Ron's Speaker, Turntable, Power and Room Treatment Upgrades
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
- Start date
On Friday, May 28, we have a "soft" move-in to the house. We will occupy a couple of bedrooms and bathrooms and the kitchen. Exterior deck work will continue. Bathroom renovations and the home theater extension will commence after the exterior deck is finished and a new building permit it secured.
On a fun note, Justin Brees, of AM House, a home automation and A/V integration firm, has installed an elaborate Elan remote control system which allows us to control everything (exterior video cameras, overhead garage door, lights, heating/cooling, pool, video intercom, music distribution system, etc.) seamlessly from hardwired wall panels sprinkled around the house and from iPhones.
Justin has been an unbelievable joy to work with on this project, and I want to document his installation and our experience with him, so happy are Tinka and I with his systems, his experience, his utterly unflappable demeanor and his professionalism.
Justin Brees
AM House
(661) 510-1764
jbrees@amhouse.net
I will start a separate thread.
On a fun note, Justin Brees, of AM House, a home automation and A/V integration firm, has installed an elaborate Elan remote control system which allows us to control everything (exterior video cameras, overhead garage door, lights, heating/cooling, pool, video intercom, music distribution system, etc.) seamlessly from hardwired wall panels sprinkled around the house and from iPhones.
Justin has been an unbelievable joy to work with on this project, and I want to document his installation and our experience with him, so happy are Tinka and I with his systems, his experience, his utterly unflappable demeanor and his professionalism.
Justin Brees
AM House
(661) 510-1764
jbrees@amhouse.net
I will start a separate thread.
So . . . it turns out that an operating room- white kitchen is not entirely easy to keep clean.
The Miele dishwasher we got is the best dishwasher we have ever encountered. The Miele microwave oven we got is the best microwave oven we have ever encountered.
I've always been a little bit mixed on Miele after I had one of their washer/dryer combos for 12 years in an apartment. The machine washed and dried clothes very effectively, but it was absurdly over-engineered. Initiating a "Quick Wash" necessited as much button pushing and rotary dial twisting as launching an ICBM.
Miele seems to have gotten the memo, because, 15 years later, this generation of Miele appliances retains the effectiveness but deletes the over-complication.
This Miele dishwasher has eradicated petrified protein shake residue at which the dishwasher in the house in Oxnard merely cowered in defeat. Oh, and the thing has no handle of any kind. You knock twice on the cover, and the machine opens itself.
I think we are going to replace our existing laundry washer and dryer with a new Miele laundry washer and dryer. (Although our experiences with Samsung washers and dryers and LG washers and dryers have been positive.)
The giant sub-zero refrigerator + freezer is as great as expected.
I've always been a little bit mixed on Miele after I had one of their washer/dryer combos for 12 years in an apartment. The machine washed and dried clothes very effectively, but it was absurdly over-engineered. Initiating a "Quick Wash" necessited as much button pushing and rotary dial twisting as launching an ICBM.
Miele seems to have gotten the memo, because, 15 years later, this generation of Miele appliances retains the effectiveness but deletes the over-complication.
This Miele dishwasher has eradicated petrified protein shake residue at which the dishwasher in the house in Oxnard merely cowered in defeat. Oh, and the thing has no handle of any kind. You knock twice on the cover, and the machine opens itself.
I think we are going to replace our existing laundry washer and dryer with a new Miele laundry washer and dryer. (Although our experiences with Samsung washers and dryers and LG washers and dryers have been positive.)
The giant sub-zero refrigerator + freezer is as great as expected.
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The house news on the completion side continues to be . . . sub-optimal.
On Saturday the new split A/C unit cooling the equipment closet housing the Elan system in the garage leaked and flooded a part of the equipment closet. No equipment was damaged, thankfully.
The subcontractor who installed a glass shower stall over an existing stone tile shower floor and base two years ago did not silicone caulk the bottom of the glass to the stone tile. We didn't know this, and we used that shower for several days.
Unbeknownst to us water was leaking out the grout grooves underneath the bottom of the glass shower panel and behind the toilet and down onto the ceiling of my listening room. On Tuesday night I saw a pond of water on the floor of my listening room 4 feet long and 3 feet wide. The ceiling was soaking wet. So the new drywall over my future listening room had to get ripped off.
And this wasn't even the day's really bad news. . .
It turns out that a condensation drip tube from one of the air conditioning machines drips water onto a collection of electrical equipment mounted to the side of the house. Above the box the water dripping first hits there is a gash in the exterior stucco. This gash feeds water inside the wall of a guestroom downstairs (our future little gym), which means the wood framing between the exterior stucco and the interior drywall likely is water damaged and needs to be ripped out and replaced and waterproofed.
The electrical boxes upon which this water drip has been raining for years are rusted, and those various systems need to be replaced, relocated and re-wired.
On Saturday the new split A/C unit cooling the equipment closet housing the Elan system in the garage leaked and flooded a part of the equipment closet. No equipment was damaged, thankfully.
The subcontractor who installed a glass shower stall over an existing stone tile shower floor and base two years ago did not silicone caulk the bottom of the glass to the stone tile. We didn't know this, and we used that shower for several days.
Unbeknownst to us water was leaking out the grout grooves underneath the bottom of the glass shower panel and behind the toilet and down onto the ceiling of my listening room. On Tuesday night I saw a pond of water on the floor of my listening room 4 feet long and 3 feet wide. The ceiling was soaking wet. So the new drywall over my future listening room had to get ripped off.
And this wasn't even the day's really bad news. . .
It turns out that a condensation drip tube from one of the air conditioning machines drips water onto a collection of electrical equipment mounted to the side of the house. Above the box the water dripping first hits there is a gash in the exterior stucco. This gash feeds water inside the wall of a guestroom downstairs (our future little gym), which means the wood framing between the exterior stucco and the interior drywall likely is water damaged and needs to be ripped out and replaced and waterproofed.
The electrical boxes upon which this water drip has been raining for years are rusted, and those various systems need to be replaced, relocated and re-wired.
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Maybe the most pleasant surprise of all has been how shockingly quiet is the new Marantec (made in Germany, as is Miele, I believe) overhead garage door mechanism. Every overhead garage door system I have ever encountered sounds like a chainsaw in the middle of a massacre.
This belt drive opener is so quiet that, even with the bedroom door open and the interior garage door open I did not hear Tinka come in one time when I was in the bedroom (and the house is not that big -- the garage is not far from the bedroom).
So, if any of you are looking for a new garage door opener -- just buy a Marantec Synergy.
This belt drive opener is so quiet that, even with the bedroom door open and the interior garage door open I did not hear Tinka come in one time when I was in the bedroom (and the house is not that big -- the garage is not far from the bedroom).
So, if any of you are looking for a new garage door opener -- just buy a Marantec Synergy.
Sorry to hear that Ron. Just to make you feel better, at our London house, the tarp covering what will be a roof lantern (skylight) caught on fire recently when a neighbour's visiting guest's kid lit a toilet roll, panicked and threw it out of his bedroom window right onto our roof.....now we have fire brigade water in the living room, melted tarp, singed roof lantern and a peeved owner....
Thank you, but it does not make me feel better. I am sorry that happened to you. I am sorry to learn that you experienced that annoying and presumably scary episode.
My neighbor's kid and his guest kid threw eggs onto our roof about a year and a half ago. Since then we installed an Israeli Iron Dome battery on the roof of our house. Perhaps you should consider the same system. It's expensive, but effective.
I replaced a chain drive one with a belt drive because the gear holding the chain literally ripped off on mine. It’s so quiet the dogs don’t even notice. They use to go crazy over the chain drive.
Now that would be worth researching: Belt drive vs direct drive vs idler drive garage door mechanisms to see which one is quietest and has the least wow and flutter...
Really sorry to hear of these house challenges Ron and Howie. Water leaks and water damage is stressful. Hope it all gets repaired and that all is well in both your houses soon.
Sorry to hear that. Is it possible your neighbor is an audiophile, his amp blew up, and he blames it on his son thinking that excuse is easier to get away with?
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10 seconds of fun results in 59:50 of guilt from an alte makhsheyfe?
You should've fired that contractor years ago, Ron. Best of luck in your new home, and listening room, from here on out.
Two Qs
What frickin' kid first sets something on fire in someone's house, and then throws it out of the house?
And, what the hell is wrong w their dumbass parents?
The West is in safe hands Lol
What frickin' kid first sets something on fire in someone's house, and then throws it out of the house?
And, what the hell is wrong w their dumbass parents?
The West is in safe hands Lol
Oh, a third Q
Wouldn't it have been somewhat easier for the kid to throw it IN THE TOILET?!
Wouldn't it have been somewhat easier for the kid to throw it IN THE TOILET?!
Ron, I feel your pain. Sorry buddy. Just when you feel progress… ugh. Pride in craftsmanship and a job well done, are these relics of a not so distant past?
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