649 6th

rounding the bend

It was long time coming but we're finally putting the last touches on 649 6th Ave v1.0. More than 6 years in the making, I'm certainly glad our quirky design didn't align with one particular seasons fashion.

We are aiming to be done by the first of February, so stay tuned for a few more posts as we near the end, including the party in February.

Finally, Tim was over the other day and shot some pictures of Michael and I hanging a large mirror. Made me stop to reflect for a moment, if nothing else, we really have found how to be a joyful team of two as we knock this work out...and they said it would only end in divorce.

complete dining room

...well not completely done, but I can fake it with this photo!

With the help of our dear friend Jordan we got the entire shelving apparatus installed in the dining room today. The four upright metal poles have adjustable posts with feet that are screwed into the ceiling and floor (4 screws per foot). Meaning, it's not going anywhere. The oak planks and cleats match the installation of the open riser stair treads (jut off to the left in this photo). They feel tight as a drum and strong enough to be building support rather than shelving.

Oh, and we finished installing all of the low voltage tech lighting. Hard to see the fixtures in the photo. They have a lovely crackle white glass finish.

design week

After a week of version and revision we're pretty close to having the designs for the cabinets (shelving) in the kitchen and on the second floor complete. We had always had a pretty good idea what they would be, but this week we spec'ed them in enough detail that we can have the "boxes" built and afterward we will finish and install them ourselves.

I know it's still many weeks off but it's amazing how having something as simple as bookshelves is making me very happy. We should be able to place the order on Monday. The project plan said that task should be done today, but you know how it goes; last thing Friday, first thing Monday, same diff.

hidey ho, everybody

Got a question about the Kohler Greek Tub t'other day, and since the response was sooooo long and sooooo informative, I thought to myself "share the wealth." Plus I took a couple pix, and nothing goes together better than pix and posts.

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Glad to share more info regarding our experience with Kohler's Greek tub. For us, the dimensions are great. As you already know, it's short; when sitting bolt upright I can just barely extend my legs full length. Some people have questioned the comfort of a short tub -- but when's the last time anyone sat so rigidly while soaking in the tub? If I want to extend my legs, I prefer slouching down and propping my heels on the edge.

And the depth more than compensates for length. In fact, its depth is the more important factor for installation considerations because it results in more volume than standard tubs, so there's more water weight. We considered consulting a structural engineer to calculate the load, but since bathroom was a gut reno we just sistered the floor joists before putting in new subfloor.

Water weight was also a factor when I caulked between wall and tub. I'd read a trick about filling tub with water before caulking and draining it only after caulk has cured, but for whatever reason I ignored that advice -- and had to rip out the caulk a few days later when gaps formed at both of the surrounding walls. For the re-caulk, I filled tub and seal held, though after several months I noticed a small gap and will need to pull the caulk on that edge again. I'm guessing the new gap has to do with structural settling, ie not much I can do but monitor the situation. Small price for a great tub.

Our decision to side-mount the fixtures was based on rain-type shower head. In my experience, shower heads are end-mounted because of the angled spray and the accommodation of tub length to adjust location of spray on the body; with rain-type shower head that's not a factor. I also feel like the end-mount orientation is contrary to the body's orientation while showering. By that I mean my wider dimension (side-to-side) spends most of the time while showering in the tub's narrower dimension (also side-to-side). Placing the rain shower head on side wall means I can stand "sideways" in the tub, which gives me more sense of room.

And it made a lot more sense to run the supply lines on same wall as shower fixture, rather than running at least one line around the corner. Could have end-mounted the shower and run a longer arm, perhaps with a ceiling support -- but I didn't. And I really am happy with the side mount. We've made several unorthodox decisions in the design/renovation of our house; some people questioned the wisdom, but I've been happy with outcome in every case.

One more tip: insulate the tub! We wrapped some spare fiberglass insulation around as much of the tub as we could reach after it was installed but before we closed up the deck. I can only compare to all the other tubs I've used that seemed to lose heat faster than I wanted; definitely not a problem with this tub. Insulating tub body is probably a good idea no matter what tub you get. I think I got the idea while reading about building a deck for a hot tub installation and made sense to apply same wisdom to standard tub.

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'K, that's all for now. Oh, and I quit my job a month AND didn't do a lick of work on the house besides wash dishes, do laundry, tidy, and make meals. What WILL it take to kick this project back into gear? I'm thinking warmer weather.

meeting a deadline

 

The project plan date finally arrived; December 1st.  It's been about three years since we started on this project and I think there were at least some out there who doubted we could stay together and make good on our DIY plans.We had the big birthday party last night and I think we finally won over errant skeptics.

We didn't get to everything that was on the plan for December 1. I guess we will never really be done and there will always be details.

I am pleased to announce though, we finally have a working bathroom door. On Friday night we still hadn't installed the hardware. We were putting sand and sealer on the new oak floors until about 2:00am (good thing too they would have been destroyed last night). We couldn't start the barn door hardware until after it had dried. We did our best to control the frustration as the hours ticked into the afternoon on Saturday, but it had been a lot of tasks for a lot of days straight and the last minute details were piling up.

I thought I had purchased the railing not drilled for the anchors. I was going to align the bar with the studs, drill it accordingly, and screw it in with 3/8" lags. When we opened up the railing we noticed it was pre-drilled, five evenly spaced times, by the fine folks at barndoorhardware.com. Of course none of the studs aligned with the holes.

The solution: we took off a couple of rows of cedar, removed the 1/2" drywall the entire length of the wall in a 7" strip, and then replaced it with 1/2" in ply. We screwed the plywood to the studs, replaced the cedar, drilled it, and then used toggle bolts fasten it all together. In the end I think it's a much better installation than what we would have done, and it was pretty easy.

This is obviously not the final door. It's a random piece of ply we cut down to match the size it will be. Again I'm sort of glad we were forced to do a dry run here. The hardware needed a bit of a adjusting before we got it just right. I would always rather work stuff like that out not on the piece you will be using forever. There's always that first time learning curve, I always wish the first shot didn't have to be the only in some the craft jobs we've taken on. It is nice to have the improv'ed luxury this time.

bathroom light fixtures

We finally installed the bathroom vanity light fixtures. It was a bit of a trick. The holes cut into the porcelain tiles fit the attaching ring perfectly. However, you couldn't screw the fixtures on-- they needed to thread through the attaching ring that was now backed by a formidable tile surface. With a bit of ingenuity and some washers we were able to figure it out.

The only missing piece is the mirror. I have a feeling that one might take a long time to find.

batting order

I'm often surprised by how many piles of materials there are waiting in the wings, it seems like by now we would have the timing thing down. This weekend we checked two off the stockpiled list. Interestingly both were waiting for different reasons:

1) Acquiring a particular material way before its turn in the batting order. There are a few of these piles around (I'm looking at you low voltage lighting for dining room).

Case in point: the oak stair treads. To be honest I think we originally bought these thinking we would have to install them when we demolished the old stairs and put in the open risers. In other words, we didn't plan to reuse the old treads as temporaries when we placed the order. Either way, fair to say stocking the beautiful oak planks was done way before it was needed.

Cut each of the 5/4" x 10" planks to custom lengths for each tread with a 1/16" gap to stringer on both ends. Numbered the sides so eventual installation should be a snap. No question the stair run is steep so we added a frictional element. Took a bit of testing on scrap blocks before deciding on three 1/4" wide strips routed 1/32" into the surface with equally sized spaces between them. Softened leading edges by running them across a 3/8" beading bit, countersunk so edges not completely lost. Next steps: sand, clean and polyurethane, polyurethane, polyurethane.

2) Functional is good enough. This is the flip side of "so excited about a project." More like "I'm so sick of this job I'm going to pretend it's done for a while."

Exhibit A: the kitchen drawer faces. They were cut from same plywood as the carcasses, all on Christmas eve last year. Assembly and installation of the cabinets went pretty quick, but we had the drawers built, which sort of made the project "someone else's" and by the time we got them installed neither of us wanted to take what felt like a step backwards to finish the drawer faces. They've been moved from spot to spot ever since. Got the pulls back in June hoping that would jump start the project...

Bonus satisfaction -- job done AND that many fewer raw materials sitting about.

kitchen kinetoscope

The kitchen renovation was the first time-lapse series we shot. Now that we found a quick way to make movies out of them, we dipped into the archive and whipped this one up.

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.

ten days without a crapper

Lot of people have asked how we did it. You think DIY only applies to home renovation? Well for this do-it-yourself, the simple truth is I made good use of office facilities. Not sure why but this causes nervous laughter in some. And it's not like there aren't any functioning drains on the property.

But I gladly trade all the potty jokes and water conservation to regain the ease and comfort of my very own commode. Seen here in demure mode.

What's that beside it? Oh, that would be the new tub. Not a trick of the camera; tub is both shorter and deeper than standard.  Haven't given it the  68 gallon test yet, but if shallow soaks are any indicaton then full depth will be an immersive experience.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to.