Whole House Surge Protectors

Last week the lights went out due to a really bad thunderstorm.  When the lights came back on we reset all of the electronic clocks in our current house.  We woke up the next morning to find that the microwave was not working...no power at all...how could this be, the microwave is only 3 years old and we reset the clock so we know it was working before we went to bed.   So we did some research online...we tried to unplug and plug it back in, we check the socket to make sure it was ok, NOTHING!!!  We called GE, who sent out a technician, who told us that the circuit board was fried.  Of course, the microwave is over a year old and no longer under warranty.  So we asked how much it would cost to fix it...the technician worked out a deal that was less than replacing the microwave, which is also the vent over the range.  He also suggested that we purchase a surge protector, which may help prevent this from happening again.  The GE technician ordered the parts and we received them on Monday.  When the GE technician returned today to fix the microwave, he informed us that a house down the street from us go hit by lightning, which may have sent a surge that blew out the microwave. 

We are so very lucky that none of our other appliances or electronics were affected.  All of this got us thinking about our new house and how many appliances and electronics are now equipped with circuit boards and gadgets that can be affected from a power surge ... refrigerator, washer, dryer, microwave, TV, double oven, and the list goes on and on.   Then we Googled "Whole House Surge Protectors" to see if such a thing exist --- it does exist and it is even at a reasonable cost.  So then we reached out to RH to see if a Whole House Surge Protector is provided, we received a response from our PM and of course the answer was 'NO'. 

Now we are doing research to determine which surge protector we should purchase, how much it will cost to purchase/install, etc.  So once again we reach out to our fellow bloggers...does anyone have any advice, additional info, or words of wisdom that you wish to share to help us make our decision?

Additional info:
HGTV PRO.COM - Whole House Surge Protectors: Protect All Your Electronics
This Old House - Surge Protection

LANDSCAPING and FINAL TOUCHES - PICTURES (TAKEN 08/26)

We received our final weekly status update call from our PM today.  It was a bittersweet call.  We love receiving the updates every week and our PM has been great at keeping us up to date on the progress of the house.  We will miss our calls; however, we now know that we are just one more step closer to closing this chapter and moving on to the next chapter of our lives. 

According to our PM, they finished up painting the exterior trim, finalizing the interior painting, and started the landscaping.  We will receive the basic landscaping (mulch beds in front of house and a few shrubs/bushes/plants) .  Also, we will receive 7 additional trees (1"diameter breast height) to plant anywhere in the yard AND the township is requiring a row of trees (4"diameter breast height) to be planted along the main walkway, so that means we will receive an additional 8-10 trees that they will plant along the walkway.  We will be able to choice from the following type of trees - maple, oak, pear, birch, cherry.  We are pleased that we are receiving so many trees to replace the trees that we had to remove to buid our house.  However, we are not looking forward to raking up all of the leaves. 

The following are some pictures taken today (08/26/2011) of the progress: 



not sure why the mulch is not on the whole hillside -
we plan to follow-up with the PM.
RH is going to plant a ground covering, but we can't remember the
name of the plant.  We will ask our PM.




Our Home
street view




Front Door
color: Plum Jam
We didn't think we were going to like the color and
we were going to paint it black, but after seeing it painted
we decided that we like it and we are going to leave it as is.

  


Due to all of the rain, the landscapers were unable to use the heavy machines
so they had to do it the old fashion way....(see next picture)

 


...they had to rake out all of the debris

 


Back yard




Back yard



Back yard
from 2nd story window





Left side of property





Left side of property
from the driveway



Left side of property
taken from morning room
***The plants, bushes, and shrubs belong to the neighbor***
She is amazing and has been hard at work planting almost every day.





Front walkway
from driveway





front of garage





front of house
in front of Study window




closer view of the plants





front of house
in front of Living Room windows and Solarium



closer view of the plants



Ok, we know that you are probably tired of seeing the pictures of our stairs, but they finally finished the clear coat AND we absolutly LOVE our stairs.  They did such a good job and we are so happy we decided not to add a runner.  



main stairs
final paint and clear coat

main stairs
taken from foyer

main stairs
taken from 2nd floor hallway

Family Room stairs
taken from 2nd floor hallway

Basement stairs

Monday they will clean, final inspections, and the final walk-thru is on Thursday.  WOW...in less than 2 weeks we will be fully moved into our new 'HOME'.

Happy Building everyone!!!

LOOKING FOR A MIRACLE...

This post is from HW...

As you all know, we placed our current house on the market 109 days ago.  Recently, we lowered the asking price to see if that would stir up some interest, but no calls, no visits, NOTHING!!!  We are now looking for a miracle to help us sell our house.  Well let me just tell you what I found out at the hair salon a few weeks ago when my hair dresser mentioned to me that some people bury St. Joseph in their yard to help them sell the house.  I will have to tell you, at first, I was a little sceptical, but when I got home I looked it up on Snopes.com (click on link to see more info) to find out that she is not kidding.  They sell statues, a book, and kits (includes book/statue).  

So yesterday, I went to the local Family Christian Store.  They didn't have the kits and I didn't want to waste time to order and wait to receive a kit in the mail...

...and they didn't have the book St. Joseph My Real Estate Agent...

...so I just purchased a St. Joseph statue.

Now I am on-line trying to find out the proper way to bury the statue.  Does anyone have a "St. Joseph" story or advice they would like to share?

Other sources:
St. Joseph Statue
Prayer to sell a home
The Real Estate Blogger - Instructions For Your St. Joseph Statue and Selling Your Home
The Catholic Company

PROGRESS and PICTURES (TAKEN 08/20)

We stopped by the house on Saturday to check out the progress.  So much has happened since our last visit.  They were installing the carpet (which we will take/post pictures when they are done).  Until then, the following pictures were taken on (08/20/2011), which reflect a few other things that have been done since our last visit. 

steps from garage to laundry room



foyer
view from main stairs



powder room
main floor



 The gourmet island and almost all of the appliances are installed...

kitchen
view from family room





kitchen
view from morning room



gourmet island



Dishwasher
GE Profile with SmartDispense Technology (model# PDWT380RSS)

Double Oven
top: GE Profile Advantium 120V 30" Wall Oven (model# PSB1201NSS)

bottom: GE Profile 30" Built-in Single Convection Wall Oven (model# PT920SMSS)



Range hood
GE Profile 30" High Performance Range Hood (model# JV536HSS)
and we are waiting for cook top to arrive



Some pictures of the bathrooms and fixtures...

Shower/Bath
Bath #2

Vanity
Bath #2
We plan to replace the mirror



Vanity
Jack/Jill Bathroom
Bedroom #3 and #4

Vanity
Jack/Jill Bathroom
Bedroom #3 and #4

Vanity (1 of 2)
Master Bathroom



Some pictures of the wire shelving....

Walk-in closet on Left
Master Bedroom

Walk-in closet on right
Master Bedroom

panel that covers spa valve system
Master Bedroom closet

wire shelving
Pantry

wiring shelving above washer/dryer
Laundry room

Some pictures of the stain on the landings...It is hard to get the stain to match the wood on the stairs and the wood on the landing, but they look great!!!  We can't wait to see the final results.

 

Getting ready to pour the concrete for the walkway...

view from the driveway
--and the light post has been installed

view in front of the garage

view from front yard toward front of house
--and the porch columns have been installed

 Some pictures of the final grading and topsoil...

According to our PM, they power washed the brick today and finished up some minor touch ups.  The cleaning will begin on Monday.  Next time we visit the house should almost be ready for the final walk-thru, which is scheduled for next Thursday, 09/01.  We plan to walk-thru with our home inspector the day prior to the final walk-thru with RH.