The R Factor

End of September

The big push inside the house has been to get everything placed INSIDE the walls and ceiling - plumbing lines, electrical conduits, mechanical ductwork.  The BIG "close in" inspection was Wednesday.  A County inspector had to approve all the work that will be hidden inside the walls once the insulation and drywall start to be installed.  The inspector approved everything.

The Builder was ready to start installing the insulation on Thursday, and had another inspection called in for Friday, to approve the insulation!  It was a big job to do in one day.  But somehow they did it, crossed that inspection hurdle, and all of a sudden we have drywall boards stacked in every room of the house.

But first, some comments about the insulation.  We have a lot of it.  Partly because it is a building code requirement, partly because it is so worth doing to control the temperature differences between the outside and the inside, and partly for sound control.

Standing in the Living Room, looking toward the Study

Insulation is a fiberglass material.  It's ability to act as a heat/cold barrier is described by an R-value.  The bigger the number, the better the insulating ability.  The insulation at the exterior walls of the house are 5-1/2" thick and have an R-19 value.  The insulation within interior walls of the house are 3-1/2" thick and have an R-13 value.  There is no code requirement for insulation within the interior walls of a house, but just about every wall of our house has insulation.  What can I say?

Side/Garage Entry Hall, looking toward Kitchen

In fact, there is so much insulation that all of a sudden I can't see through the studs, and I can really feel each room, even without any drywall up!  (By the way, the garage door is now installed - it is opened up against the wall in the photo above.)

Standing in the Family Room, looking toward the Stairs

I feel like I blinked, and now there is drywall everywhere!  We walked over this morning (Saturday) and found two crews of drywallers all over the house.  Not only that, but in no time they had already put drywall up on the ceilings of the Dining and Living rooms.  You can see it in the photo above.

Looking down on the Family Room - lots of insulation, everywhere

Lauren's Bedroom, with drywall stacked and waiting, but not for long

Upstairs Hallway - all of a sudden it seems narrow!

The drywall is going up fast-and-furious.  The hallway is almost totally covered.  I'm really glad we have the window at the end.

Master Bathroom

I will end for now with a picture of the Master Bathroom.  There are a couple of different things going on here.  The "purple" boards on the wall are water-resistant drywall, and are always used in wet environments, particularly bathrooms.  The "gray" boards are a harder cement board, used as backer boards for tile.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but they are also on the floor.