Ahead of Schedule?

The landscaping is going well. From the schedule that Bob II provided, it appears they expected the first week to be primarily drainage work, followed by a couple of weeks of wall construction. While I don't think the drainage is totally complete, they got a good start on the walls this week. I talked with Bob II about the sitting wall along the east side of the chess board that T brought up yesterday. This wall was dropped last fall and, upon reflection, T believes a simple bench might actually be better than a wall. I also mentioned to Bob II that our east neighbor asked me today if we would consider extending the east-west walkway in front of the main house over to their walkway, with them picking up the incremental cost. We did not have a problem with this and Bob II said he would have Bob I contact them.

Late in the day, more wall stones arrived.

Frank and John (HAC) started installation of the exterior sunroom heat pump condenser. We have also decided to replace the two main house AC systems with new high efficiency units. They got one of the old condensing units out today and will have the other removed soon. Frank said he hoped to have everything functional within a week.

New Heat Pump Condensing Unit

One Old Unit Gone

Mike and Nate framed the south porch and the area in front of the hot tub. Mike also picked up the porcelain floor tile.

Porcelain Floor Tiles

Jerry (painter) and crew showed up and continued exterior painting now that Mike has finished installation of the cement board and caulked.

No electrical work today or this week. No roofing work this week. Still no word from the solar people. I am glad Eric raised the priority of our problem otherwise we might never get it resolved.

Thursday

Mild day without rain. We actually parked the car in the garage last night for the first time since the floor was poured. When Nate arrived today, he removed all the packing and shipping materials from the garage windows. It looks a lot better!

The landscaping work continued with walls being built. Bob II asked us about the power to be run into the yard. He said he would install stakes where we wanted Chris to run the power. We confirmed with him that there are two potential locations for pole lamps. I also learned that T wants to have a receptacle at the sitting wall on the east side of the chess board. This sitting wall was not even depicted on Bob's drawing. However, T assured us that this was the plan. Bob said that was not a problem. Bob did not mention any update on the aggrigate situation.

Mike and Nate framed the hot tub deck steps and Nate started digging post holes for the sunroom south porch. Mike seemed to be concentrating on exterior caulking before the painters return.

They also installed the Sapele panels on either side of the chimney breast. Still do not know when the masonry people are expected to start the stone work. The porcelain floor tiles have not been delivered yet either.

Chris (electrical) has not done any work all week. Frank (HAC) has not resumed the installation work on the heat pump yet. He told us yesterday we expected to complete it either this week or early next week. Frank did send us a quote for replacing the AC units. Impressive.

No communication from the solar people. It was partly cloudy today, but again, the maximum power output was not over 6 kW.

One Day At A Time

It was cooler today but still very humid.

Betsy and Josh came by this morning and did a review of the solar system. Bottom line is that they found some problems with the initial wiring of the system. Josh said this should significantly alter the peak performance we are experiencing. The peak for today was 6.156 kW, an insignificant improvement. I told Betsy that I have been seeking either an acknowledgement that there is a problem with the system that they were going to correct OR that there was nothing wrong with the system. Her response was that there was a problem that they were committed to correct. She also said, in their defense, that the reason for their slow response was that this was a rare situation. I gave Betsy print outs of the performance of the system on sunny days and a copy of the installation instructions. I also told her that I was "surprised" to find a charge on our Ameren bill for the new bidirectional power meter. I could not find anywhere in the contract that stipulated we were responsible for this cost. She said that she thought this was stipulated, but if not, they would cover the cost. We will see.

Frank (HAC) also came by. He and Mike reviewed the AC condenser move. I showed Frank the new exhaust fan and louver. He was impressed. He said his goal was to have the sunroom heat pump operational by either the end of this week or early next week. He is going to do an evaluation of our current AC units and give us an estimate on a replacement. The current units were installed in 1992.

Mike and Nate finished the cement board installation and chalked in preparation for more exterior painting. Mike also told me that he believed the slate work was completed.

Mike and Nate also installed the mantel.

The stone for our yard walls arrived and the landscapers started laying them out. We did not hear or see Bob II. I got no confirmation of my phone message yesterday about the power to the yard.

The landscapers also replanted the azaleas in front of the house.

No electrical work again today.

Another Hot One

It was as hot and humid today as it was yesterday. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler with a high of 86F. It will still be humid with no rain forecast.

The landscapers where here all day along with Mike and Nate. The slate people showed up to finish their work. The copper flashing on the east side of the main house was repaired and the broken slate on the east gable of the sunroom was replaced. This should finish the slate work. I will get a confirmation from Mike tomorrow.

The landscapers worked on the drain line tie-ins and started leveling the yard. I am not sure if they have finished with the drainage system or not. Bob II stopped by and said he talked with Mike about getting Chris (electrician) to run the power to the yard spots before they start the work on the walkways. Bob also said he was working on finding another source of the Old Monroe aggregate, but no solution yet. Bob also said a dump truck would be showing up with some rock for the garage apron approach. It did and now we could actually bring cars into the garage if it were not full of lumber and table saws. Mike said he would see about consolidating some of the lumber so that we could bring one or more of the cars inside. I told him that I would rather he spent his time installing the lumber than moving it around. Mike also said again that we have received more lumber than we needed and we would send some of it back and get a credit.

The yard has not been this flat since we started last August. T decided we did not want to try to salvage the Rosa Sharon. She did ask Bob II to put the Azaleas around in the front yard and to dig up the day lilies along the west fence line. The lilies were put into buckets and moved into the garage along with the other stuff around the Ash (bird bath, Mary statue, wheel barrow of bricks, etc.).

We seem to have one left over limestone window sill.

Chris did stop by and Mike said he discussed the power needed out in the yard. From what Mike said, I am not sure he has identified all the spots we need power. Subsequently, I left a message on Bob II phone suggesting he might want to actually stake out in the yard the exact locations he wants power to be available.

Mike and Nate finished the exterior cement board installation on the east side of the sunroom. Just a little more on the west side to complete.

I asked Mike if he talked with Bobby about getting another fireplace remote control and wall control panel. He said he did.

The really big show for the day was the unwrapping of the hot tub and starting the framing for the surrounding deck. It appears to be fitting just as expected.

Mike also said he talked with the masonry guys who would be installing the stone on the chimney breast. Mike has expressed some concerns about how all this would be finished around the fireplace. Apparently the masonry guys assured him that they have done this before and not to worry about it.

I got a call from Betsy (solar) that she and Josh would be here tomorrow morning. Today was cloudless. The power output again did not reach 6 kW. There is little doubt in my mind that 6 kW is the maximum we can expect from the system as it currently is configured.

Hot Day

Today was hot (98F) and humid (50%) with a heat index of 112F. The landscapers arrived to work on the drain lines and Mike showed up to continue with the exterior paneling. The masonry people also reappeared and worked on the brick work repair on the connecting porch below the back door.

I talked with Bob II a couple of times about the options surrounding the drain lines. Last week we were told they were going to explore our options to eliminate or minimize the issue of the vertical clean out being within the walkway between the sunroom and the garage. The final answer seems to be that the 6" vertical line must be the clean out and penetrate the surface. That line must be straight down (no angles). Bob was not sure why the 4" line is there at all, but he assured us that he would work with the inspector to ensure the system we end up with conforms to City codes. It seems however that we may not have to have both the 4" and the 6" accessible from the surface. Just the 6". This will minimize the negative aesthetics compared to the discussion last week where it was suggested we might have to have a rectangular plate to cover both pipes.

Mike did not finish the exterior panel installation, but he got close. We worked alone. Only a few more Tyvek names to cover up.

The masonry guys did a nice job on the brick repair under the door.

I did not get any feedback from Mike regarding the Louisville attic ladder so I ordered it on Saturday. They say it should be available for pickup next week.

No word from the solar people. It was a cloudless day. The PV system performance was similar to previous sunny days with a maximum output of less than 6 kw. Still unsatisfactory. Betsy sent me some links for the inverters last week. I looked through them and am anxious to discuss the system performance with Betsy and Josh if they ever find the time.