Oh my, cb. It’s crazy how the little random things (of which there are zillions, I know) can trip you up. I haven’t been responding to your posts very often of late but I am still reading, and reeling from how complex your project is. Hang in there! And thanks again for keeping us updated.
Wow–who’d have thunk? Thanks for the crazy progress update. The new buyer will be very fortunate to have this perfect home!
Good lord. I can’t believe that a nuance like that is CODE. It’s not as if one would have a lot of houses developing dangerous mold in your climate!
In many parts of the country the fan would be going on all the time when the bathroom was unoccupied!
Good god. I would be ripping those sensors right after buying a house with them! What a stupid code. We just replaced the combo fan-light fixture in kiddos’ bathroom, and Mr. bypassed the built in humidity sensor in that fan. Ha! Sorry you had to deal with this nonsense, cb.
Consolation, very good point. Have no idea what the sensor will do on rainy days or when we have our dense foggy days:) Could you imagine these in bathrooms in swampy hot Louisiana? And yes, our humidity levels are so low that mold doesn’t really have much of a petri dish to grow in.
Probably will end up as annoying as the mandatory occupancy sensors. We have to put those on switches if a bathroom light is not native flourescent or LED. Have you ever seen a gorgeous flourescent bath fixture?? Who in the world would want a flourescent fixture on their vanity? For years there really weren’t any native LED bath fixtures but that is changing.
So, we end up with the sensors. They are hilarious…for example if the door is open and you walk by in the hallway the dang light keeps turning on. Then, if you are inside the bathroom enjoying a quiet bath or something the lights keep going off if there is no movement for 60 seconds or something. You literally have to wave your arms in the air to keep the lights on.
But for some reason these are not required for lights in closets which are the big culprits in my house.
I googled the code, it says the fan has to be controlled by a humidistat that can be adjusted to between 50% and 80% relative humidity.
So set it to 80%, you most likely won’t ever have to worry about it.
CB, just an FYI, we just replaced the halogen bulbs (the two-pronged 110V minis) in the bathroom fixture with LED bulbs designed to fit those sockets, so yes, pretty much any fixture with removable bulbs can be made LED now. 
Completely agree with you on the occupancy sensors. Dumb, dumb…
Unfortunately just putting in LED bulbs doesn’t count. I’ve tried that. They have to be those type of lights with the permanent LED or a light with socket that only allows a flourescent plug in bulb. This is required for all exterior lights, bathrooms, kitchens and, the most annoying, dining room fixtures. Believe me, everyone tears out those ugly dining room fixtures as soon as the inspector leaves
I thought that would be the case. OMG, what a waste. And what is a “permanent LED” fixture nowadays, anyway?! The codes are waaaay behind the technological progress.
“Evidently there is a new code that every bathroom has to have a humidity sensor switch that automatically turns the bath fan on when it senses humidity.”
I guess I’m in the minority… After they take a shower the kids always forget to leave the fan on… I think I might go out and look at those switches.
I don’t have any problem with humidity control in a room that has a shower or bathtub. But… I cannot figure out why these have to be in a powder room or any room that has a sink? So, I have to put one in the powder room and the two jack/jill rooms that just have toilet and sink.
I just loaded some photos of some fun things that got done yesterday. Dumbwaiter is working !!! it just needs cosmetic trim and some doors. Unfortunately I have been searching everywhere and cannot figure out how to get ‘fire rated’ doors for this dumbwaiter. If I call up the dumbwaiter manufacturer they will sell me some for $600 each (ouch). When I ask for references they gave me a company. When I called the company they don’t have anything available.
All our main areas are painted!! I am so excited. It’s just a nice white to match the architecture, but things are starting to get cleaned up. Took forever to get the living room and dining cleared of all the stuff. Poor guys had to try to paint around and above all the kitchen cabinet boxes. On Saturday they will be back to spray all of the trim in the Espresso Beans color. Hope it works. My agent came by yesterday and she loves the dark color on the windows - says it matches the knots in the ceiling. Ugghhh… just what I was trying to avoid
@MichiganGeorgia , it’s not the concept of the sensor being available that I find bizarre. A lot of people, like you, might like to have them. It’s the fact that they are actually in the building code.in San Diego, of all places. Just nuts. The building code is supposed to cover matters of safety and public health, and energy and water conservation is a reasonable extension of that. This isn’t.
The stuff I googled said that a bathroom, for purposes of needing a humidistat, is a room which contains a bathtub, shower, or tub/shower combination. Nothing to do with a sink.
http://www.rpvca.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/1066
http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/bsc/documents/2013/2013-Green-Residential-Mandatory.pdf
A lot of houses are built so tightly these days that the moisture would never be able to escape on its own. Too much humidity leads to mold or other damage, so I think it is a health issue.
Fantastic photos! What a stunning house, cb.
NRE, that’s what code-mandated whole house fans are. I highly doubt mold and humidity are biggies in SD. Mandating these humidity-sensor fans in any room with a sink is stupid.
What do they do in places like the south where humidity can cause mold and mildew issues in whole houses? Mandate sensors that turn the AC on when the humidity gets over 80%?
This summer, our humidity in New England was over the top…in the whole house, not just the bathrooms.
Well, according to the information I turned up on google, for California they are only required in rooms with a tub, shower, or tub/shower combo, not in all rooms with a sink.
Maybe San Diego is stricter local code, or maybe the inspector doesn’t understand what the code really says and/or is using his own interpretation. It wouldn’t be the first time that has happened, inspectors make mistakes or can arbitrarily make you do pretty much do whatever they want.
Yes, I think we are all on the same page: either the code is stupid or the inspector is missing a few screws in the attic.