So much happened today that I didn’t get a chance to snap the usual number of photos. The sheet metal sub arrived and he and Kai went up on the roof. I tagged along. Here is the library roof (and my shadow.)

As you can see, there are a lot of trucks on site. That’s because we are trying to get a final inspection done on the barn and guest cottage before Christmas. The electrician, painter, plumber, framing crew and more were here bustling around.

We also discovered the problem with the barn sewer which had seemed to be plugged up. It had never been connected with the sewer line, just run out from the building about 12' and capped off and buried! More on this later.

Here is Kai explaining our chimney cap design to the sheet metal contractor. It will sit on top of the part of the chimney you see here to cover up the actual flue and spark-arrestor. He insists on describing it as a mailbox because it has a rounded top.

From the guest room roof, I could see onto the living room roof where Kai is standing, but I couldn’t climb up there because there was no ladder.

Back to the giant parking lot . . . The roto rooter guy arrived with his assistant. He had been up before to try to clear the plug out of the barn sewer, but couldn’t do it. Then he put his scope down the pipe to try to get a photo of the obstruction. It was pretty murky but it was obvious that the pipe was completely blocked.

When Kai described the situation at our weekly meeting, I knew instantly what had happened.The crew who installed the sewer had just capped it off and buried the pipe. Back in June, when the drainage and sewer connections were installed, the grading contractor left his crew to finish the job. As the afternoon drew on, they got more and more sloppy. We had to get them back to redo the drainage around the barn and the sewer seems to be another casualty.

Ginger gets into the act around the wood pile. You can see our shadows on the ground as we look at scupper locations in the parapet. We are doing one canale in the front. This is a kind of roof drainage found in the southwest. It is a “U” shaped trough lined with metal which sticks through the parapet. When it rains, it acts as an outlet for water to run off the roof.

We are using a copper-lined one from New Mexico and Kai is very skeptical of it because it is not a regular scupper with standard flashing. Flashing is VERY important. It’s what keeps water from getting into the building. He and the sheet metal contractor discussed how to integrate the flashing on the canale into the parapet and what additional flashing would be needed.

Here is the roto rooter guy and his assistant putting their equipment away. First they put a scope down the drain. Then they have another piece of equipment which they wave over the ground. This machine not only tells them where the pipe is, but how deep it is.

They ran the scope through the clean-out at the cottage. We know that sewer is all hooked up and working correctly. They located the pipe in the middle of the driveway—just about where it is supposed to be—but 14' deep! And it is going to rain all next week! It is going to be a muddy mess when they dig that up.

Meanwhile, the electricians were here installing light fixtures for the final inspection. When I saw that ugly little lantern, I told them that wasn’t what was spec’d.

They said they knew and were just installing these for the inspection. The real fixtures STILL haven’t arrived yet. For this temporary installation, they just got the cheapest thing available and, boy, are they hideous.

This last shot is of Thomas, the framing boss, up on the carport rafters getting ready to install blocks in between them. I am so happy he is doing it himself, because he is a really tidy and meticulous workman and everything he does is done just so.

I missed taking photos of the newly installed sycamores by the pond. They look so great—just like the south of France! (Or they will someday.) Also, we got the 5 Valley Oaks planted in the gully across from the barn. These trees and the 3 Coast Live Oaks on the slope below the living room were required by the county in order for us to get our permit. I am so happy to have that accomplished.

It’s supposed to rain all next week so I guess I will have rain shots of all of this.