Insulation and Ventilation

April 27 - Our nephew, Zachary, came to visit and said that he would really like to visit the home.  We were excited to have our first visitor since Bryan's friend, Gregg, came to see the mound of dirt.  We were really excited that our viewing of the house would be at the same time as the Energy Star duct blaster testing.  So much to see!

This looked cool.  Not really sure what it means, but hey, cool colors and arrows.

Before we get onto the photo portion of this post, we wanted to tell you about some communication that we have had with various people involved in the process.  We were going to send our former sales representative, Mark, an e-mail telling him thank you for all of his help and that we had locked in our loan.  However, he beat us to the punch.  He sent us an e-mail saying that it should be time to lock in our loan and he was glad to see that the house was coming together.  E.T. phoned home from three states away!  Really, it was good to see that he is still keeping in touch with us after his move.

Stupid Siri! Why can't you help me find Reese's Pieces?!?!?!

Our second e-mail came from our sales representative, Lauren.  We wanted to make sure that we were not being charged double for any of the items because of all of the addendum and re-addendums and addendum to the re-addendum's addendum.  Well, she provided us with all of the material that assured us that we were being charged the right amount.  Quick Draw McGraw with the e-mails, that Lauren.

She in no way resembles Quick Draw, but she is fast with the responses.  Just like Quick Draw.

  The third e-mail was sent to our project manager, Drew.  We read on another site, Building a Ryan Homes Ravenna, that they requested extra support in the laundry room to help with vibration.   We asked Drew if that was a possibility for us.  He said that it was probably not because all of the carpenters had left the site and were moving on to another.  He said that he would try, but our drywall goes up on Monday.  We also asked him about something that we saw on another blogger's site, Our Ryan Home: A Dunkirk Dream, where they wrote Bible verses on the walls.  We asked if we would be able to write some things on the framing and Drew said that we could and it did not matter how large it would be.  He said "sign away" and sign we did (see below).  

Gotta love 1970's humor.

So, we did take Zachary down to the house to take a look around.  We were greeted by the Energy Star representative, Mike, who thought we were there to buy a home.  Of course, we said "This is our home!"  That was really nice to say.  Although Mike was disappointed, we moved on with a smile.  Look what we saw:

Insulation is up in the garage.

Our daughter shows Zachary the way into the mudroom.

Insulation installed above the garage.

Another look at the wall and out of the garage door.

Bryan and our daughter stand in the kitchen.

Insulation all around the fireplace.

Insulation in the powder room (left) and around the front door.

The reading room looks like a room!

Bedroom #1.

Bedroom #2

Bryan looks into the front yard.   Nothing but dirt and an outhouse, but it's home.

A look into the closet.  Notice the sign to the right.  We'll get to that.

A look into the attic. 

A look at the top level.  

Floor shot from the stairwell.

Another look at the powder room.  Zachary's leg stands alone.

Up the stairwell.

Our son looks at the paint on the basement floor.

Angela's thumb makes a rare appearance in the office.

A look in the storage room.  The walls are covered in Superman's dad's suit.  See the Christopher Reeve version for crying out loud!

Faster than a speeding bullet past the HVAC unit.

As we said before, our home was one of the models for the duct blaster testing being conducted by the Energy Star representatives.  There were signs all around our house that noted some of the selling points for an Energy Star tested and approved home.  Here they are:

Added insulation...as opposed to no insulation?

As Journey says "Don't caulk and start leakin'."   Good luck with getting that out of your head.

Imagining a blindfolded woman holding two air compressors.

This house works as a fan?  It's a Transformer!  Let's hope it's an Autobot.  There you go, nerds, this one's for you.

Power vented hot water heater, you say?  We have no idea what that means.   It sounds like something that a shady mechanic would tell you.  "You see, ma'am.  The state won't legally let me let you leave.  Your power vented hot water heater is out.  It's just not safe.  $5,000 oughta do it."

90-95% efficient.  It's going to get really hot in here. That one's for Nelly fans.

"No, don't go in there!  This area has been blocked.

Mr. Majestic's Magic Mastic Fantastic Fun Tape.  Buy it now!

Hmm, interesting question.  It prevents the heat loss and helps to solve that 10-25% of the heating bill?  Did we get  it right?  

So, last but not least we all took the opportunity to make the house our own.  We were really excited when Drew said that it would not be a problem to write on the framing.  So, we did and the kids really got a kick out of it!

Our son carefully signs his name.

She signs her name and adds some pictures.

We wrote our name and date on the frame in our bedroom.

Angela wrote a Bible verse in the reading room.

Angela wrote this Bible verse in our family room.

Another shot of the Bible verse in the family room.

We ended our tour with a look around the yard.  The Pisa Torre next door was in the process of framing so some of their material ended up on our side.

This is the cage that will cover the egress window.  The small window is for the Pisa Torre.

Our daughter stands in the backyard.

The windows and doors from the Pisa Torre next door.  We will check to make sure they did not rip our wrap before the siding goes on.

Electrical lines were mysteriously dug up in our front yard.

Another look at the electrical lines.

Our first start of the driveway has been laid.  It looks so wonderful!

Bryan and our son walk on the street.  Zachary and our daughter exit last.

We made a couple of more stops along the way.  This included another visit to the park and historic downtown.  What a beautiful day!

Ground control to Major Tom.

Caught me!

Speak softly and carry a stick that is 5 times as large as you.

So scary!  We think she made need braces.

After a long day, the little man was so tuckered out that he slept on his monkey pillow for hours.

The last photo that we have here is out of order, but it is one that makes us quite proud.  Zachary was able to snap the first photo of our family on our new porch.  It really was a great day.

Next up: Hanging drywall.