# 560 - Country Home Construction - We Need Electricity!

The house is coming along nicely. Each step is time-consuming, challenging, expensive and takes massive energy. Sgt. Dave is fantastic. About two weeks ago, his parents came into town and helped him finish the electrical work...for the kitchen, laundry room and with the installation of the breaker box.

We were thrilled after the county electrical inspector gave us the go-ahead after approving all wiring and the breaker box as being up to code or exceeding it, in mid-December.

Yet, here we are January 7, 2016 and the electric company still has not connected our electricity to the new house. They are having to install a new transformer close to the house and run the line to our new meter. They've already flagged the route and approved everything.

 We are trying to be patient, but weeks are passing by and still NO ELECTRICITY. Yes, the holidays created an added delay, then bad weather days created issues, but each day passes and the lack of electrical connection slows things down. This past Monday morning, the electric construction crew did receive the order to connect. That means we are at the LAST phase for electrical connection, but the days seem to drag by as we keep waiting to see if THIS DAY is THE day we will get POWER!

Meanwhile...

The below pics are some samples of paint that I've tested. The trim will be white. The porch decking will be kept natural, yet preserved with a coating that cost an arm and a leg. We settled upon a green color that is actually approved by the Historical Preservation Committee.

As you can see above, Sherwin Williams gives a larger sized sample for around $3.50, but Valspar gives a much smaller sample...less paint that essentially costs more in relation to quantity. However, Valspar has always worked well for it, and it won again.

The sample color does not have any primer in it...the sample is for color only, not for cover-up purposes. The actual paint that we purchased does have primer in it.

The highlighter blue was Sgt. Dave's idea. It didn't work out, as you can see. The grey is a shade I could enjoy, but during the afternoon hours the color was extremely dark.

Sgt. Dave enjoying his high deck and taking a break.

I am also working toward pouring a waterproofed showerpan instead of buying one for hundreds of dollars. The most affordable and shower pan is acrylic, yet still around $500. and will likely require concrete floating beneath the pan to stabilize it.

To buy a showerpan that is tile-ready takes big bucks. For our size shower, tile-ready pans run about $1,200. EACH. An acrylic base cannot be tiled, but is less expensive. Since we have two identical sized showers in the house, two acrylic shower pans would cost us approximately $1,000. and we would still probably have to float the area beneath the pan, but we'd not be able to tile these shower bases.

We had a contractor come to the house to discuss creating a drain pan that can be tiled, essentially by creating a slight drain slope through a concrete base, then coating the area with RedGuard, which water-proofs the floor and walls about 4-5 feet up, but this produce does allow for direct tile placement. I believe it takes about three coats to build a solid water-proof coat for the shower areas and/or for any tub surround walls you would like water-proofed.

The guy was all over in his pricing and is so busy that it seemed a difficulty for him to get to our job site. So, I am researching how to build a shower curb and how to create a shower "bowl" slope toward the center drain we've already plumbed for drainage and I'm researching how to waterproof the shower with RedGuard.

Our upstairs bathroom. This is an all-in-one tub and shower, But
we have two other bathrooms with custom showers that need to be
prepped for tiling.

Today's acrylic is great, but it's not my favorite choice and the RedGuard system takes a little work, but the results are better looking and there is no pan to crack. I had an acrylic base in my last house, and I'd prefer a tiled shower floor this time around. I/m learning it is difficult to photograph the bathroom space, but I will try. I just got a new camera for Christmas from Sgt. Dave, so I will have loads of fun trying to get some shots to share with all of you.

Here is a post about doing this poured showerpan system - http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/12/21/how-to-make-a-relatively-sweet-shower-cheap/

I will be sure to make postings during our own process. I really want one of the shower floors to be river pebbles since the theme of that bathroom is "nature." We will be sealing the stone floors and walls, but research in that area continues as well.

Our house this week...all the leaves are nature's carpet that
help keep the mud at bay

We have SO MUCH to do. I am praying that we will have electricity tomorrow so I can be at the house more often and have the ability to do much more than what is relegated by an extension cord.

And rain, I love you rain and we are grateful, but the excessive mud is no longer fun.

Blah.

I am so ready to move into our home and get out of this RV! Each time I think we are close, then something happens to cause a delay, then

Home Sweet Home is almost ours to enjoy on a daily basis.