When we started putting the finishing touches on the electrical plans, the draftsman said, “Don’t worry about this little stuff, an outlet here, a switch there. You’ll do a walk-through before the electrician gets started and make these changes.”
Friday morning I got a call from Christiane. “The electrician is at the house, looks like they started.” I called the supervisor and scheduled the walk-through in one hour.
When I got there they had placed all the blue plastic boxes for switches and outlets, according to the old plans. It was like stepping back in time 6 months. I could barely remember those designs. Some stuff, like the cable TV connection in the master bedroom, we would have never asked for. I don’t know how that got in.
After and hour and a half with the electrician, I had changed about half of the work they had done that morning.
We still don’t have stairs, so you have to climb a ladder to get to the second floor, and try not to fall into the gaping Hole in the floor. The electricians had no fear about the Hole, often stepping over the corner for a shortcut. Me, I hang on to the studs in the walls.

It was not easy to do on Friday. They were working on the wall that I usually hang on to with a 2 foot long drill. So getting to the bedroom my choice was a) earful of drill or b) plummet.
Downstairs, once again working out the origami project that is the transition from the kitchen to the dining room, I nearly had my shot-through-the-shin-with-a-nail-gun fear realized. I was standing by the AC closet looking at the ceiling when BAM! BAM! They were adding the AC platform at precisely shin level. S. suggested we stand somewhere else.
They also popped in the window I bought from Habitat, and the full-lite door for the dining room. The window looks good. I hope it holds up. And the door, is, um, fine I guess. I hope it looks better with paint. Right now I’m trying to value “done” over “perfect.”

Windows are the eyes of the house. And the framing crew continues to put bags under our eyes. I’m running out of ways to say “no board under the sill.” And the fact that they replaced the broken sill on one of the original windows makes me wonder why they can’t add a sill to the new ones. But I’m a little worried that fixing it will leave the house prone to leaks. At least they’re getting the eyebrows right.

We dropped by Friday evening to take pictures and check out our slightly lame new door. The framing crew was still there, playing cards in the house. When we drove by later that night (10:30) they were still there. I hope they don’t realize, when they finish the house, they won’t be able to party there any more.
Mouseover below to see Christiane in her new kitchen.