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.