Home Automation…Day 6

The folks from SLH Home Systems have been back working to install more elements of the home automation system in the “L” Shaped House. The first photo shows one of the alarm system keypads installed on the wall  inside the breezeway entrance. They have wired most of the door contacts and have the motion detectors and glass break sensors ready to go. We’re going to have to adjust to living in a “secure” place as we move in from our current “wide open”  house.

The next photo shows the wall plate above the kitchen desk that provides connections to both the home network and the in-house audio system. A music player docking system will connect to the RCA jacks at the bottom of the wall plate allowing us to “pipe-in” music from our i-pods (and Zune). The last photo shows the connections to the video, networking, and music systems at the base of the wall in the basement family room. This wall plate is easily the most crowded connection point in the house as it provides connections to not only the network and cable television systems but also the the surround sound speaker system in the basement ceiling.

Ceramic Tile…Day 56

Matt Sletten has been working in the mudroom and basement bathroom for the last few days. The first photo shows the wall tile going up in the mudroom. Matt and I talked through a few possibilities and decided to run a short bull-nose edge all around the top creating a simple backsplash at the back of the countertop. Here can see the repositioned cavity for the dog door and faucet feeds in the back wall.

The next photo shows the basement bathroom with all of the ceramic tile including the sanitary base installed. Matt will now grout the floor and shower area and the finish up by caulking the corner joints in the shower. Deb had to select all the elements in this space without any help because we elected to finish basement bathroom after Katie Hunsley’s maternity leave began.

I think it looks awesome!

Plumbing…Day 17

Jeremy from Steinkraus is busy preparing the plumbing at the “L” Shaped House for his final inspection tomorrow. The first photo below shows a manometer installed in the basement toilet as Jeremy sets up for the sewer line pressure tests. The second photo shows the laundry tub installed on the inside wall of the basement storage room. 

The last photo shows the water softener installed just in front of the water heater in the mechanical room. The main water line runs down the wall at the left and continues to both the cold water feed to the house, and the water heater. The system of valves allow for bypassing the softener for servicing. A Hellebrand water filter will be installed in front of the softener and water heater that will supply filtered water to the kitchen sink and refrigerator as well as the bar sink in the basement.

Fireplace…The cultured stone

Hedberg (masonry supplies) delivered the mountain ledge cultured stone from Eldorado Stone to the “L” Shaped House late yesterday afternoon. We ordered four boxes of stone in the Mesa Verde color and one in Sierra. The plan is to cover the front face of the fireplace using predominately Mesa Verde but have Matt Sletten “sneak-in” a few Sierra stones to lighten up the stone face just a little.

The photo below shows two opened boxes of Mesa Verde stones. Here you can see that even within one color there is a lot of variation in tone and texture. Matt is going to build the wall using a “dry stack” method that basically eliminates grout lines and should produce a beautiful stone face on the front of the fireplace.

Appliances…Day 4

Today was a day filled with changes to the appliances at the “L” Shaped House. First the new Samsung Refrigerator we bought at Lowes was delivered and set up in the basement kitchen. We decided to return the GE refrigerator we selected earlier just because we like the way this one fits in the space (it’s wider, taller, and, importantly…shallower).

Sorry about the bottom freezer Sam…

Second…Paul took the Faber vent hood down and set about accommodating our desire to have it mounted 3” lower on the wall. This required tearing one course of the tile backsplash off the wall, adding some additional blocking, extensive sheetrock repairs, and (probably) a little grumbling about fussy homeowners. It looks like he has everything ready to re-install the hood tomorrow.

Thanks Paul!

Plumbing…Day 16

Jeremy from Steinkraus Plumbing is back today installing plumbing fixtures and hooking up water supplies throughout the “L” Shaped House. The first photo shows water flowing in the second floor laundry room sink after Jeremy connected the feed lines and drain under the counter.

 

The next photo shows the dishwasher in the kitchen as it runs through the very first wash cycle. Jeremy has almost all of the fixtures on the first and second floors installed and connected and plans to start in the basement this afternoon.

 

The last two photos show the toilets in the master and kids bathrooms on the second floor installed and ready for use. We are using the same toilet from the Kohler Memoirs collection in each of the four bathrooms in the “L” Shaped House. The traditional styling seems right in place with the farmhouse look.

Appliances…Day 3

Paul Winters worked yesterday installing the Faber Synthesis vent hood on the wall above the cooktop in the kitchen. The first photo below shows the newly installed hood, double oven, and cooktop all in place along the end wall of the kitchen. As we stood at the cooktop last night both Deb and I got the feeling that we asked to have the hood mounted a little too high on the wall.

So…

We turned to my old friend Adobe Photoshop to “see” what it might look like with the top course of subway tile removed and the hood mounted 3” lower. Unfortunately for Paul (and Matt Sletten) both Deb and I like the lowered hood better.

Click on the image (below) to see an animated version of the two photos…

Landscaping…More sprinklers

Our friends at First Impressions came back this morning to install sprinkler heads in the rain garden and add a few additional heads to the existing zones in the back yard. The first photo shows one of the four sprinkler heads in the new rain garden zone. The second photo shows one of the Hunter rotator heads installed along the path above the modular wall in the back yard.

The last photo shows the area above the modular wall where we decided to add the rotator heads. The automatic sprinkler system now reaches pretty much all of the plantings installed so far. The First Impressions folks will be back to install the last two zones in the front yard as the sod and low-mow turf are planted.

Electrical…Day 16 (continued)

Curt and Luke finished installing both the double wall oven and the drawer style microwave in the kitchen before they left late yesterday afternoon. The first photo here shows the GE wall oven installed in the cabinetry with the oven doors in place all ready to bake cookies!

Luke is also preparing the wall above the cooktop for the vent hood that will be installed shortly.

The next photo shows the Sharp Microwave Drawer installed in the front face of the island. Virtually everyone we tell about this product has an opinion about a microwave installed in a lower cabinet. If you look closely at the photo you can see that Sharp has addressed the primary concern by “tilting” the control panel (up) just a bit making it surprisingly easy to see from above. Now that it is in place and we have had a chance to try it out a little…I think it is going to be really nice!

Electrical…Garage lights

I stopped by house on the way home from lacrosse practice with a car full of kids and took a few photos of the new garage lights. First a shot of all four doors from the middle of the driveway surface just after sunset.

Next the girls standing in the glow of the light over the third stall…and last the light above the fourth stall bathing the paver apron in light. I think the gooseneck barn lights are just about perfect!