A little over a week later, the leak testing has been completed to our satisfaction!  They started the general leak testing on March 28th.  These tests were carried out with a guy outside with a hose on full blast, just blasting water on each inch of the outside of the house for ten minutes or so while another guy searched for any signs of water intrusion inside the house.  This version of water testing took a good four days to complete (including the roof testing) and did not produce any leaks.  However, as we are still majorly paranoid about water intrusion, we made the contractor do some extra water tests.  We were especially concerned with the two places we had seen the leaks after the last rains (see entry March 21).  The first round of water testing did not produce repeat leaks in these areas and there have been some repairs done to these areas to repair the leaks so the leaks may be fixed, but this is not good enough for us.  So in an attempt to alleviate our fears about these two previously leaking spots, the contractor carried out more extensive water tests which we designed.  The first of these water tests was designed to check the leak in the guest bedroom and consisted of a sprinkler spraying water on the house for four hours at three different heights on the outside wall.  The second of these water tests was for the leak in the media room and consisted of saturating both the deck outside the dining room and the deck outside the master bedroom and another thorough soaking of the chimney cap.  The contractor has assured us that the leak in the media room originated from the chimney cap, but we wanted the decks tested anyway....since we are here.....

This second round of water testing was completed this week and have yielded a leak-free home.  This being the case, we have agreed that the leaks have all been addressed and repaired so we can move on to completing the house.

The construction has actually continued during the water testing period, as you have already seen.  One area in particular which has seen great strides is the tile work, or more specifically, the tile preparation work.  In the master bathroom, the mud has been applied to the walls where the tile will be placed.  As I rotate around the bathroom, we see where the tile will be placed up the wall behind the bathtub

at the junction between the bathtub and shower

in one corner of the shower

and in the rest of the shower

In the shower, we will have a built in shelf that will be tiled to match the rest of the shower

Further work that had to be done before tiling is bringing the plumbing out of the wall for the bathtub

and for our shower tower.

We are going to have an amazing shower for the master!  If you want a preview, go to http://www.kohlerserviceparts.kohler.com/Product.aspx?ModelID=211f624abe9b4f9b947b85e19e5c9e99 where you will find a photograph of the Kohler Shower Tower.  This is the unit that will be installed in our master bath.  I don't know which one I am more excited for - the bathtub or the shower tower!