Before...

It's skylight day. I think the fact that it might rain will be a good motivator to be efficient and not take too many coffee breaks.



















During... early on, having just cut the hole.















During... Frame in, working on the flashing.















After!
















From the inside, blue sky mining.

Cable and Data Ready

Just finished pulling the Category 6 wires... they follow the cable lines. Skylight Friday? Oh I hope so.




Our future structured wire control box. It'll have the modem, a router, an amplifier for the cable signal, and probably the wireless router. It's like a network hub for the house.
















Through the first floor joists on the way upstairs. Cable on the left, data on the right. That's a media room speaker wire on the far left.

Passage to upstairs through the stair bay.

MBR-1 port. 2 more in the master, 1 each in the other bedrooms.

Side Project II: the 10 Year Kayak Plan

It seems like just 5 or 6 years ago, but it was actually in 1999 that I decided to build a Pygmy Kayak. This weekend, we got much closer to being able to paddle.

Of course, I am still in completely over my head. I needed some help.

We headed up to PT to visit the B.'s and to access Chris' unlimited knowledge of how to make or fix anything. There is a very nice symmetry here because when I first bought the kit, Chris and Reeb let me set up in their shop in the South Park Marina. Not only did they loan out their space, they were, as always, insanely generous with their time and knowledge. And now, we'll finish up the boat the same way.

We set up in the yard and the first thing to do was to make a decision about what the final finish of the boat would be: paint or varnish. I, being a water sign,

chose the path of least resistance- paint. Sand less and get done

faster. And start paddling.

Having decided on a against varnish, the next step was to fair the sides so that when it does get painted, the sides will be ridiculously smooth and sleek. We sanded, filled the pits and various dings, and then sanded a few more times.

When it did come time to paint, Chris had to put a wrench to the bench grinder to make it skinny enough to loosen some of the sprayer's bolts so we could clean it up.

Tool fabrication

Hope watching from the safety of the Tacoma.

Smoov.

Chris attempts to not ruin yet another pair of jeans.

The primer we used was called Hi-Coat or Hi Top or Hi Hat or something like that. It's a filling epoxy that will make things even sleeker and smoother.

Break time!

Cable Ready

The upstairs is loaded with RG6 coaxial cable for data and video. Woop. I didn't get the Category 6 wire in yet, but it will just follow the path of the cable, so that install will be pretty easy.

The only tricky thing was to make sure that the low voltage lines stay at least a foot away from the line voltage wiring and that they only cross at 90 degree angles. The line voltage wiring creates a magnetic field and can cause interference with the data, phone, and cable tv signals. Also, each individual cable receptacle has to go all the way back to the structured wire control box. I got 350' of cable and had exactly three feet left over. Perhaps cutting it too close.

Friday Projects

Before the weekend, we have some things to accomplish!







Morning project: add some headers to the client's closet and install an attic access ladder!





























Lunch project: construct... a taco!












P.M. project: run this cat 6 and cable wire to all the bedrooms! This part should be the most fun. I bought a structured media control box today where we can run all of our phones, data, and cable through. It's pretty cool. I'll put some conduit up to the attic from the basement as well for future upgrades, too.

Everybody's Wiring for the Weekend

We had a great weekend, weather-wise, here at project central. Sunny and hot, perfect for crawling around in a sweltering uninsulated second story. Heat radiating down through the roof. Sawdust and bits of fiberglass drifting lazily through any angled shaft of light. Fans moving hot air from over here to over there. If that sounds complainy, guess again. After the winter we've had, the sauna felt great.


It's mostly done. We'll need to connect up the home runs, but just about everything is pulled, stapled, and spliced.



All that's left is the cable tv and the phone and data wires.








The headboard. We'll move that pile of scrap lumber before we put the bed there.













Sconces for the stairs (thank god we got client buy off on that!). There's 4 of them.





















Master b. has lotsa copper.


















Light the master b! The little middle box is a fan.












The way to the basement, where 200 amps flows like a Sonoma chardonnay to a busload of thirsty tourists.


















Light the hallway! Light the laundry!







































The new and improved beauty station outlet center.












Perhaps the coolest feature, the smoke detectors are now hardwired, so that if any smoke is sensed anywhere, all of them go off.

skylight insanity!

We decided to put a skylight in the dining room! Well, just for storage until we can move it upstairs and install it.

It's so, so big. Like many things, I guess, the cost of a skylight is actually committing to the skylight concept. That's expensive. But once you've subscribed to the window-in-the-roof philosophy, then increasing it's size from 2 x 4 to 4 x 4 is pretty cheap.

Cheap is definitely the wrong word. But relative to the initial buy in, increasing your glass size, if your roof an take it, is cost effective.

Calm is Over, Part 1

Yesterday, Lawrence and I did the layout for the wiring upstairs. It's a smart way to do things. We went around and decided what fixtures, outlets, and switches belong where and then nailed the box where we wanted it. It was great for the client to come home and actually have a visual of where lights and switches are going to be so that she could give some meaningful feedback. Lawrence had some great insights about how to light the stairwell and that part of the project came out really well

Today, he'll be by with Don and they will start to drill some holes and pull some wire.

Headboard in master bedroom (add fan above)

Laundry closet (extra outlets for ironing the client's power suits)

Wall sconces to light the stairs.

Client Beauty Station (move 5 feet east)

As for me, the client had some great insights into the shortcomings of the design so I'm off to the store to get a bunch more supplies.

Calm Before the Storm

Things have been relatively quiet this week, with the compressor's grumble being replaced by the quiet whirring of the search engine. On Tuesday, the skylight for the south bedroom was ordered; hopefully it will be here by this weekend. If it does arrive today or early tomorrow, Robert and I can install it before Saturday. It's supposed to be 85+ degrees tomorrow, so that would be pretty ideal. Hopefully, we'll be able to drag the client to the window store to decide on window finishes (clear anodized or bronze anodized?) so we can move the window schedule.





Lawrence is also coming by tomorrow to start drilling holes and putting together a materials list for wiring. I'll need to decided on the arrangement of the recessed lights before Saturday. The client has specified some wall sconces behind the headboard of the bed, so we'll have to take that into account as well.





The kitchen lighting scheme is brilliant, but it would be overkill for a bedroom.














The living room scheme has the small low-voltage can lights, I myself can't see spending that kind of scrilla on a bedroom.








It should be a busy weekend!


On another note, Tica and I have been watching David Attenborough's The Life of Birds, albeit for different reasons. We both highly recommend it.

And now for something completely different...

On my way to get some house stuff, I saw this!

I had work to do, but I sent the client with her camera to check it out. This kind of stuff is right up her alley. As it turns out, she came back with a report of the nicest folks, local types, who pitched the idea of a mural to Kusina Filipina. The group does artwork all over the place, most recently at the Sugar Shack Baking Co. up in Lake City. In fact, there's a reception tomorrow!

Meet the artists! 6 to 8, 8056 Lake City Way NE.

It looks to me like they have maybe a weekend or two to go, but I think that some kind of block party/summer kickoff is in order when they finish.

According to the client, "they looked like they totally had their s. together."

Hanford gets beautified! Stop by Kusina Filipina and give them some positive feedback!