649 6th

day 27: preparing for the blitz

Today was a prep day. My niece Lily came to visit this afternoon. Unlike my sightseeing niece that was here last week, Lily has come to work. She'll mainly focus on the painting the second floor. That's right, this weekend we go color and are greatful for the additional set of hands.

I essentially have four days left in my month long vacation / reno jump start. I've been saying June all along, but I'm going to kick in Sunday July first as bonus to try and show a little more progress. Michael will continue to focus on the bathroom. We finished up the most complicated wall of tile last night. We're hoping to have all of the tile done and some (if not all) of the cedar installed by the end of the weekend.

The last major focus for the dwindling days is the entry way. I keep saying that we've finished demo-- a couple of times now in fact. Well, I found another place that needs a bit more peeling back. The entry way is a clogged artery of four or five layers of sheetrock. If I peel it back I should get up to an inch and a half of much needed breathing room on either side of the front door. Luckily I should be able to knock out the demo and debris removal in an hour or so in the morning. After that I'm all drywall finishing, all the time.

In preparation for this big push I spent the better part of the day assembling materials and getting the the task list ready. All I can say at this point is "Go team!"

day 26: mod boxing

This morning, in three easy steps, I began eliminating the non-square problem in the stairwell that I mentioned last night. I think the modern corollary to trim is soffits; when in doubt just put a box over it. This the first step of a number to come which I'm sure will include some plain molding before it's over.

I spent the better part of the afternoon slowly drilling the last holes in the porcelain for the bathroom. That task kept going and going, but I think I'm finally done with round holes. On that note, a special thanks to A&K for giving me the spare tile today. We were down to the exact number we need and it's good to have that extra safety.

day 25: pinstripes on a fat man

Today was a bit on the frustrating side. It was one of those that took forever to get rolling, and of course because of small obstacles. The vanity lights in the bathroom need to be attached to the installed electrical boxes. Of course, the fixtures come with "ceiling" adapter plates rather than "wall". This of course means you have to get yet another electrical adapter. Two hours later we were ready to get going again with the tile...

Can I pause here to talk just a bit about the world of electrical fixtures. It never ceases to amaze me how much additional hardware is needed to install outlets and switches, and how none of it seems to be standard. Why so many variations?  After being frustrated with the wrong length or thread countless times, we bought a set of universal screws for electrical fixtures. Ironically none have been the right screw to date, I guess they fit another yet to be needed fixture, but I digress

Michael had the day off today and we both ran into the same problem on two different projects. How do you put pinstripes on a fat man? I had to reinstall the bead board that leads up to the bedroom. There was remaining rubble behind that buldged a bit toward the bottom. This was a dreaded job. As the day rapidly approaches when I return to 9-5 I'm eager to check a few more tasks off the list. Having to rip something out and redo it frustrates that agenda.

Here's the fat man problem. If you make the lines of the bead board level (or in Michaels case the 12x24 bathroom tile) it doesn't meet at the corners. There's a V gap. I've talked before about the hazards of doing modern in a non-square house.

Michael is going to build up the thin set and even it out top to bottom on the adjoining side wall. For me I'm still not sure. Anything I do to close the gap simply points out how out of square that corner really is. Any bright ideas out there?

day 19: white powder coat

Today the reamining plumbing fixtures for the bathroom were delivered. We had ordered something called "white powder coat".  I was xpecting them to be matte finish (powder?) but alas they match the sink, tub, and toilet. They will poke out from the black slate wall for both the shower and sink.

Other than cleaning I didn't really get a lot done today, C'est la vie. It's good to rest a bit too.

day 18: drilling porcelain

Today was an excercise in patience. In the bathroom I needed to drill seven holes for the plumbing in the porcelain tiles. They measure 12 by 24 inches and are 1/4 of an inch thick. Originally I had planned to use the drill press. The holes only need to be 3/4 to an inch max.

The drill press posed two problems. 1) The reach was not deep enough to center the hole that needed to be cut. 2) By applying a steady single point of pressure to the tile (as a drill press will do) the tile is likely to break (aka split) before the hole is pressed.

At around 10:00 this morning I had measured and marked the three tiles (three holes in two, one in the other). By 11:00 I had broken two of them and only managed an 1/8 inch hole in the third. I decided I would hire someone to do the job for me. Trouble is, no one wants to take that job. The best I got was an explanation and a hearty good luck. Peak time of year for trades guys and, like the roofing guys, they've got much bigger fish to fry.

Using a hand held drill with carbide tip masonry bits and progressively increasing the size of the hole I was able to drill through the tile-- in time. You really have to let the tool do the work. If you force it it will break. In the case of the drill press the tile will break, and with the hand drill the bit will break. I broke off a tip in a hole by forcing it. It was like the most perfect tooth filling ever. Carbide steel set in porcelain. Luckily that was on one of the ones I shattered early. The good news is I didn't break any more. It's a good thing too, we're starting to need every single one left. The carbide bits were good, but I still did a lot of shaping with the dremel tool.

In the end the drilling and shaping of the seven holes took about ten hours. Yeee, what a way to spend a day. On the up side Michael is downstairs right now thin setting them in place.

day 17: installing tile

We spent our time today cutting and installing tile. It may not look like much from the picture, but the glass tiles on the deck were a bit tricky to level and get the spacing right. Additionally, we had a bit of a set-back when an intricately cut tile smashed to pieces during the "dry" fit. Fortunately, the tile-cutting saw blade makes such cuts less than traumatic.

All in all not a bad day; we only had a few hours to devote, and I think we made the best of them.

day 14: cutting glass tile

To trim some pieces of glass tile for the bathroom, this morning we made a nifty little jig out of a piece of 1/4" poplar and a rotary saw guide. The poplar was the exact thickness of the tile. The diamond edge masonry blade on the skil saw sliced right through. Before cutting, we wrapped everything in tape to prevent scratching. The results were great (as you can see).

day 12: two man gang

I've said it before I'll say it again, it's amazing how much work you can get done when you have more manpower. Today was Michael's first day of vacation, and we checked a bunch of stuff off the list. I really like the days when the white board get's full of detail. It's normally accompanied with a flurry of activity.

The white board has a colorful depiction of a possible garden lay-out. I was reading way back in the blog today and realized that sketches like these turn up from time to time. One day even the outdoor space (now workshop) will be finished.

Today went like this:

1) Ordered screens for all of the windows. We didn't have cats when we they were installed, now we do. Nuff said.

2) Cut the tile for the bathroom floor. This was the first time I used the "tile king" blade. Wow, what a difference, cuts like butter. I highly recommend spending the few extra dollars to step up from a composite stone blade.

3) Built the plywood box cubby at the base of the tub. It'll be lined in same cedar as the walls. Wondering how well this particular application will hold up in a dampish area.

4) Mixed up a batch of thinset, taped the Hardiebacker seams and installed the remaining floor tile. We ran just short on thinset and will have to finish last two pieces in the morning.

5) Demo'd the front entry. This is final vestige of the previous occupant's work. A victorious moment.

6) Installed an electrical outlet in the last wall to be finished in the kitchen area. Tomorrow we pop on a couple of pieces of drywall and checking things off the list continues.

After it was all said and done we cracked open a fine bottle of wine with a good stinky cheese. Not bad for a day's work.

day 9: the foreman

It's Saturday so that means the man power doubles (theoretically). Michael will be taking most of next week off too. The bathroom is still the most demanding set of tasks. We were cutting small pieces of hardiebacker again this morning. These were to fit around the tub enclosure.

Michael has been the foreman on the bathroom since the start. By electing a foreman for each big push it's easier to avoid conflict (easier). I said yesterday I had gone about as far as I could go solo. Well. the truth of the matter is, it's as far as a I dared go without the foreman. Not that either of our approaches is necessarily wrong, it's simply if someone has a plan we should follow it. Boy am I glad I waited. It took Michael the better portion of the morning to figure out exactly how he wanted the remaining substrate to fit together.

We have plans this afternoon and evening. Tomorrow, when we get back at it, I hope to get the remaining pieces up and the seams taped with thin set...we'll see.

day 8: cutting hardibacker with a dremel

After talking about it for a few days now I finally broke out the dremel tool with the tile cutting bit and tested it on some hardibacker. I have to say it's a pretty amazing tool. I had always stayed away from them as I didn't want to be to quick to fall into the category of "aging craftsman". You know, the old guys you see at county fairs intricately carving totems while riding out their golden years, but I digress...

I made sure to wear plenty of protection. the one thing lacking from the photo is earplugs; highly recommended, it makes quite a squeal. I felt a bit like a dentist. It cuts through quite quickly, however it does generate a lot of heat. I'm wondering how much those tiny bits can take? Compared to the the jig saw bits (that were ground down to nothing after about an 18" cut) this was a marked improvement.

I got as many pieces of the backing up as I could handle solo. The nice part about the dremel tool is if you need to, you can still use it to trim a bit once things are in place. The router like attachment allows for great depth control.