Mudding, Taping, Sanding and Painting

We have been so busy trying to squeeze in every hour of work we can on the house lately so I that explains why I have been away from the blog a bit. It is getting exciting to see the walls closing in now! We had to wait a bit to be able to order some more drywall to close in the bedrooms. Since the order arrived David has been busy! I have been excited to see our bathroom take shape once we were able to get the framework done for the small toilet room inside the bathroom.

I have continued my insulation and vapor barrier work on the walls which are shared by the bathrooms and bedrooms. 

As the drywall goes up, I now have a new job! David has taught me how to mud and tape drywall seams! So, he puts up each sheet and I go to work...

Mudding.

Taping.

Sanding.

Final sanding after finish mudding is dry.

Last but not least...PAINTING!

This is a waterproof base coat we are putting on all the walls to start out with. We will move in with just the white walls and then work room by room as we can to finish each room with its final colors and trim.

So exciting! I think I am going to love smooth, even, white walls! 

Heating System (Connecting it all together)

Even though I have not posted much on this blog lately about the progress of our home building, things have been happening...BIG, important things like the heating system to keep the house warm. We did suffer from sickness for a week or two and so we had to take some necessary time away from the work. Besides the terrible weak feeling, I just couldn't see myself installing insulation with a sinus infection. Just the idea of it all even sounded painful! However, now we are back in the swing of things and working away to get it done!

I know you will all be shocked to see that the weather here in Siberia already looks like this...

So, the time has long come for us to be able to keep the inside of the house warm so we can continue to hang drywall and other work that needs to be done in non-freezing temperatures. 

Putting together a heating system is quite a task as I have learned! First of all, you need a plan. So, my great hubby drew it all up after giving it much, maybe even months of thought. 

 Then, you need to find a place to buy the parts cheap enough and go crazy buying bags and bags of...parts.

Here are the bags.

Here are the parts.

Big parts, little parts, parts that open and close (valves).

The next step is to begin connecting all the parts to each other using this plastic welding tool. I had never used one of these before but now I know how to use this tool for sure!

This time we were able to use the table but often we were standing on ladders and whatever else to reach up high and connect pipe sections. It was quite comical at times and thankfully, we escaped with me only burning my hubby twice!

Once the main stretches of pipelines were connected, David began working on connecting the major valves, filters, pump and other larger components before we carried them downstairs to the basement for further...connecting.

Once all of our main pipe sections were hung in place in the basement and connected up through the floors to each radiator, we could work on the most important part of the system.

David connecting the in-line filter to the system.

This white box is the electric heater that heats the fluid which flows through the pipes and radiators. Initially, this heater alone will be used to heat our house. The pipes we buried in the ditch we dug from the house to the old "banya" on our property  (which we described in this post), will eventually connect a coal burning boiler stove to the heating system inside the basement to provide heat for the house. We will purchase this stove as soon as we are able. The valves are already in place to allow us to change the heat source over from the electric stove to the boiler stove with little or no problems.

As soon as our circuit was complete and all parts were in place, we were able to begin pumping the fluid from this large container through the pipes!

Although it sounds exciting, the work is not over. The next step is to find all of the air pockets trapped in the system which can block the fluid from entering and exiting the radiators. You also must run around and check for leaks in each of the radiators as they fill up. A little difficulty initially is normal with this type of system. However, once it is set up and the fluid is flowing smoothly through the circuit, those warm radiators are a real blessing! Other than one possibly damaged at the factory radiator, we are up and running with all of the radiators in working order downstairs and two working upstairs. We still have a few to connect to the pipes already in place and each room will have a warm radiator! 

So, do you know how hard it is to be patient and not want to move into a nice warm house, even though it is not ready?! 

Trust me, very!

Septic and gray water drainage

Another item that we were able to mark off the to-do list; gray water drainage ditch dug, lines run and connected to the tank. We now have both the septic lines connected (we dug those as soon as we had the basement foundation poured) and the gray water connected. The septic tank itself was dug before we move into the existing house we are now living in. Then we had the lines in place to connect at a later time.

Inside basement view of lines

 Last year, we dug another tank on the back side of the new house for the gray water so that all the other water drainage from the washer, sinks, and showers would not fill up our septic tank as quickly. 

This is definitely a good thing to get done before the weather turns colder. Now, all of our necessary digging and outside work is done! Well, until Spring comes around. Then we have some serious landscaping to do! 

Front Door to House and Basement Door Installed

This may not be too thrilling of a post to read, but we were very happy to have recently been able to purchase and install the front door to the actual house as well as a basement door (fire escape exit). In a previous post we showed the front door to the porch after installation. Here in Siberia, the winter weather demands several doors in order to prevent frost buildup and drafts. These vinyl doors are insulated to keep the heat inside the house and the cold air out, just like we like it. 

Front door - photo taken from inside the house.

The basement door is a shorter one because it will not be used very often. We mostly wanted to have a fire escape exit in case of an emergency. It exits out the back of the house to a small covered area as you see in this picture - (bottom left side of the house).

David foaming in the door.

It isn't pink, it's white;  just the sun shining in. :)

There's only one little problem...we found out that the factory installed the wrong lock mechanism in the front door. So, the handle which is delivered in a small box separate from the door does not fit. We initially thought it was just the incorrect handle and so they met with us to give us the "proper" handle, and it was wrong as well. But, such is life sometimes. We are waiting for them now to come to the house themselves and take care of their mistake. We will keep you posted on this one! 

Heating System (in house pipe lines to radiators)

Just wanted to give you at least a glimpse of what will be the heating system for our house. Obviously keeping a house warm in such an extreme climate is quite a job so much time and thought must go into the planning of the heating system. One of our previous posts was about the pipes that run from the house to the small building which will be our boiler room,our stove will be located in this boiler room. Below you can see the two lines (in and out) which run from the small building into the basement of our house. They are the smaller lines with the white pipe in the center of each of them. 

These lines will be connected to the heating system which includes a series of pipes running all through the house. A special fluid runs through the pipes and is heated by the stove back in the boiler room. We also will integrate a special pump into the system to help circulate the fluid through all of the pipes.

Lines coming down from the first floor into the basement.

Now we can show you what work is going into running the lines inside the house to each radiator.

David working on positioning the pipes in our bedroom and preparing them to connect to a radiator.

Due to the urgency of our need to move into the house as quickly as possible, we will initially use an electric heater to heat the fluid in the system. This will warm the house enough for us to be able to live in it and work in it during these coming weeks before winter arrives. As soon as we can, we will purchase the larger stove in which we will initially burn coal for heat. Pray for us as we work on getting the whole system ready to go; that it will flow smoothly and work efficiently! 

Electrical - Second floor

With some of the drywall in place, David was able to begin installation of the main breaker box for the upstairs rooms of the house. All of the wire which we ran, marked, and labeled for hours, comes together in our bedroom closet where it will be hidden from view.

Back view of the electrical box.

Front view.

Along with hanging the drywall comes prepping the outlet wires for mounting of the boxes and outlets. David taught me a neat little trick of creating a pleat in the vapor barrier to allow the necessary room for the outlet boxes when installing them into the drywall.

Outlet box.

Drywall - Second Floor

We have been working on many things over the last few weeks, spending as much time as we can to get the upstairs ready for our family to move in. Upstairs is where all the bedrooms are so, when it is ready, most of our belongings can be moved in, in order to free up the old house for Sunday school and other church meetings. We are not closing up all sides of each room yet, to allow for us to make any changes we might feel necessary after actually living in the house for a short period of time. We are putting up enough drywall to cover all exterior walls and at least one side of the room walls for privacy. 

Beka's room

Our bedroom

Our boys so thankful for the drywall in their room!

Beginning to look a lot like a house! Love seeing those straight walls!

Finishing the House Wrap - All the Way Up!

Several posts ago I mentioned how we needed to get the house wrap on the house completed up to the roof. With the sloped position of our land, some areas around the house are very high from the ground to the roof. At the beginning of these efforts, David and I were going to have to do this work alone. We couldn't seem to find any help since the builders we know were all busy themselves with other projects. So, my hubby gave it some thought and built this huge ladder for us to use. We managed to get it vertical with just the two of us, by pulling it up by a rope through the window.  This was one of those times which truly strengthens a missionary wife's prayer life. I was praying since I was pretty sure positive I didn't have the strength to help my husband move this huge ladder all the way around the house! Within a few minutes of our raising the ladder it began raining which meant that we couldn't work any longer that day (answer to prayer). It rained the next day as well (answer to prayer). By the third day, David was able to get some young men who work for a friend of ours to do the job! YES! (Prayer completely answered!) I was very happy to say the least! After several days of them working, talking about how scary it was to have to climb up the scaffolding all the way to the top and saying how they didn't have the strength to move that ladder anymore, I was really rejoicing.

THE Ladder!

Praise the Lord, every day the guys worked on the house wrap we had beautiful sunny weather. So, since they were busy doing this job, David and I were able to get some other work done inside the house and in the garden.

A smaller ladder the guys were able to put on top of the scaffolding

Now that the house wrap is on we can go forward with the insulation and drywall on the inside.

Prepping the Walls for Second Layer of Insulation

The weather is changing and fall is upon us a bit early this year. We have had lots of rain and high winds the last few days. With this change in weather, our need to get the house ready to move into is even more crucial. We are focusing on the upstairs right now. Our goal is to get the bedrooms and bathrooms liveable for our family so we can free up our current house, which will be used for ministry purposes.

We are working to seal up all possible seams in preparation for the second layer of insulation, a layer of  plastic sheeting as a moisture barrier, and drywall. 

Today we were able to: complete the foaming and sealing of the outer walls and seams,

cut and begin installing insulation in the bays,

as well as, hang the layer of plastic vapor barrier so that in a few days, the drywall 

can be hung.

After this, it was time for a late lunch and Wednesday evening services. A bit shorter of a work day but, we are grateful to be able to see things coming together!

Wrapping It Up

One of our recent projects while the weather has been dry and sunny is getting the house wrap on. David spent time carefully sealing up every seam on the exterior of the house before we stapled the house wrap in place. I have definitely learned a lot from being the closest available helper for him as he works. Sometimes that may make things more difficult for him, I'm afraid! 

He even made this handy roller stick for me to put the roll of house wrap onto; thus, making it easier for me to hold the roll as high as it needed to be held and to help keep it straight and smooth as we worked around the house.

So, after a few days, we were able to complete the first two rows of wrap all the way around. It took more time for us to move the scaffolding around and re-position than it did to actually work with the house wrap. As you can see, there is still more to be done, higher. But, that is one job he will wait for another man to help him with. I am just not too steady on scaffolding - not at all, as a matter of fact!

Front Door in Place!

Just a little note to share that we were recently able to purchase a front door for the house. The kids are excited about it since it makes them feel like we are getting closer and closer to moving in!

View from the second floor window

Welcome to our HOME!

Wiring

Rainy days are spent working on the inside of the house, specifically, wiring the upstairs at this point. Once again I am thankful for my hubby who can do most anything! He is doing a great job running all these wires from here and there and keeping them all sorted and labeled.

Just takes lots and lots of wire!

Central room lights are in already and now we are working towards completing the detailed wiring so that we can begin the drywall work upstairs!

Best thing is, the drywall has already been delivered and is "waiting" in the garage! Praise the Lord!

David and Matt Northcutt unloading the drywall.