More from Sept. 27 - Oct. 8
It is amazing how one goes through every detail to put a solid, secure, water-tight roof on a house and then has the nerve to cut big holes in it for vents and other things like skylights. Well, we are living through the stress of doing just that. We decided early on to include skylights to let more natural light into the living room and kitchen where we spend most of our time. Our thinking is that we will use less electricity during daylight hours to help do our part in saving the planet.... We are using Velux No Leak Skylights, currently one of the best on the market. Fingers crossed, they are telling the truth about that. If it ever does rain here again, we may be able to test that claim :o).
Here are photos of the kitchen and living room skylights being installed in the new vaulted ceilings.
Pat cuts the first hole in the kitchen ceiling. Yes, I am holding my breath!
The skylights have three levels of flashing to prevent leaks.
We are also installing a sun tube to beam natural light into the basement stairwell (see photo below). This will help shoot natural light into the stairwell during the day and eliminate the need to turn on the light during the day as we enter the house through the new garage into the basement at the back of the house. Before the installation, I draped the basement stairwell in plastic and sealed off the end so the plaster that fell from the ceiling didn't cover our basement living space and temporary kitchen with dust. God forbid!! How can we possibly live with any dust!!!! HA! I am still finding little no-see-um dusty things with crunchy bits in the dishes!!!
Here is the sun tube before it is connected to the basement globe. You can see how much natural sunlight comes down through it. A wonderful natural light source for a one time cost of about $160. No light switch needed.
This next photo is just for my dad. The HVAC guys came to extend the duct work from the heating/cooling system into the new dining room space. This photo shows one of the guys in the new crawl space running/extending the new supply and return ducts. My dad spent his whole working life as a sheet metal man crawling around in spaces like this (most not as clean as this brand new crawl). Daddy, I promise I'll let you go down there on your next visit! :o)
Here you can see the old and new materials used for venting. The old sheet metal return duct on the left and the new double insulated flexible duct covered in black plastic on the right. Hmmmm, the one on the left has been in the house since 1953. How long do you think the new one on the right will last?
Can't wait for next week. Windows, doors and stone porch to begin.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :o)
