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Post date: Dec 1, 2015 5:12:09 AM
It snowed Sunday night and is quite cold today — barely broke above freezing. By 10 pm it is back down to 20° F, but not supposed to get much colder tonight.
Plumber came and connected the Washlet and fixed the furnace condensate drain so the water all lands in the drain (some was spilling on the floor above the bathroom). He was going to remove the air gap from the dishwasher drain and install the soap dispenser. Instead I drilled another hole in the countertop and installed it myself — well, with a little help from Jake while I lay on my back under the sink.
Carpenters worked on the linen closet (but it is still not in place in the bathroom) and the doors for the mud room cabinets. Eli (the boss) was out of town all day.
We discovered that we don’t have enough of the special order tile to go above all the Corian backsplash. So we will have it left and right of the stove (most visible from the living room) and between the sink and the window. If it looks right we will also have some left and right of the sink, but we don’t have enough of the pencil-size border for that area. Installing it will be tricky. Unlike some small tiles that come attached on the back to a rubber mesh that is embedded in the thinset mortar these tiles are connected on the face by transparent sticky tape. Occasionally one or more falls off the tape. So I have a small bag of mosaic-size tiles that have fallen off. The tiles are so small (about 1/4”) and so closely spaced that the maker does not recommend grouting them. I cannot see how they will keep from getting dirty between the tiles. Maybe we need to use an epoxy sealant like we did on the shower floor.
Rather than just caulking the bathroom sink where it meets the wall (with a rather wide gap), I want to cover the caulk with extra glass pencil tiles that we used in the shower. Question is, What mortar, grout, or caulk do we use for this application?
I’m still not happy with the wiring for the outside lights. The motion sensor also has a photocell and several settings. in addition it can be controlled by switching the power on and off. I cannot remember the sequence required to keep the lights on. I asked for, and would much rather have, a simple over-ride switch. When the switch is ‘on’ the lights are on. When the switch is ‘off’ then the lights are controlled by the motion sensor. If the sun is bright the lights are off. I had it this way in Seattle, and that is what I specified. Haven’t arrived at this configuration yet. In addition, the controls on the motion sensor (see photo - I had a hard time reading it, too) don't seem to work well with LED lighting — probably because the lamp does not draw enough current. So ‘half bright’ is full bright. I was trying to read the bottom of the sensor in strong shadow (under the porch roof) with little success. I realized that I could photograph the control panel with flash and possibly be able to change the switch settings. Using some of the words that I could decipher I downloaded the instruction sheet from the Internet. The electrician could not remember the instructions, but he was sure that is what I wanted.
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