Since we hung the drywall, our lighting has been… basic to say the least.  Just your regular CFL bulbs in basic white ceramic fixtures.  Upgrading them has been on our lists for years.

Finally this month we did it.  The Living room got a Tiffany style stained glass fixture to match the other stained glass down there.  We got this one on Amazon and it was a straight forward install. In addition to matching the windows, it has hearts all around it.

The kitchen got a a bespoke piece.  Siri had the idea of using an antique copper colander as a shade if I could build the rest.  Sure can!  We ordered some braided wire, a cap for the ceiling and a copper socket.  Took a little while to get the height right, but it really makes for a brighter work area on the table below.  The little holes of the colander also make cool patterns on the ceiling.  We’re still trying to think of a better bulb, preferably lower profile, maybe even a circular florescent tube.

The lamp makes some nice patterns of light on the ceiling.

The bedroom was last.  We had somehow managed to not break one of the original light fixtures that was in the bedroom when we bought the house 2.5 years ago.  These were some of the first parts to come down during demolition and they’ve been moved around the state of Maryland a few times since without breaking.  The rugged thing had finally won us over.  Its simple, has 2 sockets for bulbs and has a frosted glass cover with white paint on the inside with a pattern radiating out from the center.

“Maybe its a little too bright.” ~Siri  “It shows EVERY flaw in the drywall.” ~Mike

The first test. Kid approved.

Siri and I have been thinking about a hot tub almost since we started thinking about getting a house together.  Hot tubs are excessive.  Hot tubs are fun.  We wanted a hot tub.  We have included it in the roof deck plans; better get one now so we know it works before we try to build a deck around it.

Knowing full well we couldn’t afford a new one we searched for Craigslist for nice used ones starting a year ago.  We even checked a few [awful] ones out.  After a year we made the decision not to wait any longer. We found one that was relatively modern and working.  We drove down to check it out and started working on the logistics to move it.  We were lucky enough to get all of the wires, breaker boxes, conduit from the tub all the way up to the fuse box.  This stuff adds up and was likely worth several hundred dollars.  We did need a few little extras, but not much.

It was a tough move.  We hired a “hot tub mover” to do this, but it was really just a tow truck driver and his sons.  Getting it from the street to the back was a tight squeeze.  Tight enough that I had to remove the iron gate on the alley.  We got a few scratches, but nothing major.

We hired our friend Tom to wire this up.  Hot tub electrics are no joke.  240V @ 50 Amps is a lot of juice…. sitting next to water.  Code is pretty clear on this:

• GFCI protected because water + electric = bad
• Emergency cutoff breaker within sight (not too far)
• 5′ minimum from the breaker/disconnect box (not too close either)
• Bonded to any metal within 5′
• Can’t be under any power wires (so if they come down, they don’t land in the tub)
• Can’t be within 10′ of those lines (so you can’t possibly reach one from the tub)
• 60″ minimum from non-tempered glass windows and doors (don’t want glass in the tub)
• Wires must be protected by conduit.
• etc, etc.

Anyways… we got it all wired up, conduit ran.  Gave it a few days for an inspection and then finally I got to fire it up…. pumps worked for about 20 seconds, but it wasn’t full yet so I shut it off… that was the last I got out of it.  Something died. There was an error code “E1”.  Time to call tech support.

I was really trying NOT to learn how hot tubs worked; well fuck.

RANT:
Their website says “Proudly Made in the U.S.A.”  yet nearly every part is made somewhere else.  Ethink, a Chinese company, makes the controller, heater and topside controls.  The 2x4s are stamped with maple leaves.  If you are using parts from other countries, be honest about it.. or at a minimum put those pieces together with some U.S.A pride.

This thing’s MSRP is as much as a car.  You’d expect car like fit and finish.  Sadly that’s not the case.  This thing was screwed and glued together in a hurry and it shows.   The pumps are screwed into a piece of plywood with the rubber bushings still attached to the base of the pump.  Too lazy to eliminate a source of vibration I guess.  Also the “sealed” electronics box would have been.. if they hadn’t just run too small of wires through the connectors without first seeing if they actually sealed.  The sides are held on by 3/8″ strips of plywood and stapled 1/16″ into the boards.  A tiny bit of movement and they just fall to pieces… and you will need to move them because there is no access panel on this thing, not even to adjust the subwoofer. Set it and forget it.

As for the technical service, they must be closely tied with their sales department because every path led to “replace part”.  They said the “E1” error was a loose wire and apparently really hard to troubleshoot.  “You should buy a new controller to see if that works.”  I asked if they would take it back if it didn’t fix the problem they said “no returns”.  What’s the incentive there to actually support your product?  Fuck Energy Saver Spa alias Laguna Bay Spa, Home and Garden (Home Depot), Dr Wellness.
END RANT.

Since the price to replace the control box (had to buy the whole box, not just the circuit board) was $400, we decided to shop around.  Turns out a brand new controller with a warranty, documentation, integral heater and included top side controls was the same price.  We ended up buying a Gecko YE-5.  It’s relatively basic, but it supports all the features we have.  Of course this won’t drop in, but its not rocket science.  I had to do some PVC pipe work to lower and lengthen the heater location.  We reused a few parts, bought a few from home depot.  Pretty easy stuff. Finally got it in a full 3 hours before the first big freeze of the year.

Future plans include adding a 120V outlet so we can add a Bluetooth adapter to the stereo and new speakers (one is blown).  Plans also include reducing our operating costs by insulating all 4 sides and getting the ozonator working again.

Next time I’m just going to build one from scratch.

My mom, Siri, has been working for a long time on the tiles in the bathroom. They were finished in the beginning of May, but no one ever said anything, so I am posting this for my mom. We also have a hand held shower. Now, Mike and Siri are thinking about making a countdown timer on the glass blocks, so anyone who stays in the shower for too long will lose the hot water! They want to make it out of lights, and I am still not exactly sure how it will work.

For the first time in likely 30 years, we have the morning light shining through our transom window.  About a year ago I cut away the drywall and wood paneling that had been covering this up and removed the window for cleaning. Since then its largely been sitting, but finally I got some time to remove the old paint, clean everything and repaint it.  Just last week It went back in.  After two overcast mornings, we finally had some sun.

We’ve also added a new floor lamp be the front window.  The style is very similar to our transom windows.  Although its got the old timey look, the lamp is actually pretty new.

This lamp I found advertised online for $20.  Not sure on the age, but its built solid.  Probably weighs 10 lbs.  No idea where we will put it, but for $20, I didn’t want to pass it up.

We call this spot The Dungeon. Under the stairs at the back of the house, this was the old coal pit based on the black walls. Since then it seems to have been used as storage. When we first saw it, there was insulation in the rafters growing the most bizarre white curtains of mold. It was terrifying. The floor appeared to be dirt and it always seemed to be moist.

I started cleaning this out a few months ago. The floor wasn’t dirt after all. The inch or so of soil on the ground was actually boards, boxes and other things stored in here so long ago that they had turned into dirt! Under it was a thin (1/4″ in places) layer of concrete on top of old bricks and sand.

My theory is that this is the mortar and brick leftovers from construction 150 years ago that had fallen to the ground during construction. I sifted each shovel of dirt with a 1/4″ mesh. This helped separate out the sand from the larger pieces. It also helped me to find a trove of old porcelain shards, glass, coal, oysters, even bones. Iris and I are cleaning these up and will make a shadow box for the front room.

I planned to dig down until I found the footers, but no further. It didn’t take long. Once the rubble was out I hit dirt. On the edges I tested a few spots to see how far down they went. On at least one side, not far. It looks like they just laid the bricks right on the dirt. No footer or anything. We were ready for new concrete.

We next had to line up all the materials and tools. Pemixed concrete would have been like 20 bags. Luckily we found my grandfather had an old cement mixer which meant we’d have a much easier time. We had all the sand we needed and only had to pick up 2x 94lb bags of Portland cement and a half ton of #57 stone. Our friend Ian gave us the last materials: 3mil plastic and metal mesh.

I relaid some bricks at the mouth of The Dungeon to get it up to a level the concrete could come to. Next I threw in a few buckets of crushed up bricks from the rubble piles and stones on top of that. Next was plastic. Dad came down to help on Saturday and we cleaned up the remaining piles of rubble to have an area to work. He then started mixing. I started carrying.

Dad at work

Pouring… half a bucket at a time (they’re heavy!)

Other than seeming really wet, it went smoothly. We checked it for level side to side and to have a 2 course drop from back to front. I floated it nice and flat and then took his advice and not mess with it too much. I did a round with the float around 8pm and another with the trowel at midnight, about 12 hours after we started. The next morning it was able to be walked on and I could knock down some ridges. Looks professional!

Finished! Going to store some light boxes on it and let it cure for a month before I get to work on those awful bricks.

I’ve already started to store boxes in there.  I’ll let it cure for a month before I get to work on those awful coal dust coated bricks and joists.