As we were returning from rug shopping, Jeanine and I were treated to a spectacular sunset over the Sudbury River. Our timing could not have been more perfect and I am thankful for this gift of light.

Yesterday, we obtained a temporary certificate of occupancy for the River House!!! All that remains to be done before obtaining our final CoO is to submit an updated as-built plot plan that includes the roof overhangs. Our surveyor will be here on Sunday to take the necessary measurements and we should have the needed drawing by Monday.

In the meantime, we are free to start moving in which we have decided to do gradually, one carload at a time. My nephew, Rory, helped out with Jeanine’s stationary bike which will initially be located in her sanctuary. The gradual move allows us to organize the new house one room at a time. In about a week, we will be ready to rent a small van to move the larger items over.

The second episode of The Build Show covering our home just dropped. Host Matt Risinger and our architect Steve Baczek cover several aspects of the interior space including my shop, the mechanical rooms, the kitchen, the front door, the master bathroom, and the stairs.

Now that all the requirements for occupancy have been addressed, I am moving on to the design and construction of the built-ins for our walk-in closets. Jeanine completed an inventory of all her clothes, shoes, and accessories so that I can ensure they will each have a proper-sized space. I have not done the same exercise but should be fine if I allocate myself half of what she needs. Pictured above is an initial concept which is sure to undergo refinement. It features 16 drawers, spaces for 54 pairs of shoes, 11 feet of lineal hanging rod, 20 large shelves, and a countertop.

At long last, we had our final inspections for the River House today. We passed our energy storage system (battery backup) electrical, fire, and building inspections. Only the permitting for the Natural Resource Commission has been more arduous than the battery. Because the technology is so new, the fire inspectors have approached the whole situation with an overabundance of caution. The next Concord family that decides to install an ESS will have us to thank for blazing the trail.

We were not so fortunate with our occupancy inspection. We failed on two counts. (1) We have been using the area under the landing for our basement stairs as a storage area for leftover paint and tile. Access to the space was by way of a 45″x 30″ opening. By code, the interior of this space needs to be finished with 5/8″ gypsum wallboard to impede fire propagation. The amount of work to do this in such a confined and irregular space would not be worth the benefit. Our other option was to permanently seal off the access opening which is what I opted to do. Pictured above is the final result which I completed after a run to Home Depot for the materials. (2) The door to the garage needs to be self closing. The one we have is equipped with self closing hinges but they had not been engaged. I attempted to do so, but a manufacturing defect in one of the hinges prevented me from finishing. I have called our builder to address this problem as it should have been installed with the springs engaged in the first place.

It would have been nice to pass on our first attempt, but I am thrilled that our punch list is so short. As soon as the garage door is addressed we should be good to go.

My nephew Rory has been visiting for the past week and will be with us for the next. He is an talented personal trainer among other things. Nico invited him to Boston for an intense week of physical training and healthy eating. His amputee soccer teammate, Jovan is also staying at the Road House and participating in the training/eating regime. Regrettably, I have been so occupied with preparations for the final inspection at the River House that I have spent very little time with him thus far, a situation I plan to rectify in the coming week.

Maya is dog-sitting for Bella again and joined us at the River House this afternoon before embarking on the continuing repairs of her tiny house. Bella is the best-trained dog I have ever known. She can do a handstand or jump up onto Maya’s back on command. She is also adorable and very cuddly once she gets to know you.

For the last 8 months or so, I have been operating without a shop sink, something that is quite essential when working with glues and finishes. During the first 4 months, I had to go upstairs and outside to the detached garage where our temporary water service was located. Talk about inconvenience. Once the water service was connected to the house, I only needed to walk upstairs to the laundry room, a monumental improvement but still not ideal. Today, I decided it was time to install the sink I had planned for my shop. Because our septic tank is located above the level of the basement a lift pump is needed to pump the drain water up to the main drain line. I had the plumbers leave stubbed lines for the drain, vent, and water supply lines near the shop ceiling in anticipation of this day. The first order of business was to build a cabinet carcass and mount it to the wall. While I was at it, I decided to repurpose a set of floor standing shelves into a wall mounted version. Next, I connected the lift pump (lower left) to the drain, vent, and discharge pipes and plumbed in the hot and cold water supply lines and shutoff valves. Finally, I added the countertop, backsplash, sink and faucet before connecting up all the hoses and wiring . The faucet can be turned on and off with a gesture – very convenient when your hands are covered in varnish and hence the need for wiring. Eventually, I will add drawers and doors to the front of the cabinet but for now I am very content to have an operational sink no more than a few steps away.

Jeanine and I are spending nights at the River House to free up beds for our guests at the Road House. Visiting from Seattle is our nephew Rory who is here to help Nico and his amputee soccer teammate Jovan, our other guest, with 2 weeks of intense physical training. We woke up to about an inch of fresh snow and Jeanine can be seen here enjoying her morning coffee.

At long last, the stairs and railings are done. I put the final coat of finish on this afternoon and we are now ready for inspection. In total, the railings took about 3 weeks of build time, and the stairs about the same. If I had known just how much work would be required, I might have opted for a turnkey solution. On the other hand, the savings we realized could purchase a small new car. I am most appreciative of my gluing and finishing assistants, Jeanine and Nico.

After weeks of work all 150 balusters, 7 Newell posts, 4 hand rails, and 3 guard rails have been permanently installed. The final step was to glue top caps to the Newell posts. We are now officially ready for inspection by the building department and hope to have our occupancy permit shortly. Tomorrow, I will do some final sanding and finishing work and then move on to built-ins for our walk-in closets.

To maximally stabilize the Newell posts I am constructing for the River House, I decided to channel them through the end of the stair tread before fastening them to the floor. This adds a considerable amount of strength at the expense of a rather complicated mating joint with multiple critical dimensional tolerances. Machining these was possibly the most stressful work I have done on the house thus far The slightest mistake on either part would have resulted in a depressingly large amount of rework. I perfected my approach on scrap material before attempting the work on the final components and thankfully this led to a successful outcome.

I installed three out of seven Newell posts today. More accurately, I installed three-quarters of each post. I have left one side open so that I can secure the railings with a bolt driven from the inside. Tomorrow, I will glue on the missing face and top cap. The base is glued to a cleat that is the same size as the inside of the hollow post. The cleat is secured to the floor with a massive lag screw. If tomorrow goes smoothly, I should be finished with the railings by the end of Monday and we will then be ready for our certificte of occupancy inspection. Fingers crossed.

Thanks to our neighborhood list server, I was alerted to the approach of a bevy of swans, 13 in total. I was able to grab my good camera and photograph them as they swam past the house. Ice has begun to form near the banks but the bulk of the river is still flowing. If I had to guess, I would say they were having a leisurely swim, resting from what was likely several hundred miles of flying. Jeanine arrived at the house shortly after they passed by on the water but spotted them in the air as they resumed their migration.