Glass Roof

Chris finished the installation of the glass roof this morning. It looks good. Tonight and tomorrow we have an 80% chance of thunderstorms. We'll see if it leaks.

The slate installers returned, finished the west garage gable and started on the east gable. As I expected, they did not bring enough slate shingles to finish the garage let alone the sunroom. It is a slower process than I expected. It goes fairly quickly until they have to start trimming to follow the angle of the roof. Not sure when they will return.

Slate on west garage gable

Slate going on east garage gable

"Our" Mike and Nate returned and worked primarily on the balcony above the connecting porch. We need to try to remember what decking material we had previously decided to use. We will probably need to go out and make a choice again. I am confident we had decided to go with a composite material (maintenance free) as opposed to real wood.

I asked Mike this morning if he had heard back from the brick layers regarding the specific brick they intend to use next week. Mike said he had not. I suggested to Mike that we need to ensure T has a chance to review what they intend to use before they go to the trouble of delivering it. Mike agreed, but at the end of the day, we still had not seen a sample.

We got a call from Bobby (fireplace) to tell us that he had talked with Mike and they intend to be here next Thursday to install the fireplace.

The plumber showed up early again today to continue working on the garage plumbing. He installed the small hot water heater above the northeast sink.

Today we placed an order for the bar appliances (refrigerator, dishwasher and ice maker). We had previously purchased the garbage disposal. We also placed an order for the copper sink. We still need to decide on the faucet.

The roofers did not reappear today.

One Of The Best of Weeks

Wow, a lot got done this week.

To our surprise, the slate installers arrived this morning.

Chris (glass roof installer) showed up along with "Our" Mike and Nate.

Chris worked until about 5:00 pm completing the frame installation. According to him, it was a challenge. Despite my asking in several different ways, I never got a straight answer as to why it was such an challenge. He did say that framing of nine sections into such a small space was part of the challenge. The glass panels for the glass roof arrived mid-morning. Chris said that he might have to work until 9:00 pm, but he intended to finish today.

Update: Chris returned Friday morning saying he needed one more hour of daylight to finish.

Chris was even impressed with the quality of the glass that was delivered. It is a laminated, two pane system with argon between the pane sections.

Nine Rectangular Sections

Nine Trapezoidal Sections

Mike and Nate did carpentry work around the bar, reinforced the east eave,started work above the connecting porch and framed the interior chimney breast.

Interior Chimney Breast

Bar Area Finishing 

Reinforcement of east eave

In the late afternoon, I noticed that the roofers had shown up to reinstall the finials. Unfortunately, they installed the smaller ones in the wrong places. They should have gone on the two south dormers. I notified Mike and he informed the roofers. These two south dormers are also still needing to have ridge vents installed. The roofers did not remove the two smaller finials, but just left.

We got an estimate from Bob (cabinetry) yesterday on the appliances for the bar. The only problem he ran into was with the ice maker. We had previously selected a Kitchen Aid ice maker, but Bob's supplier said Kitchen Aid no longer offered a model with a gravity drain. His recommendation was to go to a U-Line ice maker. Neither T or I have ever heard of the U-Line brand. We asked Bob and he said he has used U-Line for 20 years with good success. He said it was comparable in quality to Kitchen Aid. He said we could spend a lot more for a SubZero brand, but he did not believe the added cost was justified. OK, that was good enough for us. We'll place the order tomorrow.

I called our security company today about their promised proposal. Kim and Ben visited us last Thursday to survey our new construction so they could recommend what we needed to add to our current security system. A week later, we had heard nothing. I talked with Kim and she said they were still working on part of their proposal but could send us what they had. She did send something, but it was not satisfactory.

I also sent a note to Tyler (architect) today asking why we have not gotten the promised quote for the sunroom cupola ventilation fan system. Tyler subsequently sent a note to the person he has been talking with and quickly got a quote. Unfortunately, it was not satisfactory either, apparently missing some elements. I talked with Tyler this evening and he said he would get back with the vendor. The quote also stated that they would only sell to contractors or architects. I told Tyler we need to finalize who will be ordering and installing this system. I saw a note from Tyler to the vendor asking for clarification of the quote.

Glass Roof and Hearth Framed

Chris (glass roof installer) showed up early this morning and put the framing for the glass roof into place. Hopefully, the glass will arrive tomorrow.

"Our" Mike and Nate came by in the afternoon and modified the fireplace and installed the hearth framing, in preparation for the bricking next week. Mike said that it is possible that the slate guy may show up early tomorrow morning to put the slate on the west sunroom gable before the glass roof is installed.

We got the proposal from Bob (cabinetry) and T is very satisfied with it. Bob said he can make a fireplace mantel for us and recommended it be of the same Sapele wood as the bar and paneling. He gave several reasons which made sense. He also said he could make it with a drawer. He will send us a quote tomorrow.

Solar Panels

Cool partly clouding day. It sprinkled briefly after lunch, but no measurable amount.

Both T and I realized that we never heard from David (tile dealer). He asked us to leave our architectural drawings with him when we visited his shop last Friday. He said he would stop by on Sunday to return the drawings and to see the project. I guess he forgot or ran out of time.

The big accomplishment of the day was getting the solar panels installed.

Front of Solar Panel

I estimate the weight of each panel was about 25 pounds.

Back of Solar Panel

Solar Panel Tag

Before I saw Chris (glass roof installer), I asked Mike if the glass roof panels had shown up as Chris said yesterday he expected. Mike said Chris told him that he now expected them on tomorrow (Wednesday). Later, I talked with Chris and he said that he was hoping the panels would be here by Thursday. Last week, Jim (glass roof) told us that the glass was going to ship last Wednesday and arrive last Friday. Today, Chris said that not only did the glass panels not ship until yesterday (Monday) but apparently, they were sent to the frame manufacturer in South Carolina. They were supposed to have been shipped directly here. Chris said he was told the shipment had been intercepted, but he was not sure where it was. In a final check with Chris this evening, he said he had inquired again and was assured the glass would be here Thursday. Depending upon what time the glass arrives on Thursday, Chris believes he can get in all finished on that day. Today, he struggled with some inconsistencies in the drawings along with preparing and installing what framing components he could.

The plumber returned this morning and resumed work on the garage plumbing.

We even had some roofers show up for a short period of time today. They finished installation of the asphalt shingles on the garage roof vent and installed the roof mounted drain vents on the garage and sunroom. They did not finish the job however. They still have two ridge vents to install on the main house, re-install the finials and gutter leaf guards and cleanup.

Mike and Nate spent the day with us primarily preparing for the bricking by building and installing arches for the garage windows. Mike now says the bricking will not begin until next week.

Window Brick Arch Molds

Mike installing a window arch

All the brick moldings are in place

I told Mike that we had definitely decided to go with the wall mounted fireplace vent and added that Bobby (fireplace) had said he really did not care if the opening in the brick was made during the bricklaying or by them later. This seemed to surprise Mike.

We got a call from Michael (Overhead Door) around 3:45 pm saying his guy did stop by and took the measurements for the garage doors. Michael promised he would email the quote no later than 5:00 pm. We did not get it before 5:00 pm, but we did get it. The proposal looks OK. The style will be something like the follow except we will not have any windows.

We got the decanters we ordered for inspection. T has selected three designs that she wants on the bar.

Promise of a Good Week

A cool dry Monday. It rained most of the day Sunday but ceased last night. It is supposed to be dry yet cool all week. We are hoping for major accomplishments this week.

The plumber showed up first this morning and worked all day on the sunroom and garage plumbing.

Next, the solar company showed up, introduced themselves and set to work installing the framing for the solar panels on the garage roof. Their electricians also showed up to begin work in the basement. We anticipate the panels will be installed tomorrow.

"Our" Mike was here all day as well. The glass roof installer (Chris) arrived with his trailer. They attempted to park it along the west side of the garage, but ran into our fence. They ended up parking the trailer along the front of the garage. Chris spent the day preparing the framing. He said the glass had only been shipped last Friday and he expected it to arrive tomorrow (Tuesday).

The bricklayers stopped by and did a bunch of measurements. Mike did not say when the would actually start working. We did not see any roofers today.

I called Bobby (fireplace) and discussed the wall mounted fireplace vent. He did some checking and called back to say "IT COULD WORK". He said that the fireplace manufacturer required the use of their own horizontal termination cap, as opposed to the copper one we liked. Theirs was only available in aluminum and is not as aesthetically appealing as the one we found. Bobby said we could paint it or have it powder coated. We opted for the later with T requesting a chocolate brown to coordinate with the window frames.

Not hearing anything from Michael of the Overhead Door dealership, I called him in the afternoon. He will have someone come out tomorrow to make some measurements.

We got a response from Bob (cabinetry) regarding our choice of sink. He hardily supported our choice. He also suggested we consider the mirror to be antiqued. As for the bar rail, he said he thought we would want to use the same Buckingham quartz as the counter top. We had assumed the rail would be wood but T is considering his suggestions.

We also got a confirmation from Tyler that he had requested a formal quote for all the components of the sunroom fan/louver/damper. We have not seen it yet.

Rainy Sunday

We have had light rain intermittently today. This morning we sent an email to Bob (cabinetry). We wanted to let him know that T has selected the Cambria quartz "Buckingham" for the bar counter top. 

She is also leaning heavily toward a hammered copper sink. This is a Premier Copper Products offering. It has interior dimensions of 14" x 12" and 8" deep.