On June 1, 2019 we flipped the breaker switch on the first electrical devices at the yurt.  It happened to be a mini fridge, shop light and of course a phone charger.  Having the power running makes me feel like we have turned the corner on a dream.  I actually see a livable house now.  Toilet and sink will go in within a couple weeks.

In February, the utility company installed 3 power poles and a 200 amp pedestal.

Power poles are not invisible, but the surrounding scenery mostly blocks them out.

Wildlife don’t seem to mind.  5:30 am bobcat spotting.  Can you see him?

After the lines were installed we got a few bids from electricians.  I was very happily surprised to find three professionals to give us bids who were willing to come all this way.  We went with a company out of Pueblo and were really happy with the price and work they did.  LJI Electric are highly recommended.

Josh spent a fun day pushing a trenching machine through some really tough ground and the LJI crew did the interior rough-in and hooked up the service.

On Friday we wired in the first outlet and today I got our first bill from the utility company.  On Saturday we kept working on the ceiling, reveling in the lack of noise from the generator!  Being on the grid is awesome.

Only 1.5 rows of paneling left and the ceiling will be complete.  It still blows my mind that the instructions from Smiling Woods said to install the ceiling first.  Right after the blocking went between the rafters were were to install all this panelling.  Then put insulation onto it and then install the roof.  This ceiling has taken a year to complete.  We weren’t working on it full-time, but how could we possibly have done this while the summer rains moved in.  Recall our roof prep in this post from July 2017.  I was so stressed out during that period my hair started falling out!  Following the advice of people who had actually built houses before and putting the roof on first was a really good decision.

1.5 rows to go.  Bottom row will require a long-cut table saw.

Thanks for reading!  Fingers crossed my next article will include a video of a flushing toilet.