Missed It By That Much!

For those who like classic television (or remember when the show was original), you may recognize the title catch-phrase from Agent Maxwell Smart on the show Get Smart.  This phrase comes in handy for many a situation, but definitely fit our first day at the Payson house this weekend.

We had planned just an overnight stay to complete the hall bathroom and then have our final inspection because of other activities that were happening in the Valley.  But when we made our inspection appointment, our inspector was not available for a Thursday morning so we had to settle for Friday (#1 missed it by that much) and decided to cancel our other plans and stay for the weekend.  I still wanted to come up the night before to give myself more time to install the bathroom fixtures, but we have been taking dance classes on Thursday night with some friends and Laurie did not want to miss it.  So we left early Friday morning in hopes we could get everything done before our afternoon inspection.

This was the first time we saw the new tile in the laundry room and bathroom and it looked wonderful.  We cannot wait to have our master bath done and we are also thinking about putting tile in the front door entryway.

Since we did not have a camera, we did not get a picture before we added everything

Both of the newly tiled areas looked wonderful and we are happy with the job

The first task was to install the toilet and it went without a hitch, except I realized that I did not have any supply hoses for it and the sink.  That would require a run to Home Depot.  So I continued with the vanity and sink and that was when old Murphy raised his ugly head.  The back opening in the vanity was not big enough for the drain and faucet connections (the opening was to the left of center and the plumbing fixtures were centered).  Making a hole for the water line was fine, but the drain was postioned right at a drawer support (#2 missed it by that much).  With time ticking away, I finally figured out a way to secure the support in such a way to make room for the drain.  Once the vanity was in, I started attaching the faucet and drain, but finishing the job required a quick (very quick) Home Depot run.  Back in a flash I was with supply lines and drain connectors.  Again, the toilet hose went easy; not so for the sink.  The supply lines were fine, but the drain connections were the wrong size (1 1/2" and should have been 1 1/4") (#3 missed it by that much).  Another quick run to Home Depot and back I was with the right size.  With everything together, I ran the water and the sink leaked like a sieve around the drain.  After multiple times of taking it apart and putting it back together, I found that the bottom hole in the sink that the drain goes through had a defect too big for the drain gasket to cover (#4 missed it by that much).  I found this defect just as the inspector arrived, so the drain did not get installed (#5 missed it by that much)

The full effect with vanity, top and toilet (yes - the shower curtain does not match)

Since it has been awhile since our inspector has been at the house (August 2011), he had to take a little time to re-aquaint himself with what we had done.  Once he was up to speed, he started checking over the house.  Some of his review was re-checking our outlets for placement and for operation (esp. the GFI ones).  He went outside to review our electrical panel, A/C unit and looked in our crawlspace at the ductwork and heating unit.  When it was over, we had six defects and did not pass the final inspection (#6 - and final - missed it by that much).  Even though it was a let down that we didn't pass, we were thankful to only have six issues and we thought we could get them all fixed over the weekend.  The inspector said we did not have to renew the permit for these items, but asked us when we would be able to have the re-inspection.  We planned to be back up later in May and he was fine with that.  Here are the six items we failed on:

1. Fix the hall bath sink drain (saw that one coming!)
2. Seal/caulk drywall openings around clean-out and dryer vent in laundry room to prevent insulation leakage
3. Breaker in panel for A/C heat pump unit needed to be 35A or 30A instead of 40A
4. Install security lights on open electrical boxes on front and side of house
5. New drain vent tubes on roof need to be painted to avoid deterioration
6. Protruding wires through kitchen walls for future under cabinet lighting and microwave needed to be in covered boxes until used

As soon as the inspector left, Laurie and I devised a plan on how to fix the six issues by the end of the weekend and what we needed at Home Depot to accomplish this.  The first issue to address was the bathroom vanity top.  Since we had thrown away the box (did not see any issues when we unboxed it a few weeks ago), we had no way to return it.  Laurie decided we should buy another one (which we needed) and then return the defective one in the new box - what a plan! So a new vanity was added to the shopping list along with a drywall patch, clean-out cover, five electrical boxes w/blank covers, two security lights and a 35A or 30A breaker and off to Home Depot we went.

Now to fix our six issues:

#1 - Once I switched the vanity top in the hall bath, the drain installed easily (nice that I'd had many practice runs) and we had no more leak.

#2 - We found a cover that we screwed into the clean-out cap which covered the valve and drywall hole.  For the dryer vent, there was not enough clearance to use a regular piece of drywall, so I used a drywall patch that is made from a metal mesh which sticks to the wall.  I cut it to fit and then applied the normal drywall taping compound to it.  I had to sand it and apply a couple of coats, then painted it with primer.

The dryer vent has a special connector we found to attach the vent tube (the patch color is off due to a different primer)

#3 - We did not find a 35A breaker at Home Depot, so bought a 30A one that the inspector said we could use.  After shutting down the panel and pulling the 40A breaker, I found that the 30A breaker would not take the larger wire from the A/C unit.  I had to put everything back as it was and will look in the Valley for a 35A breaker.

#4 - We found two security lights, one with a motion detector and the other without.  Laurie wants a motion one in the front so when we get to the house after dark and the front lights are not on, we will have a light.  The side yard did not need this.  Both lights were easily installed.

This is the front light with motion detection. We can also have the light come on after nightfall.

This is just a normal light. Both lights had to have those special caps due to town light restrictions

#5 - I had planned to remove the winter cover from the roof turbine this weekend, so while I was up there I painted all the plumbing vents (not just the new ones) with the new brown trim paint.

These are just two of the five vent pipes I painted to protect against the weather

#6 - For the kitchen, I installed an electrical box for each wire and flush mounted them to the wall.  I am not worried about holes as these will be covered by future cabinets.  Each box then had a blank outlet cover installed.

No more wires sticking out of the walls (looks cleaner)

Each box is attached with one drywall molly that can be removed and patched before cabinets are installed

So we were able to fix all but one of the inspection issues before the weekend was over.  I did find online that I could buy a 35A breaker for the Square D Homeline panel we have and it will accept the larger wire size just like the 40A.  Our plan now is for me to come up next Sunday night, install the breaker and do the follow-up inspection Monday morning.

In between all the important tasks above, we actually had time to do some other projects around the house.  I installed the door knob on the new hall closet door.  The door was removed from the hall bath for the tile install, so we put that back up but it would not fit.  I thought the tile was too high, but after further inspection I found there were two plastic feet on the bottom of the door that never got removed.  Once those came off, the door fit better, but will still need some trimming. While I was working on the drywall patch, there were some gouges in the walls near some of the doors that were installed.  I used some of the tape compound to patch the holes.  We have three electrical connections in the block fence for post lights where the capped wires are protruding.  Even though this was not part of the inspection findings, I thought it best to cap these openings and found some PVC caps at the store to do the job.  While I had the electrical panel cover off for the breaker work, I noticed four openings in the bottom that must have had conduit connections at one time.  I found some plugs at the store to close off these holes and while I was at it, I used a special cleaner we got at the store to remove the writing on the panel cover (our electrician has horrible handwriting!).  We plan to get some magnetic labels to mark the breakers.

New door installed by Bob with new knob put on by me

The hall bathroom door is stuck "open" until I can trim off some of the bottom

One of three electrical connections for fence lights

The caps (one on each side of the gate) make these outlets look better (no protruding wires)

Added four more plugs on the left. How could so many holes have been used?

The panel as clean as I could get it.  The dark stuff came off, but this remained

The last thing we wanted to get done was the trim on the french doors in the master bedroom.  We already bought the wood when we did the front door a few weeks ago, so we measured and cut the boards.  While I was working on other projects, Laurie primed the boards and the exposed wood around the door.  Later on, she painted them with the brown trim color and when the boards were dry, I installed them around the door.  Earlier, while we were out, I picked up some caulk at Neumann's that was recommended to us for exterior use.  It supposedly stretches better than the normal kind we get at Home Depot.  I used it around the door trim (both front and back) to see if it is any better as I already see holes and splits around my window trim.  Only time will tell.  After that was all done, I put our screen doors back on the french doors and they worked perfectly with the new trim.  Now I can throw away all the old trim and spacer boards.

After Bob moved our door frame about 1/2 inch, we could add the new trim and put back the screen doors

Well, from all the writing above, it seems like it was a very packed work weekend.  Not only did we get all this done, but we also had time on Saturday afternoon to visit some thrift stores in town and go to the movies.  It was nice to take a break and to have the time to do it.  We had a neat surprise this weekend. While driving into town Friday night after it was dark, we saw two deer off the road just outside our little community.  I saw one deer almost in the same area about a month after be bought the house while on my way home one Sunday night, but this was a first for Laurie.  We stopped to get a better view, but they were skittish and didn't stay long.

Stats: 4 Home Depot trips; 1 Walmart trip
Remodeling expense 4/9/12-4/22/12: $555
Remodeling expense to date: $40,788