Easier Said Than Done

So, one of my goals for 2015 is to finish this kitchen!!  Really, I hope to finish the kitchen and maybe even the other side of this wall before the winter is up, or at least spring.  I don't really lack all that much, although there is a lot of unfinished square footage, it covers fast with what I plan to do.  First, is to pour these counter tops and the concrete bar tops that go on the low walls.  I'll probably form and pour the bar tops outside on a decent day and then place them once they are cured but the counter tops will be poured in place, obviously.

Then to do the tile backsplashes and wall tile.  This is the glass/ slate tile that will go between the concrete countertops and the bar tops.  And yes, that's about how much tile will be the too.  I have 2 inches of countertop (as marked by the crow's foot on the lower left on the wall) and then a 3" or 3 1/2" concrete backsplash which should fit right up under that electrical box.  Then the glass tile from there up.

On this other side of the wall I need to finish the sheetrock, paint those low walls and then make, or have made, the built-in bookshelves that go there on either side of the fireplace.  You can see where I have a temporary bookshelf on the other side.  And of course, I need to finish running the slate tile here and grout it, along with the mosaic work that goes in the off-centered strips.  That part may drag out a little longer as that mosaic takes a long time!  Ugh!  the little bit you can see I have done, down by the hearth, took 4 hours!  But, it's just something I've got to psych myself up to do.  I do enjoy the work but I tend to get a little antsy to be finished.  Doing a little bit every day or so is usually my best strategy.

Now, this will have to wait until warm weather but I also must finish this wall this year.  I have to etch and paint those metal sheets so that is why I need warm weather; can't do that in the house.  And then after the metal is up I'll install some sort of shelving to display sculptures and ceramics.  Or whatever.  Skulls of old boyfriends, I don't know.  And yes, that sheet hanging over the door will be replaced with an actual door!!  I have a really, super cool idea for the interior doors but again, I need warm weather to do those. 

So, if I can get all this finished before springtime I can then move on to all the crap that needs to be finished on the outside!!  Yay!!  I guess I should look at it like this...it all keeps me from sitting down at least!  I also have not forgotten that I need finished flooring but that is a very last of the list item and I'm trying not to overwhelm myself.  haha!

So, do ya'll have any interior house projects going on for winter? 

Knock On Wood

I've really been trying to make a concerted effort lately to finish up a lot of half-started projects around the house, organizing and decorating in areas of the house that are mostly finished.  To that extent, I've gotten a couple of new pieces of furniture and some art and photos framed and hung.  I figure it will all help motivate me to keep plugging along to finish everything.  Now, this sideboard is not new at all really.  It was built sometime in the 1920's and has been in our family since then.  No one else seemed to want it but we didn't want it to be given away or get messed up so I took it to use in the living room.  My grandmother's husband was the warden at Kilby Prison in south Alabama for a number of years in the 20's and this piece was built by a few of the inmates at the time, so it makes for a good conversation piece.  It's probably the only material thing in my family that has much value.  Anywhoo, it had been stored away for years so I got it out, cleaned it up and refurbished the finish a bit.  Basically just re-oiled it and cleaned some stains off of it.

So, now it is our entertainment center I guess you would say.  I replaced the plain glass in the doors with architectural glass and replaced the drawer pulls with bronze ones that matched the knobs on the doors.  I did make a little removable shelf for the bottom to put the stereo system on.  I've always liked the sideboard as it has a vague Craftsman style to it.  It's fairly well made and still in excellent shape too.  Now I just need to trim out that one last window to the right of it.  Ugh!

Now, we will not speak of how long this little cabinet has been hanging around in the basement but I finally got it cleaned up and finished, installed the hinges and door, etc etc. and hung it in the bathroom.  I thought it came out nice but I think I want to replace that glass with a colored/ textured something kinda glass because the clear, textured just still shows too much of what is in the cabinet.  I had thought about making a very simple, stained glass window type panel for the door but for now I just need it done and functional.  I can do the other a couple of years from now.  Maybe.
So, that is just a bit of an update.  I am trying hard to keep my motivation up and I've been feeling pretty good lately so that helps.  Seeing more and more finish work done helps a great deal too because I can see just how cool things are going to look all finished.  My cabinet maker guy is going to be back out in about 2 weeks to measure for the built in bookcases that go beside the fireplace so that area is shaping up nice too.  It's really going to be great!  I'm excited about it!

Stuck

 Well, I finally have a house post for ya'll!!  I finally got up the gumption to start the fireplace tile and have been steadily working on it for the past week or so, in between pottery, gardening and such.  I am actually a little further along than what you see in this photo.  About 2 more runs of tile and I have started the mosaic that will be in that blank space over to the left.  Yes, all that smashed pottery will be put to good use.  There were a number of reasons that I chose to break this up with a mosaic.  First, I think they are pretty and I wanted to do something different and creative.  Secondly, in placing these tiles out so that they wrapped the corners the way I wanted them to, it was going to make the spacing between them just a fuzz larger than I really wanted.  3/8" was really the max that I could justify with looking right.  By laying the ends the way I wanted and working inward, I could leave a strip in which dimensions didn't matter.  Oh, and I didn't want to cut tiles if I could get away with it.  There is nothing wrong with cutting them but with the area etc. I would have come out with pretty small cuts and just wanted to avoid that.  I wanted to stick with whole pieces for the looks.

 As it is, the spacing didn't quite come out as I imagined, although it's close.  See, natural tiles are...well..natural.  Even cut they may not be exactly the same size or totally square.  I have found differences of up to 1/8" and I really didn't expect that.  Maybe a better quality tile would have been more accurate, I don't know.  I will use a dark grey grout on this so that will also minimize how much you notice the irregular spaces.  For the most part I have been able to use these cool little spacers to keep it all in line but I have had to fudge some here or there.  I made sure to establish at least 2 control lines (1 vertical, 1 horizontal) before I ever started to help keep the tiles laid level and plumb.  Actually, I have 4 lines at this point but it never hurts to keep a check on that.  These spacers, by the way, just pull out when the adhesive is set up and you reuse them indefinitely.  They are also 2-sided; one side is a space just for a slot and the other is a spacer for intersections of 4 corners.  The adhesive also sets fairly quick so I only spread enough to set 4 or 5 tiles (6x6) at a time.  You have about 10 minutes working time, maybe.  That may seem like a lot but when you are adjusting and tweaking it goes pretty fast.  Or it does for me anyway!
You can also see from this photo what I meant about the corners.  I did not want the edge of the tile that turns back to show.  The edge of the face tile shows from the side but that is more attractive, to me, than the other.  Basically, when you are standing in front of the fireplace wall, you will not see any of the edges of the tiles.  There are many ways to do corners though.  You can run some type of edge cap of another material such as wood or steel corner molding, another type of tile etc. etc.

 In this photo you can see a bit more of the unevenness of the spacing but it will be covered up by the fireplace unit.  See, I don't have any problem showing my stuff that doesn't come out exactly right.  Everybody makes mistakes or has things that don't do exactly what they thought they would.  I honestly thought the tiles would be more accurate in size so that was a learning lesson for me.  At any rate, I have been able to control the spacing better in areas that will show more, now that I understand the material more.  Plus, it's a natural stone.  It is just going to have variations.  Don't want variations??  Use a manufactured tile.  I had to cut a few tiles to fit around the gas lines and anchors that hold the unit in place.  This was very simple just using a 4" side grinder with a diamond wheel.  You can use it dry too for such small cuts.  I just had to nip out a notch here and there.  For whole cuts I will use a wet saw for tile.
So, there is the beginnings of that.  I'll have some more on it soon.  Hopefully.  If you would like to see a more in depth or closer look at how I did something please let me know.  I'm not sure how well I explain things so please ask questions if needed or tell me to clarify.

Back In The Mud

I finally got the hearth poured under my gas fireplace so I thought I'd show ya'll a quick post on how I did the forms.  It's fairly simple really.  The top of the 2x4's are the permanent framing that will hold up the slab.  That strip of darker plywood on the outside is the edge form that will drop down from under the concrete once it has cured.  The whitish looking board is the side of the edge form that will drop off later also.

Here you may be able to see a little better.  The bottom edge form is basically 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood screwed together at a right angle and then screwed to the framing.  I wedged it in places to get the flat part level.  After that was on I screwed the edge form on.  All of these pieces were ripped to the correct widths so I could use the edges as grade.  Am I explaining this right?  Everything that was to come off later was also oiled so it would release easily.

I found a new mix for doing the slabs and counter tops and I am very pleased with it.  It is one part Portland cement, 2 parts aggregate (89-10 in this case) and 3 parts sand.  That seemed like a lot of sand to me but it works fine and finishes wonderfully.
I bent a #3 piece of rebar to go round the outer edge and then filled in the inside with some wire mesh and chicken wire.  Whatever ya got just make sure to pull it up in the mix and not let it get trapped on the bottom.

I also used a clear silicone caulk to seal all the cracks because a fair amount of water is going to weep out of a slab.  As you screed and trowel it down, some slurry will come over the edge so I put some old crappy towels down to catch my mess.  Of course, it helps that I don't have finish floors down now to protect.  I put a fan on this from both sides to kinda help the water evaporate.  A pool will form on the top after you float the slab down flat and you don't want to start working it until that disappears or you'll just work the water back down into the concrete.  As the water evaporates you can see the surface start to tighten up and then you can start with a slick trowel.  One or two passes and then let it rest to tighten up a little more.  And repeat until you get the surface you want.  Well, it's harder than that but I can only explain to a point; it's something that you just have to see and try.
I have wrecked the edge form off at this point and am going to smooth the corners and seal it before too long.  Hopefully.  Then I can start running the slate tile!!!  Yay!!
Allen and I also finished installing the pendant light in the kitchen and they look fantastic!!  I'll show that soon.

Changes

I though this iris was a lovely, new color.  Reminds me of pink lemonade for some reason.  Oddly enough, I don't ever remember planting anything this color and there are only 2 in a large mass of the common purple/ blue combo.  I also have a couple of bunches of the pure white iris about 10-12 feet away.  Could they spontaneously intermix??  I have no idea how that works.

I have been working very hard on clearing a bit more land down below the garden and chicken run.  this is the area off to the right and you can kinda see where the grass stops, just to the right of the yellow iris blooms.  This area was just a huge mass of privet, poison oak and other nasty vines.  I should have cleared it long ago but just didn't get to it and it was growing up so it was crowding my 2 plum trees, plus just looking terribly unkempt.  In the newly cleared area I might plant a nice Japanese maple or another fruit tree.  Something that won't get too big.  We still have some more clean up to do in this area though.

The cursed damned fire ants were eating the crap out of my rhubarb in the garden, so I moved 2 of them up to a big pot on the deck.  (their gnawing is why these look kinda rough) This way might be better anyway as I can keep them shaded and cool much easier.  I am determined to find a way to grow this stuff.   I still have 2 others in the garden also, so we'll see.

And I finally put the finishing touches on the east end of the chicken coop.  Unfortunately, the rest of the coop looks like hell, but I'm getting there.  Yes, that horrid swatch of blue in the background will go away.  I was also proud that I finally found a place to install that black planter basket on the left.  I know I have carted that freaking thing around for 10 years or so and never really put it to good use.  Well, I think it finally found a home.

Many other changes are going on in the garden now also.  I've got about half of the crops planted and hope to get the other half in today.  I'll post more about what I'm growing this year a little later.
I also finally poured the hearth slab in the house!!  Yay!!!  I used a new formula and was very pleased with how it came out.  Well, I haven't wrecked the edge form yet so....I think I'm pleased with the formula.  Ha!  I'm sure it will come out fine.  I was able to get a very nice, tight finish on the slab but I will also buff it with those diamond pads to finish it out.  I'll post about all that also.

Well.  Lots of work to get done today!

Back To Building

Yes, i know it's what many of you have been waiting on!!  I am back to building on the house!  It's not anything major but it is a step towards completing the living room and kitchen.  Now, what it is, is that I framed the little hearth that goes under the gas fireplace in the living room.  This will be sheathed in Durock and then tiled around the outside.  The top will be a 2 inch concrete slab, like the bath and kitchen counter tops will be.  Basically all I need to do now is put up my little edge form for the slab and pour that.  Then I can start the tile at the bottom and go up.  The tile will go all the way up the wall that the heater is installed on.  And yes, it will have some decorative parts, not just straight tile.
And just in case you see all that scribbling on the wall there, I did swap my mind on some stuff and had to lay it all out again.  I was going to make the hearth end close to the edge of the heater but Allen suggested that I extend it as far as I could so I could put a large vase or some such on either side of the heater.  I thought that would look pretty so I moved everything out.  I have to mark everything out sometimes on stuff like this because you have to account for so many layers of material; the framing, the Durock, the tile etc.  I think this is going to look pretty good when it's done, which will hopefully be soon.  BTW, that is 3/4 inch plywood on top and does have a few struts under it to support the weight of the slab.

Just more gratuitous pottery photos.  I though these leaf trays came out pretty.  I'm getting caught up in my stores, sorta.   The 4 outlets I have now do pretty good and it takes me a pretty regular schedule to keep them supplied.  If I were to take on any more stores I'd never have time to work on my house.  Hopefully my enthusiasm will hold out and I can get a lot done in these next few months.

I've had a terrible gardening bug since it has warmed up and usually take Sundays to just work on that.  And maybe some evenings after we finish with supper! ha!  I can't help it.  While I have the energy I figure I better take advantage of that.  We got some rain in the middle of the day but I still managed to backfill part of a stone wall I'm working on, plant a few flowers and then transplant about half a dozen wild hydrangeas down along the driveway.  Oh, and Chigger and I went hiking along the mountain in hopes of finding a dropped deer antler but no luck there.  I did see some beautiful wild azaleas that are blooming though.
Well, I'll be back soon hopefully with some more goings on.  Hope everybody had a nice weekend!!!