Another Fruitful Day....

Another amazing day at 3283. I'm beginning to think that we may actually be sleeping there soon. I knew that Consumers Energy would be here this week to install the underground electric service. And I knew we had to mark the new septic line so they wouldn't hit it. I asked Ben to meet me at 3283 this morning to locate it. He said he might be there early, so I showed up right at 8:00. When Ben says early....he means early! A nice line of lath marked the north edge of the sewer line. Thanx Ben.

Not long after I arrived so did Jeff Sparks and Bill. I knew they would be around to finish the porches this week, but didn't know what day. It was today. A Keene Lumber delivery truck followed them within a few minutes and they went to work installing deck boards on the front entry deck and balusters on the back entry deck and steps.

With the new deck material that came today,
finishing the front deck took only a few minutes.

Jeff installed the railings on the back deck as Bill did the cutting.

The finished [all but painted] back deck.
Picture the rail system and risers white.

While Jeff and Bill were working, I got a phone call from Mitch Blok at Consumers Energy. He told me that we were scheduled to have the underground electric service to 3283 installed tomorrow [Wednesday] -- probably after 10:00 AM. The gas service was installed yesterday, the carpentry was being finalized, and the electricity would be turned on within a day or so. I felt good. I celebrated by grabbing a quick lunch and coming back to work on the interior wall of the new porch bathroom. Taco Swill was ... adequate.

But, when I returned I was, again, surprised. Pleasantly surprised. A Consumers Energy crew had just arrived at 3283. Apparently 10:00 Wednesday came early.  The two guys said they probably wouldn't finish the work today, but they at least would plow the line between the power pole and the house.  Which is what they did.

The "tool" Consumers brought to the site was much larger and
more complex than the one the SEMCO contractor brought yesterday.
On one gadget it had a trencher, backhoe, and plow.

The underground work began with hand digging close to the power pole.
Besides their electric cable, they installed Cable TV wire which is on the spool at the left.

The wires [a three conductor power cable plus the cable wire]
were installed using a large vibrating plow which easily cut
through roots and abandoned sewer and sprinkler pipes.

They used the plow as far as they could. But the machine's treads
dug in next to the retaining wall and they stopped plowing.
The heavy machine and vibrations gave the wall a good test.

They used the backhoe to dig about the last fifteen feet.
And hand dug around the gas line  [see the yellow pipe crossing the trench].

While the crew didn't connect the line at the pole, they did make
the house connection. The meter gets plugged in tomorrow.

Consumers Energy surprised me today by being early. I now hope they will finish up tomorrow and that I can get my electricians and plumbers to finalize the inside work, that was waiting for power, on Thursday. If that happens, Bobbie and I can be sleeping at 3283 this weekend.

I did complete my project after the Consumers crew left. I cut and installed the siding that will close off the new bathroom from the screened-in porch. Because of the sloped roof line, the door to the bathroom is shorter than normal. Jeff cut it down for me this morning. I propped it up for the picture below, but it needs to be squared up, shimmed and screwed in place. I think that will require a second pair of hands.

The new north end of the back porch.
The siding will be white, and trim boards will surround the door.

Another good day at 3283. Below are pictures of the back and front at the end of the day.  I know there is lots of painting to do. But if you can picture all the bare wood [and pealing paint] white you can start to see what the finished structure will look like.