Progress and Congress

After all, "con" is the opposite of "pro", right?

Progress

• Wiring in the living room took a huge leap forward. We managed it with minimal holes in the drywall. I had forgotten that we had run power from up high on the west wall down to the outlet on that side and across to the brick wall for the TV. We also learned that the outlet at the north end of the room was still live, as it was on its own circuit for the washer & dryer when they were in the family room. We tied the 14/2 Romex that was run across the ceiling into that other wiring in a junction box, replacing the old wire that had been used. Then we pulled the baseboard and ran another line from the washer/dryer outlet to the newer one below that junction box. Everything's live there now.

  The east wall was a little tougher. The wiring in the wall is a mess, so we decided to just pull new Romex to the right place and save the rest for the electrician. Pulled the quarter round and inserted a smaller piece of wire so that we could locate the right place to run the Romex from below. Then we punched a hole in the wall above that to fish the wire from. And then...into the crawlspace I went. I'd been dreading this for a while because it's so hard to get in and out of there. But you gotta do what you gotta do. I found my guide wire deep in the crawlspace, right by an end wall and tucked behind the air duct. I had my assistant shine a light down from above and was shocked to find that there was a gap between the subfloor and the brick wall. I had originally thought that I would have to drill up into the wall cavity but this was a lifesaver. I was able to run the Romex up through that gap, and once complete, we had a relatively easy time fishing the line the rest of the way up the wall. Electrical rough work done, now I just have to arrange for our electrician to come out to finish up.

• While I was in the crawlspace, I retrieved the coaxial cable I'd stuffed down there for the TV. I also installed some more pipe insulation on the hot water supply for the master bath.
• In a somewhat unexpected move, our sister in law and my mother in law decided that they should finish painting the master bedroom closet with my wife supervising.
• We moved a bunch of baby furniture into the house.

Anti-Progress

The upstairs toilet looked like it had leaked some into the floor under it, so we bought a new wax ring for it and attempted replacement today. It seemed like we had installed everything properly, we heard the wax being "crushed" under the toilet, but upon first flush, it leaked pretty badly. We're afraid there may be a problem with the cast iron pipe itself up there. That requires a plumber, and I'm afraid, a lot of money. Ugh.