Glass Act

It has been a little over a year since we restarted construction, and yet many, many important details remain to be completed before we can even start thinking about moving into the new house. Just to get some perspective on the task, we went off to enjoy some quiet contemplation in the mountains:



As long as we were there anyway, I also got some skiing in:



Back at the house, the word of the week was "glass."

The top deck railing got its glass panels to block the wind without obstructing the views:




and inside the house, the bathrooms got their glass enclosures:





The next bits of glass went into the stair railings inside the house. These two were placed in the steel tracks that were previously installed:




And this one is waiting its turn:



Let's just say it's a work in progress:



From glass to a glassy shine, the lower deck finally got its sealer:




Of course, all that glass around the house needs some light to reflect and the new dining room chandelier should take care of that, once it has some bulbs in it:



One last piece of glass covered the camera in the entry system. Once the system is hooked up and working, we can see who is asking for admittance into our house before we admit them. We don't one anyone bedazzled by all this glass.



Next week, the last of the glass, more paint and more trim work.

Gate to the Castle

The plywood doors guarding the garage got some backup when our new garage door was finally installed. We are not quite ready to toss the plywood outer doors that serve as protection, bulletin board, information center, and design sketch pad quite yet, but at least now we have an alternative to plywood if we want it:



Not to harp on the plywood, but the glass also tends to let in a bit more light:



Another change to the front of the house is the placement of a very high-tech fire strobe above the electrical meter box. Since disco is long gone, the only purpose of having a strobe light on your house is to attract attention if the fire sprinklers have begun sprinkling inside the house. We certainly hope never to see this particular light in action:




You may have also noticed in the photograph of the electrical box that our downspout is now painted a bright red color. As cool and pin-stripey as this looks, the red color paint is only a primer and will eventually be painted over with a color matching the color of the house to mute the presence of the downspout, the exact opposite effect currently achieved by painting it bright red. The same color has also been applied to the massive piece of ductwork that connects our range hood to the small jet-powered exhaust fan to the outside world. This one I may leave as bright red just to remind everyone how much air is moving through it:



In addition to the war paint, after the stucco do-over was done over, the bridges were reinstalled, the railing went up and the step up to the deck was finished:





From below, the three bridges and the handrails and cabling give the house a very industrial and hard-edged look. Even the Ipe decking feels more like metal than wood. Pretty bleak and bleakly pretty.




Inside the house, the elevator cabin got its own hardwood floor:



The bathroom lighting and medicine cabinets were aligned:





The pot filler curled itself up on a perch on the wall, like a coiled serpent basking in the sun and waiting to strike, but with water instead of venom:




And the electrical inspector got a little carried away with the occupancy sensors in the bathrooms. These things automatically shut the light off if there is no motion in the room for a certain period of time -- I guess now we have to do jumping jacks in the shower if we don't want to end up showering in the dark:



Of course this is the same inspector that forced us to remove the 3.5W LED panels from under the kitchen cabinets and replace them with 13W Fluorescent bulbs to comply with the efficiency code -- I'm still puzzling over this one.

Next week: Lots of glass, more elevator shenanigans, and marble decking, part deux.

It's Not Easy Being Too Green

I have officially given up the shaft as it is now occupied by an elevator and the associated machinery that moves the small room up and down. It's a fair trade, I suppose, but I am going to miss my Galilean experiments and just general fun of having a 40 foot plunge in the middle of the house.



Now we just need to hire an elevator operator and we will be set.



As an early sign of encroaching madness, even before the house is finished, we have started doing makeovers.

As you may recall, the kitchen back splash was made from these glass subway tiles:




The Color Fuhrer, however, deemed them too Green and they were promptly ripped off the wall and had them replaced with these tiles, which are, well, less green:



Along the same lines, the tub deck in the second bath was inlaid with very delicate round glass tiles:




Due to a technical issue having to do with the height of the tub deck, we had to raise the deck by covering the tiles with a marble slab:




We really need to get this house finished soon, before it's too late:



In other tile-related news, the back patio finally got its tiles:



The back of the house also received vent piping and vent covers:




The front deck got the metal framework for the glass railing:




And the metal framework for the glass railing inside the house was also installed:




In plumbing news, the steam unit and its control panel were installed in the master bathroom:




And here is where the steam comes out:



Of course the plumbing would not be complete without the electronic shower controller:



And just to prove that we did not just get the largest size of everything, the world's smallest sink was installed in the garage laundry room:



Our friends at Sears also made a return appearance and delivered a slightly smaller washer and dryer that fit snugly in the closet of the second bedroom:



In an attempt to cover the sound of all this machinery, 24 speakers were installed at different locations in the house. Movie night in this place will be awesome!





Next week: Zen and the art of Sub Zero maintenance, a garage door, lots of paint, and lots of glass.