That’s an excellent detail.
I had to do a lot of research for the car charger. They all use a special 30amp outlet with a dedicated circuit and the actual charger is mounted out on the wall. I have no idea how people get these wired into their homes after the fact.
I am not going to mount an actual charger because I discovered that some cars (Nissan Leaf) have proprietary chargers. They are all hardwired so I am going to have the wiring capped off in a junction box ready for buyer to install whatever charger they want. Wide variety of costs for the chargers because some are faster than others. I didn’t want to try to figure out what someone might want. But the important wiring is there
Dumbwaiter arrived today and it’s quite a bunch of sophisticated equipment. We went through the installation instructions and it’s going to be quite a chore to get it installed properly.
Meanwhile our plywood floor sheathing is done for the addition and first wall went up.
Exterior doors for garage are getting installed. We have several fire rated spring hinged doors that need to get installed
I like what you are doing with the charger (a future Tesla owner here). We are just going to use the spare circuit in our panel for it, but we are lucky we have one. For Mr. it is a big plus.
It’s great that you have a circuit available but I have no idea how a homeowner gets the wiring pulled down to a garage wall. Maybe it is pulled outside the house inside conduit on exterior walls.
For those who are installing car plugs, What’s the source of electrical energy there? Is it really greener than regular high efficiency cars, or is it just putting the pollution somewhere else?
Sorry, that was outside the questions and fun with coralbrooks reno
I’ve wondered the same thing but all I know is that electric cars are rising in popularity in this area.
In my state (WA), 70-80% of electricity is hydro, so if we ignore the salmon etc. issues, it is pretty green and renewable. Mr. wants to install a solar panel farm on the hill which I am sick of weeding… So I support his idea at least in theory.
This is old, but the picture for CA probably did not change much in the last 10 years:
http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/electricity/electricity_resource_mix_pie_charts/
Tesla announced that it is buying Solar City, so it might soon have a full package: storage battery, solar panels, and a car charger.
OK, this is newer:
http://inewsource.org/2016/06/13/san-diego-utility-35-percent-renewable/
“What’s the source of electrical energy there?”
solar panels , hydro,wind , gas turbine generators.
Coral, can you wire the roof of the house to be ready solar panels? For instance the roof on the top level?
the picture in Calif has changed a LOT in 10 years.
Did Someone Lose their Vespa?
This morning when we arrived to the project (and the guys are starting at 7am now and working 10 hrs/day) there was a black Vespa parked at the end of our walkway right at the Front Gate. I thought “Gee, one of the guys rode their scooter to work”. So I go and ask and it doesn’t belong to anyone.
I go back out and take a closer look. The Vespa has quite a collection of interesting things… a small Mexican pinata is down on the foot board along with a helmet and a pair of trunks, dirty socks sticking out of a holder, bandanas tied everywhere, a small stuffed animal and a straw hat on the handlebars. Really weird I check to see if there is a key in it and it only has wires hanging out of the key area. Then I looked around under the trees in the canyon to see if someone belonged to the scooter.
Towards the end of the day it was still there and we need to unload some big stuff with a dolly out of the truck so we literally had to pick it up and move it away from the walkway. It was just such a strange place to park a Vespa and leave it there all day. When I left at 5pm it was finally gone so I guess it wasn’t stolen and abandoned there.
Never a dull moment
I just spent a stupid fortune on TWO small 3" recessed can lights. These lights are for the steep sloped ceiling above the stove area. We could not figure out any lighting that could go in that ceiling because the depth available to recess a light is only 4" deep inside the 2 x 4 rafters. I didn’t want to have hanging lights near the stove because they would just get gross and I couldn’t put in regular pancake style lighting because the ceiling is sloped and the light would not shine straight downward. So… I had to call a specialty store and get fancy recessed cans only 4" deep with gimbal trim inserts so that we can angle the lighting downward. They only come in halogen, so we have to live with it
$120 each for a small 3" recessed can and light trim!! $220 total. That is just highway robbery
What halogen bulbs do they use? I recently had luck replacing the 110V halogen bulbs in the light fixture in kiddos bathroom with LED ones. Amazon might have what you need!
Double Oven
Popped into Pacific Sales to see if there were any new clearance items for the kitchen. I lucked out and there was a gorgeous Jenn Air double oven floor model on clearance with a streamline handle style that I liked. As Is (I checked very carefully for scratches or dents), had to haul it away myself and, of course, no manuals or accessories. Those seem to be lost somewhere 
Got it for $2,300 (I asked for 15% off the clearance tag price because it was missing manuals, etc) and the tag said regular price $4,199 but I don’t really believe that. I’ve seen some on eBay for about $2,500 but they have scratches and dents and probably shipping charges.
Loaded some pictures of the first wall going up for the addition. They actually completely finished it and have the windows set already. This is the wall going along the yard that will have the jack/jill bathrooms
My electrician insisted that I wanted halogen because they will ‘sparkle’ in the ceiling. The other lights being set in the ceiling are LED but I cannot find LED in the sloped ceiling gimbal type. These don’t have a bulb that can be replaced. These are trim/bulb/cover single units that go up into the metal recessed can.
There is also going to be a hanging chandelier in the middle of the kitchen hanging off the tall beam. I cannot wait to select that fixture.
Can’t wait for your light fixture selection posts! 
(Mr. says that light fixtures, fine china, and shoes are my favorite kinds of porn. I agree!!!)
If the scooter is still there in a few days, consider calling the SDPD, it may have been stolen and abandoned and the owner would be happy to come get it. If it’s just a visitor in the neighborhood, no harm done.
Oops, missed that mystery scooter actually left. Extreme abandoned vehicle story: My sweet kid and her Seattle housemates ignored a minivan parked (legally) in front of their house, occupying their parking , for over a year. Minivan grew seedlings in the roof rails and tires were all flat. Every time I mentioned it they were defensive " someone in the neighborhood just can’t afford to repair their car just now".
Today our North wall is going up for the addition. Of course we discover that there are joists right under where I want toilets set so toilets have to be fudged right or left a bit. This means they won’t be centered perfectly under the windows. I’m hoping it won’t be really noticeable
My carpenter is starting to build the fancy stove vent enclosure. Another guy is prepping the dumbwaiter shaft with fire rated drywall and electrician is setting recessed cans and wiring for kitchen. Reason I am moving fast on the kitchen is that cabinets are showing up in 2 weeks
I’ve loaded some more photos to the Flickr group of our progress. Not much exciting yet