It lives!

Howdy, blog-readers. After a protracted hiatus, I have returned to dip my toe once more into the inter-web's murky currents. Much has transpired with this house project over the almost 2.5 (!) years that's passed since I last posted to this blog. To bring things up to date, in a nutshell, I am just now getting ready for an occupancy inspection which I hope will happen in the first week of June - almost 5 years to the day that this project began!
Now, given that I have some catching up to do between where things actually are and where I last left them on this blog, I thought I would begin with a quick tour of the present state of things before I rewind to cover the missing processes that got me here.

Still plenty to do on the exterior (cladding for example), but things have gotten quite habitable inside.

The World Ender - Lord Huron

Let there be heat! Pictured is the soapstone-paneled Hearthstone woodstove we selected. It's rather small in size, but it's maximum output of 30K btu/hour is more than sufficient to keep this house warm through the coldest nights. The steel panels behind the stove are part of a heat-shield assembly for code compliant clearances to combustible materials, which I fabricated using left-over roofing material. A space for firewood storage was made under the stairs using left-over t&g plywood sheathing - plywood is a perfect finish material here because it can take a beating.

The stove pipe extends straight up from the stove, through the ceiling and attic space before passing through the roof - no bends and an excellent draft. Laminate to finish the main floor, while the banister is temporary, and the casing and baseboard await installation.

Final electrical inspection was passed in December, but we're still missing a few fixtures. The window sills are also missing still, so some dusty cardboard remains in order to protect the air-sealing tape in the corners from the sun.

The kitchen is still a work in progress, but the cabinets and counter top are installed. The sink and dishwasher are in and the plumbing is complete (minus the final connection to the septic tank, which is still connected to our trailer).

Speaking of plumbing...

The HRV (Venmar PRO250) has been working away for a while now and has really been doing a great (noticeable) job. Certainly when it is turned off it doesn't take very long for the air to develop a stale quality - this is a tight house. How tight, exactly, I wonder?

So as you can see things have developed significantly since my last post more than two years ago. There's a lot to tell about what happened in the intervening time, but those stories can wait for now.