A busy day, but mostly good

I started the day by calling for my inspection time at 7:30 a.m. We were scheduled for between 8 and 12, so I headed over to the house to wait. The plumber met me there around 8:15. The inspector showed up at 9:40, and things went pretty well. We got some of our signoffs, but not all. The first inspector found one small thing wrong with the electrical which has been fixed. Unfortunately, today's inspector was not certified to sign off on electric, so he told me to call back and reschedule and he would see to it that inspector #1 handled it so the sign off would be quick. He did sign off on the piping and drain lines. The plumber has to be on site to conduct two tests for the inspector. One is to fill the drain lines with water to make sure they hold. The second is to fill the gas lines with air and make sure they hold 15 pounds of pressure for at least 15 minutes. They use a gage at the end of the line to make sure the pressure stays. We passed both of these tests, but couldn't get the gas signed off because the inspector wanted to see some calculations to make sure the gas lines were properly sized. It's actually not a big deal because we have to move one gas line anyway due to relocating the cooktop and it would have to be reinspected anyway. An interesting thing I learned today - if there is a leak, the plumber uses a soapy water solution to find where it is. They spray the pipe connections and it makes bubbles where the leak is. While these inspections are complex to get through, I am glad things are looked at for my own peace of mind. So the next step is to get the electric signed off, then the gas, then the framing, then the insulation. Then we get permission to close up the walls, and things should progress smoothly after that.

After that, I went with the contractor to a local stone store. We looked at aggregate, which is small pebbles of material (glass, round river rock pebbles, lava, gravel, etc) , to embed in a concrete countertop. It's going to be really cool terrazzo - the counter is poured concrete and the pebbles are speckled throughout it. I can customize it in the sense that I can choose the concrete color (lots of colors other than grey!) and the specks. Concrete is a good counter material because it is strong and heat resistant. You can also pour it so that the entire counter is one piece with no seams, which I really like. This was definitely one of the more fun remodeling tasks! We hope to have some samples in the next week so C and I can pick one.
I talked to the landscape architect and ok'd the revised plan he did. I think the yard is going to be nice when we are done. I love the plan! Even though we won't get to everything for a while, it is important to have a plan to guide your decisions. After that, I went back and worked a little more with the contractor at the house and then I left and went back to look at the aggregate some more. I found one more choice that I like, and I added some glass to one of my previous choices.

Whew! These days are often the most exhausting. There is just so much going on and a lot of running around and talking to different people.