Chicago Duplex Down Rehab

ECOTEC came out on Wednesday morning to put in the spray foam insulation. Amazing stuff! It's like 'great stuff' through a fire hose, but much better. Its more expensive that normal fiberglass insulation, but FAR superior, and installed very quickly. Its really amazing how it covers every nook and cranny. They even did the ceiling which will eliminate the noise from 2nd floor. Reminds me of when the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man exploded in Ghostbusters. The photo shown here is BEFORE they came back to shave it flush with the wall studs. The place is amazingly quiet after the insulation was put in. Its like an anechoic chamber . Here's a promotional video:

Eric and I sweated through Sunday putting a few select pieces of drywall. The drywall crew will put in most of the drywall, but we need to have a few up before the foam insulation guys show up. In areas where we want to have foam insualtion between rooms (living room/foyer wall show below) for both temperature and sound, we have to have drywall up on one side of the wall so the foam has something to stick to. You can see some of my low voltage wiring work here. The white cable in the center is 14 gauge speaker wire for rear-channel 'in wall' speaker. The front room will be completely setup for 5.1 sound! So much for afternoon tea in the living room. :) I ran a beefy RCA cable to the same area for a powered subwoofer.

We got the ventilation signoff today! The photo shows all the work Eric did on the bathroom and dryer venting. Eric has been working on some of the more difficult firecode drywall work in the utility area. We don't expect the drywall crew to deal with that. With all the rough-in signoffs complete, we can move on to insulation and drywall. This place will finally take shape. We've grown tired of looking at open walls.

Before Dino came over Sunday morning to install the A/C condenser, I needed help from a few able bodied men to hoist the condenser up to the roof. Nathan and Angel were up to the task after some ribs from Fat Willy's (awesome!) and a beer. I tied a cargo net from a single rope, then looped a 2nd rope through the rings to carry the condenser. Nathan and Angel were up top pulling the condenser up, and I was pushing from the bottom on a ladder. It was far too dangerous of a situation, but it went quickly. This guy taught me how to tie the cargo net, found it on you- tubular (blatant 80's reference for fellow gen-Xers).

There are a number of miscellaneous items that need to be taken care of before the cellulose insulation goes in, and drywall goes up. Rick the carpenter is out of town for the week and I've had some difficultly getting the last bits of electrical and plumbing taken care of. oh well.. Now that Evie and I have moved upstairs, living comfortably, we're getting a bit complacent. uh oh.

Rick did an amazing job putting the existing window 2nd floor window jambs and casing back into place. Before the new windows went in, he was able to take out the old casing and window counterweight pockets without tearing up the drywall. Big points there. He had to create some extension pieces to compensate for the new window sizes. Definitely the work of a pro! I like that he changed the width of the window jamb to get the window casing flush with the drywall. It really looks tight, like fine furniture. Evie and I moved upstairs last week. New furance is working already, and cats feel really at home again. so do we! First floor rehab continues. I have to finish small plumbing, electrical, and ventilation stuff before getting the drywall on.

Pitor (Peter) and crew at Electric Pe ople completed the rough-in electrical last week. Big job! I haven't gotten the total number of outlets, switch boxes, recessed cans, and light boxes from him yet, but he pretty much did the entire first floor and new service. Here's the list: - rough in electrical for 1st floor and basement new construction - connect into existing 1st floor electrical (kitchen/bath) - connect existing 2nd floor electrical to new box - new exterior lighting around front entrance (with photo-cell sensor for switch) - new 200A service going into two 100A panels His guys did a really amazing job bending the conduit every which way possible to work around the steel I-beam and keep the conduit out of the way. I had to work closely with Pitor to make sure everything was done properly according to modified electrical plans. It wasn't his fault this job was pretty complicated and I'm really picky. In the end the city electrical inspector signed off and comp...