The progress documented by this blog entry can be best described as fluid. The main barn framing has changed little. The top triangular pieces of the trusses are on and a few more purlins(roof joists) are in place. But progress has been hampered by fluids (rain) and the fact that the framers have not been here in two weeks. The general contrator's crew has been making slow progress in the meantime.
There has been fluid progress in the office as the plumbing rough in is done. Here you see the sink, toilet and shower plumbing in the wall. There was difficulty with the venting (the black vertical pipes to the roof that allow for proper draining). First, the plumber put them in the wrong place (visible from within the room). Then, the plumbing inspector required extra wide vents, so he had to do them again. We are still not sure why the inspector required this. We think he was just yanking the plumber's chain, so to speak. But now it is done.
The windows and doors have arrived (doors not in picture). So far the quality looks good. I am a little nervous about the metal shop door as I want it to be extremely sturdy and secure. I can't tell from looking at it as the door frames are not yet assembled.
The hot water heater for the office is installed in the garage. Here, the concern is that it be kept warm enough in the otherwise unheated garage. A box will probably have to be built around it, so that it can get heat from the office (no insulation on that wall) and then insulated from the garage.
In another fluid department (or semi-fluid as George Carlin used to say), the septic system is installed and mostly connected. It is awaiting final inspection which can't be done until the wiring is done, which, in turn, I can't do until the roof is on. Although I have put the electrical conduit in outside to hold the wire. Here is the new pump tank that collects effluent from the office and pumps it to the existing septic system. On the wall you can see the electrical conduit and the septic pump alarm which loudly sounds if the level of the fluid (or semi-fluid) in the tank exceeds the maximum, indicating the pump has failed.
The pump tank pumps the effluent out through a couple hundred feet of 2" underground pipe to the existing septic tank. Here digestion and settling take place and the fluid portion is pumped to the drain field for final micro-organism digestion. Shown below is the connection of the office pump tank to the existing septic tank.
That is all for now. Hopefully next week the framers come back and finish the framing so the roofing can go on. Then my electrical fun will commence.
The inside of the barn is starting to get darker know that the roof is on. Soon the remainder of the wall sheeting will be in place and I will have to get some lights out there. But you can start to see how the inside will feel.
The last of the wall sheeting will require a lift of some kind to install. The framers don't think they will be able to do it with ladders alone.
Last minute, we have decided to put a cupola on. We had cut this to reduce costs. we are trying to make a deal with the contractor to get it back in. It sounds like the framing crew will stay on to do the siding, windows and doors. They will also be adding a paint booth room in the barn. And they have an interior wall in the office are to complete as well, once it is dried it.
