Light switches

I don't know why, but this weekend, the lack of a light switch exactly where I wanted it to be was getting up my craw, so viola, blog post on what I would have done differently had I only known!  I know there are a couple of new Ravenna people out there, so hopefully this is helpful to you as well.

Front Lights

The front porch light switches on where it should - by the front door.  The front lights on the garage are switched on by the garage door.  Which makes sense to a certain degree, but sometimes I want to turn both lights on from the front door!  If I want both sets of lights on (like when people are trying to find my house on a pitch dark December evening), I have to walk my butt all the way to the garage door.  Its just inconvenient (especially on crutches).  Also, when I was growing up we had a pole light at the end of the driveway - kinda wish I had one of those installed too, though nobody else in the neighborhood has one.

Garage Lights

This was the first one I really noticed -  I need a light switch on the inside of the house that turns the interior garage lights on!  As its set up now, I have to open the door, lean my body out over the steps and reach way to the left to hit the light.  To rectify this, BF bought and installed Mr. Beams directly over the door.  Its a battery operated, really bright LED that comes on as soon as we open the door, then switches off after something like 40 seconds of no motion.  Its really cut down on the number of times I curse that light.

Basement

Who thought of this terrible system?  The light at the top of the steps flips on a light in the staircase only; the lights to the rest of the basement are at the bottom of the steps.  This works out well, until you get to the top of the steps then realize that you forgot to turn the lights off and have to walk back downstairs to shut them off!  I'm not a lazy person at all, but this is just annoying.  Again, particularly when you are waddling around on crutches.

(wow.  I had more to say on this subject than I thought!  I think there are only 2 more really annoying ones)

Master Bath

The lights for the toilet room (what is that place called?), the master closet and the main lights are all controlled at three separate locations.  I want a light that turns them all on and off at once.  I end up going in there every morning to shut off a bunch of lights.  And how's this for a recurring theme - its a pain (and sometimes dangerous with a wet floor) to crutch back in there to turn off lights.

Upstairs Hallway

There are 3 switches that turn the lights on for the upstairs hallway - one downstairs, one at the top of the steps and one by the master bedroom.  However, if you are hanging out in the guest bathroom or one of the bedrooms over the family room and living room, you'd better take a head lamp with you when you leave because you've got to stumble up or down the end of the hallway to find a light switch.  We don't have kids, but I'd imagine if you had a kid who was scared of the dark, this would be a problem, even with a nightlight.

Does anyone else have any weird light switch issues that bother them?

Siding Update

I'm coming to you, live from my front porch, in 65 degree weather, leg elevated, crutches standing by, trying to decipher the spanish of the men working on the siding.

So, far, I know they are counting to five.  My limited spanish prevents me from knowing what else they are talking about.

You may remember that a month or so ago, I posted pictures of our siding - Delray Sand - that was drastically different colors.   After a month or so of wrangling with the manufacturer and the contractor, our PM finally got the crew out to fix the bad pieces.

They ended up replacing ALL the siding on 3 sides of the house.  Interestingly, the hammering on the house made a bunch of electrical plugs pop right out of the wall, and we had little bits of sawdust under each outlet.  If you ever have siding replaced, then notice your cable or internet is out, you might want to check to make sure its still plugged in.  :)

But, it wasn't over there!  A couple days ago, we came home and the sun was shining at just the right angle and there it was!  More bad pieces!

They are fixing the worst of them now, but the other color variations that we have seen may not be fixable. Something about the way they spray the sheen on the product can make it appear  a slightly different color in different lights.  And we are the lucky ones whose house is in the exact right position at 3pm to make those color differences pop.

The good thing is our PM is doing everything he can to make us happy.  The bad thing is that we may have to live with the variations.  The good/bad thing is that one day, the siding will be covered in that green mossy stuff and it won't be noticeable anymore.

I'll post some pictures later if I can find some.