March 23-26

March 23rd - Sick day.  Which is amazing that through this whole project, this was really the first day I couldn't work due to being sick.
March 24th - Worked on my list
March 25th - Did the last 3 things on my list and Ryan came over and helped me adjust the water heater.   Got a visit from my Grandma who's coming in to town for a visit.
March 26th- Passed the last of all my inspections!!!  Insulated the attic, cleaned up stuff and started moving out. 

March 22nd

So on my list of things to do from the inspector:

Run the sump pump outside 5 ft from the house
Install a grabable handrail to the basement instead of the 2x4 on there now.
Replace bad GFI outlet
Reverse Hot/Cold in downstairs shower
Caulk tub
Reattach tiles
Secure toilet
Low water pressure in shower
Fix ground wire in upstairs bedroom
Add one outlet in upstairs bedroom

Today I mostly worked on getting the sump pump hooked up and my other outlet.  I also put on the hand rail, but that was a 2 minute job.  I went and bought a dehumidifier to help with the mildew in the basement.  Its running and taking a lot of water out of the air.   Bucket was half-full after being plugged in for 6 hours.  Installing the sump pump wasnt as hard as I thought, although it did invovle me slithering through the icky crawlspace.  Something I've been able to avoid for the past months.  I can now say I've been in every nook and crannie in this house. 

Although it wasnt on the list, I installed the dryer vent in the downstairs laundry.  I had the drill bits out and was poking holes in the wall so I figured why not. 

March 21

Had the rental inspection today at 2pm.  This was the one I was most worried about.   Spent the morning cleaning and working with the radiator guy today.  All is fixed.   The inspection went very well.   My worst fear was that he was going to either:
a) Point out something big (like I'd need to rebuild the foundation of the house)
b) Accuse me of doing some work without permits.

In the end he gave me a list of 12 easy things which I should be able to get done in a couple days. 

March 20

Spent the day getting ready for the rental inspection, which included getting a lot of stuff out of the house as well as hooking up the washer/dryer and changing the pex taps. 

Later on I repaired a lot of the floor tiles which were missing in the upstairs laundry room. 

March 19th

Ok - starting to get back in the swing of things.  Had the final building inspection today and passed.   Now have the rental inspection on Wednesday at 2pm.  Will see how that goes. 

Today I got more done before 7:30am when the inspector showed up than I did most of the other 3 days.   Installed my anti-tip on the stove, re-hooked a circuit that accidentally got disconnected and put up a shelf.  Then fixed a faulty outlet (the main one I was using for all my work!!), put up the 2 edges on the countertops and generally did odds and ends. 

Also, made a trip to mom and dads to take care of some stuff, go HD to get some pipess, to the county office to schedule the last inspection. 

March 18th

Inspector comes tomorrow so I should have done a lot today.   Did some but not as much as I could or should have.    Not sure what it is.  I'm just really tired of working on this house - although if I got my ass in gear it could all be done in a matter of a couple of days.  But I cant.   I miss my wife and I guess I'm angry about the zoning issue which wasted 2 months and thus made us be apart for now, so I'm actually upset at the house.   And now that the end is in sight, I seem to have lost motivation because of it.    

Cleaned the basement real good, Ryan cleaned the deck.  Put new plates on all the exposed wires downstairs and finished the trim for the wires and pipes.  Radiator guy came out but didn't get it all fixed.  :(  Keep finding new things which need to be fixed.   One is a circuit that now does not work.

March 17th

Not a real busy day.  Put up 7 smoke detectors, put shelves in the living room and dining room closets.  Cleaned the 'pull' sign and the antique latch and put them back on (thanks to Effie for convincing us to keep the latch).  I wanted to throw it out, but it cleaned up real nice.  Rehung the closet doors incl installing the carpet guides.  Put handles on the top cabinets.  Wired up the breaker for the new outlet.  Put blanks over the removed breakers.  Put up the 418 outside.  Made a box for the pipes and wires in the downstairs bath.  Fixed some of the outlets which were sticking out too far, and put some new switch plates on.  Cleaned up a little bit here and there.  Might sound like a lot, but it really wasn't.   I've got a lot to do tomorrow.

March 16th

Did nothing today.  Well, I went shopping and bought shelves at ReStore and paid the carpet guy and made an appointment with a plumber.  But other than that I did nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.   I just couldn't find the motivation to do anything.  Partly the overcast day, but mostly it was the new carpet.  The place feels like a house now.  So I wasn't at a worksite - I was chilling in a house.  And I've got a couch which I got for free - so I sat on it and surfed the internet and did... nothing.  A well deserved break. 

March 15th

The guy came over today to finish the radiator install and an hour in I realized he just didn't know what he was doing.   I think he could have gotten the job done, but about as good as I could have done it myself.  Which means a lot of testing, finding leaks, draining, filling, finding leaks, testing, etc.   I don't have the time.  So I fired him and called a real plumber who's coming out Monday. 

The carpet guys came and did the install today.   It looks like a real house now.  They left some scraps of carpet as I asked so I could use them for walkways to try to keep the new carpet clean.