Posts published during June, 2012
Homes in Florida are more prone to termites because of the constant humidity level we experience. As we walked through, we noticed that our home had been sprayed with what looked like blue paint from the floor to about 2 to 2.5 feet off the ground. This spray helps to prevent the wood from rotting as well as keep termites away. Additionally before we move in, the soil along the outer walls of our home will be dug up and termite deterrent will be sprayed.
The end of last week and the beginning of this week, tropical storm Debbie had made her way through Tampa. And with her she brought a lot of havoc. People living along the coast lines in Clearwater, St. Petersburg and South Tampa had major flooding. There was a lot of damage due to the high wind and rain. Luckily, we live in the no flood zone so we were safe from flooding. We experienced a non stop down pour of rain for almost 5 days straight and a lot of wind. We had a bit of damage on our current house because of the high winds. We think our shingles either blow away or have moved because we started to get a leak inside our home. We had to climb into the attic to stop the leak.
Due to the storm, not much work could be done on our home in construction. After the storm passed, the roofers were able to finally install the shingles on our new roof.
For the last week or so, most work has been done on the inside of our home. Electrical, duct work, speaker wiring, and alarm system wiring has been completed. We will be having a walk through inspection this week to confirm that we approve the location of the pot lights, light switches, plugs, ducts, return ducts, speakers, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and alarm system keypads. It’s all a little overwhelming as we don’t want to miss anything or make the wrong decision on where to have these installed.
Today we noticed that our shingles were delivered to our home and will most likely be installed tomorrow. You can see them sitting packaged on the roof.
We like to do a lot of entertaining which leads to a lot of dirty dishes and large pots to wash at the end of the night. Because of this we decided to get a 36″ modern farmhouse sink. A farmhouse sink is a large deep undermount sink that has a apron surround on it. This type of sink makes washing large dishes and pots easier. The apron surround eliminates the amount of water that drips over the edge onto the cabinet and floor while washing dishes.
For our faucet we chose a faucet with a rounded neck which not only looks nice but also can be pulled down to be used as a sprayer. Another thing I’ve always wanted is a pot filler over the stove. There has been so many times when you need water immediately but you have to run to the sink to get it or have to carry a heavy large pot full of water to the stove.
Here are few of the kitchen plumbing hardware options we chose for our kitchen:
From the master bedroom, double doors lead into the bathroom. When standing at the entrance and looking into the bathroom, the all glass shower will be directly in front. The shower will have double shower heads and two entrances into the enclosure. The wall that will house the shower heads will be tiled with a gray tile which will climb up to the ceiling. In addition, a stainless steel listello will be used as an accent in the shower. Directly in front of the shower enclosure will be a soaker tub which will also be tiled with the same tile and stainless steel listello accent. On the window side of the bathroom, a long vanity will span the length of the bathroom, where the side closer to the closet will be used as a make-up vanity. The double vanity will have two white sinks which will appear to be sitting on top of the granite counter top. In addition, we are thinking of suspending pendant lights over the vanity so that we get optimal light and reduction of shadows on our faces when we look into the mirror. The style of the cabinet doors be a flat panel in espresso colour. Directly behind the shower enclosure will be our closet. The closet also has two entrances into it from either side of the shower. On the side opposite to the vanity, there is a linen closet and the water closet.
Our range hood rough-in is being installed and will be vented upwards from the top of our home. The hood that we are planning on getting is the 36 inch Kobe CH2236SQ. It is a stainless steel wall mount hood and the vent will go straight up to the ceiling. This hood is a monster in terms of power, but like a mouse in terms of sound.
It has 4 different operating levels:
At its “quiet” setting:
Operates at 380 CFM and 1.0 sones (equivalent to 40dB).
At its low setting:
Operates at 560 CFM and 3.0 sones (equivalent to 43 dB).
At its medium setting:
Operates at 720 CFM and 4.5 sones (equivalent to 49 dB).
At its high setting
Operates at 800 CFM and 4.8 sones (equivalent to 50 dB).
As a point of reference humans converse at 40 to 50 dB and on average we watch TV at around 60 dB.
By the time we arrived at our home, it was really too dark to take any pictures inside of the home. As we stepped outside, the sky was a very peculiar colour…a huge rainfall was seconds away.
The rain is just not letting up this week. On the bright side, we now have a huge pool in our backyard 🙂
It has been so dark and dreary here this week. Even during the day it is quite dark inside. I’m surprised the trades people can even see what they are doing. Earlier in the week, we had seen the electricians start the wiring. As we pulled up yesterday, we saw that duct work started.
For our exterior elevation we are trying to go for a “Modern Mediterranean” look. It has the classic Mediterranean details such as the corbels, stucco body, arched windows and pillars. And though pillars are normally considered a Mediterranean accent, we are going to strip them down of any carvings and keep them completely simple which will push the look into a modern look with the addition of the paint colours used on the body and as accents.
Even though we have the architects drawing on for our front elevation, it’s still a little difficult to imagine how our house elevation will look like when completed. Below are the colours we have chosen for the exterior. The main body of the house will be stucco and will be the lighter beige called “Accessible Beige” in the palette below. The darker beige called “Tony Taupe” will be the accent colour used for the trim and the corbels. As another accent, white, beige and gray stone will also be used which will play off the beiges in the body and accents. The door colour will be the dark brown called “Well Bred Brown” which will really emphasize the entrance.
