Rain rain rain but not much wind so hopefully all is well!
Boy, its been bucket brigade all day. This job is so glamorous!! It started raining right on cue at 11am. We immediately spotted several areas where water was intruding into the main floor, coming down the outside plywood somehow and getting into the walls. The guys were outside putting up a lot of plastic. We also had to put some trash cans outside to catch roof drainage to make sure we didn’t puddle by the foundation.
But the glamorous part was going back over in the dark during the last rainstorm and checking all the buckets we have under the leaks. We’ve got a couple of leaks in our lovely plastic roof and we are trying to use buckets under all the leaks. I wanted to make sure they didn’t overflow and dump into ceiling below. It has stopped raining now so I hope I can get some sleep
Yesterday, besides running around trying to control leaks into the house, I made everyone just stop and take a Time Out. We spent most of the day cleaning up the entire house, organizing tools and materials, rearranging everything anfd clearing out the living room and kitchen. We tore up the paper that has been on the floors and we are ready for flooring.
Of course the flooring guys played the usual game. They were supposed to start on Monday. He called on Friday and said they wouldn’t be able to start until Tuesday. OK. Then they didn’t show up yesterday and I started calling. Oh, we are on our way… shows up about 11am and drops off all their tools and then said he had to go to the wood place to get special transition pieces. Back in an hour. Of course they never returned but I will give them a pass since it was raining and it’s probably not really smart to start installing wood that might be swollen from the humidity.
I loaded some photos of the cleared areas (living room with old floors!) and some photos of the kitchen window dilemna
Wow! That living room is spectacular. Have you chosen a ceiling fixture yet?
I think the old kitchen windows look fine on both sides. They won’t be noticeable when you get all the cabinetry in either. I can’t wait to see the invented stove hood!
I have not selected ceiling fixtures yet
I have to wait until floors installed, sanded and finished before mounting light fixtures. So I have about 3 weeks to select, purchase and ship them. But I have to focus on tile designs this week.
I picked up a couple of neutral floor tile samples yesterday and have to look for more today. Just focusing on main floor bathrooms and laundry room right now. I’m hoping that 12x24 floor tiles will fit into the overall design of the house. They are just easier to clean and give a nice overall look but are a tad’contemporary’
It has stopped raining but we don’t dare tear off all our plastic just yet. Unfortunately the guys have to work on the top floor to move forward for inspection. Sun is out strong right now and with top floor wrapped in plastic it has turned into a 120 degree steam sauna up there. I practically have a mutiny on my hands and they are demanding to open up some sides for air flow:)
The kitchen windows don’t look “hideous” from the outside, yet don’t match the others and would bug me if I bought a $1.5M house. Also, isn’t your main concern that the window glass is not as clear as new and that they look dingy? It’s not my money but for under $1,000, I would replace them to match and ‘go with’ the fabulous new kitchen.
Is the large window in the DR going to have a sill outside like the others?
I have to say that I think the old kitchen windows significantly detract from the exterior. I’m sure that it is partly because I’m aware of it, but I think it is one of those things that once you notice, drive you nuts.
Geez, i didn’t even notice that dining room window doesn’t have a window sill. Oops, too late to fix that. Chalk it up to too much focus on interior.
The kitchen windows are only about 2-3 years old. They will clean up as clean as the others. Right now we are investigating the possibility of’painting’ them with special vinyl spray. The cost to tear them out of the stucco and drywall bullnose is really high
I think if you can just paint the exterior to match the rest it will be fine.
DAMAGE
After careful analysis of all the drywall and exterior, we discovered two areas where the rains intruded into finished walls. We had to cut out a 1 ft by 8 ft area of the middle bedroom ceiling and dry it out. Then there was a small area under the deck in the staircase below that had to be cut out.
Today we are taking off the plastic and starting to install our ‘tails’. These are the rafters that will stick out 1 ft around the new roof. I went to a special lumber yard and purchased thick 3x4 lumber that matches the exact width of the original tails on the existing house. We cut them to exact lengths and then took them over to my friend’s house who has a big band saw. We cut the rounded edges on each piece and then brought them back. Painters primed them last week and they are ready to be installed today. Then we have to do the blocking between each tail and truss. All of this has to get done by Saturday because the plywood is getting installed on the roof.
I loaded a couple of pictures of the ceiling damage.
Yesterday I was walking through Lowe’s looking for floor tile for the laundry room and kid bathrooms. I have several neutral 12 x 24 samples I am going to lay out in the rooms today.
BUT… remember the gorgeous public bathroom at outlet mall that I took pictures of??? I could not believe my eyes when I stumbled upon exact same thing (probably not same manufacturer, but same look and style). I snapped up several samples and I am going to try to make a design in master bath with these tiles
They kind of look hideous and busy on the Lowe’s website but they are gorgeous in real life. I probably won’t do an entire floor or shower wall, but I’ll try to make feature areas with the tile
I was wondering about the idea of totally neutral tile because of your very different choice in the bathroom that has been done already.
I could see using the ogee tile on the floor. It would echo the other bathroom, and the interior curves of the house. It would be great combined with a neutral wall tile. I don’t like the diamond one at all. Very harsh and overpowering. I wouldn’t want to walk into my bathroom in the morning and be hit with that in the face. Or any room, for that matter.
Agree, don’t like the diamond one. It just shows the detail in the tile pieces. Going to use the Ogee tile, but I have to find enough pieces to make a center ‘rug’ pattern in the floor. There’s only 13 pieces at local store and I want to grab as many as I can.
Before I buy it all I have to make sure that there is some matching neutral tile and border tile available.
I don’t think the downstairs hall bathroom will dictate what I do upstairs. The two bathrooms are far enough away from each other
cb, the ogee tile is labeled a “wall tile.” Can you use wall tile on the floor?
It has good traction and the cuts and grout will keep it from being slippery. The reason they probably call it wall tile is because it has water cut pieces and they don’t want liability if they get damaged on a floor.
I’m sorry, but I really do not like the idea of a blingy mosaic on the shower walls. Too much. And I think that all of those mosaic things have already become dated. Especially the strip mosaics.
But that’s just my $.02 
The difference between wall and floor tile is the grade. Tile with a grade of 1 is considered wall tile and is not suitable for floors because it is not durable enough for foot traffic.
Grade 2 is suitable for bathroom floors and other low traffic areas.
Kitchens and other high traffic areas should be at least grade 3.
The grade should be on the box somewhere.
There’s nothing preventing you from installing grade 1 on the floor if you really want to, though.
Notrichenough
How interesting! I never knew there were’grades’ of tile marked on boxes. I just flounder around making sure tile is thick enough and not slippery before putting it on the floor. I’ll keep my eyes open for grade markings
I agree that shiny small mosaics are on their way out. I’ll work with some combinations.
But today I have a dilemna with details. Trying to remember who’s brilliant idea it was to try to save the original front door handle and lock set.
First issue in February was no key given for front door. So we had to take it apart, including the 1930 box mortise lock mechanism. Off to most expensive place in San Diego to try and get new parts to install a deadbolt mechanism into old lockset. And a new interior turn knob that fits deadbolt turn drive. And then I have to go to Architectural Salvage and find interior door knob that fits the latch. Hours spent and $150
Then my carpenter spends a whole day getting it installed back into front door.
Within 2 months the deadbolt is broken and someone kept manhandling the latch and weld broke on large front piece. So, another couple of hours trying to fix it and he just gives up.
I had to go to five places trying to get it fixed. Finally found two old geezers with a funny little locksmith shop. They are enthralled with the pieces and parts but it is going to cost $200 to get it back to working good.
Pretty sure i should have just purchased a $200 replica and called it a day. But Nooooooooo…I have to cling to the original. My carpenter thinks the whole thing is nuts:)