bedside charging

One of the items on my honey-do list was to address bedside charging. When we designed the bedside cabinets and located the plugs, the idea was to be able to charge our iDevices bedside, useful because (1) we are generally reading on our iPads before we go to sleep (so it would be handy to plug 'em in to charge right there) and (2) we use iDevices as our alarms. Woe to the waker that has to wake and charge without bedside charging!

The plan went according to plan until it became clear that the back of the drawer wouldn't allow a charger to be plugged in and still allow the drawer to fully close. Finally, after debating whether or not to bring the cabinet maker back out to do this (we forgot to ask him during an earlier trip...) I tackled the task today with little trouble. 

The key things were (1) protecting the face of the drawer when sawing a space for the chargers and (2) having the right blades for the saw (a smooth-cut blade and a coping blade). The last step was drilling a hole in the side of the cabinet large enough to allow the cables to come through. 

review: Swanx cabinetry

The funnest person we had the chance to work with while building the house was Michele, owner of Swanx. Not only was she great to collaborate with (I truly felt like we worked as a team), but her ideas and design and decorating thoughts were spot on (even when they didn't seem like it at first; I learned to trust the Swanx: she knows what she's doing). And she's a hoot to boot!

The kitchen and baths came out awesome, and she even did the built-in cantilevered-off-the-wall bedside cabinets, which came out cooler than we could have ever imagined. Oh, and she also did the buds-n-suds room adding the pizazz of lights in the uppers. She does more traditional (and transitional) kitchens as well but was perfect in our Modern project.

Highly recommended!

horizontal wooden planes

We also hired the good folks at Coulbury Design to built and install bathroom shelves and the built-in desktop in the upstairs bedroom. As might be expected, we requested hickory to match sills and floors. Dan, who is fixated on not showing screws or attachment hardware (a good fixation for Modern), was able to install with simply the board showing. One design element we requested was to pull the desk top out from the wall a couple inches so any electrical cords could fall down the back. He claims the desk is strong enough to support baby making... 

week 43.7143: plants, grasscrete, gated, LEDs, in hot water

Lots of progress, but still a ways to go...

a planting

They've started planting trees and working up the landscaping on the front:

The palm tree behind the hot tub...

Piles of mulch in the front yard.

Texas Mountain Laurel in the back yard.

Texas Mountain Laurel in the front yard.

One of the Mexican Sycamores in the front yard (the other one is planted as well).

grasscrete

...has started to go in along with an unexpected charge: no one thought about how to shore up the ends.

the gate

The skeleton of the gate is in. The latch is sooper freakin cool...

LEDs

The LEDs are in!

In the laundry/buds-n-suds room. Those solid shelves will be replaced with glass shelves.

In the kitchen.

In the top shelf of the bookshelves.

Ironically, we went with the more expensive white backed LEDs in the kitchen (where it turns out you can't see them unless you really, really try) and went with the less expensive black-backed LEDs in the bookshelves (where you can't help but see them). We were planning all along to put some flavor of lip along there anyway, so no biggie. Funny, though...

primered rail

how hot is that water?

The hot water heater controller is now installed:

week 41.286: more lights, real AC, mobile plugs, underground power

With things happening so quickly these days, it's hard not to stop in at the house during the week and see what's happening! So I shot up north for lunch and a quick peek.

we have AC!

Here's one of the satellite thermostats keeping the indoors at a reasonable 75 degrees.

Looks like they're still working on setting the main brains of the operation:

The ERV was running as well, but without the AC running. It'll need to be programmed/hooked into the system such that it only runs when the AC runs.

let there be (even more) light!

Here're some closeups of the Kovacs lights in the master bathroom:

Love how the glass enclosure looks like a box inside a box.

Here are the lights in the powder room:

And here they are in the upstairs bath:

Here are the lights in the master closet and laundry:

and in the work-out room (second bedroom):

plugged

 The plug is now in the master drawer:

The thought here was to be able to keep recharging bathroom utensils in a drawer and off of the countertop. The drawer opens and closes like a breeze.

And they've started running conduit in the back yard (power for the stage and the hot tub):

week 39: cans, cubes, covers, cuts, and color

20 days to completion?

cans

The electrician installed cans in most of the house (sans second story and art lights). He installed standard cans in the entry and dining areas where they should be directional cans (to shine on art). Electrician still working off of draft plans. Sigh... Something for the punch list.

cube lights

The electrician installed the cube lights (except for the one on the front wall [there first needs to be a front wall...]). They look good! Their silvery goodness is close to a perfect match to the garage gray color. Will need to come back later and address the slight, but noticeable, slant of the cubes on the garage siding...

plug covers

Speaking of matching the garage color, the standard gray for outdoor plug covers is a shoe-in for the gray on the house and garage:

more fencework

The wood fence is now stained black. Intended it to be stained dark gray, but I guess black is a darker shade of dark gray? Nonetheless, it looks good. The fence is there, but it recedes into the shady background when stained black.

Looking out the main back entry, you can see the "fancy" fence made out of Hardie. It will be painted the same color gray as is on the house and garage (or at least that's the plan; stuff seems somewhat random these days...).

Here's looking at the fence out the kitchen window:

The back fence is starting to go in, but not without a wee bit of drama. The installers have been clear cutting shrubs and small trees along the fence paths. Not a big deal, but that caused us concern that they would chop down the fig tree, a tree the bride is rather attached to. So I attached the following sign to the tree:

The builder called and said the tree had to come down in order for the fence to go in. After the bride became suspicious that I felt the tree was expendable in the cause of the fence (no comment on the validity of her suspicions...), she threatened divorce if the fig came down (it's me or the tree, basically). I explained that to the builder, so he said he would leave a gap in the fence at the tree. I didn't quite get why we couldn't have the fence and the tree (we want it all!) since the tree wasn't in the direct line of the fence. Went out to check on things and saw the problem: They were building the fence five feet in from the back of the property this side of the existing chain link fence. Once that got straightened out (take the old fence out, put the new fence in line with the old fence, leave the tree alone), we have the fence and the tree.

At one point the builder texted me a photo of the fig tree with the message "Call me." After a busy hearing and meeting filled morning, I called and left a message: "If the tree is gone, you better have a recommendation for a divorce attorney for me." But the tree is there. He wanted to suggest we trim it so it looks more tree-like. The bride is happy; that's all that counts in the end.

power to people!

Well, almost... The power pole on the garage is now in and ready to accept the line from the city pole. Neat that the receiving pole doesn't extend above the garage, so it's more hidden. If you recall, they originally wanted to stick this whole mess on the back of the house (although as far as "the mess" is concerned, it looks real clean) before I reminded them we had spec'd underground utilities to the house.

Electrician said power in the house on Monday? Not sure we believe that...

shower tile

Tile for the master shower is now in, including the linear drain, and it looks good. This didn't go exactly according to plan since the tile was supposed to run the other direction, but it looks good.

missing plugs (mostly) no longer missing

They found the plug in the laundry:

But not the stairwell:

Saw the electrician on site last week, and he explained that plug-finding is the responsibility of the drywaller. Nonetheless, before he flips the power on, he'll do an inventory of plugs and fixtures to make sure they are all there. A missing plug could mean a house fire...

hob hole

The countertopper cut the hole for the cooktop, and it all looks pretty slick! The hole for the potfiller is also in.

reflected light

It's been interesting to see how light reflects off the ceiling and gives the wall a slight brownish color. When I first saw this, I thought that the painters had not done a good job in the living room. But it's reflected light...

schedule

20 days to completion (or so the builder says). It seems possible, but there also seems to be a lot of work left to do, and progress seems slower than it needs to be. We shall see... Three weeks is a lot of time, but then again, it's not.

punch list

inside:

- countertops

- guest bathroom tile

- master bathroom tile

- plumbing fixtures

- lighting fixtures (partial; 80% done)

- plugs

- switches

- speakers (us) (partial; 80% done)

- security plug covers (us) 

- wifi stations (us)

- master bathroom shelves (us?)

- guest bathroom shelves (us?)

- closet poles (partial, 80% done)

- appliances

- gas (partial)

- power (partial; 25% done)

- wood floor

- polish concrete floor 

- drywall touchup (partial)

- paint touchup

- master bathroom mirror

- guest bathroom mirror

- powder mirror (us)

- kitchen sills

- range hood

- range hood cover

- living room floor plug covers

- railing for stairwell

- railing for balcony

- doorbell chime
- missing plug in stairwell
- missing plug in laundry 

outside house:

- outside lighting fixtures

- outside plugs (partial)

- cable

- roof over limestone/bookcase bump

- outdoor spigots

- solar (us)

- rainwater (us)

- gutters

- water heater

- doorbell

- garage door

- touchup eyebrows

- clean roof
- garage floor sealed?

landscaping:

- gate

- fancy fence (partial; 75% done)

- not-so-fancy fence

- back fence  (partial; 25% done)

- plant trees

- pavers

- grasscrete

- grass for grasscrete

- grass

- mulch

- stone

- horno base

- horno  (partial; in transit)

- walls

- wall light and address numbers

- mailbox (us)

- feathergrass in driveway holes (us)

for dan the man:
- bookshelf fills
- plug hider
- wood sill for giant window?
- kitchen shelves
- master bathroom shelves
- guest bathroom shelves
- guest closet shelves