Limestone and Aluminum

We had some heavy rain and hail last night. Other than a couple of small branches down, no damage. It had cleared by daylight and did not start raining again until this evening.

The guttering guys showed back up and finished the garage and started on the sunroom. The masonry people also showed up and got after the installation of the limestone window sills. They miscalculated the space needed for the garage sills and they had to rip out some of the bricks they had previously laid. Mike was here to look over things and said he expected them to complete the guttering and masonry today. Neither the guttering or the masonry were finished. While all the sills are in place, they still need to be grouted. T has not yet determined whether she wants the sill to be painted to match those on the main house or leave them white. Once the sills are complete, Mike can finish the trim around the windows.

Limestone Sills

Yes, we still have the 2x4's holding up the south porch roof. T discussed the south porch roof brackets with Mike this morning. She showed him a design she likes and he will have the lumber people cut them out. It will supposedly look something like this...

The electrician did not show up today. Mike seemed a little disappointed that Chris worked all day on the garage wiring because he is waiting for the sunroom wiring.

Mike said the Tiger Wood decking will arrive tomorrow.

Lots of Rain

Our luck did not hold out as it rained copiously Thursday night and into Friday morning. I did not expect to see any activity but Chris (electrician) showed up and worked in the garage most of the day. I was surprised he did not do some more work in the sunroom since Mike said he was waiting on Chris to finish the wiring to the TV and to the cupola. Chris got the area lighting fixtures and a breaker box installed in the garage.

The louvered vent that Mike installed on Thursday, once trimmed and finished on the outside, will look fine.

Gutter I...Cupola II

Mike and Nate and Chris showed up this morning. Mike told me that the brick layers will hopefully be here tomorrow, but there is an 80% chance of rain. Too bad, we have had perfect weather all week. Maybe our luck will prevail.

The mantel and wood panels for each side of the chimney breast arrived. They look REALLY good. The mantel is 2" taller than we were told to expect (10" versus 8") and the electrical outlet is on the very end whereas we expected it to be centered. We will adapt. Since the mantel is taller, we had to renegotiate the positioning of the TV above the mantel. We are leaving 8" between the top of the mantel and the bottom of the TV. I wish it could have been more, but the TV is already getting pretty high up.

Once Mike gets these installed, we will be ready to install the stone on the chimney breast.

Mike and Nate installed the cupola on the sunroom and then finished installation of the window and door hardware for both the garage and the sunroom.

We had to collectively remind ourselves how the exhaust fan was to be fitted underneath the cupola. I reminded Mike that Tyler (architect) had given us a detail, but Mike did not seem interested in seeing it, despite my offer to print it out. After some discussion, it was sorted out. We also had to figure out how to install the louvered vent to be mounted above the window in the connecting porch. This vent will open when the exhaust fan is turned on. No instructions were provided. However, Mike got the vent installed. The fan installation under the cupola will wait until Chris runs wiring up to it. The shroud for the exhaust fan looked huge, but it seems to fit well inside the cupola body. Thanks to Tyler (architect) the cupola was custom made slightly larger than the regular size to accommodate the fan shroud.

Cupola Exhaust Fan

Inlet Air Louver and Fan Shroud

We will install a decorative grill over the louvered vent in the connecting porch and also on the ceiling going into the cupola.

Entry to the Exhaust Fan Under the Cupola

Chris spent a good part of the day cleaning up some of the past sins left by previous electricians and the cable company. It looks a lot neater along the back of the main house.

Around 2:00 pm, the guttering people showed up. They got the straight runs on the garage installed.

They still need to install the corner pieces and the downspouts.

No painters today. No further word from the solar people. No roofers. No slaters.

While there was some overcast this morning, this afternoon was clear and sunny. The solar panels however never reached 6 kW of power output. This has been the norm since installation and one inverter continues to lag the other.

Gutters Next?

Yesterday we had several crafts show up. Chris (electrician) was here for awhile in the morning. Not sure of everything he did, but obviously he wired power to the three overhead garage door lights. It will be nice to have these outlets available for other uses as well.

The slate guys also were here in the afternoon. They did some more work on the main house and replaced some cracked pieces on the sunroom.

The southeast corner of the main house looks better than it did but I need to take a closer look before we buy off on it.

Jerry (painter) and his crew worked all day. They finished the eaves and Mike said we should see the Bret (roofer) here on Thursday to install the gutters. T is happy with how the colors of the exterior cement boards are turning out.

They obviously not done with painting the cement boards yet.

Mike also started installing door handles and window cranks yesterday.

Today, Chris (electrician) is back. I called Mike (one more time) to ensure we are all on the same page with respect to routing the coaxial and CAT5 cables into the basement. I had told Chris weeks ago that that is where the cables should go and I mentioned it again to Mike earlier this week. Mike said he assumed that was Chris's intention, but he would be here later this morning and verify. I will therefore not worry any more about it.

I noticed there is also a new face in the backyard this morning. He was digging a shallow trench from the garage to the sunroom. It turned out to be a helper of Chris's digging a trench for a conduit to allow the garage lights to be turned on or off from the sunroom.

Before Mike left, he said the guttering should be installed tomorrow. He said the brick layers told him they will finish the window sill installation this week. He also got a text message from Bob (cabinetry) that the mantel and side panels are complete and will be delivered this week. Bob suggested to Mike that he should schedule the stone work on the chimney breast. I pointed out to Mike that while the slate on the southeast corner of the main house is better, they did not secure the loose copper trim as Mike said he would ask them to do. Mike also noted they did not replace the cracked slate tiles on the sunroom as requested.

No word from Eric (solar) about the receptacle on the inverter panel. We had a relatively clear day today and the solar panels hit a maximum power output of roughly 5.5 kw, at which time one inverter was producing about 20% less than the other. I sent a note to Eric yesterday stating I was not impressed with the performance. His response was that they would monitor the system for a couple of weeks.

No painters today.

Concrete

Today is a hot and humid day. While I had sent a note to Mike last week asking when to expect the concrete to be poured for the east pad and the garage apron, I never got a response. It would have been nice to know they were going to arrive this morning. When I realized that, I called Jack (solar) and asked him when he intended to replace the inverter rack pole. He said that unfortunately, he was going to have to put it off until Thursday. I told him it would be too late since the pad is being poured today. He said he was on the way. He arrived and replaced the pole. It looks much better.

Before he left, I asked him about the plug receptacle that we were told would allow us to pull power directly from the solar system should the grid go down. Jack said that the plug had not been installed but he would look into it. He said it would be installed at the inverter rack. Shortly after he left, I got a note from Eric asking if we were satisfied. I responded that we were and thanked him for making the modifications on such short notice. I also mentioned to Eric that I asked Jack about the plug and also noted we had yet to received the documentation that Eric told us last week had been sent to us.

The concrete got poured and those people left about 2:30 pm. It looks good. They said they would not walk or drive on it for a week. I think they will be back to seal it. I am a little concerned about the step down on the garage apron. We will have to talk with Mike about that.

Chris (electrician) showed up this morning. I talked with him about several things. I told him that the lights that were mounted in the garage were associated with the door openers and not the area lighting. They just needed power and would turn on and off with the door operation. I also ensured he knew the coaxial cable and CAT5 cable still needed to be run to the TV in the sunroom. Chris said he was going to get Mike to remove some of the woodwork so he could run those cables. I also told Chris we had all the exterior wall sconces and the sunroom ceiling fan when he was ready to install those.

I showed Mike the TV wall pan. He will need to change the spacing on the chimney breast wall studs so the pan can be installed. This will need to be installed before the stone work is started.

Our east neighbor called this morning and asked if our brick work was complete. The reason was that they had delayed opening their pool for the season due to the brick dust being generated. I told them, and later confirmed with Mike, that we are not quite finished yet. Mike could not tell us when the brick people will be back.

Jerry (painter) and his crew showed up as well and continued work on the sunroom window frames (we were told they were done) and on the sunroom eaves.

Bill Has Arrived

Former Tropical Storm Bill rolled through town today. Looks as if most of the rain went south of us, but it still rained all day and we got several inches. By 4:00 pm, most of the rain is now east of us. Heading for Virginia.

Chris showed up and worked in the garage all day. It rained so much that I never got a chance to go out and visit with him. After he had left I went out and he had install a lot of boxes and ran wires. More to do.

Maybe next week the weather will be dry enough to get the stone sills installed and install the gutters.

Mike told me on Wednesday that Bret (roofing) was here on Tuesday and fixed the flashing around the southeast chimney and caulked the nail heads on the sunroom ridge shingles. They do look better. Mike said however that Bret still needs to do some repair work around the eaves. We have had so much rain over the last few weeks, we are confident we have no major leaks on the main house or the new additions. Mike also said that the slate guys came around and he pointed out to them some issues he wanted them to correct.

We took the 12" down rod that we bought with the ceiling fan back to the lighting store and exchanged it with an 18". This should put the fan blades at a height of 8' 6".  I meant to also pickup a remote control, but forgot. I ordered it through Amazon and it should be delivered on Monday.

Power Up

Around 8:00 am this morning, Chris (electrician) came to the front door and rang the bell. With the garage doors installed, he could not access the sunroom. I met him in back and opened the doors for him. He brought in his tool boxes and appeared to be going to work. About 30 minutes later, I went out to let him know that we had all the exterior wall sconces in the main house along with the ceiling fan. I never got the chance to tell him. Apparently, shortly after arriving, he hauled his tool boxes back out to his truck and departed. I can only assume he got called off for some other service call.

As I was looking out the front door to see if Chris's truck was gone, an Ameren truck drove up. It was a technician to install our new bi-directional power meter. It was a simple matter to make the replacement and it only took about 5 minutes. We did not even lose power.

I sent an email to Eric telling him the meter had been installed and the red tag is on the box. He soon responded saying he would have Jack come by and activate the system. Jack did arrive a little before noon and worked on the activation for several hours. By the time he departed around 3:00 pm, we were making power. With the heavy rain, it was not much power, but it is working. Jack also said he would be the person to move the inverter rack post. As opposed to the message we got from Eric yesterday, saying it would be three weeks before they could move the post, Jack said he hoped to be back tomorrow to get it done.

Here is our power generation for day one. Not too impressive, but it has been raining all day. We peaked out at around 2 kw at 5:00 pm. The system is rated for 9.6 kw.

Yesterday and Today

What a day yesterday was!

I ended the day drinking heavily and therefore did not finish my posting.

Yesterday started with the expectation that the garage overhead doors would be installed. When 9:00 am rolled around and it was obvious the overhead door people were not going to be starting early, as expected, I called them. What a surprise!!! We were not only NOT on their schedule for today, but the person I talked with was not sure our doors had even arrived. The lady asked if she could call us back after she did some checking. I was not subtle. I told her that if the doors were not going to be installed today, as scheduled, she needed to have the general manager of the company (Joe) return our call and explain. A few minutes later, Thomas (assistant manager or at least assistant to the manager) called and asked what he could do to make us happy. I was not subtle. Enough said. Bottom line was that Thomas promised the installers would be here this afternoon. I had pretty much given up on them when they showed up around 3:00 pm. They said they would finish before leaving and that might be 9:00 pm tonight. Before I turned in for the night, I left them a bucket of iced beer. This morning, I found the bucket full of empty bottles. They did a nice job.

I really like the direct drive openers as opposed to the openers that hang out in the middle of the garage.

With the doors on, now the electrician can begin the wiring in the garage. Mike said he expected him this afternoon, but he never showed up.

Yesterday morning Eric (solar) came by, as scheduled, to meet us and look at the inverter rack.

He agreed the installation was not acceptable, which alleviated the necessity of my reminding him of the humiliating performance of his company on this project. We agreed that there were two options. First option would be to move the two boxes so that they are centered between the vertical posts. This is what I had assumed they would do. The second option, suggested by Eric, was to leave the boxes where they are and move the right vertical post to the left. I thought that was a great idea and, while either option would be acceptable to us, I preferred moving the post. However, it would have to be accomplished before we poured the slab around the rack since the post has a concrete footing. Don't know when slab will be poured, but hopefully, it will not be long from now. Eric said he would talk with the project manager (Rick) and determine which option would be used. I got a note from Eric today saying he talked with Rick and "we seem to all agree now" and the work is tentatively scheduled for July 8 (three weeks from now). I wrote back saying that, while it is great that we are all in agreement, I still don't know which option they have selected. If they are going to move the post, I will pass on to Mike the projected schedule to see the slab is expected to be poured prior to that date. If they are going to move the boxes, they can do that anytime they wish to be paid the final payment. Eric responded they intended to move the post. I re-emphasized the need to have this done before we pour the slab and we are not willing to delay pouring the slab. I will send Mike a note with the July 8 proposal and see if he thinks the slab will be ready to pour before then.

We also had Mike and Nate show up. They did not do anything, but were there to meet with Bob (cabinetry) and Bob (landscaping). Bob (landscaping) never showed up. Bob (cabinetry) had shown up early and we visited with him before Mike arrived. Bob and T reviewed and discussed the sunroom staining done by Jerry. They agreed it was OK. One of the questions Bob had asked me in a note was whether his company or Mike would do the actual installation work. When Mike arrived, Mike seemed very interested in letting Bob's craftsmen do the installation. Bob said he would go back and look at their schedule. Bob also told us that, on his way to our place, he dropped off the template to the stained glass shop for the bar cabinet doors.

Yesterday, I opened all the new wall sconces we brought home on Monday and assembled all of them to ensure they were not defective. The four new ones look good. I also opened the two replacements we exchanged for defective ones. These had supposedly been checked at the store before they were given to us. Guess what? One was defective. I called and told them I was bringing it back and that I would want to open the next replacement and inspect it before bringing it home. This is what we did and now we finally have all nine exterior wall sconces.

This afternoon, we got a note from Kim (stained glass) saying they had the glass cut and were ready to start putting it together. Before they started however, they wanted us to see it and give them permission to proceed. I showed the photo to T and she liked it. I responded to Kim to proceed with leading it together.

Kim asked if we would be willing, once everything is finished, to permit them to take some promotional photos showing their contributions to our project. We told them we would be proud to allow that.

Some time ago, we told Bob (landscaping) that we may want to put a light post somewhere around the chess board patio. Monday, we got a note from Bob (landscaping) saying that we still needed to decide where to put this post so the electrician could run power to the area. T and I got the landscaping drawing and decided there were two potential locations. I drew these spots on the drawings, sent it out with a note to Bob and discussed with Mike about having the electrician run power to both locations. Mike said he sent my drawings on to Chris (electrician). We never got a response from Bob.