Still Winter

It has been very cool (not cold) and rainy most of the week. Mike finished up on Tuesday and assured us that the lumber yard would pick up the surplus lumber either Tuesday or Wednesday. It is now Friday and no one has shown up. I called Mike this morning and he was surprised. He called me back a little later in the morning and said they will be here Monday. I asked Mike what happened to the 2x12 board that was in the garage on Tuesday. It was 15' long and a very nice, untreated piece of lumber. I asked Mike if we could return that since I had no immediate plans to use it. Instead, Mike used about 2 feet of it to move the garage attic stairs and then loaded the remaining 12'-13' onto his truck and took it home. I asked Mike when I talked with him today about what happened to the board. He admitted it was behind his garage. I told him we wanted it returned. He said he would do so.

At least we got the door stops installed, the spa deck board replaced and the attic ladder re-re-installed. Also the electrical discrepancies were addressed.

The pond lost about 1/2" over Tuesday night and another 1/2" Wednesday night. On Thursday, I installed a tape measure so we could actually quantify the losses. I also sent John photos of the Junipers on the east side of the chess board. They seem to show a lot of dead branches.

This morning (Friday), we had lost another 1/4" of water. I sent John a note asking him to call us and explain the path forward. John called and told me that he has arranged for a different company to come out on Sunday to look at the pond with the potential for taking on the task to fix it. I was very relieved and told John I was contemplating a similar move.

Progress and Disappointment

First the progress.

"Our" Mike and Chris (electrician) arrived shortly after 7:00 am this morning. The first thing I did was to discuss the cupola exhaust fan situation. I explained to them what the original plan was and why the current set up did not satisfy that plan. After some discussion, Chris said that he could wire the fan to do what we wanted, not that he really liked the original plan. He subsequently did so and now the fan comes on, and the louver opens, when either the temperature or humidity exceeds their set points. As for the ability to select high or low speed on the fan, it seems we are just out of luck on that ability unless we opt to buy a different controller. The fan is set on high and will stay that way for now.

I showed Mike the warped board around the hot tub deck. He indicated he would look at it. I also asked him if he could make the wooden grill over the connecting porch louver so that we could remove it. This would allow it to be cleaned periodically and also we could, during the cold months, install a layer of insulation to cut down on drafts. He indicated he would do that.

I helped Mike gather up the excess Tiger wood decking and railing materials that can be returned to the lumber supplier for credit. Mike indicated the pick up would happen today.

Mike is re-installing (for the third time) the garage attic stairs. It will now be centered and hopefully usable. Chris is going to have to re-route some wiring to permit this relocation. Chris is also going to install three florescent light fixtures in the garage attic, along with a power outlet.

Chris finished and departed around 3:00 pm. The lights in the garage attic look good.

Mike finished the garage attic ladder, installed all the door stops and replaced the warped deck board. He did not address the wooden grill in the connecting porch, but we will take care of that ourselves. The lumber yard person did not show up but Mike said they would probably be here tomorrow.

This closes Mike portion of the project. It has taken much longer and cost much more than we thought it would, but we are happy with the final product. The quality of Mike's work has been outstanding.

Now the disappointment...the pond.

Per Todd's request, this morning I filled the pond up to the overflow line and put a mark on the inside of the skimmer box at 9:00 am. The initial level was great. The horizontal ledge on the east side of the pond was completely covered. I took some photos and sent them to John, telling him that if the pond level holds at this point, we would be very satisfied.

Level marked on inside of skimmer box at 0900 hours

Unfortunately, after only about 40 minutes, the level had already fallen over one inch.

Level at 0940 hours - HUGH DROP

Level marked at 1030 hours - A SMALLER DROP

Level at 1230 hours

Level at 1430 hours

Marked level at 1600 hours

By 4:00 pm, we have lost about 1-3/4", most of it within the first 30 minutes. But there is still a gradual drop. We'll check it again in the morning.

Pond Saga Continues

Todd is out again today to fix the leak in the pond. This marks at least the fifth time he has been here to fix the leak. The first time was back in December and the last time was last Tuesday (Feb 23). Each time we were told the problem was resolved only to find that was not the case.

The day after last week's repair, I brought the level back up to where it was showing leakage before and it seemed to hold that level over night. On Thursday, Feb 25, I added another three inches of level. Each morning I put a mark on the door of the skimmer to show the level. It fell consistently about 1/2" each day so that by this morning, we had lost at least two full inches

Todd was very apologetic and assure me this is not normal. I hope he sensed that my patience is wearing thin, but I did not take him to task as I keep reminding myself that Todd was hired by John (landscaping). Therefore, John is responsible for Todd's work. I believe John has already paid Todd, but I have not paid all the money I owe John. In fact, John knows he will not be paid any more until the entire job (including the pond) is finished to our satisfaction. Todd showed me where they had applied tape to the seams of the skimmer box last week. Today, they removed the tape and applied silicon caulk. Todd asked that we let it sit over night and then fill it tomorrow.

I am still uncomfortable with the pond pump that Todd pulled out of the skimmer several weeks ago. He said it is a 8,000 GPH Monsoon made by Anjon, a local company. While it physically looks like the pumps on the Anjon web site, it does not have the Anjon name on the pump, there is no serial number to be found and the "model" number is GPM-8000. The model number on the Anjon web site for their 8000 GPH pump is MS8000. The label on the pump does say "Made in China". There was also a heavy gauge wire threaded through the cover to hold the cover on the head. All of this led me to question John whether or not this was a new pump and where it came from. John told me he subsequently talked with Todd and was told it was a new pump. Todd told him that he installed the wire because the cover falling off was a common problem. Still suspicious, I asked John to have Todd provide me with the receipt or proof of purchase. According to the Anjon web site, there is a two year warranty on the pump if you have a proof of purchase. I have also sent an email to Anjon describing the pump and asking if they believe it was sold by them.

We talked with Bob (cabinetry) last Thursday. The previous Thursday, he had sent his man around to look at our bar cabinet door since it did not close properly. Bob's man said the door was warped but he would take it back to the shop and put it in a vice to see if he could straighten it. If that did not work, they would have to make a new one. He promised that he would let us know what to expect and, if necessary, bring the old door back until the new one was made. Of course a week went by without anyone calling, so we called Bob last Thursday. Bob said the door was irretrievably warped and a new was was being made. I told him that we have guests arriving in a couple of weeks. Bob assured us that the new door would be to us before then.

We also called "Our" Mike last Thursday to see if and when he might be back to finish his work. He responded saying he would be here (with the electrician) on Tuesday (tomorrow).

We have not seen Wally (irrigation and lighting) since he dropped off a different pond light last week. The light he brought cast an unacceptable blue light. We told this to Wally and he said he would continue working on it. I also noticed Wally has never moved the sprinkler head in the southwest corner of the yard. The head is outside the fence (Wally said they installed the fence in the wrong spot). I pointed this out to Wally before and he said he would move the head, but it is not yet done.

John called shortly after Todd left today. I told John what Todd said and did and that we would fill up the pond tomorrow to watch for leakage. John said he would be talking with Joe (concrete) as soon as Joe returns from Hawaii regarding washing and sealing the walkways.