tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78762098932126690032024-03-12T18:42:10.263-07:00This Old HouseThis is my blog about remodeling our house.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-89484978903098497002012-04-16T21:47:00.001-07:002012-04-16T21:50:54.366-07:00Let there be light, part 3In addition to the problem with the living room lights, we had a problem with our kitchen lights, as I mentioned in the last post.
In California, Title 24 mandates that a certain percentage of your lighting be fluorescents. As a result, most of the lights in our kitchen are fluorescents. The choices for nice-looking modern fluorescent fixtures are limited. We also wanted dimmable lights, and dimmable fixtures that would work with our GrafikEye system. There were only a few possibilities that fit the bill, and we had selected the Artemide Ventanas.<br />
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Within a year, we had some problems with a couple of the fixtures in the kitchen. The lights started to flicker in the way that fluorescents do when they're burning out. The problem turned out to be bad Lutron ballasts. I contacted Lutron, and they sent me replacements which I was able to install myself.
This worked for a while, but last year, another light started flickering. Replacing the bulb did no good. So we simply programmed the lights out of the lighting system. This was inconvenient, as the other lights we had in the kitchen simply didn't provide enough light. (Yes, they were supposed to be functional as well as pretty!)<br />
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We got our electrician to come out, and he determined that the central GrafikEye dimming module that drives these fixtures was bad. He gave us a number of choices, of which, the easiest was to simply convert the fixtures to non-dimmable fixtures, and swap out the dimming module. I'll settle for reliability every day!
Today he came to replace the remaining part, and within an hour, our kitchen lights were working, good as new! It's nice to have a well-lit house again!<br />
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Postscript: Last week one of our under-counter fluorescent bulbs burned out (after four years). Once we replace that lamp, all lights will be fully operational! Hopefully they will stay that way for a while.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-59545666989027460372012-04-16T21:39:00.000-07:002012-04-16T21:50:00.339-07:00Let there be light, part 2As you may recall, we installed a fancy-schmancy lighting system in our house. The kitchen and living room lights are split into zones which are all controlled by a lighting system by Lutron, called GrafikEye. We installed 24 Lightolier halogen track lights in the living room (split into 5 zones), and four very nice dimmable Artemide fluorescent fixtures in the kitchen (among others).<br />
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Within a year, quite a few of the Lightolier lights had burned out. Our ceilings are quite high, and it wasn't practical to get up there every time a bulb went, so we waited a while before we tried to replace one. (With 24 fixtures, there is some redundancy!)<br />
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When we finally took one down and replaced the bulb, we discovered the light still didn't work. It was a faulty fixture!<br />
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Last summer I contacted Philips, the maker of Lightolier, about my problem with the fixtures. It turned out that this particular batch of fixtures had defective heat sinks. They offered to repair them and return them. So we took eight of them down (not wanting to be in complete darkness), and shipped them back to Philips. Several weeks later, repaired fixtures came back. (Yes, they were the same fixtures, but with different heat sinks, because I'd marked them all just to make sure.)<br />
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In parallel with that, we decided to switch the lamps out from halogen to LED. Having very hot halogens next to a wood ceiling is probably a bad idea in general (as the discolorations due to heat from the bad fixtures attests). I put a test LED lamp in one of the repaired fixtures, and put it side by side with a halogen lamp, and waited a couple of days to see how I liked the light the LED lamp produced.
It was a good thing I waited, because within a day, one of the repaired fixtures stopped working.<br />
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At that point, I contacted Philips and asked them to send me new replacement fixtures for all 24 of my lights. Unfortunately, the fixtures were not in stock, so it took a couple of months for them to arrive.
Working with a local distributor, who was very very helpful, I finally received the fixtures two weeks ago. In the meantime, I had ordered 24 LED lamps from bulbs.com.<br />
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Last week, our electrician came out and replaced all the bad fixtures with the new ones with LED bulbs. As they're track lights this is of course something that we could do ourselves, but it's better to have 20-somethings up on the high ladders replacing them than a couple of middle aged folks with breakable bones. The money was well spent!
Now, for the first time in two years, our living room is fully lit once again! Hopefully we'll have no more problems with these lights.
I'll detail the kitchen light saga in my next post.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-36184958213437740692011-08-31T21:53:00.000-07:002011-11-02T11:58:34.306-07:00Reassessed!It's been a while since I posted, but thought it worthwhile to share my experience with property tax reassessment for our renovation, in the hopes that someone will find it valuable. We live in Santa Clara County, so what I'm about to say may not apply in other counties (and certainly not in other states!).
<p>
As those who live in California know, Proposition 13 was passed a couple of decades ago because property values were rising so fast that long-time homeowners were driven out of their homes because they weren't able to afford to pay for the increased tax assessment that came out of the rising home values. They weren't trying to sell their houses necessarily; only to live there. Prop. 13 changed the law so that assessments could only go up a small amount each year as long as the ownership of the property didn't change. Once a house was sold, it would get reassessed for the new owners at the new property value, and taxes would go up to what they "should" be. In years following, they'd creep up at the rate determined by Prop 13 until the next change of ownership occurred.
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When a renovation is done, some part of the property can be reassessed. Going into our remodel, my understanding was that the property would be reassessed for the value of the new square footage, that is, the parts that we added on to the house. I also understood that the parts that had previously existed but were renovated would not get reassessed.
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Our remodel finished around the time the economy tanked and the housing market plummeted. As a result, the assessors' office was swamped dealing with people who wanted their property taxes decreased, and it took them over a year and a half to reassess our house. Upon reassessment, we were shocked to discover that the value of the structure had almost doubled, especially given that we'd only added 750 square feet to a 3200 square foot house. It turned out that they had reassessed every square inch we had touched in the remodel, rather than just the new addition.
</p><p>
Our remodel finished in October 2007, and I had the assessor out to the house in the summer of 2009. I'd prepare a detailed explanation of repairs and other deferred maintenance we'd done in each part of the house we touched. I also gave him a spreadsheet of calculations on which I based my suggested lower assessment, based purely on the new square footage. He left sounding somewhat unconvinced. Several e-mail exchanges later and we were unable to come to a resolution, so I filed an appeal in fall 2009. In the meantime, we wound up having to pay an escape assessment for 2007-2008 based on their proposed value, a supplemental assessment for 2008-2009, and our property tax bill (new! higher payment!) for 2009-2010. It was a whopper! But pay it we did, as we had no choice if we were to avoid penalties and interest.
</p><p>
In May of this year, almost two years from the time we filed an appeal, we got notice of our hearing date in June. The case has to be heard within two years of filing an appeal or the county has to give you back the extra property tax you paid, and can't up the assessment until the case is heard.
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Feeling woefully unprepared and not knowing how they'd calculated their view of the assessment, I contacted the senior assessor assigned to the case to try to get more information. He came out to the house, and I gave him the explanations and calculations I'd given to the appraiser two year's previous. I walked him through the house.
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The visit yielded a couple of very useful pieces of information:
<ul>
<li>Although parts of a structure can be reassessed as "new" if they've been substantially rebuilt, the notion of what's "new" is based on standards of modern housing. Our house suffers from a few building trends from the era it was built: narrow hallways (not up to modern standard), and a low ceiling downstairs (since it was a finished basement). Our remodel did nothing to change those two aspects of the house, which was an argument in our favor.</li>
<li>The assessors' office is judged not on how much revenue they bring in, but how many cases they close by the deadline. At the time our appeal was to be heard, they had a ridiculous number of cases to close. Many of those cases were petitions for decreased valuation filed by people who had bought their houses shortly before the crash. Some were cases like ours. In other words, making it as easy as possible for the assessor to close our case was in our mutual best interest.</li>
</ul>
<p>As the assessor left, he made an offhand remark that one part of that house (the part that really hadn't been remodeled) was completely out of the picture. So that was something!
</p><p>
A few days later, he e-mailed me to tell me that he was going to recommend for a reassessment based solely on the new square footage. Yay! He simply needed cost information. Although assessment should be about "value" and not cost, I was happy to comply. I prepared a spreadsheet with the costs related to just the new square footage, which included the amount apportioned to the new square footage only. In other words, if I paid $X for new windows, I estimated the amount that was attributable to the new square footage, since some of the new windows were for the existing structure. Amazingly the cost amount came out to what I'd originally asked our reassessment to be. I swear I did not dry lab this!
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I sent it off to him, and then got a note a few days later saying that he was going to recommend that the assessment be changed to that amount. It wouldn't be final until the appeals board met, however. The appeals board met last week, and we got our official notification this week that our house has been reassessed. So now it's official! We'll get our refund check for the excess taxes in 4-6 months. I hope it will include interest and penalties!
</p><p>
The lessons for others who are asking for a reduction in their assessment is:
<ul>
<li>Do your homework. Prepare a set of written arguments that outlines why the assessment should be what you think it should be.</li>
<li>Do the math. Prepare a detailed spreadsheet with calculations if necessary. Include plans if it supports your argument.</li>
<li>Be persistent and don't give up.</li>
<li>Do as much of the work as you can for them, to help them help you. They have a ridiculously heavy caseload, and the less work they have to do, the more likely it is that you'll get what you want.</li>
</ul>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-17680400354388488452008-08-24T13:43:00.000-07:002008-08-24T14:00:26.719-07:00Spooky!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/shoens/SKih5csWOXI/AAAAAAAAMtU/KWRWt81iyDs/_MG_2538-Edit.jpg?imgmax=720"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/shoens/SKih5csWOXI/AAAAAAAAMtU/KWRWt81iyDs/_MG_2538-Edit.jpg?imgmax=720" alt="" border="0" /></a>Last weekend, I went to the Ft. Mason Craft Faire with some friends of mine from work. This is a big exposition where artisans come to display their wares each year for wholesale and retail alike. Some of the people buying are local boutique stores that sell handmade items (like Earthworks in Los Altos, for example); others are members of the general public like myself.<br /><br />Last year I'd gone to the faire, but because our house wasn't yet finished, I only went to get ideas. This year I went looking to buy, since we now have some big spaces to fill.<br /><br />We did a tour of the biggest building, making note of the pieces/artisans that interested us. We then went to have lunch at Greens, a restaurant I've always wanted to go to (and it was good!). After lunch, we toured the second smaller building, and then it was time to decide.<br /><br />In the first building, we'd seen some incredible stainless wall hangings by <a href="http://www.brmdesign.com/">Bruce MacDonald</a>, a Vermont artisan. (How he schlepped his art to SF is beyond me... the pieces are BIG!). "Spooky" was a 4' x 8' stainless etching (if you can call it that), which has incredible depth and changes depending upon the light. I thought it was perfect for above the mantelpiece, given that the light on that area changes throughout the day and night.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SKcqE7VTVjI/AAAAAAAAMsE/UdpU81Wj9yk/_MG_2425-Edit.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SKcqE7VTVjI/AAAAAAAAMsE/UdpU81Wj9yk/_MG_2425-Edit.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>As I wasn't sure whether it would be big enough (or too big for that matter), I had Kurt do a mockup for me and send me a photo. He took some of the leftover cardboard from the sofa packing boxes and made a cardboard mockup that was a similar size. He sent me the photo and I saw it would work. I'd already sent him a picture of the artwork via phone to get approval to transact the purchase.<br /><br />Our good friends who live in SF were coming to visit us that evening, and they graciously agreed to take Spooky home for us in their minivan, for which I'm very grateful. It barely fit.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/shoens/SKkUO830N9I/AAAAAAAAMv0/FiLHLSSJGnA/_MG_2554-Edit.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/shoens/SKkUO830N9I/AAAAAAAAMv0/FiLHLSSJGnA/_MG_2554-Edit.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>But you can see that it fills the space well, and makes a stunning addition to the great room. And now Kurt doesn't have to look at that MOCA poster he was getting so sick of!<br /><br />I still have a lot of art to hang, including some glass art I bought at the faire. Once I get it all hung I'll post pictures of a whole house tour!Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-81614601763849645142008-08-24T13:24:00.000-07:002009-02-08T09:07:57.949-08:00New sofa -- Flexform Groundpiece!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/SLHFbjjlL2I/AAAAAAAAAGI/q4MEecOAhIw/s1600-h/sofalayout3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/SLHFbjjlL2I/AAAAAAAAAGI/q4MEecOAhIw/s200/sofalayout3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238184918800215906" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SLGzSQEPwtI/AAAAAAAANBE/SvYVFaLGgpA/_MG_2427-Edit.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SLGzSQEPwtI/AAAAAAAANBE/SvYVFaLGgpA/_MG_2427-Edit.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>We received our new Flexform Groundpiece sofa from <a href="http://www.intirium.com/">Intirium.com</a> on August 9th, the morning of my bday party -- what timing! It came packed in three large wooden crates, and in ten or so boxes within the crates.<br /><br />Before we had the delivery guys unpack it, we had them move the Ligne-Roset Multy loveseat from the family room to the upstairs guest bedroom (where, believe it or not, was its originally-planned destination, even though it had done stints in the old living room, the scraper, and the family room, before arriving at its ultimate resting place), and move our old Roche-Bobois sofa from upstairs to the family room (again, where it was intended to go). Once that was done, we took crowbar to crate, and broke open the crate and ripped apart the boxes, and had them move the sofa inside to its destination.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SLGzTcJfD6I/AAAAAAAANBU/v4HhLDuFtas/_MG_2438-Edit.jpg?imgmax=512"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SLGzTcJfD6I/AAAAAAAANBU/v4HhLDuFtas/_MG_2438-Edit.jpg?imgmax=512" alt="" border="0" /></a>Assembling the sofa was really easy. Looking at the sofa layout, each identified item was a piece that had to be assembled. The sofa had three "arms," two being leather bookshelves, and the other being a fabric arm. There were three seating areas, and a number of cushions. The entire sofa sits on a cylindrical bar of metal, and each individual piece attaches together by fitting the cylindrical pieces together with fittings supplied with the sofa.<br /><br />The only problem I had was that I wound up scratching the hardwood floor when trying to fit two of the pieces together. But no matter, we just moved the sofa over the scratched area, and I later got some wood-filling wax to hide the scratch, so it looks just fine now. <br /><br />We moved the Ligne-Roset Didier Gomez coffee table upstairs, since it goes better with the sofa than the old Peter Maly coffee table, which has gone downstairs with the other sofa. However, the new sofa is big enough that we'll probably have to buy a new coffee table at some point. The sofa also goes perfectly with the Minotti club chairs I purchased on craigslist.org. So the great room is almost complete!<br /><br />All in all, I've been extremely happy with my purchase. It's the perfect size for the space, it's unbelievably comfortable, and very beautiful, fitting in perfect with the decor. <a href="http://www.intirium.com/">Intirium.com</a> had great service, and the sofa arrived pretty much when they said it would. I saved a lot of money by buying it from them (versus buying locally, or even elsewhere in the US), and their service exceeded the service I've received at most local high-end furniture stores.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://picasaweb.google.com/shoens/Mockup/photo#5238164967740392146"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/shoens/Mockup/photo#5238164967740392146" alt="" border="0" /></a>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-44535771621759007032008-06-20T20:01:00.001-07:002008-06-20T20:13:05.668-07:00Window coverings<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SEDFCToImjI/AAAAAAAALKU/8KHhHdBZRRM/Window-shade.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SEDFCToImjI/AAAAAAAALKU/8KHhHdBZRRM/Window-shade.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Do you think Kurt is trying to tell me something? The picture at the left shows the window covering Kurt has fashioned for the office window. It consists of some white paper, a "painting", and two Trader Joe's shopping bags. Quite creative and post modernist, really. A suburban collage.<br /><br />I think he's trying to tell me something, but I'm not sure what. Maybe you know?<br /><br />Okay, I guess it's really time to order some real window coverings for a few of the windows. The office gets morning light, and it is pretty annoying, esp. in the summer. The kitchen windows get the evening sun, and also need some covers. And I suppose we should get some window coverings for the downstairs guest room. Even though it's very private down there, it's still pretty sunny in the morning. No sleeping in for our guests!<br /><br />I've gotten some samples from the <a href="http://www.theshadestore.com/">Shade Store</a> and will try to order this weekend. They carry a lot of really nice roller shades, as well as some panel systems which I will probably use for the downstairs guest room. Again, the decisions are overwhelming -- how much light blockage to choose? what color? what fabric? -- but I'll just have to buck up and decide! I was thinking of going with Chilewich fabrics, but it turns out that the ones I like don't really block enough light for my needs. Plus, the office window is too wide for what's available from Chilewich, so we'll probably choose something else.<br /><br />It's really interesting how much you can buy on the Internet. The Shade Store will send you samples, and has a really helpful measurement guide for ordering the blinds. Their customer service over the phone has been really helpful. Having been to some local stores where they really didn't have many options for modern design, it's kind of frustrating to find these things locally. You either need to hire a designer (which I probably should do, but again, haven't been able to find someone local with the sensibilities I'm after), or go around to a number of stores and hopefully find someone somewhere who will have something you like that will do the job. OR, you could go on the Internet and search with Google, which is certainly a lot more time and energy efficient!Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-72589111932371103952008-06-20T19:41:00.000-07:002008-06-20T19:59:30.130-07:00Form AND function!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SDOfkpQImfI/AAAAAAAAKfQ/IlWPjkWYLRQ/_MG_9763-Edit.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SDOfkpQImfI/AAAAAAAAKfQ/IlWPjkWYLRQ/_MG_9763-Edit.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Took most of today off work, so have a little bit of time to post. A couple of weeks ago our dryer went on the fritz. Well, it had shown signs of dying a while back. When we first hooked it back up, the temperature sensing part of the dryer stopped working. But timed dry still worked. A few weeks ago, the dryer just up and quit, right in the middle of a load. Didn't it understand that we had important laundry to do?<br /><br />Laundry couldn't wait for the dryer to be fixed, and I didn't have much time to dry things as I had an upcoming trip to take, for which I needed clean clothing. To the rescue our outside cable rail! The cables work perfectly as clothes lines; the multiple rows of cables allow you to hang an entire laundry load pretty easily. Binder clips made good temporary clothes pins. The sun and the wind on the patio made for fast, effortless and cheap drying!<br /><br />You'd think that we'd go completely euro and just dry things this way from now on, but truthfully, a dryer is a very handy gadget to have. We did a little bit of sleuthing, and found that in fact, the breaker had blown, and the wiring needed to be repaired. So we had to get both our electrician AND a dryer repair guy in to fix it.<br /><br />It turns out that the same problem that stopped the time drying to work eventually stopped the dryer from working altogether. And it was a good thing that the electrical panel did its job with the breaker tripping or the house might have burned down, which would have been both sad and somehow strangely ironic, now that we're done with the construction.<br /><br />The problem was that whomever initially installed the power cord onto our fairly new dryer (we'll just call him "installer guy" for now), didn't have the right screw for the job. So he used some random screw to affix one of the power-cord leads to the dryer. The act of moving the dryer out of the laundry room, and back to the laundry room once construction was done, must have jarred that ill-fitting screw loose. As a result, one of the power-cord leads was no longer securely attached to the terminal, and some sparking started to occur. At first, this affected the temperature drying circuitry, but eventually, it burned out the insulation on that lead and caused some sort of a short which resulted in the breaker tripping. Yes, they do make those fuses for a reason!<br /><br />We now have a new power cord in place, and thanks to the appliance repair guy (Mr. Joe Chan, of Chan's Appliances), have the correct screw affixed so it won't happen again. And our dryer is once again capable of drying either through its timed drying facility or through its temperature-sensing abilities, depending on our mood. And although we still have this fabulous stainless steel outdoor drying rack, we've gone back to using it as a decorative railing. But it's nice to know we could hang laundry there again to dry if we ever wanted to.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-26834891236108950152008-05-02T18:44:00.000-07:002008-05-02T19:25:40.685-07:00Hey, it's Friday! Are we done yet?<div><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/shoens/SBk2xNfpKtI/AAAAAAAAKB4/78QhbdLtGis/_MG_9532.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/shoens/SBk2xNfpKtI/AAAAAAAAKB4/78QhbdLtGis/_MG_9532.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/shoens/SBk2wtfpKsI/AAAAAAAAKBw/pMexP4E8ltU/_MG_9531.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/shoens/SBk2wtfpKsI/AAAAAAAAKBw/pMexP4E8ltU/_MG_9531.jpg" border="0" /></a> The cabinet guy came last Friday and this Tuesday to finish up the install of the kitchen cabinet. We were able to slide the end cabinet over to the left, flush with the wall, and then put a filler strip in between the oven and the cabinet so that you can get to the handle. He also installed the filler strip on the end. He fixed the shelves in the buffet area temporarily by putting little ovankol strips around the ends of the shelves to hide the gaps. Although it looks nice if you consider the shelves on their own, it doesn't really fit with the look of the house, so we might have to go to a plan B. <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/shoens/SBk2vtfpKpI/AAAAAAAAKBY/bGAPZtWhtD0/_MG_9510.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/shoens/SBk2vtfpKpI/AAAAAAAAKBY/bGAPZtWhtD0/_MG_9510.jpg" border="0" /></a>But it certainly looks much nicer than it did before! We have two little problems left (very small missing part of toe kick, which can only be seen (or not seen) if you are on the floor, and a drawer slide that doesn't work well). All in all, I'm very pleased that the kitchen is pretty much done!<br /><br />The electricians came today and put a power outlet behind the TV so the cord won't show, and installed three-prong outlets in the upstairs guest room -- the one that never gets remodeled. (Last remodel we replaced the track lights with recessed lighting, but that was about it.) We also swapped out a test Lutron touch switch with a Lutron Maestro dimmer switch (that I already had) just to be consistent.<br /><br />There are only a couple of things left for electrical: remove broken ballast from kitchen light so I can send it off for repair, install remaining undercabinet light, and install missing recessed fixtures in non-remodeled hallway (an oversight).</div>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-60783913681756143472008-04-27T12:32:00.001-07:002008-05-02T19:23:03.852-07:00Furnishings...<div><div><br /><div><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SAfeVwczZVI/AAAAAAAAJuU/CRNXIjsQHxA/_MG_9230.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SAfeVwczZVI/AAAAAAAAJuU/CRNXIjsQHxA/_MG_9230.jpg" border="0" /></a> We are slowly refurnishing the house. Prior to and during the remodel, we sold a lot of the furniture we didn't want to keep. So the house has been pretty empty, but slowly I'm filling in the missing pieces.<br /><br />Back in October, I ordered bar stools from <a href="http://www.dwr.com/">DWR</a> which arrived over a period of several months. In November, I ordered a new Poliform dining room table from <a href="http://www.europebynet.com/">Europe-by-Net</a> in a wood that matches the kitchen. It arrived in the beginning of April, in perfect shape. (It's also serving as my new desk!) <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/shoens/SBqSW9fpLCI/AAAAAAAAKFo/axuxS4HxMV0/_MG_9246.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/shoens/SBqSW9fpLCI/AAAAAAAAKFo/axuxS4HxMV0/_MG_9246.jpg" border="0" /></a>Sadly, Europe by Net is not selling much to the US any more, most likely due to the weakness of the dollar (they did their sales in dollars, rather than in Euros or Pounds, and probably got burned badly on the currency fluctuations).<br /><br />I was also able to pick up a couple of nice area rugs from a Roche-Bobois floor sample sale (so they were somewhat reasonably priced). You can see the one that Coda's perched on to the left. She certainly likes it!<br /><br /><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/shoens/SBqSVdfpK7I/AAAAAAAAKEw/vLzGpn74OEg/_MG_9236.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/shoens/SBqSVdfpK7I/AAAAAAAAKEw/vLzGpn74OEg/_MG_9236.jpg" border="0" /></a>I had to go to Italy in late March for a friend's wedding, and during that trip, I picked out the fabric for our sofa, having settled on the Flexform Groundpiece. Prior to the trip I had designed the layout for the sofa, so having picked out the fabric, I was able to get pricing from several stores in the US, Italy and the UK. <a href="http://www.intirium.com/">intirium.com</a> (in the UK) was the winner by far, although there was a lovely store in Ferrara, Italy that was a close second. My only hesitation is that I had to buy it in Euros, so now I'm the one speculating on currency. Hopefully the Euro won't change much relative to the dollar between now and the time it arrives (when I have to make the last payment). The sofa should arrive some time this summer, at which point we'll do the furniture shuffle (sofabed downstairs comes upstairs to guest room, sofa upstairs goes downstairs, and new sofa goes in living room).<br /><br /><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SBU0F9fpKlI/AAAAAAAAJ-8/M6_oWOJ5w_A/_MG_9400.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/shoens/SBU0F9fpKlI/AAAAAAAAJ-8/M6_oWOJ5w_A/_MG_9400.jpg" border="0" /></a>Having the major pieces in hand, I bought a lovely B & B Italia accent chair yesterday from someone on craigslist, which is a nice compliment to either the old sofa or the new one. I still need to purchase dining room chairs (trying to decide between Baleri Italia mari' and Zanotta Lia), and a real entertainment unit for downstairs (to replace the $69 Ikea piece I got a few months ago). As the weather's nice, I need to get a small outdoor patio set and a BBQ (will most likely get the small Fuego, since it has a very clean design). Eventually, I want to get a bedroom set for downstairs, but for that I'll continue to monitor craigslist for a bargain. There are so many great craigslist items for sale... you just have to be patient and wait for the right thing to come along. <br /><br />At some point, I should put up some artwork too. But I'm still afraid to put holes in the wall! </div></div></div>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-89589106633029714112008-04-27T12:17:00.000-07:002008-04-27T12:31:42.541-07:00Finishing touches (again?)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/shoens/R-lNMcOshbI/AAAAAAAAIig/2cvZbq-zdok/_MG_8885-Edit.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/shoens/R-lNMcOshbI/AAAAAAAAIig/2cvZbq-zdok/_MG_8885-Edit.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I haven't posted for a while, and you may think that the house is done, but of course those last little finishing details take the longest time to finish.<br /><br />Our remaining end cabinet + filler strips for the kitchen finally arrived a couple of weeks ago while I was out of town. Unfortunately, the cabinet was slightly damaged (again), although it looks like this time the damage is repairable. One missing trim piece fit perfectly, but the filler strip for the end of the cabinets was too wide. But most importantly, there was no room between the end cabinet (a pull-out pantry) and the adjacent set of cabinets with the ovens in them. Since the drawer/door pulls are all recessed, what to do?<br /><br />The most complex (but correct) thing to do would be to slide all the cabinets over a bit to the right (heck, we've got about 6 inches of space at the end). Unfortunately, that would require moving the electrical, redoing the small backsplash next to the ovens, and overall, be a big pain. Fortunately, there is about 3/4 of an inch to move the cabinet to the left so that it's flush with the wall, and that gives us enough space. Since the end filler strip was too wide, we think we can use what we had to cut off to fill the gaps between the oven and end unit. A new (different) cabinet guy came last week and will come again on Tuesday to finish off the install.<br /><br />We still have to figure out what to do about the miscut shelves in the buffet, and the cabinet guy is ruminating over that, so hopefully by Tuesday we'll at least have an answer.<br /><br />On another front, the electricians are coming on Friday to finish their remaining pieces. So by next Friday, I think, I hope, I pray that we will really be done with the remodel! And then it will be on to other things, like landscaping, and finishing the furnishing (see next post on that).Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-57863180717346206072008-02-12T21:51:00.000-08:002008-02-12T22:00:44.230-08:00Woofer on subwoofer<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/R7KCZQfVtiI/AAAAAAAAH9k/URYn-q1ubag/Woofer.jpg?imgmax=512"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/R7KCZQfVtiI/AAAAAAAAH9k/URYn-q1ubag/Woofer.jpg?imgmax=512" alt="" border="0" /></a>We're completing our home theater system, and I finally got a subwoofer (you'll see from the picture, that we've had the woofer for a while). Ordered it from <a href="http://www.amazon.com">Amazon</a> on Sunday, received it today with ordinary free shipping! How's that for speedy service?<br /><br />One more component to complete the setup (a matching center speaker, rather than the random bookshelf speaker I have been using). The electricians are coming on Friday to move the power outlet behind the TV (which is hanging on the wall), so that all the unsightly cords will be hidden. Something we overlooked in setting everything up. Saturday, I should have more pics, as they'll also be putting in the undercabinet lights in the kitchen, and doing a few other electrical odds n' ends that were leftover from the remodel. It should be the last electrician visit. Then, all that's left is to get the replacement kitchen cabinet, and to get the shelves in the buffet area fixed.<br /><br />BTW, just in case you're wondering, the border terrier did NOT win the terrier group at Westminster yesterday. A Beagle won BiS for the first time ever, tonight! And what a cute beagle it was. But I'll stick with my woofer, and subwoofer, for now.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-37702097944105976222007-12-31T11:35:00.000-08:002008-02-12T22:48:56.262-08:00Is it possible to have a single remote?Why, yes it is! My brother and his family gave us a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-550-Universal-Remote/dp/B000EUGX70/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t">Logitech Harmony 550 Universal Remote</a>, to augment our setup. You can read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R3I28PTWDDP824/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm">my review on Amazon.com</a> for details, but the upshot is, after setting it up, it allowed us to dispense with the other remotes and use it exclusively. Initial setup was easy, although I had to do some additional customization before it would operate everything in a logical way.<br /><br />Having used it for a few days, I still prefer the layout of my TiVo remote, and my consider swapping it for the Harmony 670, which appears to be better suited for heavy DVR/TiVo users. But for now it solves a big problem.<br /><br />Next up is to get a subwoofer and perhaps replace the center speaker with one designed for the purpose.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-26215009822971517222007-12-15T08:27:00.000-08:002007-12-15T08:50:30.306-08:00Home theatre setupThe home theater is mostly set up. But it took a little bit of doing, and a lot of cursing. So I'll tell you what I did to spare you some trouble if you're looking to do the same thing.<br /><br />First off, I ordered my TV (a Sony 52KDLXBR4 52 inch LCD TV) from LCDTVs.com -- I just couldn't resist the name! It was far cheaper than buying it locally. I checked that it was in stock before I ordered (I called them, having been warned in advance that some sites list that the TVs are in stock and they aren't). They upsold me from free shipping (which uses a slow carrier and lands the TV at the curb) to a shipper that specializes in shipping big TVs and will take it to the door. This cost an extra $129, but the total price was still $800-$1000 less than buying it from a local store. The TV arrived about 10 days after I ordered it (or so). The shippers took the TV downstairs, where I turned it on to make sure everything was working okay. And everything was.<br /><br />Oh, word of warning. When the store verifies your order, they try to upsell you to buy the extended warranty, wall mounts, and other things you might not have researched. Don't bite -- it's just not worth it.<br /><br />The next step was to get our home theater guy to come hang it on the wall. He also is a dealer for Denon receivers, and we had been planning to get the receiver he recommended: the Denon 2308CI A/V receiver. Craig (<a href="http://www.beverelectronics.com">Bever Electronics</a>) and his assistant came the next day and installed the wall mount, mounted the TV on the wall, fished the wires through the wall to the outlet below, and set up and configured the receiver. I should have paid more attention to what they did with the receiver, because the Denon manual is unbelievably bad, and the remote control for the receiver is also very hard to use. (Eventually I figured it out... more on that later.)<br /><br />The one thing that we didn't do during the remodel, which one of the many of us should have noticed, was to put the power outlet high on the wall so the TV power cord would be hidden by the TV. When the electrician comes for the (hopefully) last time to finish up the undercabinet lighting in the kitchen and a few other remaining things, we'll get him to move the outlet so that the TV cord isn't visible. <br /><br />I moved my two TiVos downstairs, and my Slingbox (which still isn't set up again... and after a couple of weeks of fussing and cursing, I was able to get things set up to mostly use the TiVo remote to control everything. That being said, it's quite clear that I will need to buy a universal remote control (like a Harmony) to control everything the way I want it to.<br /><br />Here's what I did. First, I borrowed a newer TiVo remote from a friend of mine. This TiVo remote has a 1-2 switch that allows you to tune each TiVo to a different frequency so that you can control each TiVo separately. (I wish I'd known this months ago, because it plagued me when I had them in the same room with the Slingbox.) I was also able to program the TiVo remote to control the volume on the A/V Receiver, and the power on both the A/V receiver and the TV. I set the TV up to operate like an LCD monitor (since we use the built-in speakers, not the TV speakers, and we use the tuners on the other devices, not the TV), and the only time I need the TV remote is if I want to adjust some display property of the TV.<br /><br />So now, I use the TiVo remote for everything but changing the source input (TiVo 1, TiVo 2, or VHS (like I'm every going to watch a video tape again!)). I use the Denon remote for changing the source input, since I haven't yet figured out if it's possible to set the TiVo remote to do that. It turns out that I still have to use my old TiVo remote to access some functions on the built-in DVDs though. A universal remote would solve that problem. All in all, it's workable, and I think I could even explain to someone how to work it!<br /><br />It would have been nice to just be able to buy an LCD monitor rather than a TV. Given that we have an A/V receiver, and built-in speakers, a lot of the functionality on the TV we just don't need or use, so we've paid for functionality we're not using.<br /><br />The quality of the display is good, but I can't help thinking how much better it would be with real HD input (this is the danger in buying a new HD TV). So, come the beginning of the year, I'll "trade" one of my TiVos in for an HD TiVo. And later in the year, once the HD DVD formats settle down (if they do), I'll probably buy a separate HD DVD with HDMI outputs that will output true 1080p resolution. Finally, I will need a universal remote. But I will wait on all these things until after the holidays, as the setup I have now is quite workable.<br /><br />It would be nice, however, to have some place to sit downstairs, so since the upstairs sofa appears to be months off (at which point the sofa upstairs will move downstairs), I will need to figure something else out, as sitting on the floor or in a hard-backed chair just isn't cutting it! Beanbag chairs are my current thought... other ideas?Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-38922955514752733052007-11-27T19:36:00.001-08:002007-11-27T19:40:03.318-08:00Pods be gone!Major milestone! We came home and the pods were no longer there. (And yes, we meant to do that.) Slowly but surely, the last vestiges of remodeling are fading away. Next up: clean out the garage and move the remaining furniture back into the house. Maybe we'll try to move the piano back into the living room this week!Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-7889433054180577522007-11-24T16:47:00.000-08:002007-11-24T18:38:46.162-08:00Reflections on Living in a New House<div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/R0jRWj5H4UI/AAAAAAAAABk/OZZ4ndOfw_o/s1600-h/lr.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5136585560538210626" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/R0jRWj5H4UI/AAAAAAAAABk/OZZ4ndOfw_o/s200/lr.jpg" border="0" /></a> We've been "living" in the whole house for a little over a month now. We just finished unpacking the pods today. The library shelves are almost full, and somewhat organized. And we've even bought a few small pieces of furniture. The ripped Ingo Maurer shades have been replaced. We are still waiting for our remaining kitchen cabinet and trim pieces, for the buffet shelves to be fixed and for the undercabinet lighting, but otherwise we're "done". We've had seven "dinner parties" (more than we've had in the previous four years). We ordered a TV. And we've paid our final bills. So now it's time to take stock. <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/R0jRpz5H4VI/AAAAAAAAABs/5M3Exp1_I_o/s1600-h/lr2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5136585891250692434" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/R0jRpz5H4VI/AAAAAAAAABs/5M3Exp1_I_o/s200/lr2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><br /><div>Did we achieve our objectives? Emphatically, yes. (I will have a lot more detail on what the objectives were in another post. Bet ya can't wait!) I love our new house! Although there were a few things that didn't turn out quite like I'd imagined (the inside railing and the fireplace front, for example), the overall house is really pretty incredible and we are using the house in ways we might not have anticipated. Even the aspects that didn't turn out as expected still turned out nice. And the basic objectives of the remodel (fix the floorplan and make the house more open and livable) were more than achieved.</div><br /><div></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/R0jSLT5H4WI/AAAAAAAAAB0/tQNq9JhXTlc/s1600-h/nook.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5136586466776310114" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/R0jSLT5H4WI/AAAAAAAAAB0/tQNq9JhXTlc/s200/nook.jpg" border="0" /></a>The breakfast nook area is still my favorite area of the house. I thought I'd take use the dining room as the office, but the breakfast nook area serves the function even better. I can listen to the living room stereo and gaze out at the view from my perch in the kitchen, all the while keeping track of who (or what) is coming down the drive.<br /></div><div>The dog, on the other hand, loves the downstairs server room the best. It's dark and cozy and she can get away from all the fuss and bother upstairs. It's like her own ten by ten kennel. </div><div></div><br /><div>The wall of windows in the great room has really enhanced the view tremendously. I always thought we had a good view, but in the new house it's spectacular, primarly because we now have an uninterrupted 180 degree view of the bay and hills. It's the one aspect of the house that people comment on the most.</div><br /><div></div><div>The floors and ceiling turned out beautifully. The rich tones of the rose river gum floor really compliment and warm up the neutral tones of the surrounding stainless and quartzite. The stone floor is great for sliding on in your stocking feet, and both floors are very easy to clean.</div><br /><div></div><div>One thing I also really like about the house is that it's very unassuming from the outside. It looks like one of the many ranch-style houses that dot the landscape in Los Altos. But once you step onto the front porch you get an inkling that it isn't an ordinary rancher. The broken-glass front doors and the eerie blue doorbell help set the stage for what's to come. </div><br /><div>All in all, the end result was a success in my book (except for perhaps the stress and the pricetag... but those quickly fade). </div><br /><div></div><div>As we've been unpacking the pods we've been offloading a lot of our old stuff. Is there really a need to keep 30 mismatched coffee mugs? Or a set of 3 (because we broke one) champagne flutes when we don't even drink? We've taken this opportunity to pare things down to only what we really need and what fits with the design of the house. The temptation to chuck everything is strong, but we are trying to strike a balance so that we'll have something to sit on and plates to eat off of.</div><br /><div>We will probably continue the slow process of re-furnishing the house over the next year, buying things slowly as we need them. Although we're a bit tapped from the remodel, we're less broke than I thought we would be. We have already bought <a href="http://www.dwr.com/search.cfm?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&N=0&Ntt=bottega+stool">stools</a>,<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/R0jQKD5H4SI/AAAAAAAAABU/1Qq-fSVODh0/s1600-h/bench.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5136584246278218018" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/R0jQKD5H4SI/AAAAAAAAABU/1Qq-fSVODh0/s200/bench.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.dwr.com/search.cfm?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&N=0&Ntt=folding+chair">folding chairs</a>, and an <a href="http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=3818">outside bench </a>from <a href="http://www.dwr.com/">DWR</a>. The stools were originally supposed to be here in February, but we've already received two of the three so far! How's that for exceeding expectations? (Versus our kitchen, which likely won't be complete until February, over a year after we ordered it!) I also finally bought a dining room table (the <a href="http://www.architonic.com/1010687">Poliform Dolmen</a>), which should be here in a couple of months -- our old one really is showing its age (we've had it since 1982!) and only seats four. We still have to settle on/purchase dining room chairs (we're thinking about the <a href="http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=4749">DWR Bottega </a>chairs, to match the stools), and buy the sofa for upstairs (either the <a href="http://www.furniturefile.co.uk/retail-39.htm">Flexform Groundpiece</a> or <a href="http://www.architonic.com/cat/view/1018318">Molteni & C Reversi</a>, and an entertainment unit for downstairs. (If only the dollar were stronger right now!) But we'll continue to do this slowly over the coming year. </div><br /><div>I still have dreams that I can get a company like DWR to do a catalog photo shoot in the house (and perhaps leave a spec of furniture or two behind while they're at it). I'd also really like to get the house featured in a magazine like Dwell. But I can't begin to pursue this until the kitchen is completely done, so I'll probably tackle this in the new year. In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy the new house and have dinner parties!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/R0jQfz5H4TI/AAAAAAAAABc/rdnJZ9ooi8c/s1600-h/chairs.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5136584619940372786" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AbPMxrd1c4Y/R0jQfz5H4TI/AAAAAAAAABc/rdnJZ9ooi8c/s200/chairs.jpg" border="0" /></a></div></div></div></div>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-87263987187146213872007-10-14T10:30:00.000-07:002007-10-14T19:51:49.549-07:00Movin' in<div><div>Yesterday we unpacked and stocked up the kitchen with everything I could find. I know we're missing things, because I couldn't find any serving dishes. It's possible those are still at the folks' house.<br /><br />We moved some furniture in. We moved the bed downstairs but then stopped, as it was very muddy on the side of our house, and mud got tracked into the house. Sigh. But at least the bed is downstairs so if a guest wants to come stay we have a place for them to sleep. We already have a reservation for November. I also tried out the new downstairs bath for the first time, and it was very nice. Love the new faucets! We still need a few accessories but this will all come with time.<br /><br />We had Kurt's folks over for dinner, so that ensured that we at least had to have a dining room table/chairs and a sofa in the house. It's probably a good thing that we moved the old furniture in, because it's a good template for buying new furniture. I now know that I don't want a sectional sofa upstairs; most likely I'll get two sofas which will face each other.<br /><br />We also need a rug that's big enough to sit the sofas on so the floor doesn't get damaged. We also hooked up the stereo and tested out the acoustics upstairs. (The speakers and amp were bought in 1976... I think it may be time to upgrade!) The sound was very nice, but I probably need a bit more power. The piano will stay in its practice room for a while while we get everything else sorted out. But it's pretty clear where it's going.<br /><br />Even when you're done you're not done... there's decorating to do! Slowly but surely, we'll move things into the house. But my prediction is that only half of what we have will make the trip. When you have a new house it's an impetus to clean out all the old mismatched stuff that you could never bear to throw away. If anyone needs coffee cups, glasses, etc. holler!</div></div>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-46402396804866807212007-10-08T19:51:00.000-07:002007-10-08T19:56:29.923-07:00FINALLY! The FINAL!Yes, folks, two years + in the making, and we have finally passed the final inspection for our house! This does not mean we're completely done, as there are a few items that need to be taken care of. BUT, it does mean that we can move into the new part of the house, including the kitchen! We can officially start stocking the pantry, the inside reefer, and we can move back to using real plates. HUZZAH! A momentous occasion indeed! Plus, the portapotty is gone, adding to the finished look.<br /><br />No pictures to post today, but I will post once the handrails are sanded, and maybe after I've moved our temporary furniture back into the house.<br /><br />Time to party!!!Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-36180055633422428802007-10-03T07:01:00.000-07:002007-10-03T07:06:14.104-07:00The final piece of the puzzle<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RwMi8pAvaTI/AAAAAAAAGhY/YMmIC-3btFc/Oct2-03.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RwMi8pAvaTI/AAAAAAAAGhY/YMmIC-3btFc/Oct2-03.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The railing guys came yesterday and they finished putting the modified railing on the stairs. It looks much better with the modifications, and I think we are now DONE! Well not completely done -- there are some items that still need to be completed/finished before it's done done, but done to the point where the city can come tomorrow and sign off on the project, and then we can move back in! So with any luck, we'll start moving back in this weekend!Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-64202702271440776232007-10-01T18:39:00.000-07:002007-10-01T18:53:20.893-07:00Planning final!Today, the new head of planning came to inspect our house and do the final signoff. Since we had already had one of the planners come by earlier and remove the requirement for us to plant another tree, we had no problems getting the final signoff. This signoff is a prerequisite for getting the final final building department signoff (after which point we can move in).<br /><br />The electricians also came and did everything they needed to do so we could pass our final inspection: installed the remaining outlet in the kitchen (they'll replace it later because it's white, which doesn't really go well with the counters); installed the two new lights in the library (and yes, they look FABulous); installed the second GrafikEye controller; installed the Ingo Maurer weights and ripped shades (replacements are on order...); cleaned up old wiring in the garage; installed the remaining outside light. Kurt's brother would be proud. Although he'd probably laugh at us about picking out the Ingo Maurer lights... I mean they are great in theory, but paper shades are, well, a teensy bit fragile. Live and learn!<br /><br />Yesterday Ed came to install a fireplace screen/glass doors. He found a set at OSH which is suitably good for the final inspection (but not suitable for the long term as it doesn't have the right look). So we'll keep them on there until we get a permanent one. Then we'll take it back or sell it on craigslist.org.<br /><br />So really, we're ready to go. That's right. The only thing left is to install the stair railing, which could happen tomorrow. We're still questioning who is going to pay for the railing changes. (It's a bit of he said, he said, etc., made all the more confusing, because everyone involved is named "Mike"! But I'm optimistic we'll get it resolved without having to pay more money. I'm not optimistic we'll get it resolved without some hard feelings somewhere. Because ultimately someone will have to eat the cost of it, and we're full. This experience will ultimately go in a lessons learned column somewhere.)<br /><br />But I'm excited -- we could be done this week! I only have one item left on my list "Install stair railing" so it really seems possible. There are still a few odds and ends that will need to get done, but they don't stand in the way of the final inspection.<br /><br />So, a cautiously optimistic "hip hip hooray!"Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-66873275515725878432007-09-26T20:15:00.000-07:002007-09-26T20:34:35.432-07:00Still plugging away<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RvDMX6ed6II/AAAAAAAAGF0/ETKtbt9uEc4/Sept18-13.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RvDMX6ed6II/AAAAAAAAGF0/ETKtbt9uEc4/Sept18-13.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>We are almost done. Well, that's what I said last post. I had to go on a short jaunt overseas, and was hoping to arrive home to a finished house. But it was not to be. They did make a lot of progress, including: putting the final coat on the hardwood and sealing the stone floors, which are now finally visible; installing the outside deck railings which turned out very nice indeed;<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.google.com/shoens/RvDMVaed6HI/AAAAAAAAGFo/ydgmYHxv3zQ/Sept18-08.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh3.google.com/shoens/RvDMVaed6HI/AAAAAAAAGFo/ydgmYHxv3zQ/Sept18-08.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> finishing installing most of the recessed lights; and other minor little details like the doorbell and door chime.<br /><br />The big remaining thing is the inside stair railing. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RvDMmqed6PI/AAAAAAAAGHM/I_N-Qli78vQ/Sept18-22.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RvDMmqed6PI/AAAAAAAAGHM/I_N-Qli78vQ/Sept18-22.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>They had installed the railing upstairs, but the bottom of the railing sticks out too far into the stairway, which looked dorky and posed a hazard. It turned out that this was the original design, but it had been modified back in July. The architect sent the change over to the fabrication place, but they claim to have never received it. Although they have taken the railing back to the shop to fix it, there is a big question as to who will pay (answer: not us). The railing should be fixed soon, and then they'll be back to install in a week or two. So we'll final the project in October.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RvIF8Ked6WI/AAAAAAAAGJI/111BZX7RQQY/Sept19-5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RvIF8Ked6WI/AAAAAAAAGJI/111BZX7RQQY/Sept19-5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Tomorrow the cleaners come, and hopefully the electricians. Then Friday the alarm folks come to complete their installation. And then we wait for the railing guys to come and we can final! There are still a few odds and ends that will need to be done like finishing the breakfast nook bench upholstery and installing the few missing odds/ends for our cabinets, but once we get the final inspection, we can move back into the rest of the house!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RvNgwfiTp3I/AAAAAAAAGTA/bq5IejKlQWY/Sept20-04.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RvNgwfiTp3I/AAAAAAAAGTA/bq5IejKlQWY/Sept20-04.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-58313757644733361422007-09-11T00:18:00.000-07:002007-09-11T00:45:53.541-07:00Let there be light!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RuZATlyzWgI/AAAAAAAAFio/YEjmnEsxIFo/Sept10-01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RuZATlyzWgI/AAAAAAAAFio/YEjmnEsxIFo/Sept10-01.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Today the electricians came and installed most of the remaining plugs, some of the remaining lights and did the light test. We now have light in the house! The office is lighted, the living room is lighted, and the downstairs guest bedroom is lighted. (The other rooms are lighted, but the switches aren't turned on yet so we can't yet use the lights.)<br /><br />The fan also works, and I had it on all evening to lend a cool breeze.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RuZAi1yzWnI/AAAAAAAAFkA/Ak8kpd_okoY/Sept10-08.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RuZAi1yzWnI/AAAAAAAAFkA/Ak8kpd_okoY/Sept10-08.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We have to "burn in" the Artemide Ventanas... basically, we have to leave them on for 100 hours before we can dim them. I'm not sure if we're burning in the lights or the bulbs (I suspect the latter). The remaining bulbs arrived today so that the Ventanas now all work.<br /><br />The oven receptacles turned out to have the wrong configuration, so they'll install some replacements tomorrow. By the evening we should be able to use the oven AND the instant hot water. Just in time for me to leave for Geneva. Oh well, I'll have hot coffee Wednesday morning from our instant hot water dispenser.<br /><br />The refrigerator was installed on Friday -- I'll try to get a picture of that soon. The AC guys installed the air conditioning compressor today. So really, it's almost almost almost all done.<br /><br />Tuesday: remaining custom kitchen cabinets will be installed + electricians will come back to complete the lighting (the GrafikEye controllers probably won't be installed until after the final). The painter may come to do some final touch ups, and the alarm installer should be here to finish the alarm install. The home theater installer is coming to install the speakers in the kitchen.<br /><br />Wednesday: railing guy comes to do final measurements<br /><br />Thursday: floor guys come to do final coat on hardwood and seal/finish the stone<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.google.com/shoens/RuZAhFyzWmI/AAAAAAAAFj0/dQIi2pKaKfc/Sept10-07.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh6.google.com/shoens/RuZAhFyzWmI/AAAAAAAAFj0/dQIi2pKaKfc/Sept10-07.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Next week: railing guy installs railing, and then we FINAL!<br /><br />In the meantime, Kurt is a little upset that Coda has taken over what was supposed to be his office, and that I've co-opted the breakfast nook for my office. And I do think that will be my permanent office now, as it's such a lovely little spot! Well, I'm sure he and Coda will figure out how to share :)<br /><br />More nighttime pictures are available from <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/shoens/RemodelSeptember10">Kurt's picture site</a>.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-10184325628512032112007-09-04T18:38:00.000-07:002007-09-04T20:18:48.801-07:00A minor victory in a long campaignThe city planner came this morning, on time, as planned. (I guess that's why he's in planning!) After showing him the yard, and the view of our neighbor's house below from the upper story, he agreed that planting another tree, a stipulation from the planning dept. at the beginning of the project, was unnecessary. Hooray! It's really not that expensive to add another tree, but it is a hassle, and so silly, so I am glad he agreed with us.<br /><br />The electricians were here first thing this morning, and they finished installing the ceiling lights and a few other electrical odds n' ends. I think they'll be back again tomorrow. Some of the electrical receptacles for the kitchen are still on order (they match the Caesarstone so they're a custom color), but hopefully it won't hold up the final inspection.<br /><br />Our contractor moved a bunch of his tools out, a clear sign that we're almost done. When they install the house numbers and the mailbox, then we'll really be on the home stretch.<br /><br />What's left to be done at this point?<br /><ol><li>Install the reefer -- this had been waiting for decisions on the undercabinet lights and then a wire to be fished out through the drywall.<br /></li><li>Finish the alarm install -- alarm guys are supposed to be here tomorrow and the next day to finish</li><li>Finish the remaining electrical -- install a few switches, finish remaining recessed lights downstairs, test the system, and connect up and programming the GrafikEye</li><li>Install the AC compressor<br /></li><li>Install the door hardware on the sliders</li><li>Install the railing on the stairs and on the outside decks (this is the biggest remains-to-be-done step)</li><li>Install the doorbell and door chime</li><li>Install drawerpulls on the downstairs vanity</li><li>Install TP holder and hand towel bar in downstairs bath</li><li>Add final coat to stone and hardwood floors</li><li>Clean!</li></ol>Piece o' cake.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-42996259015277361742007-09-03T17:25:00.000-07:002007-09-03T21:08:44.645-07:00Watching grass grow<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RtsU2lyzQ8I/AAAAAAAAEQo/wLnHV2V1yLQ/Sept1-018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RtsU2lyzQ8I/AAAAAAAAEQo/wLnHV2V1yLQ/Sept1-018.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The last little bits of a remodel are like watching grass grow. The house is getting polished, bit by bit, but the changes are small and not as evident. We have also had some trouble getting the electricians out to finish as they're completely booked solid, so the electrical finish work has been moving more slowly than expected.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RtsUflyzQ2I/AAAAAAAAEPc/fNXMZnNGDjo/Sept1-008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RtsUflyzQ2I/AAAAAAAAEPc/fNXMZnNGDjo/Sept1-008.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Last week, the contractors installed the awning between the two floors. This was an expensive piece of decoration required by the city to break up the 22' vertical wall of windows. It's made of stainless and Trex (reconstituted garbage, just like the deck), and it turned out very nice! It did add something to the look of the building, even if the only people who can see it are in our back yard.<br /><br />Our server room is now fully outfitted with the patch panel, and all the rooms are hooked up with ethernet, telephone and cable. Some of the rooms also have audio. This has come in real handy, as I was finally able to hook up my printer where I wanted it since we have ethernet everywhere in the house. (Two wireless routers as well.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.google.com/shoens/RtsUZFyzQ0I/AAAAAAAAEPE/xM9lKgvVpGE/Sept1-005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh3.google.com/shoens/RtsUZFyzQ0I/AAAAAAAAEPE/xM9lKgvVpGE/Sept1-005.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The office door got installed too. This is a sliding door on an exposed track, so it slides against the wall rather than into a pocket. It's made out of an acrylic by Knoll, and is essentially a piece of fabric pressed between two pieces of acrylic. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.google.com/shoens/RtsUdFyzQ1I/AAAAAAAAEPQ/uU-Cnp4MSYY/Sept1-007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh3.google.com/shoens/RtsUdFyzQ1I/AAAAAAAAEPQ/uU-Cnp4MSYY/Sept1-007.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>It looks very nice.. it's very understated, but its opacity allows you to hide the (anticipated) clutter in the office, while its transparency lets natural light from the office into the hall.<br /><br />Today on Labor Day, two of the electricians came out and worked all day, and now we finally have the track lighting in the living room and the Artemide Ventana lights in the kitchen. Judging from the grunting and swearing, they were every bit as much of a pain to install as well as they were to order correctly.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RtzIcVyzSGI/AAAAAAAAEhg/BONYZE5B5U0/Sept2-06.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/RtzIcVyzSGI/AAAAAAAAEhg/BONYZE5B5U0/Sept2-06.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I spent a couple of hours assembling the track light fixtures, just to have something to do, and to hopefully save some of their very valuable and hard-to-come-by time. There is one more piece of track they need to install (over the stairs) which is going to take a bit of creative scaffolding and nerve to do.<br /><br />So now, there are really just a few outside lights to install, and lights to test. They have to finish installing the GrafikEye system (I can never misspell it properly), but they might be finished as early as tomorrow. I suspect there will still be a few little things to do after they leave tomorrow.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RtzIMFyzSCI/AAAAAAAAEgs/KY2DqmrkxDM/Sept2-31.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RtzIMFyzSCI/AAAAAAAAEgs/KY2DqmrkxDM/Sept2-31.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Tomorrow the city planner comes and I'm hoping to convince him not to have us plant the additional tree we're required to plant before we get the final signoff.<br /><br />The only things left to be done before we can final the project besides finishing the electrical are: installing the ever-so-important stair and deck railing and installing the air conditioning compressor.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RtzH-FyzR_I/AAAAAAAAEgI/7GfMD_jS2lA/Sept2-11.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh4.google.com/shoens/RtzH-FyzR_I/AAAAAAAAEgI/7GfMD_jS2lA/Sept2-11.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> We have a small bit of custom cabinetry to be installed in the kitchen and then undercabinet lights to be installed, but that shouldn't hold up the final signoff (I hope).Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-23236202258416622172007-08-26T22:22:00.000-07:002007-08-26T23:33:40.167-07:00The best seat in the house<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/Rs5JI1yzQqI/AAAAAAAAEL4/Z2OuJcpewDQ/August23-06.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/Rs5JI1yzQqI/AAAAAAAAEL4/Z2OuJcpewDQ/August23-06.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>In my opinion, the best spot in the house is our little breakfast nook. It's got a fabulous view of the bay, and you can see the front yard as well to keep an eye on the yard and make sure no one is using the portapotty who shouldn't be. It's nice and sunny in the afternoon. Now that the counters have been installed in the kitchen, it makes a great work area for me. Using an extension cord from the garage (where there's power), I can sit here with my laptop and work for hours. It's quite the place to be! Only now, at 8 PM, the sunshine is running out, and I'll probably have to return to the bedroom where there's light. Working from bed just isn't as productive...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/Rs5JD1yzQoI/AAAAAAAAELg/475gCcy5ZIA/August23-03.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh5.google.com/shoens/Rs5JD1yzQoI/AAAAAAAAELg/475gCcy5ZIA/August23-03.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Painter was here yesterday, and he finished painting the office (yay!). He's still got a bit more painting to do to finish completely, but he got a tremendous amount done yesterday. He does a really nice job and he's super conscientious, which I really appreciate. He primered the chimney (formerly brick, which stood out like a sore thumb), and will paint it the dark color of the trim. So hopefully it will disappear; if not, we'll stucco it at some point so it will blend into the house better.<br /><br />Cabinet installer came on Friday and cut the requisite holes in the cabinets for the electrician, and installed the third shelf in the pantry. The shelf had been damaged, but they were able to repair it so you'd never know, so we were able to use the shelf just fine.<br /><br />Monday, Ed can install the office door (another expensive experiment which may or may not turn out). Monday they should install the awning as well. Tuesday, the electrician comes, and we'll probably have a heated discussion about the undercabinet lighting. Hopefully we'll get all the remaining issues resolved and he can finish installing the remaining lights and electrical circuits, which will make us very very happy. Then, the long pole in the tent, so to speak, will be the stair railing. That's all we have left before we can final the project. (Since when did "final" become a verb?)Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876209893212669003.post-88989782788096638672007-08-23T21:48:00.000-07:002007-08-23T22:09:16.150-07:00Are we done yet?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.google.com/shoens/Rs5JGFyzQpI/AAAAAAAAELs/yQrv8NUZa78/August23-05.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh6.google.com/shoens/Rs5JGFyzQpI/AAAAAAAAELs/yQrv8NUZa78/August23-05.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.google.com/shoens/Rs5I-FyzQmI/AAAAAAAAELI/RQWk5NSOpYI/August23-09.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh6.google.com/shoens/Rs5I-FyzQmI/AAAAAAAAELI/RQWk5NSOpYI/August23-09.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Well, no. But we're getting closer! Today we got plumbing! Each sink has a faucet and a soap dispenser, and the main sink also has nirvana... an instant hot water heater that will work and will stay working! I hope we can try it out soon. (The water was off when we got home tonight.) Our old garbage disposals didn't make it, so we'll have to replace them. But the old cooktop fits fine.<br /><br />The downstairs bathroom is completely done, except for the attachment of accessories. The plumbing fixtures look really nice, and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. The water's still turned on there, so who knows, maybe I'll try out the shower... or maybe I'll wait until we get final signoff, as the water spots will be a dead giveaway.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.google.com/shoens/Rs5JMVyzQsI/AAAAAAAAEMU/kb4OCouxdfE/August23-10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh3.google.com/shoens/Rs5JMVyzQsI/AAAAAAAAEMU/kb4OCouxdfE/August23-10.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>And, I am communicating over DSL that is hooked up to the downstairs patch panel! <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.google.com/shoens/Rs5JOVyzQtI/AAAAAAAAEMg/4hdZLm-rPPI/August23-12.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://lh3.google.com/shoens/Rs5JOVyzQtI/AAAAAAAAEMg/4hdZLm-rPPI/August23-12.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10741772064055305755noreply@blogger.com0