Lighting magic.

This week our HEICO LED light order arrived from Quebec where they were designed and manufactured. We have been working with their engineers to design and spec out the lights we will use in our new house. These LED's will be used to create indirect lighting effects in varous areas of the house. These areas include the living/dining room ceilings, down the long hallway and around the entry hallway. We'll also use the lights under the handrail in the stairway.

HEICO LED's are unlike any LED I've ever seen. They operate wihout any physical wire connections. Instead the LED system uses Contactless LED illumination powered by electromagnetic induction. In simple language we slip the LED modules over a 14 guage wire. There are no screws or fastners to attach the wires to the modules. The lights can be moved and positioned until they look perfect and then fastened into place. The only wiring connection to be made is at the transformer. It is a wonderfully simple system that is easily adaptable to whatever I need. True to my working style I do not have to plan ahead but rather just design as I built until things look just right. 

The order for the house was a good size one, four large boxes in all. The HEICO lighting system included the four different style LED modules, mounting clips, transformers and dimmers. The Heico engineers also included a wiring diagram to help us get it right.

Seeing the hundreds of pieces laid out looks a little intimidating but the Heico LED lighting system really is very simple to use. I can hardly wait to start putting the modues in place in a few weeks. It will be pure magic when we flip the switch I'm sure.

-grampa dan

Ready for mud!

Sometimes the smaller pieces we add to the house make a big difference. Matt has been laboring up on the ceiling for a couple of weeks, putting up the last of the mesh today in readiness for the mud tomorrow. The ceiling looks pretty spectacular. I cut and fastened the backing plywood in place for the window trim. We will use it as a guide as we plaster the wall and later fasten the heavy curved crown molding and other trims to it. Instantly the wondow was framed. With the addition of the horizontal crown molding backing that goes around the room at the eight foot mark the various levels of the room were instantly and clearly defined.

Monday will be a big day as we attempt to plaster the entire dining/living rooms ceilings in one go. It is important that the entire ceiling be seamless.

Tens of thousands

Matt was hoping to finish meshing the ceiling of the living room today. I knew better (from experience) for the job was no small task. Hundreds of sheets of diamond lath needed to be cut, fit and stapled into place with literally tens of thousands of staples. My estimate of time was four days. Matt was confident he could do the job in three. This time I was right.

The look of the room changed yet again and the individual boards disappeared as the mesh was stapled into place.

It's almost ready for the plasterwork!

-grampa dan