Arched Window

Yesterday was another hot day. I called the management office of our apartment complex in the morning to let them know our A/C wasn't working, and they sent someone over to try to fix it. I had a doctor's appointment in DC in the morning, so I drove over to the house and then walked to the Metro from there. By 11 am, it was already pretty warm, so I was dismayed to discover that the A/C wasn't working at my doctor's office either. I had to fan myself with an Oct 2008 issue of the New Yorker while I was waiting for her. Afterwards, I grabbed some lunch and took the Metro back to my house to see how things were going.

The stucco crew had made significant progress covering the rest of the house with felt paper. Only a small patch of blue was visible above the balcony doors -- which hadn't been there the day before.
Here you can see the layers of material used to install the stucco. First is a layer of black felt paper, then metal mesh, and then the first layer of stucco.
There didn't appear to be anyone inside the house. It was pretty warm in there, despite a huge fan running in the dining room. I stood in front of it to cool off, and caught a brief glimpse of Rob, who commented on the lack of insulation on his way through the room. The spray foam insulation was supposed to be installed yesterday, but apparently they didn't show up -- again.

Upstairs, I noticed they had covered all the mechanical equipment and the bathtubs with plastic in preparation for the spray foam. Good thinking. Last time we had spray foam insulation installed, it came through the gaps in the ceiling of my closet and I ended up with little flecks of it all over the shoulders of my clothes -- like permanent dandruff. Here is the ERV, well-protected should the insulation people decide to show up.
Jim was in the front bedroom cutting a hole for the arched window over the balcony doors, which must have just arrived. That's why they had to remove the stucco from that area on the outside of the house. It was miserably hot up there, but at least he had a fan and some fresh air to make it a little more tolerable.
I had some questions for Rob, but he seemed to have disappeared, so I went back outside to take some more photos just as my neighbor across the street pulled into her driveway. We ended up chatting for a bit, and I told her that we were in the process of installing an arched window similar to the one she has on her house. She had warned us against it, because it's difficult to shade from the sun, but ours is facing in the opposite direction, so it shouldn't be as much of an issue. As I pointed out where the window was going in, I spotted Rob way up at the top of the scaffolding. Now, Rob has mentioned a couple times that he's not particularly fond of heights, so that was the last place I thought to look for him. He was helping Jim install the new window.
Rob seems to be concentrating very hard on the wall rather than enjoying the view...
My house kind of looks like a very large jungle gym these days. I prefer the stairs.
This funny little forklift suddenly appeared from around the corner. They were delivering our roof tile!
The big delivery truck must have been parked around the corner. The forklift made several trips back and forth and stacked it up in the driveway
Rob and Jim finished installing the window, so I finally had an opportunity to go over a few things with Rob, who seemed glad to be back on the ground. He said the insulation people are now supposed to come on Wednesday -- the same day Attila the Roofer is also planning to get started. I'll definitely plan to go back to see how that all comes together, since the stucco guys will still be working then as well. Could be a 3-ring circus!

I went back upstairs to check out the window. They had to cut a rectangular hole, so they'll still need to fill the corners back in, but at least the window is in place. Jim was checking out the view from the balcony.It's quite a novelty to have any kind of 'view', since I am used to a 1-story house. Now you can see all the way down the street. I'm sure the view will only improve once the scaffolding is gone and there's a railing around the balcony so you don't have to worry about falling off.
I had complained to Rob about our non-functional A/C and lack of fans in the apartment, so he lent me a window fan that they weren't using anymore (since the windows are all taped up). Good thing he did, because when I got back to the apartment, it was 88 degrees inside and the A/C still wasn't working. I called the management office again, and they sent someone back to give it another try. I headed out to my aerobics class. Ironically, it was the only place I'd been all day that had air conditioning. When I returned, there seemed to be slightly cooler air coming from the registers, but by 11:30 pm it was still 82 inside, so we opened the windows and cranked up the fan. I'm glad it's supposed to cool down again tomorrow. It's challenging to work from home when it's hot enough to melt your brain in your office.