A Whole New Door

Chris (electrician) returned today. I asked him if he had determined what is needed for the cupola ventilation fan. He said he had not but would call the distributor immediately. He did and later we discussed the outcome. Bottom line is that I have asked Chris to order whatever is needed to provide us with a "ON", "OFF", "AUTO" selection. The Auto is where the thermostat and humidistat would automatically start and stop the fan. Chris also assured me that the set point on both the thermostat and humidistat were adjustable. I also talked with Chris about positioning the fan switches around the corner from where the on-off switch boxes are currently. He said that would be no problem and that he would move the two thermistat boxes, installed by Frank's crew for the floor heat and heat pump, to the same location.

"Our" Mike and Nate came around about noon to install the new basement door. It is such a relief to have the old door replaced. My sour shoulder is very thankful. I suggested to T that we paint it hot pink.

This morning, I found, on the sunroom connecting porch steps, the samples of pine that the stainer/painter had taken earlier in the week. Apparently, he dropped them off last night without letting us know. T reviewed them and thought they were directionally correct. She discussed them with Mike when he arrived. We later took them with us when we went to return Bob's (cabinetry) sample cabinet door. Everyone seems to think the stainer/painter is on the right track. Even so, we have asked Mike to have the stainer/painter stop by to talk with us.

No brick work, no slate work, no solar work today

Quiet Day

As expected, it was raining lightly this morning and continued until early afternoon. No one showed up except for Drew (landscaping) who just wanted to check the progress. He confirmed they would not be starting the flat work until the slate and brick are completed.

The only excitement was when the cupolas arrived. They were in two crates. I called "Our" Mike when they arrived and he and Nate came over. They uncrated them at the curb and carried them to the sunroom. Each cupola broke down into three pieces, which made them possible to carry by hand. The only really heavy parts were the copper clad tops. The crates themselves accounted for much of the total 1,160 pound shipping weight. We also received the finial for the sunroom cupola and the weather vane for the garage. They look good.

Large Cupola

Small Cupola

Copper Top of Large Cupola

Small Cupola

Mike said the solar guys were expected today, but they never showed. He also said that he wanted to get the new basement door installed before we left on our cruise.

Cupola Thursday

The cupolas are supposed to be delivered tomorrow and the garage brick laying is supposed to continue. Tomorrow there is a 90% chance of rain however.

They made good progress on the brick laying today. T is happy with the color and with the "soldiers" over the windows and doors. Considering the pace of the work, it seems reasonable to expect two more full days on the garage. Then comes the sunroom. We also need to talk with Mike about repairs to the brick on the main house around the former back porch.

We also found that someone, while we were out, had come by today and installed two posts on the east side of the house, apparently for the solar inverter panels. "Our" Mike had told me that he expected to have these installed on Thursday, but there they are. They look vertical to me. I was told they would be Unistrut. These posts are not Unistrut. They are not the same height either. I wonder if they are the same depth?

The security equipment was delivered today and we sent back the defective surveillance camera to Foscam. Once we get back from our trip, we will look at cameras again. There is no doubt in my mind that we will install one or more cameras.

I sent an email to all the active contractors this morning telling them we will be leaving town next Tuesday. While they can still work through Mike to access the main house, if they need our input on anything, they need to get with us soon or wait until we return.

No electrical work today. No slate work today. No roofing work today. No word from Gerald (stained glass).

Let The Laying Begin

The brick layers not only showed up today, they actually started to work. Yeah, we know, it was four weeks ago that they were supposed to have started, but hey, who cares? El Hefe got a buy-in from T on the mortar color this morning. After that, they seemed to have two brick layers, one cutter and one mortar mixer throughout the day. Forecast is for clear skies today and tomorrow and 50% chance of rain through the remainder of the week.

Chris (electrician) showed up again and worked until about noon. I asked him to run the coaxial cable and the cat-5 cable into the basement.

We got an email from UPS saying the cupolas will be here on Thursday. There will be two crates with a total weight of 1,160 pounds. I forwarded this to "Our" Mike and subsequently called him. I reminded him that I had paid extra for a truck with a tailgate lift to put the crates on the ground. Mike agreed that we may have to uncrate them and carry the individual pieces to the garage. Each cupola should be in three pieces.

Mike also told me that he had talked with Rick (solar) and they intended to lay the underground cable and pour the footings for the inverter rack on Thursday.

I told Mike that we have not yet talked with the painter/stainer. Mike said that the painter/stainer had picked up the samples yesterday and, hopefully, will have some stained samples to show T before we leave next week.

I mentioned to Mike that T got a call from Bret (roofer) yesterday when I was serving jury duty (btw, we hung the guy). Bret had asked T if we had noticed any leaks during the weekend rains. I told Mike I tried to call Bret but never got hold of him. After inspection today, I found no obvious new leaks but I am still not satisfied with the chimney flashing or the nail head masking. Mike said he understood and would talk with Bret.

Security. A couple of weeks ago, we entered into a contract with Frontpoint for security monitor services. The monitoring equipment was supposed to have arrived by yesterday. Today I sent a note to Nathan (salesman) telling him the equipment did not arrive. Long story short, it will be here tomorrow. We also had purchased a video camera directly from Foscam. It arrived last Friday. I spent a frustrating Saturday trying to get it to work and spent over an hour today on the phone with Brandon (India) troubleshooting. Bottom line is that it is busted. When I told Foscam we were leaving town, they offered a full refund. Too bad.

Still no word on when the slate installers will return to finish the job they started.

Rain Delay

It rained most of the weekend and most of this morning. This afternoon however, it is bright and sunny. No forecasted rain for the next couple of days. Needless to say, the brick layers did not appear this morning, but the electricians did. I attended jury duty all day, but T said they worked stringing yellow cords most of the day. We got a call from Becky (cupola) saying our two cupolas will be shipped either today or tomorrow.