Stairs completed, fascia Thursday and Friday
I replaced the outlet to the right of the stove. The wiring was at cross purposes. The outlet seemed to carry the additional load until it gave out. I replaced it with a new outlet. The way the electricians wired your house, a fault at one GFCI outlet will trigger all outlets on the circuit. If a outlet goes out, the other outlets and anything else wired to it will also go out. Like the garage, if a GFCI outlet goes out, you might need to go to all outlets and reset them or find the outlet that was triggered.
Landing Complete, Laundry Vent, and Lamp Collar
The men finished the landing. They will be working on the lower staircase and fascia in the next couple of days.
The men cleaned out the dryer vents of lent. We disengaged the dryer and cleaned out the flexible pipe that leads to the wall. We then blasted compressed air in the rigid pipe that is in the wall. We then climbed on the roof and removed the lint build-up that accumilated at the exhaust port. While the picture shows a lot of lint, the overall line was pretty clear. Most of the build-up was at the exhaust port. If this is the first time the line has been cleared since you moved in you are in pretty good shape.
The lamp collar has proved to be a challenge. I went to three restorers and they did not have the ability to reproduce the item. Jewelers at the Gift center also could not provide any way to do it in a cost efficient manner. Their in-house crew can only repair or do minor alterations.
The main difficulty of the piece is how to replicate its intricate design in a traditional manner. It was originally done in three pieces that were then welded together. In order to replicate this, we need to break the pieces and have it negative-wax molded. This can be an expensive process.
The alternative I have found that is cost effective is a high tech solution. There is a 3D printing process that can print Bronze in 3D. Since it is based mainly on material costs, the printing itself looks to be around $350-400. The process and website is here. http://i.materialise.com/materials/bronze
The costs cannot be determined until we upload the model. The main challenge is to get the 3D model made and scanned. I am currently waiting on pricing from a scanning outfit. The company information is here. http://www.laserdesign.com
Installation of Stairs
The men continued with their work on the staircase. The challenges the men had to overcome was the rise and run of these existing staircase. The exterior wall is slightly out of square. Also, the rise and run of the stair shows slight variations between steps. I directed the men to make sure the rise is consistent, and to make up any differences in the runs. Slight height differences can feel awkward when we walk.
The men also pitched the transition landing and added the crack isolation membrane. The men will continue the stairs and landing tomorrow.
We are starting to get our first shoots of the cucumber melon. Out of the six I planted five have sprouted. We will condition and churn the soil today. We will add a little agricultural lime, tree bark and organic fertilizer. Melons have short root systems so we will add mulch to the top to keep the moisture in. We will plant these soon because melons do not like to be transferred.
Application of GACO
The men cleaned, stripped, and prepped all of the tar layer to begin applying the silicone waterproofing.
The men also scraped and cleaned all the posts of the black mold that was on the tops and sides.
No Work as We Wait on Tile
I had a morning meeting with Cal Bay tile to reassess schedule
Alarm System
When leaving on Monday April 11th, I noticed the alarm pad had a warning stating that there was a communication failure, or read "Comm Failure." I called Bay Alarm and had a tech sent out to look at this. The tech came and assessed the board and noticed that the communication link no longer sends warnings to the operation center for Bay Alarm. I deduced that you circumvented it when you installed the cameras, hence the quick call you gave me when I set the alarm on Monday. But if you did not know that your system no longer communicates with Bay Alarm I have a solution if you need it.
Tile Challenge
On Sunday, April 13th, a fire broke out at Import Tile Company. One of the warehouses caught fire and damaged a lot of tile. It took several days for them to assess their stock and determine which tiles were lost. Unfortunately, the larger format tiles were lost in the fire.
We then switched plans and began demolition on the dining room deck. If I could not get the tile in the larger size, it might change our plans for the tile in the front entrance. The men swiftly moved all items on the dining deck to both the front and lower game room deck.
Cal Bay tile then began applying the Ditra to the decks and are awaiting our decision for next steps.
Demolition
The men began demolition by removing the tile layer. The demolition was slow in order to protect the waterproofing layer and to assess if there was any water damage to the substrate. During the course of demolition, we did find water that was under the tile layer, but consequent FLIR readings only showed surface water. It appears that the membrane is not compromised as in the master room deck, and further demolition of the mortar bed was not needed.
Before thermal image, some moisture visable next to house
Thermal Image shows consistant color in motor bed
Start
The tasks today was to prep and clean the area. All plants were moved to the driveway. Delivered Items Include Ditra, Ditra Set, Fiberglass bonding fabric, and sample tile.