Strung out and wired up....

Strung out and wired up.....

April 11th -- It is amazing how there can be days with absolutely no activity at the house and then everyone shows up at once to work.  When this happens there is an intricate choreography as the subcontractors have to synchronize their work so as to not collide into each other.  And, that would be the theme of  today's activity.  The painters arrived at 8:00 am and shortly afterward the electricians showed up.  

The electricians wanted to make this their last visit, although I have a feeling that I will see these guys periodically as they are an affable group.  We discussed the wiring of the greenhouse with two circuits and enough outlets to accommodate grow lights.  It was a very warm day here for early April -- and these guys are no dummies -- the first thing they did was install the outlet for the ventilation fan so that they were working in a green house and not a "hot house."   This photo shows the ventilation fan, which works well, and the small halogen light hung between the two skylights in the roof.  The halogen light will be used sparingly, and will not only provide light at night, but can also be a back up to the portable heater if necessary. 

 On the south wall of the green house, between the two banks of glass panels, the electricians installed three outlets that will power up future grow lights.  I will install shelving hardware on each side of the glass panels, so that there will be two banks of approximately three foot adjustable shelving for starting plants from seeds.

 On the west wall of the green house, next to the door, they installed a light switch for the halogen light and an outlet that will power up the heater to keep the green house above freezing in the winter.  A thermostatic adapter outlet will go into this outlet and the heater also has a thermostat so it will "fire up" as the temps drop.



















An additional outlet was added to accommodate the irrigation clock that will control the new sprinkler system.

The roofer was here early and completed the drain system for the porch off the master bedroom. The drain will empty into this downspout.  The roofer will return to install the elbow and drain so that it can be painted.

The biggest challenge of the day involved Internet connectivity, and the electricians, who are masterful problem-solvers, said, "Bring it on."  

The challenge is that the modem/router for my home computer local area network (LAN) is located in my office in the extreme southeast, upper-level corner of my house and my new "smart TV" is located in the gathering room, in the extreme northwest, main-level corner of my house.  Because my plan is to be able to stream media from the smart TV via the Internet, a connection between the smart TV and my computer modem/router is key.  I know what you are thinking...just use wireless...well, a hard-wired Ethernet connection is faster and more reliable than wireless any day of the week.  Also, the wireless is spotty given the distance between the modem/router and the location of the smart TV.  

What are the solutions to this problem?  There are a few, which I have explored over the past few days:  a) string a cat5e Ethernet wire from the modem/router through the house to the gathering room; b) buy a more powerful modem/router in the hopes that it would provide greater coverage, but that would be via a wireless connection; c) use a series of "repeater modems" connected from the modem/router into a device that is plugged into an electrical outlet that is 'daisy-chained' through the house to create an ethernet connection between the modem/router and the smart TV; d) set up an second modem/router that is dedicated to just the smart TV, or how two independent local area networks in the house; or e) move the modem/router from my office to another part of the house that is closer (in distance) to the gathering room.  Whew...

The solution....I am now the proud owner of a box of 500 ft of indoor/outdoor cat5e cable (one can buy a 100ft ethernet cable, or a spool of either 500ft or 1000ft of cat5e cable, but  I needed to cover a distance of 150 ft); a package of 25 Ethernet connectors, two Ethernet jacks; and two electrical wall plates.

Here is phone junction box on the back of the house and you will see two lines that run outside the house from the junction box inside the house....to the AV cabinet in the gathering room.

Here is a photo of one of the electricians, who is taking the two lines of cat5e cable from outside the house (shown in the previous photo) -- one line will be connected to an Ethernet jack for Internet connectivity and the other will be a new telephone jack in the event that I will need a future DSL connection through the telephone line.  He is wiring these cables into the AV cabinet in the gathering room.  There is already an Ethernet cable behind the wall that will go from the jack he is installing to the smart TV (that I cannot wait to install).

The cable goes from the jack in the gathering room, outside the house to the telephone junction box,

around the north side of the house, under the eaves....

to the east side of the house (above the roof that cover the front porch) and 

enters into the house near the southeast corner (just under the window) to my office, behind my computer desk and adjacent to the telephone jack for my DSL connection!

A "patch cable" will be connected between the Ethernet jack in the wall to my modem/router, shown here.

In order to accomplish this feat, the electricians had to crawl under my computer desk and install the port into the east wall of my office.

So, now I have a hard wired Ethernet connection that will travel from the modem/router in my upper-level office, outside around the north side where it enters into the west wall and ends up in an Ethernet jack in the back of the AV cabinet in the gathering room, where I will be able to complete the connection from my modem/router into my smart TV.  This photo shows, on the left, the plate with the Ethernet jack (in the middle) with two co-axial cables at the bottom of the plate (if I ever get cable or satellite, which is unlikely).  I am hoping to test this connection within the next few weeks when I can install the smart TV and take it and the surround sound system for a spin.


 

At the end of the day, the painters provided me with a great treat....they moved all of the trim materials that have been stacked up in the foyer.  They cleaned up the area in preparation for painting it!

All of the trim pieces that the finish carpenters will need were moved from the foyer and placed on the front porch, as shown here.

The painters will be back tomorrow morning at 7:30.

At the end of the day I made a verbal agreement with the landscaper who will install a new irrigation system ( low flow heads to cover the lawn for the parkway and the front yard, a drip system for the front perennial bed; and for the lemon thyme planted around the flagstones in the patio that will go around the deck to the garage; and to the area in the backyard where the raised veggie beds will be located); two privacy fences; a flagstone patio; and the grading of the back yard that will be covered in landscape cloth and covered with pea gravel around the future raised veggie beds, and area where shrubs will be planted.  The expected start date of the landscaping is April 21st, with the possibility that if the weather cooperates, they can even begin next week.

In anticipation of a revived and redesigned landscape, the raspberries along the garage have decided to make their presence known.