Breaking Ground
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We're finally underway. It seems astonishing that so much dirt came out of one hole. But it was all compacted, and now it's loose soil and stone. A lot of shale. We're planning to use some of it to create a small berm along the driveway next door for some landscaping.
Weather and inspections permitting, we hope to have the footings poured soon.
HVAC remains an outstanding question. Had another depressing conversation with an outfit called Massana Hydronic Technologies. Caitie being here has kept me from pursuing the question, but she left yesterday afternoon so I'll be digging in some more today.
If it all becomes too hard, I'll fall back to using ductless mini-splits. I'm convinced that hydronics is the most efficient way to go, but we don't have the products and experience in this country to make it a painless solution for the consumer. Contractors don't have the experience, and they're reluctant to do something they've never done before. At least, they don't seem to be beating down my door for the job.
I'm more confident about the low-voltage wiring, which is also something not a lot of people have done around here. But it's not exotic technology. The only real question I have is how much lighting and where? But I think that's easier to figure out than heat transfer.
We're also going to go with the Leviton smart panel solution. I need to sit down with our electrician and figure out the circuits and what breakers are required. The Span system seems to be the Cadillac of smart panels, but it's very expensive. The Leviton isn't cheap, but you can kind of customize it to meet your needs without gold-plating everything. Some breakers can be "dumb," in that I won't need to know how much power is flowing through them, like the outdoor outlets. Some I won't need to be remotely operable, and if I ever change my mind I can just buy that breaker and snap it in.
It's exciting and stressful and expensive, but it's underway. The shell should be complete by the end of the year, and we hope to get a certificate of occupancy by spring. The basement won't be completely finished, but it'll be usable.
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