Stop the press - before they catch on fire!

So we're passing a big hurdle in the way of renovating our bungalow attic. The last month or two have dragged on as we did a lot of the finish framing, and the insulation. My god, the insulation. No wonder contractors bidded it out so high. Dirty, time consuming work that never seemed to end. At least it was cooler as winter approached.

But significantly, we're about ready to have a drywall crew come in and cover up the walls at long last. We just needed to have the inspectors come by once more, for an insulation inspection. This is to verify that we actually did put the right levels in the building before closing up the walls. Initially, he liked what he saw - R19 in the kneewalls, and R38(!) in the ceilings. So we passed. Almost.

The insulation also includes a firestopping inspection, which requires a ASTM-rated caulkto be applied around openings between floors (conduit , plumbing, speaker wire, etc.) I know Mark's getting excited, but this is a special type of caulk that, when exposed to high
temperatures or direct fire, releases water vapor and forms a solid char and retards the spread
of fire. Otherwise, a fire on the floor below can get sucked up through the wall cavity like its a chimney. Plus, I got to caulk more over the weekend!

So anyway, today we got the official approval for the firestopping, and we're almost ready to move on. A few final pre-drywall punchlist items this weekend, and we'll be having 65 sheets of drywall dropped off before Monday.