Click on photo to enlarge Trains for sale

Flutie Field and Gemini Elementary .8 miles from home

Locals out to play on a typical evening in Melbourne Beach

Gemini Elementary

My Kids

Pretty White
Tommy . Although he has moved on to the other side he still lives in our hearts

Sassy Momma aka Girlie girl
Billy Bob Thornton Wilder ( the one eyed wonder cat)
Gus and Ruby
Ollie Ollie Oxen Freed
Izzy Izzy Cat

Around Town

Brian,
I walked 300' West from my house then went 3 blocks South to the pier and then 3 blks East to Downtown Melbourne Beach and Ocean Park . I then stopped at Ocean park and turned and walked 3 blocks north to sunset boulevard and turned West and walked 3 blocks back to Xanadu my home.

So basically everything you see here is within 3 blocks any direction from my home.

The only thing we don't have is a local clinic but that may change soon.


ENJOY YOU TOUR: More TO COME. I am headed to Flutie complex a litte less than 1 mile across from the local elementary school to watch Jason coach Emma in softall. We have softball, soccer, baseball and lots more all year round.

The little Cottage kitchen
Jason in his cave
Future Recording studio, art studio but current Sanford and Son junk yard storage
Xanadu's sittin porch getting ready for the old folks decade PS I made the working Hurricane shutters all 122 of them myself
The future site of the yellow brick road that leads to Xanadu

Inside the "Little Cottage" aka the "sanford house" and Jason Temp den
The kids across the street. In this Town everybody is out walking at all time of the day
Sunset Boulevard from AIA
Sunset Boulevard Beach Access. Every street has deeded beach and river access at the ends of the streets as each street goes Ocean to River

The Beach 2 1/2 Blks

Ocean Park 6 blks
Port D'Hiver Bed and Breakfast
Volley Ball courts at Ocean Park

Local Bait Shop and FEMA Ice access

A restaurant call the Toast. I used to own it and called it Granny's Kitchen Now I just have coffee there every morning after my 5:30 AM run. I am the only women in the early morning men's club "PS I built that railing 19 years ago. " Also the local Drug Store . Takes about 5 min to get a prescription and they deliver too
The "O" Local Bar
Best Eggs benedict in the country
Local Hardware store where you can "run a tab" 5 blks
Local Commissioner and another commish's wife

An Office for you
Library

Melbourne Beach Supermarket Best wine and food in the county
The library 4 blks

Best Burritos on the beach Downtown Melbourne Beach 3 1/2 blks

The only stop light otherwise know as the 4 way stop Ocean Ave and Oak Street
Local FULL SERVICE gas station

The local vet and the Shell shop Cant have a beach community without a shell shop
The bird Lady and her 100's of parrots and Cockatoos
The Bird lady sells spas
The Town Chapel 3 blks
Town hall , Volunteer fire dept and the police station 3 blks

Community Center . I started a monthly potkuck " Free food once a month"
Old Men Playing Bocci in the park
Ryckman House. PS It is my old house fence That I made myself -morphed into the railing
Basketball in the park 3 blks
The old Post office and the Gazebo in the park (Movies and stuff in the park happens here)

Ryckman park 3 blks from my house
The local dentist and DiJions Restaurant 3 blks
The Ocean Ave Pier 3 blks

View at the end of my street 3 houses away

The pier from end of Sunset Boulevard
The Indian River from my front yard
Xanadu
The sanford House

What makes THIS house different???

Can you find all the unique and unusual pieces that make this house different?

Status Report

Powder room AKA "The Jet Plane Toilet"

Retro Bathroom upstairs

Courtyard view from upstairs dormer
Unfinished game room/ bathroom /family rec area
Living room from stairs

View of Courtyard from Kitchen
View from the unfinished kitchen of stage

Eating Area and Kitchen
Stage

Master bath Shower and Jacuzzi

My Frame shop and workshop


Library/ Additional Guest Room

Server Room All wiring for telephone/computer/ Audio/ video/Security/ Fiber / Cable/ Satellite

Server Room
View of Future Courtyard pool from Guest House
Guest House Main Floor
Guest House main from Upstairs Lounge
Lounge Balcony

Loft Bedroom and lounge

Guest Pool Bath

Master Bath

Important Note!!!!!

Any previous reference to the "Building Inspector" in this blog is  a reference to the "Current" Melbourne Beach building inspector.

Aimee makes Thanksgiving a real Table affair

Kids line up on an old Atlanta Railroad Train Station bench for Pizza.
Tables in Waiting for a new Restaurant


Game tables

Dining Tables

Fred Remarks Remarkable Table.

I saw a photo f this and I asked fred if he could make it for me. The next thing I know here he is at my door with this!!!

THANKS FRED I LOVE IT>

Aimee is going to paint on the pull outs can't wait for it to be finished.

Coming Soon

www.shebuiltit.com

Cabinet Update/Reborn with WELLBORN CABINETS

The cabinets were successfully returned to the so called Thomasville cabinet company. Thats a story in itself. Home Depot gladly refunded ALL my money. Too bad they still sell Thomasville.

Thomasville only licenses Masterbrand cabinets to make their cabinets. Masterbrand is owned by another company that is owned by yet another company. Something like Furniture Brands International. They make all kinds of cabinets under multiple labels. Like a house of cards when it comes to getting service and good quality work.

Here is a copy of the people and companies that control a good portion of the cabinet industry. I wrote pleading letters to all of the CEO's but alas got no response. So much for Thomasvilles promise that their logo goes on only the finest highest quality products. They might be sorry they did not listen.


Attention: RALPH P SCOZZAFAVA
CHAIRMAN/CEO
Furniture Brands International Inc.
101 South Hanley Road
St Louis MO 63105
jbotsford@furniturebrands.com

Attention: Ed Teplitz
President
Thomasville Furniture Industries Inca
900 12th Street Dr NW
Hickory, NC 28601-4763
Phone: (828) 396-3240



Attention: Customer Service Department
Thomasville Furniture Industries
401 E. Main Street
P.O.Box 339
Thomasville, North Carolina 27361


Attention: Richard E. Forbes, president and CEO of MCBI
MasterBrand Cabinets, Inc.
300 Webster Road
Auburn, AL 36832
334-887-5600
and

Bessie Preston Inspector of Cabinets Auburn Alabama

Tony Mosca Home Depot Salesman for Thomasville Brand Cabinets Melbourne/Orlando Florida

Attention: Store Manager Anil / expeditor Stacey
Home Depot Store #636827
o260
2829 West New Haven Ave
West Melbourne, Florida 37904


Fortune Brands, Inc.
520 Lake Cook Road
Deerfield, IL 60015

P. 847.484.4400
mail@fortunebrands.com

All these people had some interest in the process of the consumer getting the product they order if you have any problems save these names and companies for future reference. JUST IN CASE

Buyer Beware when buying kitchen cabinets or other name brand products. You might want to ask if the company branding the item actually makes the item. If they don't my suggestion would be to RUN the other direction.

They don't seem to know or care about what happens to their product. The funniest part came when MasterBrand sent me a magic marker and 2 grease pencils to repair the damage. Then a few days later I got 4 cans of paint that must be used in a sealed chamber and used under strict conditions for health safety with instructions on how to repaint the cabinets that were badly damaged and had no finish on some of them. !!! Sorry boys I paid for new and undamaged not used and abused needing repair. That was the last straw.

Also...

They left about $2000.00 worth of material here. Interesting enough when they came to pick up the cabinets the driver did not even know what he was suppose to pick up. All he said was he was suppose to pick up some cabinets but he did not know which ones or how many. His pick up order was for one cabinet.After he got here he called and they gave him a list which did not include several drawer bases and all of the very pricey trim. I mentioned it to the shipping company and called Home Depot but never heard from any of them. and I Haven't heard from them since.

Well I have now ordered from WELLBORN CABINETS Seems WELLBORN is WELLBORN and makes WELLBORN. No triple layer of middleman. I CAN'T WAIT until January when they are suppose to arive.

Stay tuned.....

Plummer Bummer "The worst yet" Inspection disaster

Newsflash: BOTH

Just found out that a gas line under the kitchen floor was done incorrectly. What is upsetting about this is it PASSED THE BUILDING INSPECTOR'S INSPECTION!!!! ( As did the faulty electric that had to be completely redone by ripping out the entire second floor flooring. Theleaky plumbing in both showers, The gas connection for the propane water heater that was passed but done for a natural gas connection not propane and many other over sites that have cost me dearly in money and loss of use as in the kitchen island)

So what does this mean? Well don't trust the inspections! If you can't even trust the inspector then who do you turn to? YOURSELF


Be in formed. Read everything you can get your hands on about the work that is being done. Take matters into your own hands. Just like the medical field ask questions, follow your instinct and read the codes. It does not matter or effect the contractor or the inspector when something is done wrong. The ultimate victim is you so don't allow your money to be wasted and your fate to be left in the hands of anyone who is not directly impacted by their work.


In this case the line was run in conduit with a flexible gas line OKAY ACCEPTABLE ( if not in conduit it has to be copper line). BUT what they forgot to do is to VENT the line to the outside!!! And it is required to be sealed which it is not!

This is CRITICAL. Without a vent to the outside the gas has nowhere to go . If it leaks it leaks into the home. If God forbid it ruptures then it EXPLODES in the Room when it is located.


So not only do you have to watch the contractors you have to make sure the inspector knows what he is doing. AND guess what. Your tax dollars are paying for the inspector to do his job right or wrong. He has no accountability . He is the final voice in any municipality and the only recourse to his FINAL decision is the courts! How is that for a mixed up set of rules and values?

In this case this is the second MAJOR screw up for this inspector. The first was the electrical service that had 37 lights, 14 receptacles and 4 ceiling fans connected to ONE ONE ONE circuit breaker and electrical feed line. IT PASSED with flying colors. Once passed I was obligated to pay the contractor and now he is long gone. SO WE PAID TWICE AS WE WILL WITH THE GAS LINE FOR THE WORK TO BE DONE



It should not be that way but it is and everyone needs to know that you trust NO ONE but YOURSELF. The codes are difficult but they are on line and once you get used to them they become easier and they are your best friend.

Opps!!!

He mentioned that he would have found it on the final??? Then what even more expense than what was incurred since a final would and could not be given until everything is up to code.

The Plumbing Saga drags on...

Gas pipe is the yellow flex pipe closest to the slab and entering the conduit installed within and terminating in the block wall.

The plumber has again violated the current building code and installed a gas piping line incorrectly to the Island in the kitchen

The piping was installed in a non vented conduit under the floor. The conduit used was originally installed for water lines. The conduit was installed UNDER the concrete slab.


Section 404.11 Florida Fuel Gas Code® 2007 FINAL DRAFT violations...

The space between the piping where the conduit emerges from the ground is not sealed, The conduit does not extend beyond the building and is not vented above grade. The conduit terminated in the West wall coming up out of the footer and and terminating in the block wall.

The improper installation of this gas line was putting the occupants and the building at serious risk and had to be disconnected to properly pass code. (Even though the building inspector never caught it we chose to follow the code for our safety)

Thanks to the keen eye of the plumber hired to fix all the bummer mistakes we averted a possible tragic event in the future.

But......

The island has now lost its ability to have gas appliances.

So far the island has lost gas cooking , the ability to have downdraft venting and decreased hot water flow because of the inadequate demand water heater installation.

The cost to repair the line was $255.00. The loss of usage of the appliances $900 for a gas wok and $600.00 cost of the down draft system . The island had to be completely redesigned.

The cost of installing a new and adequate water heater will be around $1500.00

Total potential loss on this 1 mistake $3300.00

The additional mistake of not terminating the vent line for the downdraft posed additional problems for the island. But then that is another story altogether.





Florida Fuel Gas Code® 2007 FINAL DRAFT

404.6Pipinginsolidfloors.Piping in solid floorsshallbelaid
inchannelsinthefloorandcoveredinamannerthatwillallow
accesstothepipingwithaminimumamountofdamagetothe
building.Wheresuchpipingissubjecttoexposuretoexcessive
moistureorcorrosivesubstances,thepipingshallbeprotected
inanapprovedmanner. As analternativetoinstallationin
channels,thepipingshallbeinstalledinaconduitofSchedule
40steel, wrought iron, PVCorABSpipewithtightlysealed
endsandjoints.Bothendsofsuchconduitshallextendnotless
than2 inches (51 mm) beyond the point where the pipe
emergesfromthefloor. Theconduit shall beventedabove
gradetotheoutdoorsandshallbeinstalledsoastopreventthe
entryofwaterandinsects.
404.7Above-groundoutdoorpiping. All pipinginstalled
outdoorsshallbeelevatednot lessthan31/
2inches(152mm)

404.11Pipingundergroundbeneathbuildings. Pipingin-
stalledundergroundbeneathbuildings is prohibitedexcept
wherethepipingisencasedinaconduitofwroughtiron,plas-
ticpipe,orsteelpipedesignedtowithstandthesuperimposed
loads.Suchconduitshallextendintoanoccupiableportionof
thebuildingand, atthepointwheretheconduitterminatesin
thebuilding,thespacebetweentheconduitandthegaspiping
shallbesealedtopreventthepossibleentranceofanygasleak-
age.Wheretheendsealingiscapableofwithstandingthefull
pressureofthegaspipe, theconduitshallbedesignedforthe
samepressureasthepipe. Suchconduit extendability less
than4inches(102mm)outsidethebuilding, shall bevented
abovegradetotheoutdoors,andshallbeinstalledsoastopre-
venttheentranceofwaterandinsects.Theconduitshallbepro-
tectedfromcorrosioninaccordancewithSection404.8.

Some Finished and Some finished with Problems Pending

Toilet valves leak and is set up 1" off the floor creating a problem for the finished floor. Sink does not drain correctly But we are working on solutions. The big problem is when you flush it sounds like a jet engine has just crashed on your head!!! REALLY!!!

THIS IS PERFECT AND NOTE CUSTOM DRAWER BELOW
I already washed dishes in it!!
I made My secret drawer compartments!!! Gosh I'm good! It slides in and fits perfectly around the disposal. Now all I have to do is make a shelf and pipe screen below. I also have room for a garbage can to slide in under the sink. Much better than a cabinet costing a lot more but lets see how it looks when the cabinets are in. We can change it anytime if it does not look right but

I LIKE IT!!

Some semi-final plumbing

Guest Bath trim on Window and shelf
Tub Trim out to cover ugly seams and bad edge and cracked marble
Finished Guest shower with Hand Held
Finished Master shower

OH No ! The Plummer Bummers Keep On Coming!!!

More problems with the powder room toilet drain.


It is not level causing the toilet to have to be shimmed up 1 1/2 " OFF THE FLOOR.

The pipe was put into the ground crooked as were several other pipes in the house.

So the end result is that we have to figure out a way to cover the gap$$$$$.

That makes it complete. EVERY pipe put in the ground before the slab was poured is either crooked, in the wrong place ( like a wall instead of room) or the pipe runs through the wall at an angle causing use to either abandon the use or build out the wall to accommodate the pipes crooked placement. Vent pipes included ALL placed in the wrong place and one still has to be periodically resealed on the roof. That one was put through a standing seam roof (and he could not have been more accurate) perfectly in the MIDDLE OF THE SEAM!! I wonder why he could not have been that accurate on all the other pipes. But then he is a master plummer. Next time I will hire the unexperienced kid right out of school. No better yet maybe my grandkids could have done a better job eh Mr. Plummer. Hope you are reading this because if not now you will be reading it in a court room!!

So today ( and we aren't finished yet) we have three major problems, We also have a problem with the master shower spray unit. It was installed incorrect. The valves need to be EXACTLY the same size and distance as the valves on the opposite side. The distance between the sides mus also be EXACTLY the same distance from the center control valve. Of course they are not causing the 4 body sprays to be stronger on one side and weak on the other.



Patience all good thing come to those who wait!!!

Powder room Multi Red Onyx Flooring

Tread Lightly Least you step on Your Feet

Roofus Leaking Returns

The main leak was caused by the roofer who repaired this after the 2004 hurricanes. He left a piece of roofing felt attached up against the chimney and the water was being funneled under the repaired shingles. So it has been slowly leaking for 4 years and now we have a lot of dry rot in the roof panels directly under the chimney. Also we will have to suck out all the wet insulation and replace it. That's what I get for trying to patch instead of fix. But It will now last another two or three years as is!!

Game On!!!

"up" dates The final Touches begin

"ET" COMES HOME
Finally out of the box
The library is "booked"
got a "handle" on the Frig ?

"She Built it " in 2 years 1 month , 23 Days

Slide Bolts

Rail Tweak ready to install

I am getting that "sink" in feeling

One small modification on the handrail and we are ready for inspection

De - Railed

Now for the railing then DONE

Random Acts

New Life for an Old Friend

I promise not to "stair"

And so it begins.... The final "required" construction at 531. A long time coming. 2 years, 1 month 6 days running!!!!!

Done!!

All that is remaining is the tie backs and shutter bolts installed

First Hair Cut

"Car Pets" coming to 531

Social Security

A trunk without handles $50.00

An interesting cabinet for the bath. It is really a drink server. Fits my slipper just right!!!

A bed!!! The first actual bed, I have not had a real bed in 30 years!!!. But alas I may be too old The bed is so high I need a step ladder to exit.

Contractors from hell

http://www.contractorsfromhell.com/index.html

"Shake n Bake" The PERFECT table for baking

This is an old BAKERS SCHOOL baking table It has 4 drawers and 2 cabinets and space underneath for movable bins

AND... 4 really neat Cutting boards above the drawers! The cutting boards are held in place by hand made dowels so they can't pull out and drop your dough.

I think I will add a slotted shelf on the bottom. Then I will add 4 locking wheels and an original bakers butcher slab , that I have, as a top. The butcher block is 6' x 3" and the table is 24"so there will be a 12" overhang on the other side that can be left as a seating "nook" area or make the underside into shelves for storage space. All in all this is the perfect find and exactly what I have been looking for.

It is in EXCELLENT condition. I almost hate to put the butcher block top on I might leave it as is or add a stainless top. After I add the shelf and wheels and top it will be exactly the correct height! And it will fit perfectly into the space I had planned to house it along the South wall. If I don't put the butcher block top on, it will line up perfectly with the other planned wall cabinets

This Girl Just loves sitting in my yard surrounded by dirt

Just a few of the things we gave up because of Plumber mistakes

1. A theater room was lost due to 2' of wall needed for a pipe mistake
2. No hand held sprayer in the guest bath
3. Loss of an upstairs bathroom in the guest House do due pipe misplacement
4. 3 pipe chases for AC and Plumbing non functional
5. Loss of full size tub in guest bath due to misplaced vent pie
6. Leaky roof in garage
7. No Island function for cooking due to downdraft incompletion
8. Little or no hot water on the island, washer, stage and powder room sinks due to under rate water heater attached to these fixtures
9. Loss of glass wall in master bath due to pipe misplacement
10. In ability to put in privacy wall for Master toilet due to misplaced toilet pipes
11. Space lost on 2 walls in kitchen due to pipe mistakes
12 Low function of water pressure on island

And then there are the expenses we incurred trying to redo things to accommodate the mistakes such as rebuilding walls, digging out and redoing drain lines, building additional walls and structures to accommodate pipes misplaced, taking out and redoing drywall where pipes leaked and had to be redone in three places. Removing and replacing sinks improperly hung and plumbed.

We could tear out and redo all the marble on both tubs to get the proper fixtures installed but we will just do without for now.

Needless to say I am still very disturbed about this plumber and it all seems to be continuing. For a while I thought I had found all the problems and now we are just finding more. I will be glad when the last fixture is installed and then we will have the final tally of Plumber Bummers and the final tally of the cost of such nonsense which by the way I fully intend to recover!!!

News Flash!!! More Plumber Problems Just found

And Your Point.....??

As we try to finish the final installation of the plumbing fixtures more problems are coming to light.

1. The toilet pipe in the master bath has been set too close not only to the side wall but also the back wall. It is set at 11'' instead of 13" and the floor either had to be jack hammered out or as I settled for the toilet is now set so close to the wall it is almost impossible to take the lid off. I refused to let them jack hammer my beautiful tile work!!!!

2. The problem with the guest bath shower head and no hot water was caused by the valves being reversed. Hot to cold and cold to hot. When I was turning on the hot it was always cold. I never thought to just turn on the cold. This is the 4th instance of hot and cold being piped or connected reversed. No excuse!

3. The first picture shows the washer / dryer box installed up side down??? No logical reason for them to do this unless it was done on purpose. Just plain sloppy and disrespectful.

My observation is that this plumber is doing this on purpose. But today I found out the the Plumber I hired to fix this stuff had previously employed the person known to me as the current plumbers best plumber was fired from the job because of those same stupid mistakes he has made all over our home.

Just some pictures to document the problems

Before--Just a tangled mess of wires

After-- Neat, water tight -No Open holes in wall - All in conduit

Wat-Er Friends For........

All this for a Sprinkle a DAY ???

Sometime at or about 9:30 AM, Saturday June 21 "The first day of Summer", appropriately, an assortment of funny looking people in all sizes and manner of human appointment arrived on Stormy Lane just inside the Town limits of MENTAL BEACH.

They brought with them a curious assortment of strange and colorful things. What, I wondered... did any of this have to do with a simple sprinkler system that just tinkles on the lawn a few times a week.? So began the Syrkus of events... One by one they came...

1 Big guy in a black truck with a little midget following him around while a large beige dog kept watch on his truck

1 round guy with a BIG motorized shovel followed by a pony tailed blond woman that followed the shovel wherever it went talking constantly .

1 Dizzy Blonde and her imaginary Dutch helper that she kept calling orders to but he never quite heard them.

Of course I was there to stupid - vise the entire session .
I was needed to keep inventory of all materials so nothing would be lost or stolen.

One by one the following assortment of items found their way out of the various vehicles and onto the soon to be lawn but for now just dirt!

They had with them ....

Things with wires coming out of them

1 thing with a blue handle to turn off a well

7 round black boxes with green tops that had holes in the middle and lids that fell off ( unless you tried to take them off then they stuck)

The 7 black boxes with green tops go over the top of the things with wires coming out of their heads.

62 U.S. Type flags without the red and white

16 strange things called rotors

1 Shit load of things called POP UPS?

1 Big ass Black pump

1 Pain in the ass timer clock

1 broken transformer plug for the pain in the ass clock

Lots and lots long skinny white pipe

Lots and Lots of fat white not so long pipe

Hundreds of curly plastic things, flat things and t-things made from white plastic that matched the long and not so long white pipe

1 roll of flexible something to fit on the pop ups

1 gray box with lots of wires red, green, blue, lt blue, yellow, brown, black and white

1 very very long kinky brown tube with lots holes in it.

1 white thingy wih multiple sides to get the dirt out of the well

1 white thingy with bumps and poky stuff to mover water in and out of the sprinkler heads and around the yard. This thingy also doubles as a tool to give a shower while the water is spurting out of the pop up

5 gray things and 2 big black things with 2 wires sticking out of the tops

2 big round silver cans of clear liquid stuff

Then.... first the Dizzy blonde walked around and stuck the U.S. flags without the red and white into the ground everywhere. Then.... the round guy with the big ass shovel came by with the pony tailed blonde and dug up lines of dirt and played connect the flags with the ditches.

Then.... the dizzy blonde put the white pipe and white plastic thingies together with the liquid in the silver can and the imaginary Dutch helper came along and put all the dirt back over all the stuff the blonde threw into the round guys holes???

The gray and black things got all their wires tangled together by the dizzy blond as the big guy with the black truck and the midget kept an eye on her progress.

The Dutch man disappeared and the round guy with the talking pony tailed blond took the big ass motorized shovel and drove away leaving me, the dizzy blond and the big guy with the midget to clean up the mess.

Then like magic suddenly everything sank into the ground and water started spurting from the little pop ups and the round black thingsstarted spitting water all over, all the while the pump sang a rumbling tune gurgling and swishing.

As SUN-SET on Stormy lane the big guy with the midget and the watch dog came by and gave me a really nice card thanking me for allowing them to perform on my property. The dizzy blond collapsed and drank a few beers.

The card Read:

The Syrkus has come to Town and because you are so sweet and helpful the following discount will apply

Regular priced Syrkus for the day is ------------$100,000.00
Clown, props and supervisors included

Discount for your extraordinary help----------- 98,000.00

Balance due $2,000.00

Every day now like magic the little gray box turns on my Syrkus in the wee hours of the night and all those little parts magically pop up and perform a beautiful rain dance on my emerald green lawn .


Everyone in Mental Beach Should have their own Syrkus

"WELL WELL WELL " Were Finally Getting" PUMPED" UP

A real SOD Story

Wipe OUT Sprinkler piping

Chaos Ensues While tryimg to instll sprinkler lines

ANOTHER UMBRELLA BITES THE DUST

State of the art Server Room

4 dedicated electrical circuits were pre - wired for this room. Then a high volume AC duct was installed to keep this the coldest room in the house.
All the wires are color coded as to function.
Yellow= video
Lt Grey = Computer , Med Grey= phone
black = cable and air
Blue= IP Phone, fax, extra computer line
Green = Audio
Red= IP Cameras and Security
Then we have Fiber and overhead projector wires below
We will tone out and label ALL wires on both ends.

The front rack is for punch down wiring. The rear rack is for equipment such as routers, audio devices, video devices and computer servers etc.

We used the ZON audio system in every room in the house. Zon allows access to 8 music and audio sources as well as IPOD integration, This system also doubles as a doorbell and intercom/room monitoring system. Every room has individual control of the the audio/intercom/monitoring. Actually in this house you could have 8 different sources of audio playing all at the same time. INTERESTING THOUGHT

HD tv can be streamed to any room as each room has individual control of the video system in that particular room. The video system will integrate cable, satellite and home video with 7 -1 surround sound pre-wired in all rooms. Additional speaker locations are in every room as well as integration with ZON system speakers allowed. Overhead projectors with pull down screens are featured in 3 separate areas in the house, the stage area, library and theater along with the ability to convert the garage to an additional suite/ theater/ rec room in the future

When someone drives up in the driveway it will announce their arrival as well as other alerts.

The system can fully integrate with any security system and can do things like turn on all lights, music , tv etc when there is a breach . The cameras will be pan tilt and zoom cameras that alert on movement and can send an email or phone alerts to any computer or phone along with pictures of the reason it for the trigger. The cameras can be accessed remotely and can work on remote commands from any computer anywhere in the world.

And as you can see there is plenty of room for expansion or upgrading and in todays world where everything changes momentarily this is a must have option.


More to come as we build the system.





Good wired management is a must.

See colored Block here

www.columbusglassblock.com/products-designer-and-color.aspx?gclid=CPjXtISQ8JMCFQUpgAodd2T0WQ

Some Photo Updates

Some ideas for the stair railing. How about colored glass block in various sizes and colors to match the fixture. Framed out in cypress to math the molding? Using the same pattern in the fixture. The Handrail would be black wrought iron!

Open letter to the Plumber

Today I received an email from the plumber trying to explain away all his mistakes "JUST THE FEW I HAVE COMPLAIN ABOUT RECENTLY NOT THE ENTIRE LIST" PLUS HE TOOK 8 WEEKS TO ANSWER THE COMPLAINTS !!! and then he ends making veiled threats. My answers are simple .

Plumbers statements in black

1. Why would I give the plumber who made the problem in the first place the opportunity come back and try it again?

2. The Plumber obviously doesn't have a clue to what is going on by his statement about work being done under his license and permit.!!! Someone who doesn't know whose permit he is working under should not be allowed to work at all.




Guest bath toilet: The toilet is set by height given by contractor
before the flange is set, if this height changes, they make spacers or we
are asked to come and change it. Please note that if you paid someone
$250.00 to make a change that was under warranty through our company, this
was unnecessary and also voids our warranty.

Answer: The contractor did specify the toilet was to be set up 2 1/8" so why did the Plumber affix it permanently to the concrete floor? Void the warranty? What warranty if the work is wrong? My question , why was it not done correctly the first time? Why is it that most everything the plumber has done was done wrong the first time but I am required (demanded) to get the same plumber back to do it again correctly so I can maintain the Warranty?


3. Gas Heater: If the gas regulator was for natural gas then our supplier
has made a mistake, but again, a simple problem to correct. If you would
have contacted me, we could have changed out the regulator at no cost of
course and corrected the issue. Please note that if you had another company
re-pipe or change our work, it voids our warranty.

Blaming this on on the supplier. The supplier only sends the materials you specified. What about you taking responsibility for your inability to get the job done correct the first time. Natural gas vs propane installation . Natural gas was NEVER an option. Propane was specified and is quite different in all aspects from natural gas. You knew what was specified when hired to install. Specific cut sheets and details were specified and supplied. If you knew what you were doing or paid attention to what the contractor specified then it would have been done correct in the first place. Not knowing the difference between what is needed for propane vs natural gas just shows incompetence.

It was the gas companies responsibility to make sure all gas equipment they hooked up was correctly installed and working properly before they connected the appliances and turned on the gas. If the gas company had not found the mistake it could have had very significant consequences and they were right to correct it before they finished the final installation of the gas tank and lines. Calling you back was never an option! What guarantee would one have that it would be done correctly considering the past experience.

Your statement that you would "change out the regulator" is reason enough to justify the gas company to repair your work. If you knew what you were doing you would never have made this statement.


4. Wood Spacers under Toilet: This is a common practice to space the
toilet flange to adjust to the height of the sub-floor and tile. Note: By
removing these, the toilet will be back pitched or possibly could break a
fitting in the ceiling. I have several pictures in my files that show this
practice on many homes.

Give me a break! So what you did was correct? and the result was a leaky ceiling? If it had been installed correctly the first time the toilet would not pitch back and would not leak. It is installed correctly now. Again this is another excuse to justify your mistake.

Wasn't this the day it took 2 people 8 hours to install that toilet? 1 toilet that ultimately leaked and ruined the drywall in the ceiling below? (I remember making the plumber put it in 2 times before he even got it level. ) It did not pitch back just sideways!!!

This was also the day I had to run and purchase parts for a sink that was ultimately installed with crossed water lines. I wonder how one can justify coming to install a fixture without bringing the supplies to do the job. PS: There are several other fixtures that have remained PARTIALLY installed or not properly working. I better not touch them it might void the warranty !

Doesn't matter that they don't work I have a warranty!!

Finally, your statement regarding the upstairs sink connections, I am unsure
of what you are speaking about but am happy to address or correct any
plumbing issues you have.

Again give me a break even a child can see the problem and so did you when you were here trying to fix yet another problem created by improper connections of the water piping causing a problem with no hot water in the up bath. Like you said that day "basic plumbing 101" could have avoided this mistake and this was done by your head plumber. You laughed and stated that that plumber would never live this one down. BUT, I spent two weeks and countless hours on the phone and internet talking with several suppliers to try and find the problem. Taking pictures, emailing information and consulting and all it was was a basic plumbing mistake that even you could not find until bringing a rep from your supplier to the location.

Again. Why would I have you back?
Because even your head plumber doesn't know basic plumbing?
Because I might void the warranty?
And NOW you claim you don't know what the issue is? How convenient for you.

Please note that I have a concern that you are having plumbing work
completed under my Plumbing License and permit and I would ask that this not
happen.

Questions: May I see the permit "YOU" pulled? May I see the documentation that shows this work is being done under "YOUR" license? May I see the contract that specified you are the only plumber that can do work for me?


Since when is someone enjoined from working or choosing who works on THEIR property?


I hope to hear from you by June 16th or I will need to contact the
authorities regarding my concerns about work being done under my license and
permit and I will need to address my loss on the material we are still
holding.

Please call "the authorities" about work on my property. Show me the documentation that your company pulled the permit!! Show me the documentation that your company's license is being misused!
Your own the company and you don't have a clue. That is very disconcerting to say the least!

As for materials you are holding. What Materials? Show me the documentation that authorized you to buy or hold any materials for me !

I have a whole list of materials that we discussed but never authorized to be ordered

As a matter of fact your men installed materials that were never ordered . Installed these materials in spite of the FACT they I had purchased materials to be installed and yet they did not install them.

They also neglected/ forgot/ irresponsibly DID NOT INSTALL several items that were ordered and that cannot now be installed so we have to do without them, even though those materials had been specifically specified by the contractor and documented in cut sheets to you.

And what about the parts I supplied for fixtures that you forgot to bring parts for? I guess I better start making my own list of materials furnished and not reimbursed as well as cost to repair faulty work which now counts in the thousands of dollars!!!$$$$

Also items ordered for one master bath were installed into another bath and those fixtures don't even match. "chrome with brushed nickel as well as shower regular head vs adjustable shower head"

PS. The hot cold handles are backwards on that chrome fixture , But that is okay it matches the crossed water lines on the sink and the toilet that you say will pitch back and break pipes. YEA Now we have a completely dysfunctional bathroom and by the way a grossly under rated water heater that supplies 3 gal / minute. The only problem? it feeds 7 water faucets and one shower head that demand 1.5 gal. min EACH and additionally it supplies a dishwasher and wash machine. ALL that on 3 gal/ per minute. Interesting. BUT IT IS UNDER WARRANTY RIGHT!! YOU AN FIX IT!

So all in all I say.

Why in the world would I allow you to come back onto this site and do any work at all?

Why? Just so you can do some more work incorrectly and I can call you again to repair what you did incorrectly?
That makes a lot of sense!
Just so I can get a warranty?
I say on what? I have a better chance without your warranty.

All your company can do is warrant that the first time they do something guaranteed it will be wrong and have to be redone!!

Thought for the Day

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

--Theodore Roosevelt, University of Paris, 1910

Follow the yellow brick road ---

Concrete Evidence of GOOD MEN

Just for the Record

Tie in to house slab needed for future closed porch

The Fence from nowhere to nowhere

The fence starts in the middle of the front yard and ends in the middle of the side yard???
We aren't sure of it's purpose but the neighbor sure admires it.

Our problem is that it now restricts the final grade and sodding of the West side of the house!!
At least the porta potty has a nice background now!

Idea for front walk with circle of plants in middle

A view from the "sittin" Porch

View from the Courtyard

Just about where the driveway will be

Code for this pipe

This pipe comes through the foundation wall and through the footer. First there is no filling around the pipe that has been chopped thorugh the block. Second here is the code and the pipe is not installed as required. We also found that the clean out pipe had to be replaced as it was cracked on the bottom of the pipe under the clean out and seeping sewage into the ground


Cost to repair $179.00


Florida Building Code
305.5 Pipes through or under footings or foundation walls. Any pipe that passes under a footing or foundation wall shall be provided with a relieving arch, or a pipe sleeve. Pipe shall be built into the foundation wall. Such sleeve shall be two pipe sizes greater than the pipe passing through the wall.


I guess when we find the down draft pipe that is suppose to come out just below this one it will not have a sleeve either. That is if we ever find it? It appears to be under the slab and not terminated above ground anywhere.

Another Plummber problem Just found

Master Bath "She built it"

Now we have the meeting of the Ocean and the River. Right here in the Master Bath. And "THEY" said I couldn't do it!! "Impossible" "Won't Work" " Well thanks to my handy Router and Robert the tile guy and Travis and Jolly Green " WE did IT"

And for once I say thanks to the plumber for putting the drain in the wrong place and forcing us to have to redesign the shower floor so we could get the slope correct. Now we have two waves coming from the ocean side and meeting the dark brown river side.

Plummer Bummer 47

This is the installation of the master bathroom sink. It was supposed to be cover with an (apron) that was supplied with the sink but the plumber put the drain pipe too low so it could not cover the drain ( The distance from the sink to the bottom of the cover was off by 4")and he left it like this as a finished install. We have since removed this sink and replaced it with one that will work with the misplaced drain line

NOTICE he used copper on the faucets but nothing. This is also the sink that was installed at 30" instead of 37" as requested and had to be romoved after the tile was installed. A sink for midgets. what was left.

I REALLY LIKE THE WAY HE COVERED THE HOLE DON'T YOU?

No hot water in the Guest Bath

Just tried out the shower in the guest bath and as expected there was plumber trouble. Seems there is a slight problem unless of course you like COLD SHOWERS. Because that is what we have. No hot water . Can't even get the water to turn on unless you close all the other valves and open both the hot and cold water feeds. If either is closed and the other open then you get nothing at all. Maybe just another "basic plumbing mistake" by what is suppose to be a master plumber as the owner of the company said when we had the same problem with the upstairs hot water . He laughed and thought it was very funny and the plumber who did it would "never live this one down". It is not very funny when you have the stress and anxiety of not knowing what else will go wrong. Not funny at all Mr. Plumber!!

Before we go on let's just list SOME the problems we have had and still have. Let's make a count of the "funny" stuff and see how many people laugh when all is said and done. One by one I will post pictures of ALL the problems and the let's take a vote to see if this plumber is as good as he says he is and keep in mind this is a $30,000 plumbing job!.

Just a note: that Toilet that I posted the problems with the leaks and the sink with the twisty lines. It too 2 guys 22 working hours to make that mess. Yes , 22 man hours to install a leaking toilet and a mess of sink water feed lines and I had to buy them materials because they did not have materials needed to attach the sink faucets!!! I ran to the hardware store for of all things washers they did not have and then I had to find electrical fixture rings so that they could jury rig the faucets because they did not have any tightening rings to hold the faucets on!!!! for this $30,000 plumbing job.

No materials, using spar electrical parts and chips of wood , installing drains with covers that don't cover or no covers at all and showers without hot water and toilets that leak and drains in the wrong place, sinks to low, missing fixtures, breaking electrical lines, pipes in the wrong place, Toilets to close to doors, leaks in the roof, compromising bearing walls, overloading and under rating hot water supplies, natural gas valves for propane gas usage, just to mention a few causing thousands of dollars in owner redos just to make the mistakes bearable and all this for a mere $30,000. How lucky can we get?????.

Yes I am venting and will continue to vent until have documented all the stupid plumber tricks with pictures and explanations of how we had to compromise and what the cost was to repair or make those compromises. What items we now have to do without and how it has effected the design of the house and the effect on the original intentions of the living space and how it effects that space or lack of space due to stupid plumber tricks.

I always approached problems with the idea that there are no mistakes that do not have a solution just solutions but with the plumber it now boarders on the inane.


Initial rough

1.Green Chases in concrete crooked and were no ever able to be used

2.White plumbing chase placed in middle of room and had to be moved

3.Drain line for guest upstairs bath placed in wrong wall and cannot be used

1. Shower drain for Guest house discovered in the theater wall and shower had to be enlarged and theater room no longer usable as a theater
2.
Kitchen drain line for island sink placed in area where concert was poured under window and had to be disconnected. Should have been placed in wall not under window area and floor chopped up to seal off drain

1. Drain for main kitchen sink in wrong place and concrete had to be broken out of block wall. Later was again moved under concrete
2. Down draft pipe was never stubbed out and remains under the concrete.
3. Guest house drain line for bath in the middle of the room had to be moved to accommodate the tub
4. drain in master bath shower placed off center of the shower and now the slope is almost impossible to do correctly and when one showers you are standing not in the middle of the slope by leaning to the left because of the slope required to the drain so the floor had to be chipped out to make the drain appear centered.

Internal Rough

Manabloc system installed when I was not available and not informed. I had requested to be there to do a video for the company and consequently lost my advantage for a promotion with Vanguard.

1. Used Zurn materials not vanguard Later was informed when problem with manabloc arose that is was Vanguard manabloc and was never told.
2. Manabloc system was place inside the bearing garage wall and compromised the
structure causing the need to do additional work to shore up the wall to make it safe and had to be re engineered.
3. Installing manabloc inside wall instead of outside as requested for visual display not requiring more build out to frame system for view.
4. Rennai water heater vent knocked though concrete wall causing damage to the hardie siding and has yet to be caulked properly. The concrete still emerging on the outsie of the wall under the hardie.
5. Issues with the emmax water heater due to a simple plumbing error causing a lot of problems, stress and needless hours of research with emmax, Zurn and Fergesons. This water heater has is grossly inadequate to supply ALL the lines attached. 5 sinks, washer, dishwasher, shower on a 3 gal/ min heater. It was suppose to feed only the up bath and 1 kitchen sink.
6. Upstairs bath toilet drain leaking, installed and stained tile causing drywall in ceiling to have to be removed
7. upstairs sink installed with puzzling water line connections that could cause problems with perception of which lines are hot and cold when looking to turn off water. and pvc drain not chrome
8. upstairs shower incorrect fixtures
9. Power room plumbing initially installed in wrong wall and then moved. Faucet valves installed in wrong location and had to be moved; TWICE and still in the wrong place
10. Drain pipes installed had to be built out in kitchen wall
11. drain pipes due to initial washer dryer drain area problem had to be re routed outside and wall had to be built out causing the kitchen cabinets to have to be reordered in smaller depth and more expense
12. Master bath sink set in the wrong place despite initial instructions to set at 37” pvc drain not chrome
13. Problems with the shower fixture leaking.
14. Problems with the second shower fixture not being done symetric and causing the build out of the tower. Initial response was each fixture had to be exactly the same distance from the center to allow proper water flor. BUT they are not equal distance even now. And the Tower is going to have to be re built.
15. Guest House water line in kitchen in incorrect place. They were installed directly opposite vanity lines on opposite wall but in the wrong place to the kitchen sink.
16. Master bedroom toilet drain installed too close to door and cannot build knee wall to shelter from door
17. No hand shower installed in Guest bath as per order
18. Garage sink faucets not ordered and rough in not done correctly for wall faucets
19. Master bath drain vent line in middle of room causing the initial reason for building the tower
20. Vent pipes to roof were not done according to instructions, Exact measurements were given so that no vent pipe was installed where a standing seam would have been yet one vent was and has caused leaks and additional roofing issies to be addressed at a cost of $800.00 and it still leaks so the garage insulation cannot be completed nor can the drywall
21. Pex lines not properly attached to side frame had to be tacked in before dry wall one line was missed and caused a break in the line in guest bath
22. Lines were pushing out drywall in several places
23. Guest toilet was set for a pre install knowing tile would have to be set and toilet set up 2 “ Bolts were left uncut for this but drain line now has to be redone before tile as toilet cannot be raised as instructed.
1. Pex line originally bundled together with hot and cold and in undles so large had to be redone before drywall could be put on ceiling
2. Second water hear was suppose to have ONLY the upstairs bathroom and kitchen sink on the heater but instead they included the power room sink, stage sink, island sink, kitchen washer kitchen sink, shower and bath sink. This water heater can run only the bath or kitchen a one time. Stil no explanation when the aditional lines were re routed to this heater.
3. Water heater originally y quoted at 465 and billed at 800
Outside problems
1. Dug for sewer line connection before locating sewer "twice.
2. Dug out sewer line on 527 and never came back to fill in
1. On initial contract I objected to line 60' included and argued it was at least 100' to road. Agreed to 75' ncluded but billed for 40' additional feet and 900 additional labor.
2. Dug for water line connection and despite showing exact location of electric line broke the line and was going to repair it with duct tape according to contractor on site at the time. Did not inform me of any problem I was informed by contractor and then went to the site to stop the work. Never called or arranged for FPL to come out. It took 4 weeks to get it repaired due only to my intervention. Dug for the sewer line in house next door and never came back to fill in hole.
3. Also when digging for sewer line I was the one who did all the correspondence and follow up on sewer line location.
4. Broke a cable line in front ayrd and never followed up with anyone
5. Item listed on proposals agreed change with subsequent proposal. These are small items that unless scrutinized constantly one would not se the changes. I have been caught up in these changes and missed them many times.
6. Originally charged time and materials for finding the sewer line not sure how that now figures in the bill.

7. No hot water in Guest bath

8. Sloppy and incomplete finishing of drain and faucet lines under sinks installed.

9. Installing gas lines for propane and then installing "Natural "gas valves


So far the cost to repair what is suppose to be an expert plumbers work is in the thousands, Not to mention the loss of a bathroom, loss of a planned theater room, increase cost to tile additional shower space, cost to dig out and repair concrete etc. etc. etc. You get the picture.

He does the work , he gets paid, we do the repair. I wonder what it would cost for a mediocre plumber?

More Plumber Bummer Pictures yet to come.


New stuff just being discovered:

1.Broken sewage clean out

2. Pipe through the foundation not supported or encased to code

3. Large hole in leaking upstairs toilet area. that had to be sealed and caulked from under the floor and on the bathroom floor.

4. Faucet in Master bath had to be removed because of sink placement and the sink was removed also because it's final height after tile work was at 28"

5. Faucet in master was originally taken off the order as evidenced in the book provided by the plumber of all materials to be ordered yet it was ordered and installed at an additional cost of over $400.00

6. Garage sink is set but the faucets are not set for wall mount it was left unfinished.

7. Master bath toilet set too close to the exterior door and a knee wall for privacy from the all glass door cannot be built . The toilet will be too close to the wall to pass code.

8. Master shower floo had to be redesigned to accommodate the needed slope to the drain because the drain was set too close to and not centered in the 5 x 5 shower.


Added June 30 2008

Just found out. Master Shower That had no hot water!!! Valves were reversed sohot was cold and cold was hot.When I turned on the hot it was always cold and I never ran itlong enough for the cold to get hot so I thought It was malfunctioning.Cost to repair $100.00service call A&P Plumbing

2.When they went to installthe Master toilet it was found that the pipe was set11"not 13from the wall Another 100>000 Expense to re set and dig out the flange.The old plumber is now 0for 3on toilets thress set three wrong. That makes 0 for 3 n toilets and 0 for 3 on shower mistakes.

When will it end?When I sue his A"''

BIG DIFFERENCE Before and After

This is a really great tile job done by a real professional. No leaks now. Funny part is that the floor was simple to do, just a matter of taking the time to do a good job. ( It took this tile person 8 hours to fix the problem) He fixed the toilet area and part of the shower knee walls and the door 7area where it meets the carpet. And still a lot more to fix

The original tile guy made a real MESS of this room as can be seen by the pictures below before the repair and other pictures of this bathroom. It would have been so simple to do it right. I can't think of any excuse for the shoddy , sloppy and damaging work that was done by both the plumber and the tile person. Maybe they think it's funny but Karma is a bitch to satisfy.

Stupid Plumber Tricks

First we saw water leak marks in the living room ceiling. So we took out the drywall and sure enough something had been leaking from the toilet, but we could not duplicate the leak.

Today we removed the toilet and found what I have documented in pictures below. Of all the stupid things that the plumber has done this ranks with the top.

They cut various pieces of wood and stuck them under the flange and then installed the toilet. The problem is that the wood was not sealed and no durarock or tile was under the toilet base. We could see light when we took out the drywall coming from the hole in the bathroom flooring under the toilet. The result was that even the slightest wetness or water spill would penetrate the floor area under the toilet and leak onto the ceiling.

My question to the plumber is "why did you do what you did? Shouldn't you have informed me of the problem with the lack of durarock and tile instead of just stuffing something under the toilet and ultimately causing the leak and damage to the ceiling. ?"

The second and probably the "top stupid plumber tricks "problem with the upstairs bath is the installation of the faucet water lines in a manner that makes them appear to have crossed the hot and cold lines. There is no logical reason why they would have to be done this way. It would have been just as easy or easier to make the lines fit directly up Cold line to cold and hot line to hot.

My question to the Plumber "Why? Was it purposefully to cause another problem because it could have been done correctly with LESS effort?"

By the way this has been rejected by the building code inspector and has to be redone. The sink has to be removed and completely re done as is the toilet.

Additionally you see 2 pictures. One of the shower faucet turn on valve and one of the shower head. Whats wrong with those pictures? What's wrong is that the faucet is polished chrome and the shower head is brushed chrome. Looks like they forgot it SHOULD MATCH. Do you think?




digging out the wood
You can see where the water laks stained the plywood

$24,000 Plumbing job?? I guess the the extra large drain cover must be extra!

Hot looks like it going to the cold line. Cold looks like its going to the hot feed and check out the drain wall cover? A little small do you think?
Polished Chrome valve
Brushed Chrome Shower Head

Water leaks around ceiling light located under the toilet drain
Rust marks on tile because the Plumber left steel shavings from the bolts
Crossed water feed lines. A really Nice "UGLY" mess showing under this sink and they knew it would not be covered. Plus all traps were suppose to be brass not PVC or Chrome on all exposed sink lines.

How does one open the drawer?

The Appliance Dealer would have me believe that I need to pay a lot more for the drawer fronts. The refrigerator and the range came without covers for the feet or panels for the sides . A $13,000 refrigerator ,
A $13,000 range and the feet covers are extra??


Silly Boys We shall see who pays for what!

Try not to Stair tile were done

MORE TO COME

Stay tuned for the next episode of

"Nothing Dumber than a Plumber"

Coming Soon to a construction site near you "Plumber Bummers Lurking" in the wings.

This could be a big "event" Vent for the downdraft on the island appears here but, no one seems knows where the other end is!!! Somewhere under the slab I suppose. To bad no one thought to terminate it above ground. DUH! COST ? Probably the loss of the original cooking use of the island $$$$ and some excavation. Sure glad we caught it before the final grading was done!


Ever get a "sinking feeling" Sink set for a midget. 29" from the floor Cost to fix includes paint, drywall and remove install $$$ Plus because the piping was not set correctly we cannot use the drain cover that is part of the sink so the pipes have to remain exposed. UGLY. Notice how beautifully? they capped the drain into the wall! NOT. So this sink install is a total waste of time and money as it will have to be COMPLETLY redone
Cabinet sink faucet set in a very unusual place. Required special placement of the cabinet. Cost ? Replacement of the cabinet back and a smaller sink is now needed instead of the original $$$I wonder how they intend to put shut off valves on the hot side? and what is that pipe in the middle for? Maybe that is why we have no hot water in the shower? But that is yet another story yet to come

MORE TO COME
Stay tuned for the next episode of
"Nothing Dumber than a Plumber"

What More Plumber Bummers? I am going Plumb Crazy!!

The" ISSUE "The drain is not only off center but off sides, A double penalty. Causing problems with the slope of the shower floor " unacceptable". PS This is the "second" drain that was horrible misplaced. The first one was fixed only by DOUBLING the size of the shower as that drain was placed in the middle of the adjoining wall. So for incorrect drain placement problems we have tripled the cost of the one shower, Lost the original use of the theater by having to give up 3 feet of width to the guest shower and now had to redesign the master shower and pay a days labor for the fix.

Cost $$$$$

The "FIX" Chip out the concrete so that it "appears" that the drain is set correctly. So we used the same idea here as we did for the floor to tile break and made the shower floor bigger so that there is equal distance from each edge to the center using a random curve. This gives us the required slope and hides the problem of the drain being off center.
The method cut chip and smooth.

The final rough result ready for finishing. Now we have a gradual 1/4" per foot slope to the drain but when you stand in the shower instead of standing in the lowest part by the drain you still stand on a slope. OH WELL We will call this the "shower for the off balanced"! If the shower fits stand in it!!!

Routing and installed the treads

When does a Palindrome make a palindrome?

123+321 = 444 A palindrome within a palindrome.


Life is GOOD!!!

See how the wood is darkening

I had a carpet over this wood since we installed it and this showes how much is has darkened in just 2 weeks. The wood is getting a really beautiful dramatic deep rich red hue.

Suitcases of the mind? What is a "portmanteau"

The usage originates in Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass (1871), in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky^[3]:

• "‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’... You see it's like a ? —there are two meanings packed up into one word"
• "‘Mimsy’ is ‘flimsy and miserable’ (there's another portmanteau ... for you)".

Carroll uses the word again when discussing lexical selection:

Humpty Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all. For instance, take the two words "fuming" and "furious." Make up your mind that you will say both words ... you will say "frumious."^[3].

Carroll suggests here a double metaphor: the original meaning of the word 'portmanteau' is a form of suitcase (which supports the idea that meanings can be 'packed' into it), and the word 'portmanteau' is itself a 'portmanteau word', deriving from the two French words porter (to carry) and manteau (cloak or mantle).

Gas Cooking, Gas Hot Water. One step closer

BUT... The French Top " Center" will not light and the hood Blower is "MISSING"? I wonder how they assembled it without noticing the main ingredient was "Missing"

Plumber Problem # ?? I have lost count. This one cost us 500.00

This time they installed gas lines and a gas water heater. Knowing full well we were using propane they installed a natural gas valve which would have caused a real problem with the propane line and gas distribution. This is inexcusable as are many of the other problems. Again Do you think they are that stupid? I doubt it so what is the explaination? Your guess ? Mine is already known.incorrect valve for propane
How it should have been done


Gas Company checks for wrong set up

Shutters waiting for the next stage OODLES AND OODLES OF SHUTTERS

Remember this mess? Well look below and see how it should have been done

Lets the April Showers begin

Thanks Robert for the excellent Job.

I used ALL the scraps including scrap bullnose to do the landing.

More Plumber Mistakes need redoing

Just another avoidable mistake. I am beginning to think these mistakes are being done on purpose. How do you manage to leave the bolts long enough to accommodate the 2 1/8 rise in the flooring but then permanently put the flange on the concrete causing us to have to jack hammer out the concrete to properly do the flange. . Just like being told to install a vanity at 37" and coming back a few minutes later to find it has been installed at 32". Just makes no sense unless it was done on purpose. We shall see! These plumbers were given specific instructions and knew exactly what was needed . No excuse will cover this one.

Gas-p !! We've been Tanked!

A dream becomes reality

The Master Bedroom meets the Master Bath with a wave of motion

Beautiful Patagonian Rosewood from

Unique Wood Floors

Excellent Milling **** Beautiful Finish *** Great Pricing *** Great Service

More forward progress