Roof Finished, Earthwork, Rigid Insulation

Very busy day up on the hill! It finally warmed up this afternoon enough that I bundled myself up with a warm fleece, threw on a hat, and put my hood up like a gangster.  As I was rolling up State Street I could hear all sorts of commotion, sounded like heavy equipment moving dirt, and boy was that ever what happening.

The Earthworks crew dug the trench for the water line, and by the time I got there the piles of dirt lined our property and I had to cruise way along the perimeter just to get a peek. It was actually a little to hilly for me to get up close so I had dad take a few pictures.

Sitting in Front of the Excavator

The Trench Goes around the Garage

Down the front yard

To the main water connect some 250 feet away!  You might notice the white pipes and blue PEX tubing in the two photos above. We decided to use the PEX sleeved by 6 inch pipe to help insulate and protect it from the sharp shale.  I did a lot of talking with my plumber and the groundwork guys and eventually decided to use this plastic tubing instead of copper for its significantly cheaper price and resistance to cold weather issues.

Other than the obvious major work done by the groundwork guys… do they like to move lots of dirt or what?  The builders finished the roofing and were well on their way to attaching the 1 inch rigid insulation along the outside of the house.

More of the Trench and Part of the Finished Roof

Yes, Jerry and Mike, You Are off the Roof!

The Backside… Of the House Looks Just Perfect

Another View of the Earthwork Destruction

My Favorite Part of the Job

I got home around 3:30 this afternoon, cranked the heater, de-thawed myself and then got to work ordering all the cabling in preparation for automation to begin the end of next week. I ordered the following from a local automation vendor:

• 14/2 CL2 Rated In-wall Stranded Loudspeaker Cable, color white, 1000 feet
• 16/4 CL2 Rated In-wall Stranded Low-Voltage Control Cable, color white, 500 feet
• 18/2 CL2 Rated In-wall Stranded Low-Voltage Control Cable, color white, 500 feet
• 22/4 CL2 Rated In-wall Stranded Security Cable, color gray, 1500 feet
• CAT5E UTP Solid Ethernet Cable, color blue, 2000 feet
• CAT5E UTP Solid Ethernet Cable, color white, 1000 feet
• Shielded Microphone Cable w/ drain wire, color black, 250 feet
• 22 AWG Shielded Twisted Pair with polypropylene insulation, 200 feet

And then looked to Monoprice for the specialty wiring and terminals because they make such an incredible product for a super price. From them I ordered several 25-75 ft HDMI cables, a whole assortment of speaker terminal wall plates, and lots of velcro/zip ties to keep everything organized. Imagine this, 100 four inch cable ties is only $0.41.  I think I’ll take 3 at that price!

And yes… I know HDMI 1.3 remains compliant only to about 40 feet, but if the 75 foot cable works fine then great and if it doesn’t well, I’m out 40 bucks and will just send the high def over 2 CAT5E with a balun.

So very productive day, now I just need to figure out when I’m going to do my assignment that’s due tomorrow. Gosh, working on this house is so much more fun than homework!

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