Monday, August 31, 2009

Fun with shower floors

So when the guy at the tile showroom says to just have your contractor cut it up in 3x3 pieces and you'll have a perfect match! And then you tell that to the contractor and he says "uh, it'll look horrible if I try to put little tiles down; they usually come with a web backing so everything is all spaced out evenly!".

Well, not wanting to go back to square one and pick another small tile for the shower floor, wait for that to come in... We had him cut it up into 3x3. Actually he did 4x4 by mistake and we had him change it to 2x2 (which I think is nicer anyway). Then we researched how to make our own mosaic tile work. We found the mesh and glue at a mosaic shop in Oakland and ran over there on Saturday and picked it up. Ed spent Sunday morning polishing the edges up on the 2x2's and I spent the afternoon glueing them to the mesh, using little spacers. Amazingly, it worked perfectly! This morning they were nearly dry at 5:30 when I got up. Ed flipped them and they were all dry by 8:30 when the workers arrived. I just checked and they have laid them down already. No complaints so I guess it worked!
Posted by Picasa

Tile going in



Well, it took about 3 days for the drywall to dry out (Friday, Saturday, Sunday). Then we went on vacation and they started tiling while we were gone. The floor is fully tiled (not yet grouted) although covered with brown paper to protect it while they work on the rest. This is the shower area. Still deciding on paint colors as you can see by the little samples on the side. I'm thinking now lighter than any of these.
Trim is also up around the windows, doors, and ceiling (crown molding).

Posted by Picasa

Friday, August 21, 2009

Walls continued...


Work on the drywall continued yesterday. That yellow wire is for the medicine cabinet which will have a plug inside for the electric razors and toothbrushes so they don't have to sit on the sink.



Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Fixtures

We have a nice collection of TOTO boxes. And a lot of dust!



These faucets come in a navy blue velvet bag. Odd packaging for a faucet!

Posted by Picasa

Tile arrived

The tile is down sitting in the foyer. This Azul Palomar limestone is for the floor. 12x12 - we wanted 18x18 or 12x18 but couldn't find that size. It looks lighter here due to the camera flash. The stone sealer will also make it darker (dark floors good for hiding dark hairs!)
The walls around the tub area and shower will be Glacier White marble. These are 12x18. Hard to tell from the pic, but it has warmish brown/grey veining in it.

Posted by Picasa

Walls!

Walls! We have walls! I think tomorrow we might get tile!



Posted by Picasa

Friday, August 14, 2009

New meter


We had a cute little door on the side of the house about 2 feet off the ground. Code requires them now to be between 4 and 6 feet. Can't have those PG&E workers leaning over now can we? Unfortunately, the whole electrical system required ugliness to the outside. Our contractor thinks we can put a small piece of white painted wood over the pipe after the inspection. That'll make it look a little better.
Posted by Picasa