Leviton Connected Home Panels Completed

The five Leviton Connected Home Panels have been completed and you can view pictures of the finished panels at: www.ronphotos.notlong.com

They make it very easy to make changes or troubleshoot a problem when everything is marked and in its place.

Electric Gates Front & Rear Installed & in Operation

Both the front and rear electric gates have been installed and been in operation for the past several months.

Electronic Front Gate Installation Almost Complete

The front sliding gate installation is almost complete.

Waiting for the completion of the wiring for the call box to be able to ring the telephone in the manager's house.

Save $4,000 to $5,000 on a Projection Screen for your Home Theater

I was looking to purchase an eleven (11) foot diagonal projection screen for our home theater and prices from some of the leading home theater screen companies ran between $4,000 to $5,000.

I had seen that one of the low price leaders for audio/video cables and Cat 5/6 cables Monoprice.com, a company that I have recommended on several of the radio shows that I appeared on, was going to offer home theater projection screen kits so you could build it yourself.

I ordered the eleven foot diagonal projection screen kit which is shipped in one ten foot long carton and contains all the parts needed to build a finished professional looking screen.

This kit was so easy to put together and everything you will need is included even the metal frames are lined with velvet to make this look as professional as you can get. It took less than two hours to install and hang on the wall.

Monoprice.com offers this screen in many sizes to fit most rooms and they even offer motorized version but since we have a dedicated theater room we chose one that hangs on our wall. Picture is to the right of the finish product.

Monoprice.com offers Motorized and Fixed Projection Screens in many different sizes. The fixed frame screen like I used comes in sizes from 106" to 150" (Nine to twelve and a half feet diagonal) and the eleven foot diagonal size projection screen that I installed sells for only $480.50

Here are the link to http://www.monoprice.com/ put in the search box "projection screens"

Hunter Douglas Blackout Shades In Place

Just received our pair of Hunter Douglas Blackout Shades for our Home Theater and they are perfect for our application.

These Hunter Douglas Shades are controlled via a remote control and a we did not need to have an electrician install electrical outlets as these are battery operated.

Check out Hunter Douglas's website at: www.hunterdouglas.com/our-products.jsp?so=tn#/P_53/

You can check out pictures of our installation at: www.ronphotos.notlong.com

Waiting for the home theater and living room furniture

Checked with Berkline today and they said that the order for the home theater (ten power reclining seats) and the sofa and love seat plus the two 360 degree swivel chairs were going to be shipped today from Tennessee to California today.

Most of the furniture has arrived.

We were busy in December placing the new furniture in most of the rooms in the house.

You can view the new furniture at www.ronphotos.notlong.com

Putting the finishing touches on the project

It has been a long project building the "Technology Lake House" it has taken longer than expected and we received our final inspection at the end of October 2010.

Technology Lake House Update

On our last update I stated that 1800 square feet of deck tile was being installed and our tile installer gave an estimate of two weeks and he is is only seven weeks short on his estimate. About 500 feet of tile remains to be install on the lower floor.

Carpet for the Guest Suite, hall bedroom and stairs has been picked out and should be installed in the next 30 days.

1,500 square feet of wood flooring is proceeding much better than the tile. Three days into the job and about 500 s.f. remain. This should be finished by tomorrow.

All the cabinet hardware has been installed and the pictures are available at www.ronphotos.notlong.com

All but one of the Schlage lever handles have been installed. We are also using 13 of the Schlage "Link" combination locks that can be controlled from any computer or cell phone Worldwide.

Stay tuned.

June 14, 2010 Update

It has been two years since this project started and as we are getting to the finish line over 1800 s.f. of deck tile is being installed, stone work is being finished on the inside fireplace and outside of the living room, entry way and the chimney. The office upper cabinets have all been installed.

Yet to be installed in the main house is three rooms and the staircase with carpet, hardwood flooring in the upstairs rooms, lower office cabinets, television mounts,

The six miles of audio/video cable is being terminated and that is a long process. You can see pictures of some of the terminations at www.ronphotos.notlong.com plus thousands of other construction pictures.

Today we start on the construction of the railings on the inside staircase and that should be completed by June 25. Also the parts for the outside apartment staircase should be ordered today.

The three bedroom apartment has only a few items to be installed such as the Schlage Link Lever Locks, door stops, fans, television mounts and a few minor items.

The septic system gets its final inspection today and the water system has been completed featuring a General Electric Home Spring System.

Tile is being installed.

Tile was finished in the lower floor in the guest suite, guest kitchen and guest entry.

Tile is being installed in the master bedroom and master bathroom and should be finished by the end of this week April 9th.

Next will be the lower entry and hallway to the home theater.

Stucco is Finished

We finally had a week full of sunshine so the stucco color coat was applied to the balance of the house except where the ledge stone is going to be applied on the sides and the top of the living room.

Leviton Connected Home joins the Technology Lake House

The Technology Lake House will be installed in the next several weeks "Leviton's advanced networking technology for today's home."

Leviton's brand new 2010 "Connected Home" catalog is available at: http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCZzpHome.jsp?minisite=10027&respid=22372

Interior Doors Arrived

Twenty five interior doors arrived and will be installed the first week of January 2010.

Kitchen Cabinets being placed into position

This week our cabinet maker started putting in place the main house kitchen cabinets.

All Drywall Taping and Texture Completed in Main House

As of Friday November 27, 2009 drywall, taping and texture has been completed in the main Technology Lake House.

We had a great week of weather in the sixty's each day

Stucco should start on the main house hopefully Monday December 7, 2009

Main House Update

The main house during the past few weeks had drywall and lath completed and is currently ready for texture and the start of stucco.

Doors and mill work should be ordered in this upcoming week.

The main entry door Honduras Mahogany has been installed along with the rear entry glass doors.

Cabinets are now entering their third week of fabrication and should be ready and delivery and installation will commence the second week of December.

Apartment Getting Closer to Finish

The garage apartment tile is finished and the mill work has been completed.

The painters are prepping the mill work and we expect completion by the first week of December.

Appliances and plumbing fixtures to follow.

Sheet Rock Going Up In Main House

Sheet rock started yesterday in the main house and will continue probably through the end of the month.

All the insulation finished last Friday.

Kohler our partner is shipping all the kitchen and bathroom fixtures

Kohler our partner is shipping out all the kitchen and bathroom fixtures this week for arrival in the next ten days.

All the sinks in the garage apartment have been installed.