We’ve been working on the fireplace tile this week, and it is ready to grout.

Fireplace tile

First we did the face beside the firebox and the decorative area above it.

Fireplace

The hardest part is deciding what it will look like. Then we plan how that will work out mathematically given the tile sizes.  After that, it’s a piece of cake! Yeah, right!

Hearth tile

Another day we did the sides. Just needed to be careful not to mess up the pre-painted borders around the walls.

Log lighter key valve

There was a hole to be drilled for the log lighter valve, but that wasn’t too bad.

Then, we had to plan the hearth design. We had a plan, but one of the 16″ tiles cracked in the middle, and guess what?…..no longer available!  Back to the drawing board. We decided to repeat the design above the firebox and I honestly think it looks better than the first design, which was functional, but rather bland. We are pleased with the total result and can imagine sitting by the fire on a cold winter day.

Another project that was finished this week was the plastering on the foundation under the sun porch.

Plastering under the porch

It was a small section that won’t even be visible, but we have to cover all the Styrofoam in the ICF foundation before we can get a CO. Yay!  Done!

When tiling, we sometimes have a little thin-set left over, so when I was cleaning out the thin-set bucket, I got creative and fashioned a turtle.

Never waste anything

The next time, it was a snail. Then, Willow made another small stepping stone with the leftover mortar from plastering. John did a “critter” too, but I forgot to take a picture of it. I’ll throw that one in next time. I think I’ll put the turtle and snail in the bird bath out back.

Laundry/mud room

One other project this week was the wainscoting in the laundry/mud room. We ran it 4 feet high except at the place where the sink will be on the wall. This room will get a lot of traffic because it’s probably where we’ll enter and leave for work every day. The top of the wainscot will get a trim piece.

We are making progress, but the falling leaves are beginning to create a panic. Gotta move faster now, but we know we’re getting close.

Well, I hope there is an ending to the shower in the forecast! It seems like I’ve been working on this shower forever!

Tiling the curb

The tile is all set now except for the tiles on top of the curb.

Awaiting glass blocks

Then we can seal it and grout it all.

We did move on to some other things this week.

More pebble dash

We had Willow this week-end and thought it would be fun to do some more pebble dash.

One more wall to "dash"

We finished the inside of the wall that we did before.  We put in a pad for the telephone connection box. It was fun.

Kitty prints in the pebble dash

Even the cat got into the act (involuntarily) by putting her footprints in the mortar.

Willow's stepping stone "Happy"

Then we had some left over mortar and Willow got creative by making some stepping stones. Be Happy!

John got the TV niche installed and trimmed.

The TV niche

Then he stained the interior. All it needs now is the final finish and it’ll be ready to install a TV. Probably wait on that until we’ve got power to the outlets. Duh!

John also got the trim around the tile on the front porch. It really defines the porch now and soon we can get that all grouted, too!

Front porch tile

We’re trying to get all the outside projects done now before the weather turns cold. There’s one more pebble dash wall and a little bit of trim paint on the back of the house, so I think we’ll make it.

When will we finish and move in? I’ve stopped setting deadlines, but hopefully really soon!

We ran a “double header” this past weekend at Shadowood. 

John tiling the front porch

While I lumbered along with the shower tile, John started work on the front porch. 

Front porch tile

We chose some of the darker 12″ slate tiles for the main entry. We cut them in half and set them in a pinwheel pattern with a colorful 6″ tile in the middle. Kinda has a basket weave effect. 

Main entry

  The main pattern comes almost to the edge of the porch. We’ll trim around that with more of the dark tiles and extend it out to the steps. 

View from sun porch

There will be slate tile in the sun porch, but the pattern will be different and it won’t be limited to the dark tiles.

I installed some more of the 12″ tiles on the bottom half of the shower walls. I had to mix the mortar pretty stiffly so they wouldn’t slip down the wall. 

Shower walls

We are keeping the shower floor covered with cardboard to protect it. The cardboard also helps to cushion the knees.  This work was finished on Labor Day and I continued with the work today on my day off. 

Tile all the way to floor now

I finished the walls except for the smaller tiles that meet the floor. Because the floor slopes toward the drain, these tiles are all different sizes so they had to each be custom cut.  Love that tile saw. We had to put a new blade on it so it’s as good as new again. We could have never done this project without that saw!

Two more days to the weekend and we’ll be knee deep in tile again. Catch you then.

We have been working  on a lot of details this week. John got all the drains hooked up under the house and hooked up the faucet at the front steps. He also got everything ready to install the dehumidifier in the crawl space under the master bedroom. Nothing to take pictures of, but important none the less.

Beams are stained dark

We did get the dark stain on the beams in the master suite. There was so much light stain in the beams and ceiling, we thought it would be interesting to do the bathroom beams dark to match the windows and trim.

Dark stained beams

They do look good, and they aren’t too dark.

Work continued on the slate tile in the shower.

Top half of shower walls

First we put the tile on the upper half of the walls. We used 6″ tiles and set them on the diagonal. It looks really good, but was kind of a pain to set.

Decorative detail

Next, we did a band of 2″ tiles around the center of the walls. This band corresponds with the sections of the niches that we built into the wall. We removed every fifth tile and inserted copper colored tiles. It gives a nice decorative touch. The shower unit that will mount on the end wall is made of hammered copper.

Niches

It took a while and several trips back and forth to the tile saw, but we finally got the niches tiled. The top niche is tall enough for shampoo bottles, etc and the lower niche is for soap.

Close-up view

We installed the soap trays that I had carved from the slate using the Dremel tool. Now, that just leaves the rest of the top half on the end wall, and we’ll be done with that.

The bottom half of the wall will be done with the 12′” tiles and should go pretty quickly….almost ready to grout!

Powder room vanity light

One other thing we did today is installation of our first light…Yay!  We’re almost done with the powder room now. This is going to look nice.

I’ve got a three day weekend coming up, so I’m really hoping to finish the shower and move on to another project.

There’s always another project!

Tags: slate tile

We’ve been busy this week at Shadowood, but not much you can see.

Trim boards

I’ve spent more time on staining trim boards and finishing the downstairs kitchen cabinets.  I’ve also been doing a lot of sanding and trying to keep the dust mess down. I’m really going to be glad to get rid of all the dust.

John did some plumbing in the mechanical room downstairs.

Sump pipes

He installed the sump pump and water alarm into the sump well. Then he connected it to the drain system with pipes.

Sump valve

The downstairs drains all have to be pumped up to the main floor level because we are below the septic tank in the basement. As the grinder pump pumps waste up, there is a check valve that keeps it from dropping back down in the pipes. The alarm will sound if there is too much waste in the well, signaling a malfunction of the pump.

Beams sanded and stained

I sanded the beams in the master bath and put the first coat of stain on them.

More beams

They will have a dark stain for the second coat, matching the windows and door trim. Hopefully I’ll get that done tomorrow.

Jenny brought by an old trunk that I painted years ago.

Old trunk

Now I’ll have to find a place for it. I think I have a good place in mind, but that will have to wait.

I prepared to start the tile on the shower walls. I’ll start at the top and work down from there. Some of the tiles are already cut, so we’re ready to go! Keep checking off those lists!

Yay! The master bath floor is tiled and we’re ready to move on to the shower walls.

Master bath floor tile

That’s going to be harder than the floor, so we have been finishing some other projects. We have both been “under the weather” and need to do some easier tasks.

I did some painting above the cabinets in the kitchen and beside the fireplace in the living room.

Paint and bark

I also put bark on the fireplace above the mantle.

Ready for trim

There will be trim around the recess for the TV, so that has been cut and stained.

John got the water heater vent installed, sealed and painted.

Water heater vent pipe

It doesn’t look bad at all.

We have two places where the floor bumps out from the rest of the foundation…under the whirlpool tub and at the dining room door.

Closing under the bump-out

John got those all insulated and capped off this week , too. Really crummy work, but it had to be done. The vent for the downstairs stove exhaust vents out the bottom, so that’s one more thing off the list. Whew!

John also installed the cut-off valve for the toilet in the powder room.

Powder room vanity/sink

We set the vanity and sink in place and got the baseboards cut.  It fits just right in there.

I stained all the pre-cut trim work and the wall cabinets for the downstairs kitchen.

Downstairs wall cabinets

Hopefully, I can get a coat of polyurethane on them tomorrow. When we get those up, we can finish with the base cabinets.

The “to do”  list is getting shorter!

It’s been quite a month. The heat has been really bad and we’ve had to water all the plants and grass almost every day.

Red day lilies

The weeds have been thriving, though. We did some clean-up the first week of the month and then locked all our doors (for the first time) and headed to Myrtle Beach for a week.  Yes, it was even hotter there, but it was good to get away from the construction and just kick back at the beach.

Upon our return, we were back to work.

Wallpaper for the powder room

We found a discount “in stock” wallpaper store in North Myrtle, and got paper for the powder room, so that was my first task.

One wall

We selected a floral for one wall and grass cloth for the others.   Since this room is just off the main entry, we wanted it to really look nice.

Grass cloth

I’ve never hung grass cloth before, but it did just fine. We think it looks real “organic” and gives a nice touch.

Next, the floor had to be grouted.

Grouting the floor

Grouting isn’t hard, but requires a lot of washing afterward…all on the old knees in a cramped space.  After it is cured, we’ll seal everything.

Grouted and ready to seal

Next is the trim, then installing the lights, toilet and vanity!

Our rock man finally came out and finished grouting the rocks by the front steps.

Rocks are finally grouted

We put a water faucet in that wall so we’ll have water for plants out front someday. He did a great job and it really helps the place look more finished.

Speaking of plants, we planted a couple of hanging baskets and hung them on the back porch.

Flower basket

The birds planted some sunflowers around the feeder, and they are attracting gold finches.

Sunflowers

It’s nice to sit on the porch at the end of the day and just enjoy.

John got the holes drilled for the water heater vent pipes. One is for intake and the other for exhaust.

Vent holes for the water heater

The exhaust pipe will extend up the wall and terminate near the eaves, so he painted the pipe the same color as the wall. He also got the island vent ready to install and connect to the vent pipe. We need to get all the vent pipes finished before we can get our CO.

This week end, I’m working on tiling the master bath floor. All the tiles are cut and I put down some of the tiles today. I should be able to get them all down tomorrow.  Yay!

What a week! We got power back on Saturday, but the water wasn’t pumping from the well. After buying a new pump, we had a guy come out to install it, but he checked it out and told us it wasn’t the pump…good news?? It was the power line that connects from the pump to the pressure tank! It’s been buried underground for years, so how could that be?

John bought wire and strung it down the hill (on top of the ground) and hooked it up…It works!

In the meantime, we lost the telephone and Internet. No explanation…just not working. The phone came back first, then the Internet the next day.

Scraping the window

We still found projects to do, but only those that required no water.

They don't make windows like this anymore!

We started stripping the old window for the dormer. There was a lot of paint on the interior and exterior. I set up a stripping area on the sun porch where we had plenty of ventilation and were protected from the rain.

Ready for stain

It took several days of scraping and sanding. Then we were finally ready to paint the outside and stain the inside. We had to trim about 1/2 inch off each side, and it fit perfectly.

Installation at last!

It’s about 15 feet above the living room and gets the morning sun, so it should cast some interesting patterns on the walls and floor.

Back lit

It will be back lit at night, but the light is not installed yet, so we hung a light on the wires for the ceiling fan.

Nice addition

It really is a nice addition to the dormer.

I finally got to finish putting the tile down in the powder room. It was tough, but looks really good.

Sealed and ready for grout

I put 2 coats of stone enhancer sealer on it and it’s ready to grout. We got brown grout for this room because of the dark vanity and toilet seat. I’ll probably do the grouting tomorrow night or Saturday.

Next, I did a dry run with the tile for the master bath floor.

Dry-fitting the master bath floor

We’ll set it on a diagonal. It looks like it’s going to work out just fine.

Speaking of the master bath, we got the tile set on the shower floor.

Shower floor

We used 2 inch tiles here so we could keep a good slope for water to flow to the drain. This shower’s going to be really nice.

Shower floor is tiled

We’ll seal this tile and cover it again with cardboard so we can finish the walls. Then we’ll grout it all.

We continue to work on landscaping projects in all our “spare” time.  The grass is filling in nicely and the plants are growing. I finally got to see what color lilies I planted on the back bank.

Lilies on the bank

Yep, just what I thought. The orange lilies are triple blooms. I’ve moved them around for about 15 years, and I really like them. They bloom later than the wild lilies along the roads, and they’re shorter. The yellow lilies were taken from some my Dad had, so they’re special to me. Hopefully they will all spread and begin to cover the bank.

Now, maybe I can move up to the next level and plant some more!

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This week started out getting a lot of projects done. 

Grouting the floor

 We grouted the tile in the laundry/mud room. 

Yay! It's done!

 It turned out really well, and cleaned up nicely.

John did some plumbing in the mechanical room and we began installing the cabinets in the downstairs kitchen. 

Installing cabinets in the downstairs kitchen

 We put in the cabinets on the right of the sink, but stopped on the left because we needed to bring up one more cabinet to go beside the dishwasher. 

Stove and dishwasher spaces

 We also need to get the stove and microwave/vent for over the stove moved to the house. We thought we’d do that this week end, but other things took precedence.

Setting the powder room tile

 I got started on setting the tile in the powder room, and was on track to finish that project Wednesday, when we lost power due to an extremely nasty storm. I was working on the floor when the light began to flicker. I thought the bulb was loose or was ready to burn out, so after the second flicker, I got up to check the bulb and it went out completely. I had heard some thunder, so I went to the dining room doors to look out back, and quickly closed and locked the door. The storm was raging and I hadn’t even heard it. It began to hail and the wind was horrific. I checked the side door to the sun porch and the trees were whipping around like crazy so I closed and locked that door. Then I headed to the basement with my trusty headlamp! The house never shook or rattled. The wind blew the rain against the kitchen window which is under a 10 foot wide covered porch. It was a fast moving storm and was over pretty quickly, but we (along with about 11,000 others in Jackson County) didn’t get power again until Saturday around 1pm.

There were no damages to the house, but the “grounds” were a mess. 

Debris in the back yard

 There was debris everywhere. 

The fence

 The storm twisted the tops out of several trees and snapped others and left them dangling. 

Looking down the driveway

 One tree is bent over the driveway still, but it’s high enough to drive underneath. 

Tree bending over driveway

 I headed down the drive to remove limbs and make a way to drive out to work on Thursday. 

Tree tops blocking the driveway to the barn

 There were several tree tops blocking the drive to the barn. 

Tree across the power lines

 On Thursday, on the way to work, I spotted a tree stretched across the creek, resting on the power lines and hanging out over the railroad tracks.

I saw a lot of broken trees and debris on the way to work, but most people fared pretty well, except for the power outage. The weirdest damage I saw was in the Lowes parking lot. 

Self-parking garage??

 The metal storage buildings were all destroyed except one. It ended up in the middle of the parking lot with and employee’s car tucked neatly inside! Really  Strange!

Jenny, Tim and Willow arrived on Friday afternoon and helped us clean up. We got all the thawing food out of the freezer and cooked it on the grill that night and had a feast. We burned twigs and limbs in the fire pit and roasted ears of corn. It was really good and kinda fun, considering the circumstances.

Because of the loss of power, there weren’t a lot of tasks we could do inside, so we worked outside. Jenny sanded the utility porch railings. Tim painted the outside of the sun porch. 

Repaired (again)

 Willow dug and hauled dirt to the bank where it had washed out. John painted an area around the tub bump-out and I finished sheetrock on the sun porch. 

The power came back on around 1pm, but the water did not. We checked the pressure tank and found no promlem, so we think the well pump went out. Ugh! That’s not a simple repair. The pump sits about 160 feet down in the well, so we’ll have to have someone replace it. $$ Cha-ching $$, cha-ching!

So, It was an interesting and probably expensive week, but we thankful there was so little damage.

When the lights came back on, I was finally able to see the tile job that had been interrupted on Wednesday. 

Just a little more to go

 Looks good! Tomorrow, surely I can finish it!  We’ll see.

We’ve been busy this week and it has been hot. When we’ve been inside working, the temp outside has been close to 90 every day, but the highest inside temp was 78. Most times it has held at 73 to 74. This is good, because we opted not to have air conditioning…just ceiling fans.  The basement has been really cool. The roof is R-40, walls R-28 and basement R-50. It’s been very comfortable.

We painted the sun porch wall this week and the color is called “barley”. 

Painted sun porch wall

 It’s the same paint we used to trim the upper story on the back of the house. The code says it had to be painted with outdoor paint.  Works for me.

The carpenter built the side for the tub surround. 

Tub surround

 The top will be covered with slate tiles. 

Removable access panels

 He made the panels removable for maintenance access. You just describe to him what you want, and he builds it. 

"Attic" vents

 He also installed vents in our attics. The only attics we have are on the porches. I think we’re gonna miss having him around.

Speaking of slate, John installed the backer board in the master bath shower and we got everything ready for tile in there. 

Tiling ceiling in master bath shower

 We did the ceiling  and really didn’t have any problems. 

Shower ceiling

 No tiles fell off…well, one was heading south, but I caught it. It was kinda hard, though standing on the ladder and pushing tiles on the ceiling and getting the grout lines relatively straight. Next, we’ll do the walls, then the shower floor. 

Slate soap dishes

 I played with the slate and a Dremel to fashion a couple of soap dishes that will fit into the niches in the wall.

The sheetrock man came and finished the touch up on all the walls, so we are ready to paint colors on the walls and install light fixtures and “stuff.” 

Dishwasher

 It’s fun to begin bringing in things like the dishwasher and sink. 

Kitchen sink and back splash tiles

 I’ve had some resin tiles that I planned to use on the backsplash, so we tried them out behind the sink. I think I’ll like them there.

We worked yesterday and today on another tile project…the laundry/mud room. We were planning to put slate on the floors in there, but we found some ceramic tiles that we really liked. 

Putting down backer board

 John put the backer board on the floor to prepare for the tiles on Saturday. 

Dry fitting the tile

 Then, while he was at work today, I cut and dry fit all the tiles. Cutting around the drain pipe and the dryer vent hole was the hardest part. Well actually, being on my knees most of the day was the really hard part.  

All set and ready for grout

 When John came home, he mixed the thin set and I set the tiles. They look like 8″ terra cotta, but they’re 16″ ceramic tiles with a soft almost flat finish glaze. After we grout, we’ll just seal the grout lines. It was a good project and we liked the way it turned out. I’ve been going to the laundromat for several years now, so this room is one of my favorites. I hope it will be operable real soon!