Electrical and network

Internet, Railings, and Stairs

Ed Building a House , , 0 Comment

Today, the internet components were installed, along with the railings for the stairs and the terrazza. Plus, the painting of the stair risers was done.

Internet Connection

Because of our location out in the country side, we’re getting our internet over-the-air from towers across the valley. This system is in widespread use in Marche.

Over-the-Air Internet Receiver
Over-the-Air Internet Receiver
 Click image to enlarge
Wireless Access Point
Wireless Access Point
 Click image to enlarge

Stair Railings

Last we heard about railings was when Kevin told them “no” on the original color and we then picked a new color that coordinated better.

Stair Landing and Railing
Stair Landing and Railing
 Click image to enlarge
Stair Handrail
Stair Handrail
 Click image to enlarge

Terrazza Railings
Terrazza Railing Looking Toward Front
Terrazza Railing Looking Toward Front
 Click image to enlarge
Terrazza Railing at Roof Peak
Terrazza Railing at Roof Peak
 Click image to enlarge

Stairs

As we decided a week or so ago, the risers were painted to help hide scuff marks.

Painted Stair Risers
Painted Stair Risers
 Click image to enlarge

Source:
All images: Copyright © Our Big Italian Adventure

Progress on the Interior Flooring, Bathrooms, Electrical, and More

Ed Building a House , , , 0 Comment

Now that the work is focused on finishing the inside, lots of projects are underway at the same time. We got a large collection of photos today showing some of this work.

Bathrooms

Pieces of each bathroom are in place, including some tile and fixtures, but more work remains for after the winter holiday.

Upstairs Bath Tub and Shower Area
Upstairs Bath Tub and Shower Area
 Click image to enlarge

Master Bath Shower Tile
Master Bath Shower Tile
 Click image to enlarge

Electrical and Stairs

Many of the photos were of different electrical connections. They’re not very interesting to look at, but they’re at the stage where they can add switches and outlets,

All the structural work for the stairs is complete. Tiling and railings will come next.

A Busy Electrical Junction Box
A Busy Electrical Junction Box
 Click image to enlarge
Looking Down the Stairs
Looking Down the Stairs
 Click image to enlarge

Walls and Floors

The tile is now in place everywhere except the stairs and the walls are ready for painting.

Jack's Room Ready to Paint
Jack’s Room Ready to Paint
 Click image to enlarge
Looking Down Toward the Kitchen
Looking Down Toward the Kitchen
 Click image to enlarge

Source:
All images: Copyright © Our Big Italian Adventure

Temporary Electrical Supply Line Finally Arrives No Word on Permanent Connection

Ed Building a House , 0 Comment

The last time I wrote about this, about six weeks ago, we were concerned that the lack of electrical supply might just bring the project to a grinding halt.

We had repeatedly been promised “in 30 days” that we’d have the permanent power connection. As that hadn’t happened, Francisc arranged for a temporary contractor connection, which he though he could get in a few days.

Wrong again. It’s taken the last six weeks just to get that.

It’s not much to look at, but it’s critical to keep the project moving.

Temporary Electrical Supply Line
Temporary Electrical Supply Line
 Click image to enlarge

I guess we’re still just “30 days” away from having the permanent connection.

Source:
Image: Copyright © Our Big Italian Adventure

Finalizing Our Lighting Selections Fixtures and Placements

Ed Building a House, Designing a House , 0 Comment

We spent part of two days during our July trip looking at lighting at SMAL, a lighting distributor. We walked away with two issues: we couldn’t find suitable lights for some locations and the total price of what we selected was too high.

After we returned home, we did a lot of searching online to find substitute lights that were more affordable. Having a selection in place was a plus; even if we weren’t going to use a SMAL light, we had something to guide us in our search.

We focused on amazon.it and searches at google.it to identify some possibilities. After a few days of work, we found most of the lights we need. We ended up with about a 30% cost reduction from the original number. (Even after our searching, we had trouble finding suitable replacements for the low voltage cable lights in the main room. We liked the look or what we had selected, so we stayed with our original choice despite the higher cost.)

Then this activity went dormant for a couple of months, until last week Kevin asked us for our final lighting list. He wanted to know what to order from SMAL and for us to order, for delivery to him, lights from the other sources.

We put together a packet with purchase lists and diagrams showing where each light is to be placed. Based on the list of non-SMAL lights, I went online to make the purchases.

Fortunately, about 80% of the lighting we found was from Amazon. Fortunate because amazon.it would let me order from the US for shipment to Italy. The other sites wanted a credit card with an Italian billing address. So we asked Kevin to order those lights himself.

Final Lighting Selections
Final Lighting Selections
 Click image to see details

Source:
All lighting images: Copyrights held by maufacturers and/or distributors of products

A (Major?) Wrinkle in Our Schedule Electrical Problems

Ed Building a House 0 Comment

It looks like electricity is going to shock us again.

Shock from electricity

Our first problem getting electricity to our site was our need to put an access pole on our neighbor’s land. After a €1500 payment (extortion), we finally got this approval.

Now we hear that our electric connection is yet to be made, even though we started the process to get installation in November of last year. Kevin says the utility says it will happen in 30 days, but I don’t think anyone thinks this is credible.

This causes some immediate problems, plus it may affect the possible completion date of the house.

Francisc needs “real” power to test the electrical systems, particularly the pool and the solar and photo-voltaic panels. Plus he needs power to continue installation inside. So far, he’s used generators, but they won’t work for these purposes.

As he often does, Francisc came up with a solution to the short-term problem. Somehow he was able to get a “construction connection” under his name. That means the systems can be tested and the work can proceed.

Still, without the permanent connection, the house can’t really be finished. A couple of weeks ago, Kevin gave us a 90% probability it would be finished in December. That’s looking very optimistic right now.

An Update

It’s now 5 weeks after we heard the permanent line would be installed in 30 days and that the temporary construction line would be in within a few days. We just heard that the temporary line was installed, with no indication of when the permanent line will be done. This is despite thrice-weekly calls to ENEL, the utility company, from someone Kevin says is very well connected to ENEL.

So our bureaucratic problem continues.

Source:
Shock image: Copyright: joebelanger / 123RF Stock Photo