Some carpentry and electrical

Now that all the major demolition is done it's time to focus my attention on the rebuilding. We have changed plans a bit and are starting with the downstairs living area as the first place to get finished, the Master bedroom can wait.

I spent yesterday afternoon building our new half wall separating the living room and the front entrance. I built a pillar against the wall that will house the heating and electrical for the master bedroom. I was a little worried that the foundation of the house would run past the exterior wall into the house making my 1 foot by 6 in pillar mostly useless for the heating duct. I was right, the foundation (old stone) runs at least a foot into the house. I did however come up with a great work around.

I decided to build a smaller pillar that is the height of the half-wall and the same 1 foot width of the pillar. It is attached to the pillar as well. This will allow me to easily get the mechanical to the 2nd floor bedroom without any negative effect on the openness of the room. Not to mention it also provides us with a great place to put a sculpture or plant.

Today I am working on the electrical, this should be interesting. The plan is to put in a 3 gang outlet box on the living room side of the half-wall as this is where my TV and Stereo equipment will be located. The outlet box will then connect to a 3 gang box of switches and will power the foyer light. One of the switches will control the ceiling light in the living room, which shortly will be a ceiling fan while the other switch will control the outdoor light. During my demo I accidentally cut the power cable to the outdoor light, lucky for me that the switch was off. We are also adding a new exterior light, one that better reflects our tastes and it only cost $14.

Well the wiring went well, I managed to get all the wire in place and even some of them connected. The best part is the house is still standing. I still have some of the complexities to get down and have bought some books to help. I will hopefully finish up the wiring tomorrow as well as install the new thermostat.

On a side note our bamboo floors are now here and boy do they look sweet. I can't wait to get the ceiling drywalled and painted, once that is done we will be installing the floor.