and wet sanded to the slab
• repaired radiant heat leaks and installed new boiler
• installed structural improvements
• roughed in bathrooms and kitchen plumbing
• replaced 90% of all electrical wiring, installed new circuits, upgraded to 200A service
• ran new gas line overhead to kitchen
• relocated water heater and laundry to the garage, installed new Eternal tankless water heater
• installed porcelain tile in every square foot of living space
• installed insulation (R13) and sheetrock 
• installed new Milgard aluminum double pane doors and windows
• installed new kitchen cabinets and counters
• installed new interior trim
• installed bathroom fixtures
• installed new Rheem 16SEER rooftop package HVAC and new ductwork
• had roof refoamed and recoated
• had bathroom shower and tub surround tiled
• wall prep and painting
• repaired sprinkler system

And we're not done yet.  But it's heck of a lot better than it was on January 2nd.

Once the interior is done, we'll move on to the exterior.

More posts, pictures, etc coming soon.  Promise.