Exterior Stuff

On this day, I was very thankful to be a mom.

And an Aunty.

Because on this very long day, or should I say very long several days, not so much fun work happened at the Momplex.

And someone had to stay home and take care of the little girls.

Be comforted, honey. Most times, I'd rather be working up on the Momplex than taking on the endless cycle of dishes, dinner, loosing the desert battle, and then dishes all over again.

Yes, in my house, dishes seem to come before and after cooking.

But after seeing what goes into adding exterior stuff to an ICF home ... I'll take the dishes.

Momplex

Step 1 Diagram

Step 1

It starts with a really long masonry bit.

Step 2 Diagram

Step 2 Instructions

And then you drill a hole through 6" of concrete, crossing your fingers hoping you don't hit rebar.

Step 3 Diagram

Step 3 Instructions

And then you take a piece of metal and drill a hole in it too.

Step 4 Diagram

Step 4 Instructions

The metal goes over the hole in the concrete.

The hole in the concrete is for the electrical wire to pass through. The metal plate supports the fixture box because we want more than just two screws to hold exterior lights up.

Step 5 Diagram

Step 5 Instructions

And this is done for every single exterior light, outlet, faucet, dryer vent, furnace vent, HVAC vent, and fan vent in the Momplex. You can do the math, then multiply it by two. There were alot of holes drilled through alot of concrete while I may or may not have been at home watching Tangled with three girls resisting naps.

Step 6 Diagram

Step 6 Instructions

Once the holes are drilled and the base plates are up, it's time to take on the actual fixture boxes. We've chosen an metal version of vinyl siding, and will be using vinyl fixture boxes for the installation.

Step 7 Diagram

Step 7 Instructions

For the light fixtures, you drill a giant hole in the center.

Step 8 Diagram

Step 8 Instructions

And if it doesn't look pretty

Step 9 Diagram

Step 9 Instructions

You trim it clean.

Step 10 Diagram

Step 10 Instructions

And then you fit the light fixture box in it.

Step 11 Diagram

Step 11

And block the back side to support the fixture box. Probably unnecessary, but we not only are only building our Mom's one house (that they have to share!), we are only doing this once.

Step 12 Diagram