We just had our weekly Wednesday meeting. This one was longer then usual because we had two big areas that need review.

But first, the current build status. Almost all the external work is waiting for the siding to be installed, and the siding is waiting for that one piece needed for the edges at windows. That piece is due in a week (its being shipped from Georgia), at which point siding installation should proceed quickly.

The exception to the hold on exterior work is painting the framing for the deck. After four coats of fire proofing paint, we decided that we wanted the framing to be black so it would not show through the deck floor planks. So it is being painted.

The first half of this week’s meeting was a discussion with Donna of Packard’s Kitchens. Donna is responsible for putting together details of the kitchen cabinets and coordinating with the manufacturer. Donna, Daphne and our architect spent an hour plus going over all the design details for the cabinets so we can get the order into the manufacturer by this Friday. This is being done in a rush so we can get the cabinets shipped to us before January 1st when the Canadian tariffs double. We will then store the cabinets in the unfinished (but heated) basement until we are ready to install them.

Here is a picture of the “girls” going through all the details, while the guys stand around.

We wanted to do custom colors for the pantry cabinets (the main part of the kitchen will be natural cherry wood). Unfortunately using custom colors added a month to the manufacturing process. So instead, we picked out colors that were as close as possible to our original choices, but were stock. (You can see our original color choices in a prior post.)

Here is what we ended up with for paint colors (the white and blue samples) shown against all the various wood textures in the kitchen.

The result of this session were corrections to the details of all the cabinetry that needs to be build so it can be ordered. Here is an example of the adjusted plans.

The second half of this week’s meeting was a walk through for the positions of all the switches and electrical outlets (including Ethernet and phone ports).

The process started many months ago when I put together a proposal for where I wanted outlets, switches and Ethernet ports. This was then refined by the architect including adding more outlets to meet electrical code requirements. A few months ago, we went through the house and reviewed all the light switch locations.

Then, in the last week, the electrician put in all the wall boxes based on the plan. For example, here is a section of the wall in the kitchenette area on the second floor, where we both have kitchen outlets and also support for our upstairs media computer. Each box will have one switch, one outlet (for two plugs) or one Ethernet jack.

As the electrician did this work, he found all the locations than have to change because of the way the walls were framed. A lot of boxes will be moving a few inches in one direction or another to make it work. We will need one floor outlet in the living room because the living room windows go almost down to the floor leaving no room on the wall for an outlet that is required by code. But we were able to make everything else work (except for the outlet for the pantry oven, which we are still struggling with).

Finally, I should mention that when the Cherrystone carpenter came by last week to measure for the game room shelves, he realized that some of the blocking was not positioned correctly. This meant that more blocking had to be added, which you can see in this picture. The blocking is needed to have a secure anchor for the shelves and Murphy bed supports. It will all get covered with plaster and you will never know it is there.

Next big step for me is to meet with a botanist who will write up a report required by the Concord Natural Resources Commission as part of the conditions of them allowing us to build a house on our land. Basically, we planted four trees and the botanist will certify that they are still alive, and also that we did a reasonable job removing invasive plants. We will need reports every year for the next three years.

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