Post date: Oct 9, 2015 3:19:45 AM
I picked up the correct (white) mortar for the rest of the glass shower tile. But the crew had started on the slate tile for the front porch, so they kept at it. It was nearly finished at quitting time this afternoon, only a couple of tiles right in front of the door. Then it will need charcoal colored grout.
We worked out where the last of the lattice shades will be installed. The architect’s plans are not quite correct because we spaced the four south-facing ‘doors’ wider in order to show the support between them. And these shades are supported by posts in the ground rather than by brackets on the wall. This meant moving the support posts out.
We were agonizing whether the shade and/or the post would block light from the outdoor wall sconce. It will, but not by much. Sadly, that light did not make it onto the elevation drawings, so it was hard to place just right. But this shade device is higher and farther from the wall than those over the windows because the ‘doors’ have more vertical glass than the windows. So there is room for the sconce.
These posts will also serve as door stops. I was worried that the doors would slam into the stucco walls, but the worry is not needed.
So I went to the sawmill and bought 4”x8” x 14’ posts. By rights they should be pressure treated against rot, but such is not available. So I will stain the upper parts to match the rest of the exterior wood and use sealer/rot preventer on the parts below ground. The environmental rules have changed recently, so the most powerful rot preventers are no longer available. We'll set the posts, then cut them to the correct height. The part we cut off I'll make into corbels for the lattice, using a smaller version of the design on the front porch.
Mid-day I drove a couple of hours to the nearest big hardware store (Lowe’s) and bought parts of a modular closet system (Rubbermaid). We used Elfa in Seattle, but the nearest vendor of that system is in Denver. I bought enough to go above the laundry machines (I hope), and some for the bedroom closet. That should get me started learning what parts are available and how well they work and how easily installed.
And the electrician installed most (if not all) of the circuit breakers today. The new electrical code requires very expensive breakers, with arc fault and ground fault protection. They cost $55 instead of $6 each and, because the technology is relatively new, tend to be troublesome. (I can, however, think of two house fires that they would have prevented. One gutted the old rectory at St Mark’s-in-the-Bowery.) But we should have light and power throughout the house tomorrow.