Missing wall panorama

This is a spherical panorama of the living room wall's absence. You can click and drag the image to spin around the room.
Note: we've only got one cat, but he managed to move between my first and third photos. The software I use to stitch the three photos (PTGui) must like Kramer.

Wall demolition

The first interior demo took place today. They knocked out the wall and fireplace in the living room. It is seriously weird to me -- like when you catch a glimpse of yourself in a mirror after a major haircut.

Site cleaning

The trash is gone. Hauled away by a guy named Mario who had a chainsaw, a wheelbarrow, and a gigantic truck. He did a great job and it looks much more sane back there now.

The drama came in when, big surprise, the framer got involved. He was the one who hired Mario. He was also the one who never showed up to pay Mario. As usual, the general contractor, J.D. took care of things and saved the day. Mario got his money and a place to dump the wood (feel the eco-guilt along with me, please). The framer is no longer on the job.

I'm not gonna ask J.D. what he did with him.

Let the plumber plumb

These pipes were dropped off a few days ago. Some holes were drilled. The concrete has to be cut to move the sink drain back.

Wood haul

All of this is going away tomorrow. There's a guy coming in the morning to take it somewhere else. I don't know where it will go. I like to think it is being reused or recycled somehow, but I'm just not sure.

email box

Originally uploaded by JotaPeh.

From the post on gizmodo.com:
"There's something charming about attaching computer icons to physical objects..."

I want one of these to replace the evil little doorless slot on the front of our house we currently use for the mail.

From Chiasso.

Framers have finished

They got the stairs and everything else done yesterday, after working a very long day. I'll post some photos or panoramas soon.

Next up are the plumber to cut and move one pipe, and the electricians will start getting high voltage wiring in.

On a related note, we're going to be meeting with the low voltage guy sometime to talk about all the cool wiring: ethernet CAT5, coaxial, speakers, phone, and others. I'm thinking we'll try to terminate everything in the closet of the studio. I'm envisioning a huge patch bay and scads of blinking lights. James was telling us about having IR remote receivers in a few rooms that send their signals over wire to the media closet. That's where TiVo and pals will live. Does anyone have any other recommendations on serving audio and video up from a central location?

Screwed

Erin writes:
My husband insists that this is a bolt, but "Bolted" is not nearly as compelling a title. Whatever it is, it's currently sticking through the floor of the second story. I'm sure it has an important purpose.

Once again our framer seems to be fading away. The tools are gone, as are the workers. It's frustrating, because they're really, really close to being finished. I'm sure they're moving on to another job, but it sure would be swell to get this one done first. I know, I know -- everyone warned us this would happen at various points in the construction process, but somehow it's easy to believe that somehow you're going to be the ones who miraculously escape it.

Where'd the stairs go?

My son and I have a tradition of going outside when I get home from work to see what the workers have done. Yesterday as we were heading out I heard him say, "Where'd the stairs go, Dadda?". Huh?! Where indeed? They were simply gone.

I immediately assumed that it was collateral damage from the ongoing battle between the framer and the plumber, but there were not enough blood stains evident to support that theory.

So I called J.D. He said they were just doing it for fun. Actually, it turns out there was some confusion about the structural engineer's drawings of the landing height, so to correct it he's gonna rebuild it all today.

Design meeting at Leanarch

Erin writes:

We visited the LeanArch offices for a design meeting last week. Cool office space, but no air conditioning! It was hot.

But now on to more relevant points. I guess I was kind of expecting one of those HGTV design boards with all the sample colors and tiles neatly arrayed. But it's never quite that easy, is it? James had tons of cool samples, and told us we have to decide if we're going with natural colors, or synthetic.

Hmmm. My kitchen (orange, lime green and blue) is definitely synthetic. JP and I have decided that the exterior of the stair tower will be orange. And that will be carried over into either the front door or trim. We want the master bath to be calm and spa-like. So, do orange exterior and spa interior equal a natural theme? I guess there are things in nature that are orange, right? Like leaves changing color! Oranges, of course. And... sea anemones or something.

We're 99% decided on going with the solar panels. There was a great article in the LA Times this weekend about how solar power adds to resale value in Southern California. Getting our energy bill yesterday helped, too. Plus, according to the BP Solar website, it's the equivalent of planting an acre of trees and will eliminate the production of thousands of pounds of CO2.

It's just the right thing to do.

Oh, and lastly I just want to give a shout out to our contractor, JD. Nothing rattles him. Thank god. As you've read, there's enough drama from all the subs, so it's nice to have the guy in charge be unflappable. Plus there's nothing he doesn't know. I'm glad he's on the job, even if I'm worried about his cellphone earpiece becoming permanently attached to his head.

Upstairs framing pano

Here is a new fisheye panorama of the current framing upstairs. These were taken from the master bathroom, and I've added handy labels so you can tell where things will be.

Click and drag the image in all directions to take a look.

Solar electricity

We just got a quote for doing photovoltaic solar cells on the roof. Everything looks good as far as south facing clearance goes, and there are a bunch of tax breaks and rebates that will bring the cost within reach.
The solar energy will be connected to the grid in a scheme called "net-metering", which means you don't need batteries. Instead, you still draw from the grid if your consumption outpaces the amount of solar electricity generated. If your solar output is greater than your consumption your meter spins backwards. This energy is bankable throughout the year, but resets to zero annually.

Fisticuffs

The heat here in Los Angeles (108 degrees!) has clearly slowed down the rate of construction. The framing looks to be 95% finished but it's taking a while to get that last bit done. We see the framer for a few hours in the morning and then he never returns from lunch. Is it the heat? Does he have another job to go to? Is he waiting on some part to come in? Or is it that his feelings are still hurt from the drama with the plumber?

We weren't home for this, but we've learned from a couple of sources that the framer and the plumber nearly got into a fist fight a couple of days ago. One of our neighbors said they were screaming profanities at each other with such vigor that she heard them from inside her house. She came outside and reminded them that there are kids on our block who shouldn't be learning that kind of vocabulary just yet.