Well hello stranger! If you think we've been slacking off and not getting anything done at Grandview, think again. I know it's been since mid-June since I posted last, but I have lots to share, so buckle up!
My 49th birthday arrived on June 23rd, and Dave surprised me with this beautiful light for the house. We had been tossing ideas around for just the right pendant fixture for the second floor stairwell, and this is the one we liked best. I was thrilled because Dave's taste at times runs along some very modern and "hi-tech" looks... I was prepared to compromise some, but when he said he liked this one because of the colors, I knew we had a winner. Dragonflies are one of our most favorite insects because they are a predator of our least favorite insect: Mosquitos!! Plus it has all those beachy greens and blues that I'm using throughout the house. Next to go is that wall fixture you can barely see in the background there... as soon as I find just the right one to replace it.
Wow, does this look like a mess or what? Not so! This is exactly the kind of project that Dave and I thrive on. If something isn't right, we begin by taking it apart piece by piece, until we get down to something solid. The next step may not be clear right away, but we stand back and take a good look, discussing different ideas, and soon we are putting pieces back into place. Here we are dealing with the entryway to the porch, which will be a focal point, obviously, of the whole project. There had been so many patchy-poo jobs done on it previously it all had to go. The siding, trim, and even a lot of the tiles had to be removed before we could start again, with a clean slate.
I had the illustrious job of crawling under the house to get an idea of what was going on down there, as the porch floor was seriously sagging at that front corner. On the left you can see the back of the concrete steps (covered with tile on the outside) - what a mess those were! Solid but pieced together in chunks, kind of a funny way to build steps in my opinion. You can also see the pipe that connects to the hose bib. Once I got under there, it became apparent that we weren't going to jack everything up like it should have been, but we decided to shore it all up so there would be no further sag and proceed with the cosmetics after that. We put in a bottom plate and added several vertical supports, so the work we were about to do on the porch wouldn't be a waste of time. I spent a few grueling hours hunched over under there, but I was grateful for how cool it was - In this heat it's amazing how the basement and crawl space remain so comfortable.
Here we've made a little progress. All the underneath work is done. At the lower left you can see where the hose bib is, and below that a pipe that is connected to a drain I put at the lowest point of the porch floor. When it rains water would collect there in the corner, but now it has a place to go. I can also hose the porch off to clean it if necessary. Also note the tiles have been removed from the side of the stair. Because of the "inconsistencies" of the concrete underneath, and since the guy who put the tile down used an ice cream scoop to put the adhesive on them, there were huge gaps between the tile and concrete. Whenever you have gaps like this the tiles can break very easily, which was happening along this side as well as that top step where we pried everything off. Trust me it will be solid as a rock when I'm through with it!
This view of the side shows the bottom row of tiles in place with adhesive, and mortar poured in behind to fill in all the gaps. I used caulking backer rod (a 5/8" snake of styrofoam for filling large gaps before caulking) in between the tiles to keep the mortar from oozing out where the grout will eventually go. I let that harden up for a day before adding the next row, followed by the ones on top. And check out that beautiful little drain pipe - Dave cut the circle with something called a "coping" saw which he uses like a surgeon does his scalpel, for all those little detailed wood projects. I'll show you more about that in a future post. I haven't tried it yet, but I would like to learn to cope as well as he does... yes the irony of this is not lost on me. I'm also quite proud of our little stone area where the hose is - no more trampling through dirt/mud to get to the hose bib.
No, Dave is not building a piano. After we removed the tiles (that were so poorly installed they were an eyesore and a safety hazard) the subfloor had to be rebuilt. It was important to create exactly the right slope, so Dave created custom shims - each one just a tiny bit thicker than the one next to it. Here he is preparing to put the piece of floor decking on top. I will top that with concrete backer board to create a perfect base for a quality tile job. You can also see the lovely supports that he installed with the help of someone who crawled into that little space underneath. Well actually I went in through the basement door but I was UNDER THERE! Thought maybe I'd find that hidden box of treasure I've been looking for, but unless you count a couple of aluminum cans, no luck there.
All the tiles are in, but not grouted yet. Nice and sturdy, stable and level. That black mat in front is a piece of tar paper someone glued down, and I've begun peeling it up, but it's one of those things I've walked over so many times I don't notice it until I see how ugly it is in a photograph. That beautiful cypress lap siding is the same wood that brought me to my David...the same stuff we installed together on that window wall there almost exactly one year ago! Can you believe we are almost ready to paint it! What a process, and what fun it has been along the way.
To wrap up this episode I bring you Dee Dee, Queen of Grandview. Doesn't she look regal there perched on the front ledge? We take her out for a walk on that little leash, and all she wants to do is pose right there. I thought it would be fun if my readers would caption this photo, so please leave a comment this time - I think there's a link to click at the bottom and tell me what you think she is thinking about, and I'll add the best one to the photo.
I have lots more photos so there will be another post very soon!
My 49th birthday arrived on June 23rd, and Dave surprised me with this beautiful light for the house. We had been tossing ideas around for just the right pendant fixture for the second floor stairwell, and this is the one we liked best. I was thrilled because Dave's taste at times runs along some very modern and "hi-tech" looks... I was prepared to compromise some, but when he said he liked this one because of the colors, I knew we had a winner. Dragonflies are one of our most favorite insects because they are a predator of our least favorite insect: Mosquitos!! Plus it has all those beachy greens and blues that I'm using throughout the house. Next to go is that wall fixture you can barely see in the background there... as soon as I find just the right one to replace it.
Wow, does this look like a mess or what? Not so! This is exactly the kind of project that Dave and I thrive on. If something isn't right, we begin by taking it apart piece by piece, until we get down to something solid. The next step may not be clear right away, but we stand back and take a good look, discussing different ideas, and soon we are putting pieces back into place. Here we are dealing with the entryway to the porch, which will be a focal point, obviously, of the whole project. There had been so many patchy-poo jobs done on it previously it all had to go. The siding, trim, and even a lot of the tiles had to be removed before we could start again, with a clean slate.
I had the illustrious job of crawling under the house to get an idea of what was going on down there, as the porch floor was seriously sagging at that front corner. On the left you can see the back of the concrete steps (covered with tile on the outside) - what a mess those were! Solid but pieced together in chunks, kind of a funny way to build steps in my opinion. You can also see the pipe that connects to the hose bib. Once I got under there, it became apparent that we weren't going to jack everything up like it should have been, but we decided to shore it all up so there would be no further sag and proceed with the cosmetics after that. We put in a bottom plate and added several vertical supports, so the work we were about to do on the porch wouldn't be a waste of time. I spent a few grueling hours hunched over under there, but I was grateful for how cool it was - In this heat it's amazing how the basement and crawl space remain so comfortable.
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