| July 4th, 2007: Part of the wall
between the dining room and the pantry had to be temporarily removed
because of the discovery that the spiral staircase would arrive fully
assembled rather than in pieces and assembled on-site, which was
the initial expectation. |
|
July 14th, 2007: Installation on the
countertops continues. This is one of the kitchen islands.
|
|
July 14th, 2007: The front door is
delivered and installed. The wood is a knotty alder like the cabinets
but still needs a coat of finish.
|
|
July 17th, 2007: Saltillo floor tile
is delivered. These are 16" x 16" tiles designed to provide an "old
world" look. Saltillo tile is difficult to seal and maintain but I
think it has much more character than modern porcelain tile.
|
|
July 17th, 2007: 16 solar panels are
installed on the flat part of the roof surrounding the courtyard. I had
to go up on the roof to see them because they cannot be seen from the
ground. These panels will provide approximately 3000 kilowatts -
hopefully enough to minimize the need for power from the city grid.
|
|
July 17th, 2007: The spiral
straircase gets delivered. This staircase is black wrought iron and
took about 10 guys to move it from the trailer and drop it in the
hidden stairwell.
|
|
July 17th, 2007: The spiral
staircase gets installed.
|
 
|
| July 22nd, 2007: The gaping hole
from the spiral staircase installation gets repaired. |
|
July 22nd, 2007: Visited the house
after a monsoon storm and found that the retention in the back yard is
doing its job.
|
|
July 22nd, 2007: Glass brick is
installed in the basement bathroom wall. This was done to let in some
natural light from the adjacent light well. This is also the first
glimpse at the yellow/orange color scheme in the basement.
|
|
July 22nd, 2007: Tile work in the
boys' bathroom.
|
|
July 22nd, 2007: Tile work almost
completed in the master bath shower.
|
|
July 22nd, 2007: Garage doors and
openers installed.
|
|
July 22nd, 2007: Outside view of the
new garage doors. After a rain, this is also a discovery that the
proposed driveway also retains a lot of water.
|
|
July 25th, 2007: RV gates are
installed. I don't have an RV, nor do I intend on acquiring one, but
these wide gates will allow vehicles into the back yard. These are the
north gates - there is another RV gate on the south side of the house.
|
|
July 25th, 2007: Safety fence around
the light well so people dont accidently fall in. There is also a
ladder in case people in the basement need to make a quick escape when
the Federales show up.
|
|