October 06, 2006
Grout for the Entry and Hearth
We had a couple colors to try and we chose the lighter "Straw" color.
Posted by dana at 07:07 PM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2006
Entry Floor 3
Posted by dana at 06:19 PM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2006
Entry Floor 2
Posted by dana at 07:18 PM | Comments (0)
September 26, 2006
Entry Floor
Posted by dana at 06:16 PM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2006
Hearth Goes In
Posted by dana at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)
September 16, 2006
Slab Mistake
One thing they did incorrectly was the side slabs of the shower opening. THey were not supposed to get narrower when they met the wainscot. They were supposed to stick out about 3/4 inch, but now they are even and the edge of the slab looks funny meeting the drywall. It's not as clean looking as it could be.
Posted by dana at 06:50 PM | Comments (0)
September 15, 2006
Thresholds
They brought the thresholds today too. Bathrooom carrera thresholds and the limestone for the two entry thresholds.
Posted by dana at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)
Master Counter Slab Installation
They couldnt do this before because we were missing a cap for the center leg of the leg system. So that took only 5 days to get on site, but then the slab guys couldn't get to the house until today, 6 weeks later.
By this time, I was just daily to the contractor "Where the @#%#%^ are they?!"
Watching them put this together was very interesting.
Posted by dana at 07:53 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2006
Selective Mitering
Posted by dana at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2006
Needs a MiterMiter
Posted by dana at 06:43 PM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2006
Cutting the PortHole hole
Posted by dana at 08:23 PM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2006
Master Bath Toilet Holder and Wainscot
Posted by dana at 06:15 PM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2006
Grout
Posted by dana at 02:50 PM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2006
Instlling Tile Around Slabs
This is why things take so long. The slabs were installed almost three weeks ago, and just now, the tile is being installed around them. I think the tile guy took a vacation.
Posted by dana at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2006
Hall Bath Toilet Paper Holder
We couldn't find one that went well with the tile so we asked them to make one out of the tile. Looks pretty good.
Posted by dana at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)
August 01, 2006
Carrera Slabs Arrive and Installed
Posted by dana at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2006
Prepping For Slab
Posted by dana at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2006
Slabs for Hearth and Entry Arive.
Posted by dana at 06:29 PM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2006
Tile Looks Odd
We told the tile guy to take tile from different boxes as he went along, he says he did and that the similar colors are because the quickset is drying at different rates under the tile. He says that over time, the tiles will even out.
Posted by dana at 07:21 PM | Comments (0)
July 05, 2006
Bath Thresholds
Master Bath:
Hall Bath:
Posted by dana at 04:19 PM | Comments (0)
June 30, 2006
Master Bath Porthole Hole
Posted by dana at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)
June 29, 2006
Master Shower Floor Gets Grouted
Posted by dana at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2006
Toilet Paper Holder
Posted by dana at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2006
Master Bath Tile Walls
Posted by dana at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2006
Master Shower More Progress
Posted by dana at 06:22 PM | Comments (0)
June 22, 2006
Master Shower
Posted by dana at 05:56 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2006
Master Bath Shower Floor
Posted by dana at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2006
Hall Bath Shower Walls
Posted by dana at 06:33 PM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2006
Hall Bath Shower Floor
Posted by dana at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2006
Master Shower Prep
Posted by dana at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2006
In Search of Slab
Posted by dana at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)
June 09, 2006
Hall Bath Floor and Laundry Floor II
Posted by dana at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)
June 07, 2006
Hall Bath Floor and Laundry Floor
Posted by dana at 07:37 PM | Comments (0)
June 06, 2006
Master Bath Floor All Done
Posted by dana at 06:49 PM | Comments (0)
Hall Bath Floor -- Thinking it Out
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June 05, 2006
Hall Bath Floor -- Getting Started
Posted by dana at 05:18 PM | Comments (1)
May 31, 2006
Visiting the Slab Yard
Posted by dana at 08:14 PM | Comments (0)
May 30, 2006
Master Bath Floor Gets Grout
Posted by dana at 04:58 PM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2006
Replacing Tiles in Master Bath/Finding the Right Grout
Posted by dana at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2006
Master Bath Floor Installed
Posted by dana at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
May 09, 2006
Let's Do it Again
Posted by dana at 06:58 PM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2006
Master Bath Screw Up
Posted by dana at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2006
Master Bath Tile
Today they started to figure out the tile layout on Master bath floor.
Posted by dana at 06:18 PM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2006
Firplace Install Seven
For the most part the fireplace is done! We still need to fill in the cracks with some slivers of stone, but the big job is done.
We asked them to leave the pile of stone until we are sure it is finished. One thing we are debating is whether or not to seal the stone. I was thinking not, I like the raw look. But it might be better for the stone if it was sealed. Plus, the foreman says that if we burn fires, soot will accumulate. So maybe sealing it would be the way to go. To enable cleaning.
With flash.
Without flash.
Posted by dana at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)
February 18, 2006
Fireplace Install Six
And here is where we are at close of week
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February 16, 2006
Fireplace Install Five
Here is today's work.
Posted by dana at 06:09 PM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2006
Fireplace Install Four
So with the corners pieces being different from anything on the floor, it has become apparent that we cannot take the stones from the floor to the wall in the same pattern. Which is just as well I think. It did give them good practice.
Picking and choosing.
I don't have pictures of this unfortunately, but the way they were putting the stones up today was causing vertical lines to appear. And this caused the stones to not look stacked like in a wall but rather stuck up there like a mosaic. So we had to have them take it down. To demonstrate, we turned the sample picture sideways, and you could see vertical lines appear. You don't notice the horizontal ones as much because they look correct. They understood right away.
Here is what it looked like today:
These close up pictures are a little dark, but the flash blows it out. A couple pix of some favorite stones.
Here are supports for the bottoms stones.
We aren't worrying about depth and doing wrap arounds for the bottom stone, since you won't be able to see this unless you crawl under the ledge.
It's looking great! We're excited! Let's play!
Posted by dana at 05:50 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2006
Fireplace Install Three
Here is the progress they made today.
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February 13, 2006
Fireplace Install Two
After the heated talk of last Friday, it looks like we are doing it the way we discussed with the contractor afterall. Stone guy is using sticks to keep the stones in place until the thinset hardens.
Posted by dana at 05:45 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2006
Getting Ready to Install and then Starting
So we think we have everything we need to start putting it up! But we wanted to go everything all together to make sure we were all on the same page before we started putting stone up on the wall. So we decided to have a 7AM meeting this morning to figure everything out. The foreman called the meeting.
So guess who was the only one to not show up?
The foreman.
Good grief. I call him and he says he is across town -- he thought he could get something else done first. Before 7AM?
So we have the meeting with the contractor and tell him how we think it should be done. We kind of agree, on getting the corners up first, then putting the stones along the bottom. And then filling in the stone above it.
But this turns out to be pointless since the key attendee is absent.
Everyone had to leave except the contractor and me. When he finally shows up, we go over what we had talked about and he says he can't do it that way. I say maybe we should put if off until we can all meet together so that there is no communication problem. We are getting delayed by the windows so much that is seems okay if we make sure everything is as we want it with the stone. I don't want to rush this at all.
I was pissed at him for being late and he was pissed at himself too I think. And this manifested itself in a panic attack.
"I don't write things down, but I remember telling you this, I know I told you this. In the picture, it is cultured stone. This is natural stone. So what is in the picture, it can't be done. Not with this stone."And then he got really frustrated:
"Maybe I am not the right guy for the job. I don't know. The picture you have is with cultured stone. There is no way we can do it with this stone.
I replied. "First, it's a good thing you accompanied us to the stone yard with sample picture in hand and approved the stone we bought. Second, I asked the stone guy if he could do it with the stone we had and he said yes. And third, it is still not too late. We can throw all this stone away and get what you think will get us the look we want. But this look is what we want."
He calmed down, but it was unsettling. There wasn't much he could say to that. Especially since his stone guy had spent a week and a half cutting and preparing this stone.
And then we went back to talking about how we wanted the bottom stones to look. We wanted them to look like they were sitting on an invisible flat plain. They need to be even, but not precise. There can't be any variation in the height, but at the same time, they have to be a little rough.
One thing about the foreman was that he doesn't like being told what to do. So whenever possible, I try to make it seem like his idea, to get him to understand it on his own. But here, I had to spell it out, and I could tell he didn't like it much.
We got through it and I think we are on the same page, but sheesh! This is just the beginning of the finish work. If he thinks I am a pain now, he's gonna want me dead by the end of it! Because I am going to be looking at every detail of every little thing they do!
It bugs me about the stone culture argument.
We didn't think the stone was cultured and don't understand why they are suddenly trying to use this as an excuse. It doesn't look cultured. There are no repeats. Further, they can't even point to anything specific that indicates it is cultured.
Back when we visited the stone yard in early September, we wanted the stone guy and the foreman there to make sure we were getting the proper stone. And now he is pulling this. But now I guess we know why he came alone and not with the stone guy.
But in any event, the corner went up today. It looks good!
Posted by dana at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2006
Making the Corner Pieces
One tricky thing for this wall is getting the corners to look like the stones are not a facade, but actual big chunks of stone. We got a big chunk of stone for that. It required cutting a big chunk and then cutting out of it so it is kind of like an "L" which will wrap around the corner.
The source stone.
Laying it out.
It will look like this on the wall.
We needed some more for the actual fire box.
Laying it out for the fire box -- sides and top.
Posted by dana at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)
February 07, 2006
More Layout Work
Here are more pix of the layout being created on the floor. The idea is to get it right here and then put it up on the wall. Since the corner pieces are not incorporated into it, I don't know how we are going to do that, but we will see. But I gotta say, it is looking good!
And some pictures of the scene.
And here is Roxy and Dana.
At least they are not messing with my chair.
Posted by dana at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2006
Stone Cutting to Get the Look
So now that they "got it," the stone guys take to cutting. The trick is to get the stone squarish, but not square. Rectanglish, but not rectangular. Get it?
What they did was cut a piece of stone halfway through and then break it along the seam. When the stone was on the grass, I went around and looked at both sides of each stone and put the display side up so they would know which side to cut on. the display side would be the more interesting one or the least damaged one. Some of the stone had black mildew on it, so we wanted as little of that as possible.
Stone dust is getting everywhere. We have been pretty good at keeping our living space clean, but this dust is finding its way in.
Posted by dana at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)
February 01, 2006
Getting the Stone Guy on Track
So after yesterdays work, it is apparent that the stone guy needs some close guidance. I got on my grubby clothes and started laying all the stone out on the grass. I explained to them what I wanted to do and they helped get it out there.
And what did I want to do? I wanted to be able to look at all the stones, find ones I liked, and find ones that I didn't like. We hosed them down to get all the dirt off so we could see them better. Immediately, I saw some standouts!
This appeared with a good hosing and the loose rock fell off. Very cool. It looks like it has been underwater for hundreds of years. This rock gets a special place!
Dig this one too!
We also went over the design we were going for. No triangles. No bad Vegas seventies look. Squares. Straight lines, but not precisely straight lines. Get it? I think they were beginning to understand.
This is the layout they came up with today. We are getting there.
Posted by dana at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
January 31, 2006
Getting Started with the Stone Fireplace.
The stone moved to the backyard.
After the tile guy got the stone into the backyard, we showed him the picture of what we wanted. We made several copies to tack on the wall and put with the plans. Made a couple extra for whoever would need to see them.
This is what we want. We showed this to the contractor and the foreman before we signed the contract and the foreman was with us when we bought this rock with this picture in our hand.
We leave them alone for the day. I had not been around for most of the day. I came back just as they were leaving.
I asked "How's it going?"
"Good. We have almost finished laying out the stone. We can start putting on the wall tomorrow maybe next day."
Wow. I thought. That was fast. They take off and I go in to take a look. This is what I saw.
It was like they didn't hear a word we said. They obviously didn't get it at all. Also, it looked like they were picking up the first stone they saw and fit it in somehow. Without looking at each individual piece. They will be able to do that with the tile, but not with this stone.
I am worried.
And look at what they do to the windows before they left! They screwed a screw into it to keep it shut! I am dumbfounded!! These are friction hinges! There is no reason for that. These windows need to get sent back and fixed and they are destroying them. I think they did it so that their equipment would not get stolen. Unfortunately, a theif would simply rip out the screw and really damage the window frame. Ughhh.
Posted by dana at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2006
The last bathroom prep entry for a while
They are done with the cement for the bathrooms for now. They decided against doing the master floor since it looks like it is not going to be closed up for a while now due to the window situation.
Hall bath floor
Posted by dana at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)
January 27, 2006
Fireplace Stone Prep
The put up the backing for the stone on the fireplace. Tarpaper first and then the ceramic tile backer.
Posted by dana at 03:24 PM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2006
Yet more bath prep
This is a lot of work! Every layer has to dry before the new one is applied.
Despite finding out the tile guy did not do the stone on the house we were sent to, he seems like a nice guy and works hard. They are here all day. So I guess we'll cut him some slack. It wasn't his fault the foreman sent us on the wild goose chase.
Master Shower.
Master shower looking good.
Clean lines
Prepping the floor.
Master Floor.
The corner in the master shower needs a little touch up.
Posted by dana at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2006
More bathroom prep
Here are more pix of the bathroom prep.
Hall shower soap niche
Hall shower.
Master Shower
Master shower opposite side.
Hall shower.
Hall shower. The port hole will go between the 2x4s on the left. The tub will go to the left of the shower. you can see the rough plumbing for the faucets.
This is the cement they use. The mix is with water.
A pile of it taken out of the bags.
Master shower.
More master.
Posted by dana at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2006
Bathroom Tile Prep
Meanwhile the Tile/Stone guy is prepping the bathrooms for the tile. He is putting cement up which is what the tile will go on.
The tar paper on the bench in the master shower.
First goes the tar paper and then the mesh which will hold the first layer of cement.
The mesh is tight. This is better mesh than traditional chicken wire, which is still used. This is the master niche being cut out.
This is the first layer of cement in the master bath. It is given a rough surface so it can hold the second layer.
The wheelbarrow where they mix the cement.
This is a temporary support in the laundry rooom for the soap niche in the master shower.
Hall bath niche
Posted by dana at 02:31 PM | Comments (0)
Stone Guy Story
Last week we asked the foreman for some sites where we could look at some of the stone guy's work. He gave us an address of a house in Encino.
On Sunday we go check it out. The house is a McMansion, but the stone work is not bad. Not the style we are looking for, but it looks like care was put into it. So we are satisfied that we will be able to work with the stone guy: after all this was a much bigger project than ours.
The stone was delivered yesterday while the tile guy is doing prep work for the bathrooms and the showers (next entry). Doesn't seem like enough, and it looks like it might be all utah blonde. Half is supposed to be Moonstone. We will have to check.
Vendida means "It Sold"
I am in the office working and the foreman calls me on my cell.
"Hi Dana. Let me speak to the tile guy."
I take the phone over to him and they speak.
I find out the foreman wants the tile guy to move the stone into the back yard. Why should he do that? It's heavy and he is the tile guy not the stone guy.
So I ask, "Why does he want you to move the stone."
"Because I am doing the stone."
Oh.
"We went by the house on Woodley yesterday. Good work."
Blank. "Woodley?"
"The house on woodley? Big fireplace? You did that, right?"
"No, Sir."
What?
I call the foreman. "What's up with the tile guy also doing the stone, and not having done the house on Woodley?" I am kind of in disbelief. We had made it abundantly clear from way back that we wanted a tile specialist and a stone specialist to do each. I even asked the question, "are they different people?" "Yes" was the answer.
Can I go one day without wondering what these guys are up to?
"Let me speak to him."
"But what is up with it?"
"LET ME SPEAK TO HIM." he yelled. I touched a nerve. Is this the caged animal the contractor mentioned?
The foremen proceeds to scream at the tile guy -- I could hear it coming out of the phone. Tile guy (stone guy too?) was visibly shaken. Stuttering, explaining.
Why is he yelling at tile guy? Oh, right, because tile guy got him caught in a BIG FAT DECEPTION!!!
Tile guy gives me back the phone and I go to talk but foreman has hung up. I go back to the office.
It is only 3 in the afternoon, but I could really use a drink. A big drink.
I go to Carter Hardware to pick up our shower drains and chromed disks to find them incomplete and marred. Finish it, do it over.
I go for a swim and swim faster than I have in months.
After the swim, I get a call from the architect. He had spoken to the contractor about the windows and then the contractor tells him he is mad that I preempted or compromised the tile guy.
Don't lie to me and there won't be anything to worry about.
Posted by dana at 01:56 PM | Comments (0)