Electrical and Trusses
They finished switching over the electrical system today. At about quarter till 8 the contractor's electricians showed up, followed shortly thereafter by the city Public Works electricians.
This is what the electric meter, and assorted power cables looked like before they started.
Our electrician is an artist -- he put a little doodle on the cardboard covering the place where the electrical meter would go. :D
At eight o'clock they took down the main power and commenced switching everything over to the new system. I left for work, and mom dropped by at 9:30 to see how everything was going. The day turned out to be incredibly hot with a high at or near 100°. The electrician told me yesterday the power would only be down for an hour or two, max, but I was a little worried if it took longer than that the house might start getting uncomfortably warm for the cats. I needn't have worried. They had almost all the power to the main house restored by the time mom showed up. They had the important stuff like the air conditioner and the refrigerator running, and by the time I got home at the end of the day all power in the older part of the house was functional.
This is what it looked like when I got home today -- the power cable had been switched over and tied in. I wonder what they used to splice the cables together? It must be tough stuff to withstand the wind load that is going to happen over the years it is in service.
Something else had been accomplished at the end of the day -- the roof trusses had arrived and the preparation work had begun to start fitting them on to the frame of the addition. I can tell it's going to look rather messy until that part is done, since they have to peel off old roof tiles to make new for the new trusses. At the moment, the trusses are all stacked up neatly -- mostly over the framing of the new edition with some of it laying on the roof of the old house. I was concerned about the weight, and then I realized everything has to bear the weight of the trusses anyway, so I quit worrying so much.
Trusses! Laid across the span of the addition.
The trusses viewed from inside the pantry/laundry room. There is a smallish attic zone in the middle of the trusses, where we might be able to store light stuff like the Xmas lights.
Click for cat pictures! :)
Finally a fairly decent shot of Sister, who is very shy.
And Tarzan, who is getting less shy as he gets fed. I can pet him a little now, while he eats.
And Sable, who is very Not camera-shy. He caught a mouse this evening and was showing it off with great pride.
This is what the electric meter, and assorted power cables looked like before they started.
Our electrician is an artist -- he put a little doodle on the cardboard covering the place where the electrical meter would go. :D
At eight o'clock they took down the main power and commenced switching everything over to the new system. I left for work, and mom dropped by at 9:30 to see how everything was going. The day turned out to be incredibly hot with a high at or near 100°. The electrician told me yesterday the power would only be down for an hour or two, max, but I was a little worried if it took longer than that the house might start getting uncomfortably warm for the cats. I needn't have worried. They had almost all the power to the main house restored by the time mom showed up. They had the important stuff like the air conditioner and the refrigerator running, and by the time I got home at the end of the day all power in the older part of the house was functional.
This is what it looked like when I got home today -- the power cable had been switched over and tied in. I wonder what they used to splice the cables together? It must be tough stuff to withstand the wind load that is going to happen over the years it is in service.
Something else had been accomplished at the end of the day -- the roof trusses had arrived and the preparation work had begun to start fitting them on to the frame of the addition. I can tell it's going to look rather messy until that part is done, since they have to peel off old roof tiles to make new for the new trusses. At the moment, the trusses are all stacked up neatly -- mostly over the framing of the new edition with some of it laying on the roof of the old house. I was concerned about the weight, and then I realized everything has to bear the weight of the trusses anyway, so I quit worrying so much.
Trusses! Laid across the span of the addition.
The trusses viewed from inside the pantry/laundry room. There is a smallish attic zone in the middle of the trusses, where we might be able to store light stuff like the Xmas lights.
Click for cat pictures! :)
Finally a fairly decent shot of Sister, who is very shy.
And Tarzan, who is getting less shy as he gets fed. I can pet him a little now, while he eats.
And Sable, who is very Not camera-shy. He caught a mouse this evening and was showing it off with great pride.