By the way....

By the way....

April 11th -- And, the new Ethernet connection to the gathering room actually works!!!  

Here is a photo of my netbook, sitting on top of the AV cabinet in the gathering room, that is connected to the modem/router in my office.  If you look closely you'll see that the Internet browser on the netbook is pointing to the previous blog post!  

Picture me now doing my happy dance!

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.

You only like the beginning of things....

You only like the beginning of things...

April 10th -- "You only like the beginning of things." is the line uttered by a woman to the man she has been dating when he returns from being out of town and explains to her that he has fallen in love and is now engaged to another woman.

In many ways this line pretty much exemplifies the winding down of my home renovation project for several reasons.  First, it is increasingly difficult to get the attention of my contractor to tie up these loose ends, even though we left some money in reserve that he will not receive until EVERYTHING is done.  He has moved on to other projects.  Second, this is feeling very much like a break up.  I am over him, but he still has things to do before the break up is final.  And third, the contractor really only likes the beginning of things because he certainly isn't too interested in the end of things.

Yesterday my contractor went to the major league baseball game with his son while I waited for the technician from the kitchen cabinet company.  The technician changed out some hardware, made sure all the drawers and cabinets were closing properly and he also installed "stops" so that the cabinets stopped at either 110 degrees or shorter so the door wouldn't band against something it wasn't supposed to bang against.  The kitchen tech was here for about 3 hours and did a great job.  

The guy who re-finished the claw foot tub came back to do a few touch ups.  

Today, the painters returned!  The weather has been spectacular, so they mostly worked on the exterior.  Besides the painters, a landscaper who I have been working with also stopped by to go over his bid.

The construction process has taken a huge hit on my yard, but I was greeted by a lovely surprise when I noticed that the grape hyacinth were spectacularly in bloom, right next to the gutter downspouts that the painters should soon get to.   As the lilacs begin to bud, I am growing more optimistic that my yard will come back, but it will be a long haul.

There was even evidence of a tulip in bloom.

And the day lilies will soon return.

The painters started by putting a first coat on the pergola that matches the base color of the house.  Tomorrow they will do some putty and filler work on the pergola beams and then apply another color coat and then a sealer coat.

The painters also painted the trim around the green house as the roofer completed his work on the flashing around the skylights.

The painters also painted the trim work on the newly redecked front porch.

They also finished painting the trim work on the deck off the master bedroom.

Before calling it a day, the head painter wanted to get a bit more done, so he stayed until 7:00pm -- putting in an 11-hour day -- so that he could put the first coat of paint on the stairs to the basement.



A second coat of paint will be put on the stairs tomorrow. 


















The painter has been very good about providing excellent advice and when he suggested painting the stairs in the graphite color that we painted the master suite bath in, I was drawn in by his compelling argument that it wouldn't show the dirt.  He has yet to lead me astray, so I decided to follow his advice.

 The painter also decided to put the first coat of paint on the claw foot tub.  

We also decided that tomorrow we will put two coats of gloss white paint on the actual "claw foot" of the tub while leaving the "ball" that the claw foot rests on black.

I also started looking for a replacement refrigerator and yet again am reading reviews, but at least this time the range of models that I am looking at is significantly smaller since I am looking for a refrigerator that is counter-depth and has very specific dimensions.



Finally, I had asked the contractor last week about the damage to the sidewalk in the front of my house that was done last November when the dry wall was delivered.  The contractor told me that he had "called in" the damage last November but never heard back.  So, I asked him for all the details so I could follow up.  It is typical that when the final house inspection occurs that the inspector will issue a warning and then a ticket to repair any sidewalk damage.



These photos show the actual damage that will require that the two cracked panels of the sidewalk will need to be removed and new concrete poured.

There was no answer after several attempts to the drywall supply company until an Internet search showed a phone number that was different than the one I had.  After calling that number I learned that the drywall supply company no longer existed as it was acquired by another company.  After three more phone calls and reading a bunch of articles that were published in local business newsletters, I located a phone number and actually spoke to someone who was sympathetic.  By the end of the day, and after sending these photos of the damage via e-mail, I received a return call by the manager of operations.  He told that I will be contacted this Saturday by someone who will come by the house to repair the sidewalk!

I have been moving out of my "temporary bedroom/office" so that the painters can paint, but I discovered last night that the phone jack in the master bedroom is not working.  Before I can move my  home computer network, router and modem out of my office,  I need to make sure that I can re-connect my home computer network via DSL through the phone jack in the master bedroom.  

The result is that the electricians will return tomorrow to fix the phone jack and to wire the green house.

Even though my contractor only likes the beginning of things, I am very much enjoying tying up the loose ends of this project, but I never want a job as a contractor!