649 6th

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.

belgian blocks

Just a quick note to say thanks to Molly for the load of Belgian blocks. She brought them over earlier in the week. I had been meaning to thank her for hefting that entire load that pound for pound rivaled the 25 sheets of  hardiebacker we crammed into Douglas's car. The funny part was I didn't know what they were called. You know... "those squareish granite blocks you see people using for stuff".

Belgian blocks. Thanks Molly!

day 8 post coming in a bit...

another brick in the wall

A few people have asked for detail about the diluted Elmer's glue solution we used to seal the brick walls. Unfortunately, I didn't track the forum page where I found the idea (amongst a sea of posts debating pros and cons of commercially sold sealants), but I'm sure it's out there for the industrious surfer.

Can't swear to the exact proportions, but I know I used a 1/2 gallon sprayer so there was about that much warm water to either a 1/2 cup or a full cup of wood glue. I'm leaning toward the full cup. Honestly, I think this is very forgiving approach so it probably doesn't matter whichever way one goes.

Sorry I can't be more precise. Personally, I'm inclined toward using recipes and formulas to get this sort of thing "right". I'm an instruction-reader, and I'd be frustrated if I came across a handy solution that failed to provide adequate detail. On the other hand, what DIY task doesn't involve some personalization and decision-making? It's why we do this.

the door is in

After a long day of work in the basement the mason has the door in place. He is retruning tomorrow to cement everything in place. There's a bt of a problem with the top of the door not being able to swing past some electrical work, but we should be able to attend to that rather easily.

The mason has offered to slate the steps coming down to the basement (at no extra charge), to make the entrance a bit nicer. With the combo of the new door and the new entrance I'm already starting to see how it will be when it's done and I think I like the looks. I'll keep you posted-- literally I guess.

never gonna happen

The mason showed up today, unpacked the much belated door and realized the steel had not been drilled for the locks!

He took it back. Now he's saying Friday he will get it back. The up shot is he's gotta make sure that the new washer/dryer fits through the basement door on Saturday morning. I don't care if he has to come and remove the existing frame and replace after they leave.

[argh!]

first in

We hired the first person today that will actually physically change the space. Granted we are probably already many thousands of dollars into the project but, PHYSICAL WORK!

We got a mason to come in and more or less redo the entire entrance and surrounding walls to the basement. Again, it was a bit of back and forth to find the right amount of socpe at the right price point. In some ways I think  I could have haggled a bit more but, it was shaved down as it was and I thought the next cut would be the one where they simply beign decrease the care and craftmanship simply to get it done.

Work should begin right away. I'll probably post some "before" pictures in the next day or so before heading to San Fran for a bit of a mini vacation. I'm hoping that when we get home work will be well underway... not holding my breath.