Still a long way to go

      We visit our site as often as we can, and we are astounded by all the detailed work that is being accomplished.  Most of the time, its just the two Fukuzumi Brothers, working separate floors, and moving a long from one task to the next.  It just dawned on us that even though so much has been done,  we are still so far from the finish line!

     We happened to catch Fukuzumi-san Junior yesterday as he prepared to install insulation in the wall between the kids rooms.  We are also adding insulation in the wall between the Master Bedroom and the Bathroom.

     For these walls, we're using Fiberglass.  The brand our builder ordered is "Magmat": マグマット.  The reason we requested insulation in these interior walls is for soundproofing.

Here's what Fiberglass looks like when it is delivered on site.

  

The Fiberglass comes in batts that need to be unrolled and cut to the right size. 

Fukuzumi-san installed the batts and fixed them with large staples.  The batts were smaller than the gaps between the beams, and we wondered why...  Would he leave huge gaps?  Would he cut other thinner sections to add on either sides?

This is how he did it: he installed an extra batt on top of the beam

which he then he riped open this third batt to expose the beam.

When the wall was completed covered with Fiberglass, the plasterboard was installed.

     On the exterior of the house, another detail we noticed was that they had installed a rain drainer around the base of the house and the pillar supporting the balcony. 

     At first we didn't know what it was but then we noticed all houses have this! There is a base of concrete a the bottom, then this drainer, then the finished exterior walls.  This drainer is called 水切り "Mizu Kiri" and is made of steel covered with Galvalume which is the trade name for a metal alloy composed of aluminum, zinc and silicone and applied to sheet steel for corrosion resistance..  Another discovery for us!