Back to work

Labor Day weekend was a relatively quiet and restful break from the first week of school craziness and a month of construction noise. Saturday the SolarCity installation was supposed to happen but two days before they called to reschedule. So, instead, we drove into Monterey to the Sand City Home Depot to shop for door hardware. Had not one but two extremely helpful clerks guide us through the decision process. When we asked Francisco, the guy we spent the first half hour working with, which brand he'd go with he said he went with Baldwin on his house and then added, "but I live in Salinas." Monterey County's largest city has a reputation for not being the safest place around and when we lived there before moving to Steinback Mountain, it was not uncommon to hear sirens many nights a week. Back to the locks, the Baldwin door hardware was obviously well made and there was one style we kind of liked but we ultimately decided on two Kwikset styles that were a much better match to the other fixtures we're using, especially the Delta Trinsic faucets. And they were significantly less expensive. But by no means, cheap.

We needed four exterior and lockable doors and five interior doors. We spent some time debating whether we wanted to have a single style but ultimately chose a square trim for the exterior doors because of their inset square and rectangular windows and a round trim for all of the bedroom and bathroom doors. The Sand City store didn't have four locks with the same key but there were four available up in Watsonville so we paid for everything and drove there to retrieve them.

Returned home feeling pretty good about our purchases. Cocktails in hand, we walked out to the front patio just in time to witness one of the prettiest sunsets we've ever seen on Steinback Mountain.

Sunday was going to be a beach day but based on the holiday traffic we experienced on Saturday we decided to avoid Highway 1 completely. Instead, we went to the Monterey County Fair. No corn dogs or funnel cakes, but we did indulge in some deep fried calamari and more deep fried artichokes. We both had our cameras and spent most of the day taking pictures. Kevin remembered the last time he went to a county fair was more than 3 decades ago. Back then he also took his camera but it used rolls of film. Kodachrome 64….

Monday we did almost nothing which means we spent most of the day on our laptops.

This morning, the Tombleson crew arrived followed by Scott the electrician. The SolarCity folks were supposed to show up sometime after 12:30 but still hadn't arrived by 2 when Mike and a second plumber drove up the hill. Mike thinks this second company may quote a cheaper price so he wanted to make sure their rep knew exactly what they'd be bidding on.

Shortly after 3 the SolarCity guys arrived in their two trucks and it became immediately obvious they weren't too keen on starting what was supposed to be a 5-7 hour installation so late in the day. So they called their manager and another person who handles the scheduling but were not having any luck getting through. At one point, there were three of them each with two smartphones--and all of them were trying to contact the same two people. Twenty minutes later they drove away. Apparently, a different crew will be arriving between 7 and 7:30 tomorrow morning. We'll see….

Mark the tile guy called today to clarify some details about the floor and backsplash treatment on the BBQ room half bath. He's almost finished with his quote and thinks he's going to be able to get the Dekton countertops we really like for "just a little bit more" than the Caeserstone. That would be awesome. We're really liking the quality of service we've been getting from C. L. Frost so far. They seem to really put the client first.

By far, the most exciting (and loudest) thing to happen today was Corey and Justo drilling the four foot holes for the steel I-beams that will be holding up the deck. We kind of figured the deck would be the last thing to get done but Mike said they're starting it today and it gives his crew something to do while the subcontractors do their work inside and on top of the guest house. Next on the list is the sprinkler guy who will be working mostly on the roof. Then the plumbers. Then the tile guys for the radiant heat and flooring. Then the cabinet guy. Then the countertop guy. Somewhere in that sequencing will be the shower door and window guy. And in between almost all of them will be the county building inspectors.