Can't Get Enough of That Outdoor Living Thang

I've been spending money again. Today I ordered another extending patio table - this one extends to 130", a full 20" longer than the last one - with six chairs, a 10' by 13' rectangle patio umbrella (in taupe Sunbrella fabric), and an umbrella stand capable of stabilizing 70lbs of weight. As the umbrella is custom made, it won't be ready for about four weeks (i.e. the end of the summer), but the table and chairs will be here next Tuesday. This will give us dining capacity for 22, which is about what we need.

I've also sent my three old teak chairs - purchased about 13 years ago in England - to the patio furniture vendor to be refinished to their original brown color.

Meanwhile, back at the outdoor kitchen, the appliance guy was here again today to tweak the warming drawer, which is now straight in its space.

Inside the house, SS2 was here this morning with Dave the Bath Vendor, who started refinishing the tub in the guest bathroom. It stinks.

Remaining items:

The House:
- two exterior lights are not working.
- screen doors will be coming in about 10 days
- one sliding screen door is loose on its track

The Garden:
- still some plants on site needing to go in
- waiting for some plants to arrive, most notably two espaliered mandarin orange trees for the fence
- grass to be laid in the back
- mulch to be added everywhere
- landscape lighting to be installed (waiting for lights to come)
- the pool cover is still not closing properly every time (small gap on one side)
- pool light is not working, and different subcontractors are currently blaming each other
- mastick around the pool
- cleaning and re-sealing of the stone patio(to combat the redwood staining)
- doors under the outdoor kitchen sink need adjusting (one has sagged)
- fence repair where a couple of planks have fallen down
- creation of gate next to the office, for the "dog run" area
- a stone has fallen out of the hardscape and needs to be glued back in

A Final Big Push

Site Supervisor II let us know that he was on a training course earlier in the week - becoming certified in lead paint abatement, I bet that was exciting - which is why we hadn't heard from him. Well, we've sure been hearing from him today! SS2 has orchestrated a great influx of subcontractors in an effort to polish off all the remaining work.

First of all, the painters have arrived with avengance. They are currently painting the living room, dining room, and the hallway, all at the same time. I opted to have these areas painted the same color for speed and consistency, a kind of inoffensive beigey color. "Do not move any of the furniture!" orders the head honcho. So it looks like we'll be huddled in the kitchen today (but then again, we all seem to huddle in the office most of the time, so what's new?).

The electricians have been back. They repaired our phone line (which they broke on Tuesday). They are also wanting to charge us a lot more money to get the kitchen skylights working, including $800 for new transformers. SS2 has gone slightly mad at this cheekiness and is planning to bring in a new electrical firm to finish the work. The current electrician apparently had a tantrum and stormed off in his car. Gosh, drama.

In the family room, the cabinet makers have been inspecting the results of their own handiwork: Splintered veneer. I think I mentioned before that the lower cabinets on the TV unit had been delivered without any holes drilled for the adjustable shelves on one side of each cabinet. (Some genius at work there.) After much discussion, and attempts to avoid having to do anything about it, the cabinet people came back on Monday and drilled some holes. Which would have been fine except that they decided to drill from the existing hole on one side of the wood, through the wood and out the other side....with the result that the veneer was pushed out of place and splintered. (Perhaps the same genius at work?) I'm no carpenter, but even I could have told them that was what was going to happen if you push at veneer from the wrong side!

Anyway, they then said that they'd need to order special something or other to get this fixed and it would take several weeks...blah...blah. SS2 went balistic and told them that they need to fix it today. I only got his report of his language to them, and even that was fairly fruity. So we shall see. (I have every intention of naming and shaming the cabinet company in this blog at the end of the project - it will be well deserved.)

The tiler is here too, installing the glass shelves in the guest bathroom shower niche. When the painters have finished the main rooms, they'll be moving on to the touch ups in the other rooms: guest bathroom, family room, Deep Thought's room.

Could it be, are we really, no surely not.... Not almost done for real?

Slow progress...but will it never end?

Welcome to week 29 of our remodel.

I know things have been quiet in the Cardboard Box's blog recently. Well, there's not been a whole lot to report. First of all, we've had rain again. Bah. Second, we've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting...for subcontractors...for supplies...for an act of God maybe.

Site Supervisor II had a bit of a triumph last week on the kitchen skylights. He finally found someone who actually knew something about Velux windows. The diagnosis was that we need insect screens which will keep a magic button depressed, thus enabling the windows to open. They are now on order and, in the meantime, SS2 has put a stick pressing one of the magic buttons, and we now have an openable window. Yay! He's installed the new blinds too. We're waiting on a new transformer and new keypad, and hopefully that will result in the skylights being fixed.

The electricians came back yesterday to install the exterior lights. (We still have a couple on back order.) They also installed a couple of new telephone plates inside - with the result, it seems, that our phone is now out of order.

It would be nice if we could finally get the interior of the house fully complete. We have new furniture on the way for the family room, and we particularly don't want painting to be done after it arrives. We've not seen a sniff of the painters and the majority of the outstanding work is now for them.

Alas, SS2 has gone off to start supervising another job which is not so close to completion. I fear this will result in a long slow tail of our unfinished items being polished off.


On the landscaping, the inclement weather has not put the hardscapers off. They can't grout when it's wet, but they have finished laying all the ashlar paving. They've done an amazing job of laying out the crazy paving, and are waiting for the weather to improve before mortaring it. In the meantime, they've moved on to the stone cladding on the back wall, under the redwood trees, and the walls of the outdoor kitchen. I'll take photos tomorrow when it's not pouring with rain.

Just paid a bill for almost $8,000 for the granite countertop for the outdoor kitchen.

Finally, a prize to anyone who can explain why we have this little witch's hat on the roof?

Fences and Concrete and Doors, oh my!

The sun is shining and most of the fence - back and left - is done. Presumably the right will be done on Monday, although they might be waiting for some of the material that is piled against the fence to be removed. I'm trying to entice one of our friends, who has just started a remodel, to take our used redwood siding, which is apparently quite valuable and in pretty good shape. Site Supervisor II says that if he had anywhere to put it himself, he'd take it.

The concrete has been poured in the side yard and looks pretty sinuous and interesting. Now we have to resist walking on it till Monday.

SS2 has been working around the house all day picking up small jobs on the punch list. Most of what we have left is for the electrician and plumber.




A man came from a local garage door supplier today to fix our garage door. He changed our motor unit, including the chains and what nots that make the door physically open; tightened all the springs; installed the sensors that prevent the door closing on someone's head; and programmed two remotes and an exterior keypad. All this for $371, which seems a bargain. SS2 installed the light bulb for me, and that was another job done.

We also had a visit from the local BeamCo representative - that's the central vacuuming system. We've never used our whole house vacuum, as we've lacked a hose and the inclination; but as we made the effort to have the vacuum extended into the new parts of the house, I thought this would be the moment to find out how it works. Anyway, the rep came and had a look round at our floors. He recommended a hose and brush attachment and said he'd mail them to me. I asked him to show me how to empty the unit. We went into the garage and he began to demonstrate - and the unit basically blew up. He then spent almost an hour repairing it! After that, he decided to walk through the house with a stethoscope, listening to the walls to see if we had decent suction everywhere. The upshot of that was that there is a leak in the pipes somewhere in the extension...and he'll be back next week to crawl through the attic looking for it.

In other news, I think I've found a bed that I'd like to buy. We're planning to move our 12 year old gothic wonder into the new bedroom and have a new bed for ourselves.

Exterior photos: The Landscaping

Today we have the fencing subcontractors here. Weather permitting, they'll be repairing, replacing and adding to our back yard fences between now and Wednesday. I think they're also supposed to be providing the six foot gate at the front into the side yard.

Photos here of the prep work for the pergola; the pittosporums after they had been pruned back (to encourage more growth lower down); the back yard stonework finished except for the final grouting; and a hitherto unseen view into the San Francisquito Creek, which runs behind our house. It has a fair bit of water in it, also unusual.

C-Day Arrives...and Leaves

Today was supposed to be punch list day, which we might also term Completion Day. Over the course of last week, this became reframed as "punch list for the interior" day. In the event, it was not completion day at all.

Don't get me wrong: The project is very close to being finished (at least inside the house), but every room has something in it that needs completing, tweaking, fixing, touching up, etc. On the instructions of Site Supervisor II, I went round the house - though not the family room/ bathroom/ bedroom end - this morning with a pad of paper and some painters' tape, obsessively opening drawers, looking for scuff marks, and such like; and I sent him a list of 29 items requiring attention. Since sending it, I've spotted two more, but 29 seems like enough to be getting on with for now.

The list includes things like electrical receptacles unfinished, the phantom screens on the office windows being sticky, some minor dry wall damage in the dining room, scratches on the top of the dresser in the master bedroom.... By themselves, nothing major, but adding up to enough work to keep them busy for a few more days at least.

The only rooms that are finally complete are the master bathroom and Deep Thought's room, which were having only minimal work done to them anyway. The guest bedroom looks done, but then you discover that the lights inside the closet have not been wired in. The family room looks done, but then you open the TV cabinet and discover that the shelves where the DVD player and other kit should sit are not straight as the holes for the pegs to hold them have not been drilled at the same level (I kid you not). The office looks done, but the desk grommets need to be secured in place and the screens need correcting. You get the idea.

To say that SS2 is frustrated by the lack of finishing would be an understatement, I think. The cabinet makers reached the top of his hit list again last week, having made medicine cabinets for the guest bathroom that were too large to allow the light fittings to go between them (despite the light fittings having been in our garage for three months). Hubby is also getting pretty fed up with the endless fiddling about that is required at this stage. I am trying to be stoic about it as I have to live with it - and answer multiple questions every hour on all manner of subjects, from handle placement to likely mode of using the windows.

The two big steps forward of the day seem have been having door handles (well, actually finger cups) added to the office doors, which now look rather stylish; and the finalization of the cable man's work on the telephone, ethernet and cable installation. We now have a "smart panel" on the wall in the TV cabinet that should eliminate any need for ugly grommets and wires on show.

Wet Weekend Round Up

So little seemed to happen last week that I gave up writing the daily blog. So here's a brief summary of action:

- wood floors went into the bedroom, office, and the base of Little Starlet's closet, and each received their sanding and first two coats of varnishy stuff;
- the gimble mounted lights went into the bedroom and office ceilings;
- the snap-on outlet plates were installed in the kitchen (mostly);
- the baseboard and crown molding were painted in the master bedroom;
- the tile was almost finished in the guest bathroom, except for a small area around the toilet sewer pipe;
- the tub deck in the guest bathroom had the corner rounded to eliminate potentially injurious point;
- some of the cabinets in the kitchen were adjusted (again);
- the shelf inserts inside the main food pantry were installed - but they have to be removed because now the rolling shelves have no way to come out.
- the door bell was repaired, and now plays the first couple of bars of the 1812 overture (not sure this is a big improvement on the last tune).
- wood siding installation began on the exterior of the bedroom/bathroom
- the "scratch" coat for the stucco was installed on the office/laundry and the rear main wall.

That may sound like a lot, but is actually not a great deal. Most days we only had one or two guys here, which is a big difference. There was no action in the landscaping at all, as our stone layer was off with family issues.

In other news, I had a bit of taxpayer triumph. A couple of months ago, Site Supervisor II spoke with the City about repairing our sidewalk and road. The City told him that it would be ten years before they were back on our street, and that we were essentially out of luck. Last week I took matters into my own hands - inspired by new puddled formed by new rain - and contacted the Public Works Department. Long story short, they came to inspect and agreed to add our section to their repair schedule for 2010. In fact they said there were 20 places on our street that needed repair, so they'd be repairing the whole block! Hubby says, maybe they checked the computer to see how much property tax we pay....

Avoidable Delay Due to Sub-Contractor Incompetence

Almost nothing happened yesterday. Senmet was the only person working at the house, and he alternated between the exterior siding and little jobs inside, depending on the rain. Site Supervisor II was away at another project, where they're trying to finish the punch list this week. The wood floor people were supposed to be here - and we severely disrupted the house in preparation for their arrival - but they didn't arrive, despite SS2 phoning them eleven times (so he reported this morning).

The wood floor folks finally turned up today at 8:30am, which was still half an hour late. SS2 is livid because he has had to put all the other subcontractors off while the floor is being done, and knocking one day out of the schedule because of yesterday's no-show has implications for all the other subs and their availability.

Well, at least they're here now, which is more than we can say for the hardscaping crew. It rained a fair bit yesterday, but there is no rain today. In fact we have sun. But no hardscapers.

The stucco subcontractors arrived yesterday after we passed our lath inspection. They have stuccoed the office extension and are currently working on patching some of the small areas around the house perimeter.

Closet Done (and Almost Right)

I went out for a haircut and came back to discover the closet innards installation finished and the installer gone. It actually looks pretty good (it's a very simple design, so you'd hope it's hard to get wrong). The only thing we're missing is the canvas liners for the wire baskets. This isn't too much of a surprise given that the plan the man had didn't include any baskets. I already have a call into the central office and hope they'll just mail them to me.

They pulled the back off our house

We did give them permission to do it. The stucco at the back of the house turns out to have gone rotten. I wasn't tremendously surprised: The source of the problem seems to have been the master bathroom. When we moved in we discovered we had subterranean termites there. The termites had been encouraged by a water leak under the shower. When the shower pan was removed it turned out that the whole bathroom floor was rotten, as was most of the interior wall. We had to have everything replaced.

Anyway, the exterior stucco seems to have gone rotten from a combination of moisture wicking up from the earth via the stucco that had been spread down into the soil line (a total no-no) and the moisture inside the walls from the leaking shower pan way back when. That internal leak had no doubt been going for some years, and the stucco-in-the-ground was 50 years old, so rotten is no surprise.

As a result we've had the stucco subcontractors strip most of the exterior of the gable end off. This has given us an opportunity to add insulation in the wall - we had none before, which makes the way our room got very cold in the winter more understandable - and there will be a new moisture barrier under the sheathing. An unexpected but appropriate upgrade.

Traffic Calming

Yesterday we had 15 trucks outside out house, including an enormous concrete mixer. Today was much quieter, just five vehicles.

The landscaping crew continued their work on setting up the forms for the front yard concrete (due to be poured on Tuesday, weather permitting). I have to forgive them their last trench, upon which I poured such scorn, as it turned out to be the base for the courtyard wall.

The guys from Jim's Bunch continued working away inside the house. They ripped out the inside of the closet in our bedroom. They have installed the dresser in our bedroom, and also finished off the wine fridge area in the kitchen. Various bumps and hammers from other parts of the house, tasks unspecified. Everything seemed quite calm today.

Site Supervisor II declares that the job will be finished in six weeks.

Photos here:
i) The old hot tub box on the side of the house, where our predecessors kept the water chemicals and stuff. We're having it taken off - retaining the potentially useful electrical outlet, because you can never have too many - and the wall made good. This photo gives a little peek into the way the house is built, with stucco, paper, chicken wire and lumber.
ii) The dresser in the master bedroom in process. This will be painted.
iii) The back yard as viewed from the redwood trees. The concrete was dry enough for me to venture out this afternoon.
iv) The fancy metal flashing at the weep screed which now extends all around our house's perimeter. Apparently this is state of the art and will block any pesky termites from finding their way in. (The little blighters had eaten quite a lot of our door steps and similar, it turns out.)
v) The wine fridge area in the kitchen almost done. I live in hope that the fridges will be moved into the kitchen and out of our dining room early next week.

Have you been paying attention? Finish this sentence: "Another Day..."

It is Monday. Welcome to week 21 of the remodel. Guess what joyful occurrence has gladdened the hearts of the Cardboard Box dwellers today? Yes, a new hole in the front yard. In fact, to be specific, two holes. The first hole is involved in a sewer relocation connected to the "outdoor kitchen" we are building in the back yard. The second hole is to accommodate a pipe that was the subject of installation in a previous hole. This landscaping crew is worthy of employment with BT or British Gas or one of those wretched utility companies. Site Supervisor II says he tried not to notice what they were doing, it was too painful to watch.

Inside the Cardboard Box, the dishwasher finally came back to life today. Unfortunately it leaked into the cabinet under the sink. Turned out to be something to do with gravity and one of the pipes having a dip in it. Anyway, SS2 called the plumber in to fix it and told him very sternly that the whole kitchen remodel was predicated on eliminating the leaking faucet and water damaged sink cabinet, so it had better get put right. SS2 is a pretty mild mannered guy, so it's easy to see when he's not tremendously impressed. While he was here, the plumber also swapped the Insinkerator (garbage disposal) around from the big sink to the small sink, and installed the second Insinkerator in the vegetable sink. Houston, we now have total sink capability.

We've spotted various little fixes that are needed around the kitchen, but we've decided not to moan on about them just now. We'd rather the guys get on with some of the remaining big stuff than spend their time fiddling with the little stuff. That can wait for the punch list at the end, if necessary.

Our whole house fan was working over the weekend, but isn't now. We discovered that the attic fans had been left switched on, so we turned them off at the subpanel. SS2 said that the thermostatic controls for the attic fans would be installed today. Quite what actually happened I'm not sure: The attic fans are still permanently on, while the whole house fan is no longer working. It seems like that with all our electrical work: One thing gets fixed and another stops working. The electicians claim that we have funky wiring (and I can believe that) but even so, surely this isn't absolutely necessary.

The carpenters continued working on the windows today and seem to be close to finishing.



In other big news, the pocket doors for the kitchen/study wall have arrived. Yay! A couple of the guys from Jim's Bunch started to install the pockets this afternoon. This is arguably the last big piece of actual construction needing to be done. When the pocket doors are in, they'll be able to finish the drywall in the kitchen, the tile floor, install the last cabinet, and take the blessed wine fridges out of the dining room at last. All good stuff.

Now, to return to yesterday's important question about the light switch in the living room, here is a photo of it. Would you have it moved or not?

Kitchen almost complete

Works continues on the kitchen. The countertops and cabinets are in. The tiler is almost done with the floor. The painter has brushed a sample of "Golden Lab" on the wall so we can see that we really like it (which we do). Here's a few catch up photos from Thursday afternoon showing various elements of the kitchen, with the tiler at work.

Go on, torment me, why don't you?

The house has been in total turmoil today. It was fairly oppressive.

The diggers and jack hammers were hard at it in the back yard, removing every last vestige of concrete from around the pool in preparation for the 200 feet long trench that needs to be dug for the BBQ utilities. Worryingly, the landscape guys decided that the posts that hold up the overhanging roof outside the family room and living room were in the wrong place; and so they removed them, propping up the roof instead with flimsier looking sticks balanced on wood blocks. I almost ran round to Site Supervisor II for reassurance when I saw this - figuring that he knows more about houses and roofs than the landscapers would - but then I decided that they must have consulted. Hubby thinks this is an example of plunging head into sand rather than opening potentially difficult (embarrassing?) dialog....




The dining room was taken over by a couple of men from Jim's Bunch installing the new French doors. This involved ripping out the existing door unit, of course, leaving a large hole in the wall for most of the day. Much drilling and sanding, as the threshold of the old door and that of the new door proved to be incompatible. The guys covered everything in the dining room with plastic and blue tape, as there was lots of dust. As a result I could not get at anything in the dining room and haven't been able to make a cup of tea all day (sob). Luckily I was headed out to a friend's house to do some pre-RV trip cooking and she fed and watered me at lunchtime.



In the kitchen we are seeing great progress. The countertops are in, complete with sinks. I am a little concerned that there seems to be no space cut for the cooktop (which is currently sitting dustily in the garage). The microwave/appliance garage cabinet still needs to be installed. The floor has started. The dour Russian tile guy put the concrete layer down on Monday, and today he started putting the actual tile down. I reckon he's about a quarter way through. I popped my head round the door late this afternoon to take a peek at what he was doing, and he was quite affronted that I disturbed him. "Do not step on the tiles!" he ordered. "I'm not coming anywhere near them," I told him with a cheery wave of the hand.

Welcome to Week 18

Week 18 of the remodel. The sheetrock guys were here the whole of Saturday putting the walls up in the kitchen, laundry and office. They are here this morning putting the sheet rock up in the bedroom/bathroom/family room. Lots of drilling. Here are a couple of photos of the bedroom with blown-in cellulose insulation on the walls and ceiling, pre-sheetrock; and the laundry post-sheetrock. You can see the new electricity subpanel at the right in the laundry.




Work continues in the kitchen. The countertop guy is here this morning. We've just had "one of those conversations" about the location of the main sink, where I'm being asked to say if I want the sink two inches to the right or the left on the basis of something I can't see. I'm sure it'll be fine....

Here is a photo of the kitchen as it stood on Sunday, and also the office. Kinda looks like a room now, doesn't it?




The electricians are whirring away behind me as I speak. I think they're trying to fix the outlet that has never worked in the dining room. Maybe they'll even get to fixing the outlet boxes in the living room floor today - Deep Thought bruised her foot on one last week, so we're keen to see them put right.

Finally, the landscaping crew is outside in their digger removing the final bit of concrete in the area where the outdoor kitchen will be. What a job, digging holes for a living.

We Almost Passed the Inspection

We had the All Trades inspection this afternoon, and we almost passed. The two things we need to do to pass the inspection actually have nothing to do with the work that all the construction guys have been busily doing!

First of all the inspector says that we need to upgrade our gas meter - that it is undersized for the house with our current appliance load, never mind when we add the extra items in the outdoor kitchen. Since this will involve the City, I can only imagine how expensive it's going to be.

Secondly the inspector wants us to remove a piece of asbestos waste pipe from the front yard. Site Supervisor II says this is really pretty silly, since it is a waste (i.e. attaches to sewer) pipe, the asbestos is the "good" sort with no damage, and it's two feet undergroud. But if that's what the inspector wants, that's what he gets. So the Site Supervisor has asked the hardscaping company to dig yet another trench through the front yard in order to remove this pipe (about 15 feet). I fear it might spell the demise of our cherry tree, which is ironic in a city that is so keen on trees.

Photos attached from today:
1) the current state of the kitchen - don't the cabinets look fine;
2) a big, big trench in the back yard, waiting for the dissipator to be installed tomorrow - rain permitting - and also a photo of the plug that goes in the end of the pipe (I thought this was just funny, whoever expects to see an 18 inch plug?)






One of the families in Deep Thought's class heard that we have no kitchen, and brought dinner round to us this evening. Aren't people nice?

Kitchen continues even though it's Saturday

The drywall workers turned up at 8:15am to continue skimming the kitchen walls. Bit of a surprise when they started rattling on the front door, as no one had warned me they were coming.





Photos:
one of the drywall workers on his stilts to do the upper walls;
the pool coping installed;
the garage full of kitchen cabinets;
and the humorous labelling of the cabinets by the makers.

Activity Explosion

The rain finally stopped yesterday morning and we suddenly saw an explosion of activity in and around the Cardboard Box.

First, the windows that have been patiently sitting in the garage have been installed. We are now fully fenestrated, both in walls and roof.

Second, the kitchen demolition was completed. Floor totally gone. The central island wall has been moved about two inches to give more space between the refrigerator wall and the center island (so that Hubby and I will need to engage in less physical contact whilst cooking and cleaning up).

Third, the dry wallers (that's plasterers to the Brits out there) have appeared in the kitchen to repair the walls. They have incredibly funky stilts for plastering the upper parts of the wall, like prosthetic lower legs. Fabulous, I am sure the kids would like some.

Fourth, the kitchen cabinets have arrived and are in the garage awaiting installation.

Fifth, the landscapers are trenching in the front yard with great vigor. They are laying drainage pipes.

Sixth, the pool people are out back putting the new Connecticut blue stone coping around the edge of the pool. Mike the Pool explained that this will be the last thing they do until the rest of the hardscaping is in. They'll be back to plaster the pool, fill it, brush it and install the cover later in the process.

I'm sure I've forgotten something, but that seems like a fair bit to me.

The heat is on

More rain today, lots of it. Big puddles and getting bigger all the time. The road outside the house is semi-flooded. This weather is forecast to continue through next week.

Still, there is activity at the Cardboard Box. The HVAC guys have just arrived with the new furnace for the bedroom/family room end of the house. They carried it with enormous difficulty across the muddy patch that used to be our front yard, eventually having to take it out of the cardboard container which simply disintegrated in their hands. Tomorrow they will be under the house installing more duct work.

Ron the Plumber also came in today to discuss gas lines - apparently we will be pulling 100,000 BTUs for the BBQ grill island, which means we have to upgrade our gas lines. The Landscape Designer thought maybe we could have that tagged onto the line for the pool heater, but it's not big enough.

The windows are waiting for the rain to stop for installation. The faucets are all ordered and some have arrived too. The door furniture order is about to go in. We finalized the plans for the family room TV cabinet and the study file drawers this morning too. In order to get the kitchen cabinets, and to pay for other things, of course, I wrote a check for the fourth installment of the construction company's charges this morning: $82,000 and change.

On the landscaping, more deliveries this morning: many white plastic pipes and an enormous black one, which The Architect thinks must be the dissipator for the back lawn (i.e. the key part of the drainage). Apparently this gets sunk in the ground, filled with gravel and all the drainage pipes attach to it. We could do with a bit of that right now.

Powerless

The big excitement of today was having no electricity. The main subpanel and the electricity meter were moved this morning. We had several inspections during the course of the process, with visits too by the utility company. It all went smoothly. Apart from the electricians, no one else was on site today. (No power, no workers.)

We had our regular site meeting today. The big news from that was that (1) the Caesarstone will cost almost $3,000 more than the number we had last week and (2) the windows are due to be delivered on January 25. Until the windows come, there is little more they can do. That is also the day, of course, that the kitchen demolition is due to start. So I guess we'll have a big surge of activity that week. I should enjoy the peace while I can.