wow. it's been 6 wks already? I think you're close to the downward swing of it!
Sounds/looks to me like most of the 'hard' work is almost done.

I missed the start of construction on your project, so I have some catching up to do. Gotta say though, that manifold sure is purty.

Ahhh, glad you like it. I have the electrician here today, he is roughing in as he calls it, for the new electrical box, setting the masthead for the power line which comes in from the street. Our old power supply line barely clears the corner of the sun porch roof, which is against code. This time it will be much higher, with a fairly tall masthead. All the (four) old electrical panels inside the house will disappear into one 40 slot breaker box mounted outdoors on the side of the house. Eventually, when we do some work on the driveway, we'll put the service underground from the power pole at the street. We have no need for a wired phone line, although we do have a wired cable service and wifi for internet.

The stucco guy is almost done except he'll be back after the electrician does his work to touch up, and to repair the stucco on the fireplace chimney. The flashing on that and the cap is in the hands of our roofer....who is not here today, since we are awaiting the arrival of the new shingles. DH wanted the high quality UHD architectural shingles, so for those we wait for 25 squares to be delivered by truck from GAF somewhere. We have a GAF factory here in Mobile, but it makes another type of roofing....when I was a kid, it had huge bales of old comic books to process for roofing (Ruberoid was the factory name then), and my brother and his friends would jump their fence and pilfer for comic books. We always had plenty to read! :)

Also, I made contact with the A/C people, the ones I've done business with for a long long time and I trust them, so they will give the contractor their estimate to do the new ductwork for this job. As quickly as they responded I have a feeling the job is not too small to interest them. They did the whole shebang for my MoccasinLanding house in 1990, including total ductwork and heatpump. and the electrical work for 200 amp service. I know they do good work.

Well, my best friend is coming to get the old cabinet handles and knobs, she can use them in her rental house. I will also ask her if she wants the old back door, which is glass with blinds in the middle. It was sized to fit the small doorframe of the old backporch which had been enclosed, and we need 36 inch doors now.

Can't wait for photos. Love the manifold for your shower. Neat piece of work. so shiny too. Very classy.

Oh, I am not buying that one, Shades. It is just the basics of what mine will be. Somewhere I have the rest of a similar design, including the supply line shut off, and the valves (h & c) to drain the manifold.

The middle piece is called a "cross" and it is really fine, but I went through a bunch of plumbing pictures before I discovered what it was called so I could shop for one. I saw a fine looking POST with a rain head on it and simple valves, but it was too expensive, had no hand held wand (to wash the dogs) and while it would look great beside a swimming pool, I could not put it on the deck in my shower pan. I placed the big shower pan (almost 4 x 4) in place where it will go, to see if I had enough space to run the water pipes up between the house wall and the lip of the shower pan, with some stand-off space

I got a wall bar with a sliding bracket for holding the handheld shower. The soap dish (which came with it) I think could go on the main shower pipe "neck" which ends in the rain head.

Hope I'm not confusing anyone. I'll try to find the picture with the rest of the shower which shows the supply lines, the shut offs and such. Actually it seems pretty easy to do if I don't need to sauter anything. I could wrap the teflon tape and hope I get the manifold to stand up straight! But that is why we engaged the services of a plumber and got all the proper permits, to keep me from going astray.

Watch for more photos, I took some today, nothing dramatic, you'd have to find a BEFORE photo to notice any subtle differences.

The electrician "roughed in" new power to both new spaces, got the weatherhead mast up, and the new meter box and breaker box, preparatory to the power company doing the new line from the pole at the street. At some point we'll be without power for a while I know. But it will be worth it..