Day 137 January 23, 2002

I was up around 7 ready for a big day. Inspection days always make me a little nervous. I went out to see Phil to get masons sand, then to the hardware store to get the last piece of copper pipe for the shower outlet. I got back just before 9 and waited for the building inspector to arrive. He got here at 9:30, apologizing for his lateness. We went inside and he immediately went to the wood stove. Wood stove installations are closely scrutinized because an unsafe installation could easily burn down a house. He asked what the clearance was between the stove pipe and wall. Naturally I knew because I had followed the instructions carefully. He was pleased with the job, so I was thrilled. He has a wood stove in his house so he was familiar with them. He looked at the roof insulation and approved that, saving himself another trip. He went downstairs and looked at the plumbing and was again happy with the design and installation. He signed off on the permit and split. I was thrilled to have passed. There are only 2 more inspections left, electrical and C of O (certificate of occupancy).

Inspections completed, I started on the tub/shower assembly. I mixed up a batch of mortar and put it on the tar paper I had nailed down. I maneuvered the tub onto the mortar and squeezed it down and screwed it into place. Next I soldered the plumbing in and added some reinforcing blocks. I finished the tub/shower installation and took a long hot shower. In my cabin! A shower!

I'm glad I set the tub in a mortar bed because it really deadens the sound of the water hitting the tub. Some fiberglass tubs are so noisy it sounds like you are showering in a 55 gallon drum. Next I installed all the cement backer board on the floor. This material is like drywall except made out of cement and fiberglass. It gets screwed down to the subfloor and then the tiles can be set in mortar on top.

14 hours, (napped in the middle) cloudy and warm around 50.