Showing posts with label House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label House. Show all posts

Sunday, January 15, 2023

Learning About Lights

On a bulb, there might be a number such as F32T8/TL741 but what does the numbers mean?
  • F32 means it is a 32W bulb.
  • T8 gives the size (T8 is a 1" diameter tube).
  • 7 - I'm not sure what this means.
  • 41 means the color temperature is 4100 Kelvin.
    • 2000 K is like sunset/sunrise
    • 3000 K is warm yellow light
    • 4000 K is a warm white light like early day light (has a bit of yellow)
    • 5000 K is also daylight and is a good option for a garage.
    • 6000 K gives a noticeable blue tinge.
What the number doesn't indicate is the brightness (i.e. Lumen) or the color rendering index (CRI).

When it comes to lumen, the right number depends on what the area you want to light up.   A 60W incandescent bulb is about 700 lumens.  Putting a 5000 lumen light in your bedroom will be too bright and harsh but it might be just right for a 2 car garage.

The CRI is a number from 0 to 100 where 100 gives the best color reproduction on the object while a 1 will make everything look like a single color.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Week 35: Construction Is Now Complete!

The house is done!!! After a successful final inspection the city has signed off on the construction and approved it for us to move in. 35 weeks ago this was what we had:

demolished

And now this is what our soon-to-be home is:


There are still cosmetic details that need to be done such as the landscaping and touch ups on the inside, but there is nothing holding us back from starting to bring our stuff over to the new house. Our GC did an amazing job keeping the project moving forward and staying on schedule. That's quite an accomplishment for a 9 months project.

The last two weeks were pretty hectic with the rain and the backsplash people flaking out, but in the end everything got done. The backsplash went in which allowed us to get the appliances and kitchen faucets in. Finally, our front door also got installed .

Welcome, please come in.



Step through the front door.



Kitchen with actual appliances and backsplash!



22,000 BTUs, baby! Also, it allows for wok cooking on its burners.


The far right is a instant hot water filter great for that hot chocolate or tea with no waiting. :-)


We went for a solid glass backsplash for a clean look as well as easy cleaning.



From the kitchen, we can look to the great room area.



The soaking tub. I'm ready to use it now!


Sunday, April 3, 2011

Week 34: Beginning Landscaping and a Test

The landscaping started this week.  The driveway was completed along with the front landing and the front yard landscaping has started.  The frontyard was cleared and mulched so we can pass inspection since the city required basic landscaping, but this isn't the final product.  We'll fully start on both the front and back yard landscaping after the inspection is completed.


Here you can see the driveway pavers:


Oh, the "Test" part in the title of this post refers to me trying Picasa and Blogger's integrated feature for the first time.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Week 33: Waiting on the Rain

The recent rain delayed work on the driveway and landscaping which also meant that we have to move the inspection back. It's not a big deal since we're still on schedule but it's not looking like we're going to finish ahead. The protective fencing around the house have been taken down and the driveway was completed. Our glass backsplash is taking longer then expected although it isn't needed for final inspection but the hope is to have it install before we put in the stove. There are still a bunch of little detail work that needs to be done but the GC feels confident that they will be ready for inspection this week. While he takes care of getting the house ready for inspection, we've been starting to plan the front and backyard landscaping. I really like to get that done before we move in because right now the backyard is just a patch of mud and clay...

First time I can take a picture from this angle without a fence in the way!

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The crew have started to clean up the inside in preparation for the inspection and because they're close to finishing:

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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Week 32: A Contemporary Traditional Asian Inspired House

We're about a week from final inspection so the stucco and driveway is starting on the exterior and in the interior it's the appliances, towel bars and other details.

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To the office:

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To give a sense of height:

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Cabinet hardware:

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Exterior lights:

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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Week 30-31: Countertops, shower doors and more trimming

The kitchen is coming together with the installation of the counter tops and cabinet doors.

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Main sink:

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Kitchen island sink:

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Laundry room:

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Shower doors now installed in my walk-in shower:

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Other bathroom:

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I had the painters paint the walls in the garage since it always drove me nuts to see the sheetrock tape.

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Friday, February 25, 2011

Week 28-29: Garage door, flooring, cabinets and island

Hard to believe that we're down to our final month, but the final inspection is right around the corners. This past two weeks saw the completion of the hardwood floors, the installation of the cabinets and kitchen island and the arrival of the garage doors and appliances. In addition, the water heater and driveway started to go in. It's so close that I'm starting to taste it!

The weather has put a slight damper on things which meant that we haven't been able to finalize the exterior colors. We know what we want, but have not been able to see a sample since the wet weather has kept them from putting up a sample. We hit one snag with the pavers we picked for the driveway which got discontinued so it's back to finding another set of pavers.

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Monday, February 14, 2011

First Cabinet: Walnut Shoe Cabinet

For the new house, we needed a shoe cabinet so I decided to try my hands at building a simple one. It is made of walnut plywood (3/4" for the carcass and shelves, 1/2" for the door panels, 1/4" for the back) with 3/4" thick and 2" wide solid walnut trim. The carcass uses standard dado and rabbet joints, but for the doors I used loose tenons. The top of the cabinet is so that we can put our phones, key, etc. once I put in a small hole for the charger cables to go through.

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It was a good learning experience and overall turned out better then I expected. There are definitely things I want to do better on my next cabinet, but fortunately most of the mistakes on this one isn't visible. Building this cabinet wasn't cheap since the raw materials (solid walnut, walnut ply) are quite expensive (3/4" ply is easily over $100), but for the next cabinet I will have plenty of stock remaining so that will be the savings. If you just needed a single cabinet it's definitely cheaper to just buy one. I also bought the wood that already been smoothed which is very expensive compared to buying rough lumber and planning it yourself. However, I didn't have access to a planner and wasn't ready to buy one.

To cover the plywood edge of the shelves, I went with unfinished edge banding that already have the adhesive on it so I didn't have to iron it on. The solid wood hides the rest of the plywood sides. Finally, I used a poly gel for the finish as I'm not ready yet to use "real" finishes such as shellac.

For the hinges, I went with an European style hinge so that it doesn't show.

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(still some sawdust that I need to clean out... ^_^;)

Friday, February 11, 2011

Week 27: Kitchen cabinets, counter tops, and ... rebar?

It's starting to feel like it's coming down to the final stretch as it's been installing, installing and installing rather then building.

With the bathroom cabinets in the focus shifts to the kitchen. The flooring is about 40% installed and now some work is starting on the exterior with tearing out the old drive way to make way for the new.

Kitchen base cabinets:
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Hardwood flooring:
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One of the bathroom countertop installed:
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Lots of rebar in the old drive way:
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Saturday, February 5, 2011

Week 26: Lighting, flooring, fixtures and garage!

Electrician started to install the light fixtures, plumber the bathroom fixtures and the hardwood flooring started to go in. Tiles continue to make progress and given my growing interest in having a workshop in the garage it was awesome to see the garage concrete flooring poured! Smaller details such as the door knobs are also starting to get installed.

Garage:

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One of the lights:

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Flooring:

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Shower tiles:

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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Week 24-25: Painting, Tiling, Staining and Trimming

The past two weeks had the painters, tile setters, and cabinet makers at the house painting the interior wall to their final colors, installing the bath room tiles and staining and installing the bathroom cabinets. We're also starting to prep for the concrete in the garage and installing the hardwood floors.

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