September 15, 2009

Hurry Up and Wait

That is what we feel like we've been doing with The Ranch progress lately. Since we have been at the mercy of trades people to do the things we can't, it has been slow going the last couple of months. Our plumbers are in a very popular band and they are busy with music gigs just about every weekend in the summer, which put a big crimp in getting our plumbing finished.

Eventually, they were able to come out and do the rest of their roughing in, which allowed the electrician to get out there and do his thing. Once he started, he was on fire and got everything wired in about two days. Then, we had to wait on the electrical inspector to go out, but he couldn't find the key in our hiding place, so he denied the inspection. Turns out the electrician hadn't given him very clear instructions on where the key was hidden, so he had to schedule another time to go out and perform the inspection.

We were afraid this would delay our finishing the insulation on the weekend we had planned, but the inspector was a nice guy and told Neal that we could go ahead and insulate. We just had to cut slits in the insulation and slide the wires in, which would allow him to see that the wires were installed properly. So, that's what we did, and we were able to finish the insulation in one day. And when the electrical inspector returned the next week, he gave us the green light of approval.

It's a darn good thing we had plans to do inside work that weekend, because the weather turned pretty nasty and we got pummeled with a deluge of rain.

Next in our list of "to do" projects at The Ranch is to put up interior paneling and light fixtures and install the sinks, so we can get the final plumbing and electrical inspections done. Then we will be free to stain the floors, install a wood stove, kitchen cabinets and appliances. Of course, we first have to purchase the floor stain, wood stove, kitchen cabinets and appliances! We have ordered our well pump which should be in by October and hopefully installed soon after. Once that is done, we will get our propane tank which, along with our on-demand water heater, will allow us the luxury of bathing and washing dishes in hot water! Ahh, the simple pleasures...

7 comments:

inadvertent farmer said...

Ughhh I have been exactly where you are except that my husband in the tradesman...we still don't have baseboards or all the doors trimmed. Its only been 10 years, lol! All the work will be worth it when you're done! Kim

Anonymous said...

an on-demand water heater!! whoopee!! when we build, there will definitely be one of those installed as well...

little by little, huh... i would have the ants in my pants syndrome but that is because i get so impatient about things :)

it is coming along nicely though - you will be out there under your own roof before you know it :)

Lilla said...

Kim, thanks for visiting. I love reading your blog! Yes, it will be all worth it when it's done and we knew it would be a big undertaking when we started. We don't have the knowledge or the patience to do it all ourselves...serving as our own general contractor has been an interesting learning experience!

Daune, O-D water heaters are the best, and I can't wait to use ours. And if you knew me better, you would know that my pants have been covered with ants since we started! I want it done yesterday, but our bank account says otherwise...

basicliving@backtobasicliving.com said...

Woo hoo! The plumbing and electric getting finished is HUGE! I know you feel things are moving slowly - and I would too if I were in your shoes - but you've really come a long way in just a few months. I can't wait to see pictures of it finished!!

cousin Arnetta said...

We had the O-D water heaters in Thailand in the 70's... glad to see them finally getting popular here now... It does take $$$ and time, but your ranch-house is coming along nicely, especially since you just have weekends to work on it.

LiveWorkDream said...

Dang girl, I think you guys are coming along just fine! It'll be done before you know it, hang in there.

Lilla said...

Arnetta and Rene, thanks for the compliments. I guess it's hard to see how far we've come from an insider's point-of-view. It seems as though we've been at a stand still forever. Those on-demand water heaters are awesome. I can't believe they had them in Thailand in the 70s!

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