Monday, April 28, 2014

The House: AC, Furnace, and Foam

Well folks, it's time for that next update! So much has happened in April that it'll take me two posts to go over everything! First, the climate control systems. We had bought and partially installed an air conditioner a few years ago, but hadn't run the duct work for it. Also, Bruce ended up wanting to swap out the furnace we bought for a better one. It also needed to tie in to the ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilation system) that I mentioned in my last post. We ended up hiring a crew to accomplish all that. Bruce and his Dad had put in the ERV so they could tie in to it, and they knocked out the rest of the work in a few days! 

Here are some pictures I snapped when I came home from work to find most of the duct work in:

I had to take this one of the ducting sitting on the garage floor, because the garage hadn't been this clear in quite some time!


This is over the kitchen...


and so is this.


Dining room,


master bedroom,


and master bathroom.


Below is a picture of something else I can't remember if I mentioned before or not. It is part of the venting system for our range top, along with the make up air system. We installed a downdraft vent for the range, and it vents through the big box in the bottom of the picture, then up and out through a vent outside. The two pipes (currently covered in plastic and tape) are part of the make up air. Basically, the house is so well sealed with all the spray foam insulation I'm about to tell you about, we had to take measures to make sure the house can breathe. When the vent is on, fresh air is sucked back into the house through those pipes.


OK now for the fun part! In a previous post I mentioned the foam insulation Bruce was spraying in the roof while they were doing the framing. Well, now it was finally time to finish insulating the exterior walls, so that the drywall could go up! This was basically the exciting final step before walls, because it meant that everything that had to be done before the drywall went in was finished and inspected! The inspector came out and signed off on everything, so we won't be seeing him again until FINAL inspection! 

Here is Bruce, hard at work!


The two tanks contain two chemicals which are mixed as they pass through the spray nozzle. Then the foam expands and hardens!


Here is a view of the exterior wall for the bathroom and nursery closet, all foamed in!


This would be the master bedroom closet and corner of the bedroom. Yes, it's a huge closet, which I am very excited about!


The opposite wall of the master bedroom didn't take up as much foam because of the double french doors to the backyard. The doors, windows, and any electrical outlets and switches had to be covered with plastic first to keep foam off them.


This is the nursery. The closet in the back left corner was visible earlier form the other side in  a picture of the master bathroom.


Below is the kitchen. Boots, my father-in-law's dog, decided to photo bomb this one. I can't count how many of my pictures are photo bombed by one of our dogs, so it's nothing new!


This is the wall separating the laundry room from the garage. We insulated the garage as well, but it won't be air conditioned so we had to isolate it from the rest of the house too!


Here is the wall between the kitchen and garage:


Bruce foaming the garage!


So along with this began another task: shaving the foam back to the level of the studs. As it expanded, it would fill the cavity and expand past the studs. Because it is closed cell foam, it hardens and had to be trimmed so the drywall could be put in. This was a tedious and painstaking job that we have our family to thank very much for helping us. My parents, Bruce's Dad, and my brother and his wife have been out to help us with various tasks over the past several months and years, and they were all present for this one! I didn't take picture of us doing it because I was preoccupied with the work, but here are some pictures I took after we had the trimming done and the mess cleaned up.

Master Bedroom


Master Bathroom (photo bomb courtesy of Scooter)


Nursery


Cool view from the living room through the dining room into the master bedroom:


And through the dining room into the kitchen:


Kitchen!


Laundry room


Garage


More garage


I took this picture in the garage, looking toward the laundry room door and into the kitchen. Bruce and his Dad had put some drywall up so they had something to spray the foam on.


Well, that all took a week or so, and was finished last Wednesday. We hired another crew to put up drywall and tape, mud and texture. Since these pictures, the drywall is up and Bruce, with help from our family, added more (yes more) cellulose insulation to the attic. They are taping and mudding this week, so more on all that next time. Stay tuned!

Friday, April 25, 2014

Book Review: Christ’s Prophetic Plans by John MacArthur, Richard Mayhue, et al


Christ’s Prophetic Plans is a very well put together introductory text on Futuristic Premillennialism. I had been looking for a book to read that clarifies Revelation from a dispensational standpoint, and I was not disappointed. The book begins by setting straight several misconceptions about dispensationalism, including what it is and what it is not. The authors make the point that true dispensational Futuristic Premillennialism focuses on eschatology and ecclesiology. For instance, some try to point to Futuristic Premillennials as being Arminian, when in fact neither viewpoint even has to do with the same branches of systematic theology.

The authors answer many questions and arguments with clear Biblical examples taken in context. It is shown how a consistent approach to interpreting the entire Bible, beginning with the Old Testament and progressing through the Bible as it was written and revealed to man, leads to the conclusions reached by Futuristic Premillennials.

I gained valuable information and insights from this book, but it is not an easy read. I learned before I even finished the introduction that it is best used as a study rather than leisurely reading. I pulled out a notebook and took notes throughout the entire book. Christ’s Prophetic Plans is a must read for any Christian, but it might not be the best thing to start out with for the freshly converted Christian, or one who has spent little to no time in personal study of the Bible. Some background knowledge of systematic Theology and various viewpoints will aid in understanding of the points made in this book, but a quick intro study should get the reader ready. Another tip would be to familiarize oneself with some of the terms in the glossary or write down unfamiliar words and look them up as you read through the book.

Overall, this is a valuable addition to my personal library, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to clarify their understanding of the Scriptures, particularly end times, the church, and Israel.



I received this book for free from the publisher through the Moody Publishers blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

The House: Plumbing and Central Vacuum


It seems that I am always running behind on my blog these days! The great news is that everything is moving along very quickly. I have tons of current pictures and will try to hit the highlights quickly so I can move on to writing the next post! 

Last month, among other things, we finished the plumbing and central vacuum installation, again with much help from family. My Mom and I went around and covered all the water pipes in the attic with foam. Mom did most of the work, and had to stand on the ladder while I passed up to her what she needed. Unfortunately as my pregnancy has progressed, I can do less and less, and standing on a ladder is not a wise choice. I can handle a step stool but have to be very careful how precarious I let myself get with heights! Here are some pictures of our little project!









OK enough of that. Another project was the ERV, or Energy Recovery Ventilation system, which is basically a heat exchanger. It helps the house to breath by allowing air exchange, considering we have the foam insulation sealing everything off. (You'll see the foam in my next post!) 

Here are some pictures of the duct work we did for the ERV:



I got a couple of "action shots" while Bruce's Dad was sealing up the ducts:



You can see the two holes in the wall where the ducts are placed. One is for air intake and the other for exhaust:


Finally, once they were installed we built boxes around them to keep them in place:


When the inspector came out to check on some things, he wanted some of the beams in the garage reinforced. Basically, our framer didn't quite do it right according to code, and we needed to add some lumber. Apparently I didn't get a picture afterwards, but in the picture below you can see some double beams. Bruce and his Dad made them triple beams:


Here is the lumber before it went in. Nice big boards! Too bad I missed the chance for an "after" pic!


We finished he plumbing as well! I already showed pictures of all the sink areas in my last post, so here are just a couple of the finished areas.

The kitchen sink:


And the master bathroom shower! It's a double shower with various features so it takes up two pictures:



With a few days of work we also got both water heaters installed. Below is the one that goes to the master bathroom. The main water heater is in the attic, and I'm not climbing up unsecured ladders while pregnant so I didn't get any pictures. It is still visible from the attic though.


A project my Dad worked on was replacing the light switches in the already-redone older section of the house with the flat switches we have in the additions. Now everything matches!


I will close out this post with some pictures of the central vacuum we installed. The unit will be installed in the garage, but I took pictures of the ports we installed in the house. I'm pretty excited about being able to attach a hose to the wall and not have to drag a shop vac or other unit all over the house!

This one is in the garage:


We had to open up the wall in the front hallway to put this one in. It will service the front of the house:


Here is the back hallway outside of the main guest bathroom:


This port goes to the laundry room and kitchen. The one further down goes into the kitchen where we will have a little vent close to the floor that I can sweep dirt into:


We also have a port in the attic and one by the master bedroom door.

I covered quite a bit in this post, but trust me we've come a long way since then! I will try to get the next post up very soon to show the AC and foam insulation, and then the most recent development: DRYWALL!!!