Autumn Has Fallen

Right on cue, the weather turned significantly milder, if not chilly. Today the high is supposed to be around 66F, but it will warm back into the upper 70's over the next week.

On Tuesday of this week, Chris and crew showed up to do some electrical work. They got a lot done and we now have more than just one outlet to use in the sunroom. The refrigerator, ice maker, ceiling fan and dishwasher are all in use. There are a few things left to finish. The disposal and the cupola exhaust fan do not work and a couple of outlets don't have power. We have already decided we want to make a couple of other changes.

When Chris showed up, he asked if we had the three can lights for the east porch and basement, the connecting porch pendent light, the six step lights and the four flood lights. To all these questions, the answer was NO. While the electricians worked, T and I went down to Metro Lighting and found everything we needed. We got the equipment back to Chris in time for them to have everything installed before quitting for the day.

Step Lights

Bar Bat and Stained Glass

Connecting Porch Pendent

Wall Sconces

Step Lights

Mike has finished with installation of all the paneling and trim with the exception of the base boards, crown moldings and the fronts on the bar appliances. It is beautiful!

Bob (cabinetry) stopped by one day to see how things were going and noticed that the ice maker door needs to be reversed and the divider between the refrigerator and the ice maker needs to be cut back. This is to allow the door of the ice maker to open fully once the wood front is installed. Bob sent a note to Mike accordingly.

We also talked with Bob about putting a rail on the bar. I had previously sent Bob pictures of our decanters on the bar with and without a rail. I had put together a temporary rail out of wood scraps. I thought it was obvious that a rail was needed. Bob was not as sure.

With Rail

Without Rail

The rail lifts the decanters up and gives a little reflection in the mirror. It also gets the bottles out of the path of the two power receptacles. After much discussion, it was agreed that Bob will fabricate a simple rail that will not span the full length of the mirror. He will also build two shelves for each side of the mirror.

The Silver Maple on the east side of the garage is gone. It was a shame to do it, but one of the main trunks was very hollow. In addition, with all the root damage done due to the trenching, it was a risk that it might not survive anyway. One less thing to worry about and it has helped access a lot. The removal has also helped with our solar collection.

Over the past week, we have painted the sunroom truss plates using the brown paint used by Jerry on the exterior. They now are much less conspicuous. We also painted the interior component of the heat pump, which was white.

Makeshift Scaffold to Reach Peak

Pre-Painting

Post Painting

On the landscape front, after much research, we finally decided to use the pavers acquired by the previous landscaper (the one who walked off the job) for the chess board. This week, work started on the remaining wall (along the east fence) and, today, Scot is here to work on the chess board. Our east neighbor has been very concerned about maintenance along his new fence (along our east boundry). Primarily, how are weeds going to be controlled. He worked with the landscaper and the result was that they poured a layer of concrete from the fence to our wall. Our neighbor said he could not be happier with the result.

It does not appear they will get more than a couple of rows done today. They spent most of the morning preparing the site. Apparently, the walkways surrounding the north and west sides of the chess board do not form a perfect 90 degree angle. This is unfortunate since it means the gap between the board and the walkways will not be completely uniform. However, unless it is pointed out, I do not believe anyone will notice.

To our surprise, Mike and Nate showed up around 11:00 am. Seems they are going to start working on the crown molding. Mark (plumbing) also showed up and met the City plumbing inspector. Everything passed the inspection. Mark said he someone would be back  before the end of the month to show us how to winterize the garage plumbing.

We have decided to stain/seal the Tigerwood decking ourselves. We have been waiting for several months now for Jerry (painter) to give us an estimate. It became apparent that Jerry did not know the best approach for sealing this type of hardwood. In consulting with others, we decided to use a Penofin product. Today, I went down to a decking company to pick up a cleaner recommended prior to application of the sealant. We may try our hand on the second floor balcony this weekend.

We received more security sensing units and have now installed sensors on all the doors of the main house, the sunroom and the garage. We still have four motion detectors to install somewhere.