Desert Airs

Construction

The Concrete Pour

by Paul

Removed the Asphalt, overexcavated the drive to accomodate the new thicker slab and laid down heat shield, HE-Pex, and welded wire mesh.

I added snow melt because of the north facing driveway and I just think it’s a plus for this climate.

Here are pictures of the day we placed the concrete:

After it cured a few problems came to light. One huge one, they didn’t follow what I had laid out with them. The slope was all wrong and we ended up with water running into the garage instead of out. We talked about alternatives, but most suggestions they had were rediculous.

What I ended up doing was Saw cutting out a shallow trench drain and drilled a drain tube to one of the planters. Thankfully I was able to not knick any of the tubes.

Building Plans and Permit

by Paul

Plans are approved, Demo has begun.

Here are the official approved plans.

This is the the home in its current state

Current Plans
Remodel plans. Things to notice, Windows in the master, walk-in closets, a new door to the garage. A new door from the garage.
Possible future Additions
3D Render of Possible Additions

New Electric Service

by Paul

I got the permit. I also had EWS deliver conduit, a meter panel, a main lug panel, a few 90 degree conduit pieces, brackets, lugs, and a large beautiful J-Box that the city is requiring me to put in(it wasn’t cheap).

This is the power pole and my rigid metal conduit that will make up the first 10ft. A note, look around when your out walking, it’s surprising how many of conduit risers along power poles in Utah. More surprising was they made me put rigid metal conduit in my backyard, yet I see PVC everywhere on public sidewalks.
I had to do some more hand excavation to get the pole down far enough.
There’s the green monster, hand excavated out that bench that it sits on. The yard is mostly clay, which when dry and compacted is a bear.
Here it is test fitted together, I need to wrap the metal in tape that will help keep the metal from corroding.
This is where the meter is going on the house. There’s a fair amount that I had to hand excavate

In the end, it all came together nicely. One thing that did take a bit of practice and patience was bending the PVC pipe. I used a blow torch and kept burning and kinking my practice piece. in order for a blow torch to work, you have to be super patient and never keep the torch in one place at all…ever. To get the PVC to temperature takes about 20-30 minutes. The PVC will get super hot, recommended, thick gloves and a damp rag. Then you can bend it how you like without kinking or burning.

Below is the finished meter/panel that I attached with lag bolts and anchors.
Here’s a picture of the inside Main lug

The Cedar House

by Paul

Deciding whether to remodel and how much is never easy. Pictures don’t ever really convey how bad some of the things are. We bought this home because we liked the windows and kitchen. It has become more and more apparent that some major changes would be needed even for a minor remodel. Here’s the home as is.