My Automated House

This weekend, I skipped continuing on the scrap room to install the last heater for the house. Now, finally, every room has its own heater, and now every heater in the kids rooms is also controllable via remote control!

See, without central heating, the idea of a thermostat becomes unrealistic, and so the only thing to do is either to trust the thermostat on the wall heaters (which only reading the air around it, does little to say if the room is warm or not), or to find another solution. I decided, when finding a phenomenal deal at Radio Shack on Z-wave receptacles ($15 vs list of $60 and normal pricing ~$45), to go the automation route and control our house temperature MY way.

So I installed wireless outlets at each heater, and spent part of the weekend coding the ability to control the heaters from my computer. So a few hours of coding later (sorry Diane, for holing up with some code), and I've got the three heaters turning on and off from a command line app! Now, I can set them to come on and off at any time during the day.

Next step: iPhone control.

After I make it so that I can turn them on or off from my phone, the final step will be the bigger investment: temperature sensors for each room. Then I can look to see what temp the room is at, and turn on and off the heaters like a thermostat would, just with some geekish intervention.

Scrapbook Room: Day 3

Step 1: Insulation

Having thought I needed 74 linear feet of insulation, I figured my 80 feet was sufficient. I guessed wrong... by about 20 feet. So part way into insulation, I ran out. Since Diane was out with the kids at the Bardini's, and Tripp was inside asleep, I couldn't go on a run to The Home Depot for more insulation. So, with gaps on both sides of the ceiling (and thus not any section for a full drywall panel), I started into the first of the drywall, along the back wall.

One thing about drywall, it's big, and it's awkward. So I had already decided to use 4x4 panels instead of 4x8. Yes, I know that I could have handled the larger wall sections, but in a room that's only 8x8 anyway, 4x4 was a much better choice... trust me.

So, when Diane came home and took the kids out to a movie at the library, it was time for me to head to HD for the insulation, some more collated screws (have I mentioned that I love my collated screw gun?), and some 3/4" foam insulation to make the garage-side wall consistent in size.

Did you know that the corner-to-corner size of a Coralla's rear doors is less than 4 feet? I didn't either, so my wonderful plan of cutting the foam in half was turned into an accordion fold of four pieces instead of halves.

Anyway, back to the room. By the end of today (which was 7:30, so nine hours of work, not too bad!), I had the back wall drywalled, three-quarters of the garage wall, and the first coat of mudding done on the back wall. I had hoped to have all of the major drywall work done, but I think I'm only about half there, and the time consuming part will be all of the small bits and repair through the rest of the room. So will I get done tomorrow? No way. But hopefully I can have all of the drywall in tomorrow, and use half of Sunday (the half not spent at the Bardini's for Diane's birthday) to get the rest of the small work done.

Scrapbook Room: Day 2

Day two on the craft room can be summarized in one word: electrical. First off, the walls were still soaked. Between the cold, the moisture in the air, and me overdoing it a bit with the BoraCare, the floor was wet in spots, and drops were still hanging from the rafters. I'm not supposed to begin further work till it dries, but there's no way I have time for that.

After drilling my first hole to run electric wires, I realized that I'd need to get the moisture sheathing on the walls before running the wires, so that took precedence. If you've never touched Tyvek, you should. It sounds like sheet metal crinkling, is extremely hard to tear, and yet cuts like wrapping paper. Weird, and insanely expensive stuff. Tyvek breathes, but doesn't allow droplets in, so it's common for sheathing houses. Unfortunately, since the siding isn't off the house, it's not an ideal installation, but it's better than nothing.

Like everything in this house, any work starts with lots of staring at previous installations, and trying to figure out how to make the best of what's here. In this case, I'm dealing with wires running across the room carrying 220V for JT's heater, a 110 line in the walls that feeds the scrap room and JT's room, and the lighting. I decided that the best route would be to move JT's heater onto the same circuit as his room (with a much lower-draw heater), and to separate the scrap room on its own circuit.

So in with the wall boxes, wire runs secured to the framing (see, I can follow code!), a ground connection to the cold water pipes, and the new wiring is complete. That's the easy part. The hard part is getting the new wires attached to the original source. Headlamp time!

Fortunately for me, the rest of the family was out delivering cookies to the local firefighters, so off went the house main, the 220 line got one wire moved to neutral (thus now 110V), and JT's heater got disconnected. To make a long story shorter, I cut a patch for the hole left by JT's heater, put in a new (grounded) plug into JT's room, added a couple of junction boxes to make the connections happen, installed two ceiling boxes, and two two-lamp flood lamp fixtures, and the room wiring is now complete.

Scrapbook Room: Day 1

So Diane asked for only one thing for her birthday, for me to get the scrapbooking room done. See, we have a storage room, that used to be the well room, that we designated as her craft room when we moved in. However, in all that time, it's just been the perpetual storage closet (for her scrapbooking stuff, mostly, but that doesn't help).

So, I took a few days off from work during this holiday season (Wednesday and Thursday this week, and Thursday and possibly Wednesday next week). Today, I started into the work.

First off, protection. I spent the first hour filling the gap in the cement between the wall and our side yard. It feels amazingly like drywall work, with the putty knife and the cement, instead of a joint knife and joint compound. I tried to put up flashing too, but that didn't go very well, so I left it off. I also repaired a missing piece of trim that is the cause of some of the recent water damage to the walls.

Next step, demolition. Down with the shelves, down with the drywall, out with the insulation, and down with the critter nests! Walnut shells, plastic bag scraps, and torn up insulation, all within the walls. At least now the holes are getting patched!

Tearing down the walls and insulation will definitely put a strain on our garbage cans. Eight 42 gallon bags, filled with garbage, and only a 90 gallon trash can. I guess it's time to call in an extra pickup.

A shopping trip to Home Depot for lighting, electrical, and the aforementioned trim piece, gave me a nice break to let some of the dust settle. The final step: damage prevention. A half gallon of Bora-Care later, and my walls should be termite-proof (a necessity for this house). Now, it's time to let the chemicals dry, and tomorrow will start the electrical work.

Sometimes my wife amazes me

School has started, as has soccer season. Our days have become a gallimaufry of moving kids around, playing with the kids, homework, and house management. And yet, in all this chaos, I think Diane has found her groove. The house has been staying cleaner than ever, including deep cleans of bathrooms, furniture polishing, and more. Laundry is getting done daily. Dishes (my responsibility, though I haven't done even half of it lately), aren't piling up like they used to. The kids are getting their homework done. And the house is being managed... amazingly.

On top of all of this, Diane has been riding her bike to school with the kids in the mornings instead of driving them. Dinner has been cooked every night. And yet Diane is still reading over a hundred pages in her textbooks a week, doing her hardest semester yet, and still pulling A's.

So Diane, thank you, publicly, for the fantastic work you've been doing. For the work you've been putting in. For the patience, diligence, and effort that has been going into our lives, every minute of every day.

A round-up of the St Maarten photos

Here's the list of all of the albums from our St Maarten trip. Enjoy!

Day 1: http://picasaweb.google.com/GSXygon/StMaartenDay1
Day 2: http://picasaweb.google.com/GSXygon/StMaartenDay2
Day 3: http://picasaweb.google.com/GSXygon/StMaartenSaba
Dives: http://picasaweb.google.com/GSXygon/StMaartenSabaDive
Day 5: http://picasaweb.google.com/GSXygon/StMaartenDay5
Day 6: http://picasaweb.google.com/GSXygon/StMaartenDay6

St Maarten - The Closing Days

Thursday and Friday can be summed up in three words, food, beaches, and relaxation. Thursday started with a trip to the Westin for some timeshare-pitch-funded massage and manicure time, then up north for some beach time. We jaunted over to a butterfly farm just as it closed, to see what there was to offer, then finished the night back in Grand Case for dinner.

Since every meal in Grand Case we had had was at a single restaurant, we decided to branch out to another. We used our late afternoon to walk the strip, since nothing but the bars are open French-side at 4pm, and decided on the restaurant pitching that it had no "incentives," just good food. We went back to our rooms for a quick rest, and ended up back at Cafe Le Soleil at 7pm for dinner.

While I wouldn't say dinner was a disappointment, in fact, mine was probably the best entrée I had, and the digestif was amazing (and free!), the general atmosphere was not as good as Rainbow, and the food was at-par or just below Rainbow. I'll definitely be trying to recreate the white rum and coffee drink, and am not sure I'll have duck as succulent, but I'd try another restaurant if we make it back to the island again.

So after finishing a good meal, we walked down the street to Rainbow to finish off the evening with dessert, and what a great choice that was. I would have to say, hands down, that the dessert I had there was the best thing I've ever eaten. Sure, it was just French toast, on day old baguettes, it was utterly amazing. A couple more shots each (free again, I guess we should have dined later each eve), this time a variant on kamakaze's, and it was time to call it a day.

From St Maarten - Day 6

Friday was rinse-and-repeat. We started the day with a hike up to one of the forts, to view the city of Marigot from above (and really, to find a French-side cache!) The off to lunch at Rainbow Cafe, an afternoon at the beach, then back to the room to pack with a fine-dining experience of McDonald's, to be ready for a VERY early morning departure back home, to Damon, and to our wonderful pillows.

It was a wonderfully relaxing vacation, with some great memories and some great time for just Diane and I, and I can't wait for our chance to do something like this again. Next time, though, either closer to home, or MUCH farther, like Italy.

St Maarten - Saba

Day 4 brought us to a high-speed ferry trip onto the island of Saba. In case you're wondering what happened to day 3, weather killed our plans, and it was quite the uneventful and mellow day that we don't even have any pictures of it!

Anyway, back to Saba, we got picked up at our room an hour or so late (locked keys in the car, the driver's excuse), and made our way to the terminal for a ride out to the island. Seventy high-speed, high-turbulence, sea-sickening minutes later, we arrived at the port of one of the smallest islands around.

The plan here for me was pretty well set, head on out on a dive charter, and get back in time for the return boat. For Diane, the plans were more ethereal. Hike? Eat? She was definitely not feeling up to much after the fabulous boat ride, but I'll get to her experiences later. For me, I'll give the full blog of my dive over at http://www.my-dives.com later, but here's the short version.

From St Maarten - Saba Dive

I SAW A SEAHORSE! For non-divers, this may not seem like much, but I know divers who have thousands of dives who have never seen one. The charter was good, and of the three companies, I definitely chose the right one, the dive sites were great, and other than a sun burn on my shoulders, I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Diane, on the other hand, had a much lower key day. She spent the first part of the morning settling her stomach from the boat ride

at a port-side restaurant. Then, she hiked half up half of the hill towards the first town (almost a mile, straight up), caught a ride the rest of the way, and meandered for hours in town. Then, catching a ride back down, Diane socialized with the locals, and had a great time feeling at home in Saba, and calling it one of her best days.

Then, back on the vomit comet to return to the island, and hit a disappointing dinner in our closest town (at least, disappointing compared to the restaurants in Grand Case), and it was time to call it a day.

St Maarten - Day 2 Blog

From St Maarten - Day 2

Today’s big plan: shopping. It rained just as much today as it did yesterday, so shopping was the goal for the day. We made our way down to town around nine, to eat breakfast and head out for the main shopping district. Breakfast took us down to a little bagel shop, with some great eggs (bagel with eggs, feta, and peppers for Diane), and headed into Phillipsburg, just as the heavy rain began to kick in.

Phillipsburg is filled with typical cruise-fare, hundreds of jewelry shops willing to sell you anything at a great deal, 50% off and no taxes, clothing shops with any major brand you can think of, and stuff from French and Italian designers that you’ve never heard of. A few hours of walking around led us to, well, nothing; a lackluster day of shopping in a too-overdone shopping district. Only one shop caught my interest, and it was a little too pricey for me.

On the way home, let’s just say I took a few wrong turns, ended up back where I started from more than once, and wasn’t the most confident of drivers (only to repeat that almost again later tonight). We finally made it back to our room after a 90-minute, ten mile drive. We decided to visit our local beach, find a geocache, and take a breather for a bit.

The highlight of the day was going back to Rainbow Café for dinner. Since the day wasn’t the best for a vacation, it needed a highlight, and what better way than to repeat something that had Diane crying over her meal? This time, it was a bottle of wine, a fantastic salad, a tomato and mozzarella appetizer, Diane with a steak filet, and me with an almond crusted salmon, both served with the best potato I’ve had in a long time, and great beans. Finally, the meal was ended with some fantastic Italian espresso. It hit the spot, and made for a wonderful day.

St Maarten - Day 1 Blog

From St Maarten - Day 1

Hours and hours of flying, and we’re finally here. Saturday was a non-day, with just a quick drive around the island, and dinner at the classiest joint, Burger King, and we called it quits at 7pm, recovery was definitely needed. A quick stop in our porch-jacuzzi looking over the ocean, and into bed we went.

Sunday was definitely a wonderful day. We drove up the island towards the location of the local zip lines, thinking we’d probably take a ride down, or possibly hike up the mountain. When we arrived at Loterie Farm in Pic du Paradise, we were greeted by a very cute treehouse restaurant, and a group of men ready to take folks on the zip lines. The adventure route takes about an hour and a half, and watching a father and daughter on it, it looked great, but we opted to head up to the top of the mountain on the island’s most popular hike.

The guides looked at us, and told us we should take the easier switchbacks up the mountain, but the best way to get Diane to do something is to tell her she can’t.

Up the steep rocks and ropes we went, the hike started beautifully, and became more beautiful as we went. About five minutes in, the rain started lightly, and twenty minutes later, it was pouring. Not lightly, but hard, drenching, pouring rain. We were soaked! And it was great. No skinned knees, regardless of what the guides said, no issues, and we made it to the top. A minute later on a side-trail and we got to see the most beautiful view on the island… of nothing. Clouds surrounded the peak, so visibility was maybe 30 feet. Here’s one time the trip was definitely about the journey, not the destination. I’d show you pictures, but our cameras were soaked, and Diane’s may be completely dead. Good thing SD cards survive water fine.

Back down we went, on the easier trails, and it was a nice, fun trip, with no issues, and more sights of different parts of the island. We made it down to the entrance, and found all of the people gone! We trekked it down to the café, and Diane slipped! All the way up and down the hard stuff, and she slips on a man-made wooden ramp. Oops.

At the café, we found the owner in the back, and asked if they were open. Nope, in fact, he was about to go close the gates. Good thing they knew we were up there?

Well, I can’t say in hindsight that I’m sad they had closed the lunch diner. By accident, we ended up in Grand Case on the French side of the island for lunch. We found out later that this part of the island is the gourmet area, and it shows. Our lunch was one of the best things we’ve ever had. The burger was French-style, open faced, Diane’s topped with Mozzarella and an amazing Pesto, mine topped with cheese, potatoes, and smoked ham, and our desserts were divine. A chocolate cake with a liquid chocolate center for Diane, and a Strawberry and vanilla cream treat over rum-soaked cake below.

The rest of the day was pretty low key; travelling up north to Orient Bay, which was empty in the rain, heading back to the room to settle down, dinner out at Cheri’s Café just down the road. Dinner was horrible in comparison to lunch (mine wasn’t so bad, but Diane’s left a lot to be desired), but the bar we planned to go to for live entertainment was empty, and so with a couple of hours killed just walking around, hitting a shop or two, and dining, it was a good time to call it a day.

Mostly complete!

This won't be a long post, since we're packing for vacation. The great news is that the room is complete enough to have moved everything in for the return of Damon. Here is the link to see all of the photos, from start to finish.

Boy's Room

Two days left

We leave for Saint Martin tomorrow, so only two days are left for work. We've still got a lot ahead of us, but my curiosity has gotten the better of me, so it's time to look back at the original "plans" and see how they changed from a month ago when we started, till now.

The original list:

• Remove the siding
• Replace the windows
• Rewire everything
• Re-insulate
• Drywall
• Texture

And the additions:

• Painting (duh!)
• Termite repair
• Crown moulding
• New baseboards
• Outside window trim
• Window sills
• Pegboards
• Rokenbok table purchased and painted
• "Tool Chest" purchased and painted
• Building an attic access (I didn't even know it was in there)
• Moving furniture in and out

And the new things that will be done after we get back from St Martin:

• New closet doors
• Closet shelves
• Stuffed animal pole
• Hanging bar
• Speaker installations (already wired)

Needless to say, a lot more time and money went into this project than originally planned, but isn't that how it always goes?

Three days in one

Life has been so busy around the house, a few days have gone by without an update. So here's trying to summarize three days of work in one blog post.

Monday: Texturing

Robert came over with his host of tools Sunday night, so that we could hop in to texturing as soon as we were ready on Monday. With an hour of attending a meeting via phone while trying to accomplish some manual labor, the room was taped, the door covered with plastic, and the windows covered as well.

Upon arrival of both dads (mine was over to observe and learn), Robert got down to some detail repair on the mudding, creating a massive cloud of dust, and mostly fixing around the windows where I had had the least amount of time to work.

Then off to the mud mixing, pancake batter consistency of course, tool loading, and spraying. Robert says the results are better than last time, and I think I agree, though looking after it was painted, there are a few mistakes and a few joints that are more obvious when a finish is on top of it. Knocking down the walls sure gives it a nice, finished look, and I'm extremely grateful for the help and education on this part of drywall, as well as the tools, of course.

Tuesday: Painting

Vicki was over very early to begin the painting, and with a final project due in ASL 3 for Diane, Vicki probably did 60% of the day's painting, my mom helping with another 25%, and Diane the final 5%. Without the help of Mom and Vicki, there would be no way we'd be done in time for our vacation. Primer, primer, top blue, bottom red, top blue again, bottom red again, peg boards painted and stenciled, and a whole day was consumed, just with the basic colors. And when we were done, we realized that even six colors in, we were missing the trim color. Oops!

Dad and I added only picking up the moulding on Tuesday, and after the days of major work, it felt anticlimactic for me, but I know others put in more hours than I have all week!

Wednesday: Painting

This time, it's Vicki and Diane on the yellow stripe, Mom on the baseboards and crown moulding. Then off to taping the stripe and painting the black. When we did Jordan's room the first time, we concluded afterwards that never again would we do stripes on walls. Well, we might have been wrong, but at least this time we had a chalk line to make things straighter, and better tips on how to prevent some of the paint bleed under the tape. I think the final result looks fantastic! But, judge for yourself.

Just a few days left

This weekend was a great opportunity to get a lot done. Diane was out camping in Lake Tahoe with the Sponables, my family watched Tripp all weekend, which left me available to do a lot of work on the room. My dad came over Saturday to help finish up the drywall around the window - which definitely didn't go as smoothly as last time, but went well enough - and we took a trip to Home Depot for some more joint compound and corner beads.

A text back and forth with Robert said that any chance of procrastination was out: Tuesday texturing isn't an option, since he'll be out of town, so Monday night is the deadline. Incentives in hand, Dad stuck around help out with the time crunch, giving enough help for us to get another coat of mud across the whole room, and the first coat around the windows. Then Sunday, it was sand and mud again, once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and a final time in the evening. Three coats in a day meant that I believe I'm finally done, and ready to begin texturing.

So Monday, both sets of fathers will be over to help texture the room, and it will be ready to begin painting by tomorrow! On track to move the boys back in by Friday? Seems like more of a possibility than I ever thought!