Gauch Hollow: Wiring, fireplace, boxing/siding started

It's been very hot and dry, fine for exterior work, where a crew has been putting up all the trim/corners/fascia board in preparation for siding. The basic structure of the back porch/deck and stairs is done. Inside, the heat makes for miserably hot/long days. Matt's been hard at work following the electrical rough-in, DIYing an intricate low voltage system for ethernet, coax/HDMI, and audio equipment. He spent this past Sunday with Brian and Jay - a solid 12 hour day - drilling all the holes/pathways for the wires to run and pulling the cables. He also spent another full day Monday (I joined halfway through to try to help) making sure everything was labeled, bundled, run to appropriate lengths, secured in the wall/attic spaces, and generally ready for drywall installation.

There are still a few things to do but the bulk of that work is done. It's too bad it had to happen on the hottest days of the year so far (it had to have been over 110 in the attic - and they spent a lot of time in the attic). In other news, the fireplace was installed today, just in case anyone gets cold. Tomorrow they should be pouring the concrete for the front porch and we think the siding and shingles will start soon.

We started to pack our current house and are trying to pre-order items for the new house. Our garage is currently serving as a warehouse. We have toilets, sinks, plumbing fixtures, and we're slowly trying to accumulate all the light bulbs we will need for light fixtures once it's time for electrical finish/fixtures. In North Carolina, Cree LED bulbs are available with subsidy pricing, but there's a limit-per-customer rule at Home Depot where we're buying everything. So both Matt and I have been stopping in and doing separate checkouts multiple times (and basically clearing out stock) at both of the Raleigh stores.