Remodel: Day Six and a Field Trip

Almost every morning since construction began, Larry has started our conversations with "I sent you an email this morning," but of course I hadn't seen it.This morning, though, I managed to check email even before Facebook, and there was an email from Larry informing us that the linear drain for the shower still hasn't arrived. He apologized and promised to stay on top of it. Apparently the plumber was supposed to install it today. Larry's hope is that the drain will be here in time for the concrete and tile to stay on schedule. I hope so, too.

Consequently, only the electricians are working today, and they weren't expected until the afternoon. Fortunately, I had exciting plans for the day: a morning field trip to Architectural Antiques in Northeast Minneapolis and an afternoon outing with my friend Caryl. We attended a delightful presentation about Laura. Ingalls. Wilder. at the Hamline Midway library where we were the youngest audience members by 15 years.

First, the field trip: Architectural Antiques in Nordeast. My mission was to inspect a light fixture for the studio. John found the perfect period-appropriate hanging fixture online, but I needed to see it hanging in the store and make sure it was installation-ready. Although I located the light almost immediately and could have completed the transaction quickly, I took some time to imprint this amazing repository of lighting, furniture, ecclesiastical pieces (altars, lecterns, statuary, and more), columns, arches, and more, spanning decades and historical periods. Check out some of these goodies:

cherub

Eastlake window locks

Raytheon radar

Stairway with wainscoting and attached doorframe

Bowling alley seating

Perfect for someone else's house

I bought the light fixture, which I will reveal tomorrow. It needs to be rewired from vapor wiring, which enabled a gas charged light bulb, to conventional electrical wiring. At the same time, I may have the cords lengthened depending on ceiling placement.

The electricians were here this afternoon. Earlier this week, they had discovered that the outlets on the front porch that have never worked are (actually) on a switch. You have to flip a switch to turn on the outlets. I don't even know why someone would want that, but there you have it. Among other wiring work, the electricians "hotwired" the front porch, and now the outlets are not connected to a switch. They also attended to an outlet that doesn't seem to work only to confirm that it does in fact work but that it wasn't grounded. To ground it, a hole would be cut in the wall to find the grounding wire and attach it. Seems simple but the cutting up the wall part isn't so easy as the wall is covered in wood paneling that would need to be removed and replaced so we're taking a pass for now. The lead electrician was in a much better mood today and gave me some ideas for getting more light into various areas of the house, especially in the shed dormer area over the dining loft. Filing away for phase 2.