Solid as a Rock

I'm posting this entry from home i.e. the internet connection is back up and running.

The concrete for the heated floor was poured today. Things are moving along.








They also installed the new back door. I think it looks pretty awesome. It'll be great to have more light entering the kitchen. I also think that the dogs will like being able to look out back... and bark... and bark... and bark... and, oh well.

The trim will probably be installed later this week.












Here is a side-by-side comparison of the new door compared to the old door. Notice that the trim hasn't been put on yet, but it still looks great. I think that the white door goes well with the white trim of the storm windows. We will be adding a full light storm door as well. You may question the need for both. The storm door allows us to utilize a screen to let air flow through the house on nice days.

The Dog Ate my Homework

So, you're wondering why I'm late posting to the blog this morning. Well, "the dog ate my homework". Seriously, the contractor cut my cable wire. No TV, no cable. Thank God for Tivo. I had something to watch last night from recordings earlier in the day. (Unfortunately I missed Big Brother 8; but it was only a Power of Veto night not an elimination night.) Unlike little Jimmy whose dog ate his homework, big James has a digital camera to prove that this really did happen.
So, they cut the main cable wire to use it as a guide to fish the electrical wire up to Wesley's office. Then they spliced it back together. Pictures 1 and 2 show the splice. Picture 3 shows where the two wires are running up from the basement along the stack for the bathroom vents. Apparently, the main cable wire didn't like being spliced. Now the entire system is down. I just received a call from Wes and the cable company is at the house right now trying to fix this. So hopefully there be no other delays in posting.

If I had made a post yesterday it would have been regarding preparations for the heated floor. Note in the pictures above that the base of all of the cabinets have been sealed with foam in preparation for the spreading of the concrete. The electrical insepctor comes today. With their approval, the floor concrete will then be laid and the job will continue.

As I was jumping out of the shower this morning, the new back door was delivered. I'm changing the current door out to install a full light door. I think that this is going to be a wonderful addition and bring in even more light into the kitchen

As Scooby Doo would say... "Ruhh???" (In other words, "What the..."?)

When I got in today, it was hard to tell what had been done. I looked high and low and all I really noticed were two things:

1. The wiring for the heated floor was completed as the wire for the thermostat was enclosed in the wall. It looks like a new junction box has been put in place for the controls.
2. The water pipes were extended through the base of the cabinet for the sink. It is amazing how they know EXACTLY where to put those such that they only cut away only the space that they need.

So I figured, "eh, not that much today".

Well, when I got upstairs I noticed the the furniture in Wesley's office had been moved away from the wall. (Bottom left) It was a little startling. It appears that they've begun work on an extra request that I made.

All of the outlets on the entire front of the house are running off of the same circuit. This involves half of the rooms in the house including the dining room, living room, Wesley's office, the main bathroom, and the master bedroom. Right now we've got the fridge in the living room, a microwave in the dining room, a computer an peripherals on a jack in Wesley's office, and the TV/Tivo/DVD on a jack in the master bedroom... all on the same circuit. If someone heats up a burrito in the microwave (no, we don't really heat up burritos), everything blows out. So I asked Alan to investigate how hard it would be to run half of those rooms on a separate switch. The furniture had been moved because they had begun running the wiring into Wesley's office where he will have a new box with 4 outlets to handle his computing and peripheral needs. (Bottom right)

Heavenly Heat for your Feet

The installation of the heated floor began today. In the picture to the right you will see rows of electrical wiring winding back and forth through the kitchen. This is the heating element for the floor. You'll also observe several bags of concrete. This will be poured over the wire and serve as the subfloor for the tile floor.

This is going to be a great addition to the kitchen. I've never had heated floors before, but I hear that they're pretty awesome.










Here is a close up view of the heating element. Notice how the wire is kept aligned by the track running perpendicular to the rows of wiring.










The wiring is ultimately tied to a thermostat that will control the tempature in the kitchen, mudroom, and half bath.