Final Inspection -- PASSED!!

I can't believe I forgot to mention the most critical milestone achievement of last week: passing the final city inspection! Pete gives his thumbs up this chronologically out-of-date photo. He knew good things were coming!

The very nice inspector came last Friday morning and just checked what had been done in the kitchen. He stuck a gadget in each of the outlets (maybe to check the current?), looked above the microwave to make sure there was a vent for the gas range, looked at the labels on the electrical panel outside, and then asked about the lights.

Now, the kitchen lighting was something we were a bit worried about. CA Title 24 requires the kitchen lighting to be 50% low voltage, 50% regular and we were running about 25/75. We (the GC, electrician and I) knew this and discussed all options to meet this criteria. Option one was to use low voltage recessed lights, which, other than not being wired that way, I don't remember why we didn't go this route to begin with. The other option was to use low voltage pendant to add a few watts in our favor and hope the inspector gave use credit for trying. And that's the way it ended up.

Me and my happy-to-share-everything mouth volunteered the information about having redone the bathroom also, to which the inspector raised a quizzical eyebrow and asked what had been done and why a bathroom remodel wasn't part of the permit. I truthfully explained that at the time of the permit, our lighting plan hadn't been finalized and everything else being done in the bathroom was considered cosmetic, so was told I didn't need a permit. My poor GC started sweating a little when the inspector said, "Oh, you redid the lights?" But the very nice inspector said that he wouldn't go in to the bathroom at all so that he wouldn't see anything.

Then he signed on the "FINAL" line on the on-site permit form and went on his merry way!

Now that that's done, I want everyone to be out of my house. The painters are coming back to finish up touch-ups and the carpenter is supposedly going to haul away the unsightly debris still sitting in the back yard. But otherwise we are D-U-N done!!

Yesterday I spent all afternoon and evening moving kitchen boxes out of the garage and putting things away in the cupboards. I rediscovered a lot of gems that have been boxed away for the last 2.5 years! And last night we cooked a real dinner and used real bowls and silverware - hurray! - but are still lacking any seating other than the bed. One step at a time.

I did have lots of fun with cordless drill yesterday. The cabinet holes for the shelf pegs aren't quite big enough to get the peg in without the possibility of taking out a huge chunk of the particle board if and when I ever wanted to take it out. So, I took matters - and a power tool - in to my own hands and opened those puppies up. Now I really want a cordless drill of my own. And a nail gun. And a table saw. And lots of tools!!

We didn't get a chance to move in any more furniture, but that's probably just as well. With a couple more teams coming through today (the painters in particular), better to keep those items out of harm's way.

I looked back on my previous posts and realized I didn't have one of the refinished tub! So here it is. Beautiful, isn't it?? Looks brand new!