House Art

It might be 7 below zero but I can't wait to install my lovely new mailbox that arrived yesterday. houseArt's slogan is: Finally, mailboxes you can love. And I do.
Now I have to find a post I don't hate......

Bathroom Race

mirror
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

The race is on. Although the boys' bath was started way back in late fall 2006 and the girls' bath only began last month, it's going to be a toss up which gets finished first.
Porcelanosa called today to say the tiles are in for the boys' bath, then I got a call to say the vanity I bought on ebay for the girls' bath had shipped and I put two coats of Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls on the girls' bath walls. In an attempt to stop spending money I also soaked the shower head in Oxy Clean until it actually delivered a decent flow of water. I was surprised at the weight of the shower head when I unscrewed it, in fact I almost dropped it. If that had happened it would probably have gone right through the bath and then we would have had to replace that and of course all the tiles too.
It could so easily have been a very expensive remodel after all.

Serious Ugly Revisited

Just as I'm getting rid of the fugly 1970 avocado green/pink combo in the girls' bathroom, HGTV's Design on a Dime has a great new idea for a "Pretty in Pink" bedroom using complimentary colors.
Either I'm behind the curve or have no taste because it still screams UGLY to me.

Extreme surgery needed

Will someone please help me? I think I need to enter rehab.
My problem?
I started in a small way, ordering music and books from Amazon, then computers from Dell and Apple. For a long time I was happy and then we started this remodeling project and things have gotten out of control. First I bought a sink online, then I progressed to faucets, showers and accessories, including a toilet seat.
I thought I could manage my habit, after all it was just one bathroom, a finite project. Then I started buying for the second bathroom, one we had no plan to undertake in the foreseeable future. But it was so easy, things were cheaper and readily available online. Just a couple of clicks, totally painless. So I ordered a vanity, and another faucet and I can justify it because it's a small project that will be easy to complete.
And then the madness began. I was searching for a door knob to replace the hideous pink stone one in the girls bath when I came across something I've lusted after ever since we moved here. A bronze mailbox, contemporary in style that reflects the design of the house. But it wasn't in the budget until we re-tarmac the drive. (Ironically we missed out in the great mailbox vandalism episode that struck the village last May when most of out neighbors got a new mailbox courtesy of the idiot who smashed them with a bat and was caught by the village police. End of term madness, almost as expensive as remodeling).
Today though, I was having no luck with the door knobs but one little weblink and I found my object of desire. Instantly available, it was perfect; it even looks like our roof line. And two clicks later I had ordered the Da Vinci mailbox.
I'm sure I'm going to love it when it arrives, but right now I'm feeling a little sick. I will have to buy a new post and dig out the old one and concrete in a new one in a new position. More tasks and btw it's February and the ground is frozen. Crazy woman with bad credit card habit.
Plus I still haven't replaced this beauty.
Help, I need help, either the credit card or the internet will have to be cut off.

This is "gentle" remodeling

Steve agreed with me that the white ceramic vessel sink I ordered would look even better in the girls' bath, so we ordered a brown glass vessel for the boys' bath and went off to shop for counter tops. We immediately honed in on one, an ivory color with sage green and silver in it, turned to each other and said simultaneously: "That would be great in the girls' bath". It was that easy.

All we had to do then was choose a vanity base. It has to be a cabinet so we don't have to touch the tiles which are in excellent shape, but I don't want anything that looks traditional. I've narrowed it down to a couple, both wood in the same tones as the doors and I have a couple of faucets in mind too.
And the ugly medicine cabinet? We're taking it out, patching wallboard in the hole and installing this beauty from Design Within Reach
Today I painted the olive green doors in Benjamin Moore Silver Satin, a bright, grayish white and it has made a huge difference.
If only all remodeling was this easy.

And we've paused

After two days we have wall board up except where the plumbing needs to be changed and we can do no more until that is done, and the window and the tiles have arrived. It would be really nice to get on with things but I'm quite enjoying the nice clean space that's there now. I'm sure I will be really sick of it by the time we start again (mid Feb) but at least we have a jump start.
Until then I will leave you with these photos of the fixtures in the girls' bath that I plan on pulling out.

Project Bathroom - we're underway

It feels like we have really started on the bathroom project now, the workers arrived at 8 am and we have a lot of progress already. The electrics have been re-wired to code (GFCI) and in future we shouldn't go bang when we plug in that hairdryer that has been lying in a puddle of water . The new fan/light/nightlight combination is up too, so the contractors will have light to work by. The walls and ceiling have been insulated and the backer board ceiling has been tacked up.
I spent most of the morning on the phone. I checked to see when I could expect delivery of the tiles, and it's a good thing I did. Although my copy of the order form says they had been ordered on January 5th, under one tile sku it says "get from NJ". This was obviously an aide-memoire for them rather than an order, as there was no record in the system. It's been taken care of now, and I should have the whole lot in a week or so. I was a little tigged because I need the wall tiles to take to the cabinet guy so I can choose a co-ordinating top, but Porcelanosa offered to send samples of the tiles by UPS and I should have those in a couple of days. Then I can order the countertop and I think that's it for fixtures.
The plumber called to tell me the toilet I chose is the one nobody has in stock so I can expect a 4-6 week delivery. That should put it right there with the arrival of the window. I asked him to get me a second toilet that we can put in the green bathroom because that thing has a mind of it's own and it's also seriously uncomfortable: low down and round. Apparently that is the best style for potty training little girls but it ain't good for grown-ups. I can see this turning into a "while we're about it" scenario. Once the green toilet is gone, the vanity is going to look old and nasty so we might as well replace it, and obviously you wouldn't put the old faucet back on a new vanity, would you? And we'll need to take the matching green laminate door off the full-length medicine chest.......
The sweetest part of the day? I asked the contractor if he wanted a cheque for part of his estimate now. I expected to pay him a third on agreement of the contract, a third when he starts and a third on completion. His reply? "I have enough to live on, let me get started first." I think we picked the right contractor.

It blows

Q) How many trips to X-pooh does it take to buy a bathroom fan?
A) Three.
Trip One: because the contractor wants to start on the electrics tomorrow and then sheetrock the ceiling and I haven't ordered one online yet. I arrived at the "luxury" big box store and asked the Customer Service Rep where they were located. "Oh, I think they are all special order. But you could try through the arch at In-store pick-up". Through the arch there are faucets and hardware and pillows but no ventilation units. An employee asks what I need and it turns out they do have them, just installed last week and hidden behind the faucets with no sign at all. There is one brand, Nutone, six models and they are all ugly. I leave and try three other stores, only one of which carries bathroom fans and that is Hopeless Desperation and they only sell Nutone, but even uglier, less powerful models.
Trip Two: Back to Exasperating to purchase the most energy friendly, least ugly, and most expensive, model.
Trip Three: To return that model and purchase the second most expensive model because that has 4" diameter ducting and the one I had taken home was only suitable for 6" ducting.
Three trips, starting at 2:30 and finishing at 8 pm. I need to go stand under the fan to cool off and in future I must learn to read the box properly before I leave the store.

Shower base chosen, tick.

Settling on a shower base has been the most difficult part of this project. I'd rather chip tiles off the walls for a week than look at any more options that stop water cascading through the ceiling to the shower room below.
So far we have decided on
1) keeping the thirty-eight year old terrazzo base
2) getting a custom-made shower pan, tiled in
i) glass mosaic
ii)mesh-backed pebbles
3) ceramic base
4) acrylic base
5) tiled pan
6) another acrylic pan
We rejected the first once we started the demo, if it looked old and grubby at this point what would it look like with shiny new tiles on the walls and floor? The second had the tile designer and ourselves going crazy trying to find something that went with the other tile choices and the style of the house. The third was Steven's favourite but looked to busy with the mosaic accent wall. The ceramic base was my preference. I wanted something that looked like this



But the cost would be prohibitive and the sizes are European so we'd have to re-frame and there was a long lead time (which at this point wouldn't have mattered but that was before we knew the window would take a trimester to build). I'm determined to have this in the master bath remodel, though. We'll have to make the floor extra waterproof because it's a no-lip system.
Bck to the project in hand. We settled an an acrylic base and then we looked at them and they were all horrible. Cheap feeling and nasty looking. So we went back to plan b. But the thought of a lead pan or a "hot mop" rubber system had me freaking. After all the "hot mop" is the stuff they put on flat roofs and we all know how long that lasts!
Then I walked into Finishing Touches, the local fixture store in Huntington, and told them of my problem, and they showed me an acrylic base that didn't feel like plastic, it felt like ceramic.


It came in a gazillion colours and although it was twice the price of the Kohler looked twice as nice and came in the correct size. And if we install it and find it is too shiny, they sell a teak insert for an only slightly shocking price that looks very zen.
At this stage in the process, money feels like the least of the remodel problems.

(mostly) Excellent service

I spent Tuesday evening online ordering some of the fixtures for the new bath. Shopping around for the best price takes time but beats the hell out of driving round visiting every plumbing supply store and bath showroom in a twenty mile radius to find a Tenso faucet. And that was after I'd visited the Grohe website to locate the dealers. Every one could show my a picture in a catalogue but no one had the model in stock. I'd seen the faucet on the website and had the dimensions but I wanted to see it in real life. I wanted to see how shiny it was, how big, how bulky. After a really frustrating four hours and nearly half a tank of fuel I gave up, came home and started searching online suppliers. By 5:00 pm I had not only ordered the faucet but a matching shower valve trim and a Freehander shower.
Then I moved on to the vessel sink. I'd wanted a bronze tempered glass sink but I was concerned that the color might not be as pictured on the websites and once again I couldn't find anyone locally who had anything in stock - not even the snotty hardware store in Nassau County, NY where the salesman's first question wasn't "Were you looking for glass, ceramic or stone?" but "How big is your budget because we only deal in expensive sinks, we're a high-end store, that's what our clientele demands." (note to self: wear a huge diamond ring and borrow Louis Vuitton bag when shopping in Great Neck). He showed me a bunch of catalogs and gave me a price on a glass vessel that I could beat by $180 elsewhere. Superb customer service.


I identified a cute Italian ceramic vessel sink at Qualiytbath,com, emailed them about lead times, had a reply within 10 minutes saying it would ship 5-7 days after the order was placed, ordered it at 5:30 pm and it arrived by UPS at 3 pm yesterday. Less than 24 hours, free shipping and no sales tax. Oh, and no snotty salespeople of course. I rounded off the evening by ordering the towel racks, toilet roll holders, robe hooks and finally a Toto Maple Softclose Toilet Seat.
Just to prove that I can shop locally without feeling like I'm wasting the salesperson's time, I ventured out again to look at lights and had lots of help from The Lighting Gallery in Huntington. I explained what I was looking for and was directed to contemporary vanity lights. A few questions later and I had the perfect solution: a bar light that won't detract from the mosaic tile but will still make a statement and will fit in with the style of the house. I did have to pay NY sales tax but I got excellent service and I got to feel the merchandise too.
It's all coming together at last. Today, before 9:30 am FedEx dropped off the faucet and shower. The trim is promised, via the wonderful UPS tracking system, for Monday, the other things by the end of the month. The plumber is getting the actual toilet for me and the Grohe shower valve and now he, the handyman, the other contractor, my husband and myself have all agreed on the dimensions of the shower I can go ahead and order the base, safe in the knowledge that five people can't be wrong. Can they?

Custom made

No photos for this post, although there are some links further down.
I finally found someone to make me a floating vanity. Hurrah. I thought this would be a project that the handy guy who likes to work with wood would love but he doesn't have a workshop so he didn't want to do it, although he was happy to mount it on the wall when we found one. My second choice was the trim carpenter but he had never made a cabinet so didn't feel confident.
Let me tell you I'm not asking for anything complicated here: a box 36"w x 22"d x 20"h; three full sides; one stile frame; a bottom; a top with two holes cut out, one for the drain and one for the tap (faucet); two full-overlay doors. That's it.
I even went to IKEA and Kraftmaid with the intention of using an over the refrigerator cabinet but they are 24" deep and it's a tight space. If I had the tools I'm sure I could have sawn 2" off the back of a cabinet and dovetailed it right back on. But never mind.
I then spent hours, days even looking for a vanity that didn't make me want to vomit or run screaming from the store or that was going to cost the price of a holiday in the Bahamas. Nothing. Rien. Nada. Niets.
Then yesterday I was out looking for faucets when I stumbled upon a cabinet maker who will knock me up the box made to my specific dimensions in wood or wenge veneer. He sketched it out as I described it, called it clean, modern and streamlined and said it would take a couple of weeks to knock out. It will have a rolling drawer and a half rolling drawer, so getting to the toiletries will be easy. The wenge sample was gorgeous and looks like this but the unit will look more like this. I will take the tiles in when I get them so I can pick a co-ordinating top in granite or quartz.
And we ordered the window (also custom made from Marvin) so we are almost home............

Decisions

We have actually made some actual decisions. Firstly we ordered the tiles from Porcelanosa. The floor and accent wall tiles are the same ones we chose back in October but I decided that the rectified wall field tiles were too classic and so we chose a more contemporary 12"x12" tile that should also be easier to lay.



Then the champion procrastinators finally got down to business and read through the contractors' bids, then phoned them with follow-up questions. It was a no-brainer. The guy we have used before, who does the work himself, who has worked for our neighbors and who we trust to deliver what he was contracted to do was significantly cheaper than the other guy who arrived without a tape measure and sent me to a fictitious plumbing supply store to look at shower bases because "tiled bases always leak". When I asked this guy how he came to his "Basic 8'x 5' Bath" price he told me that because we had done all the demolition ourselves he used the price of a 8' x 7' bath. Now, normally doing the demolition would make the price cheaper (as it was with the contractor we chose) but it seemed here that it was costing us money. Anyway, I really only wanted the tiler who works for this guy, I don't need a GC who pops in every day or so to check on what his guys are doing, and I certainly don't need a flaky GC.
The Marvin window will take four weeks to arrive so no cement board can go in until that's here. In the meantime we will start the electrical update and the plumber will move the vent and pipes and replace the copper waste pipes with PVC. We need to order the rest of the fixtures this weekend and with room for delays we should be done by Steven's birthday in March.

A little more demo

Although we'd agreed we wouldn't tackle the master bath until the boys' bath is finished I got a little bored today and took off the shower doors and hauled them out to the dumpster. Then I took off the door to the medicine cabinet. The one Steven cracked with his elbow oh, nearly twelve months ago. That baby had twelve screws and took me an hour to get off. It also weighed more than the shower doors combined. Still it has now joined them in the dumpster. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the medicine cabinet out as the screws are bent and somebody nailed it in for added strength, so I'm leaving that job for Steven.

I even tried once again to clean the tiles in the shower, now the doors are off it's much lighter in there but, nope, that dirty grout is not getting any cleaner.


My prediction is that by Sunday evening there won't be any tiles, grubby or otherwise in the shower. Now, if I could only find a tiler who is happy to install rectified tiles with 1/16th grout lines...

Frustration and furry animals

We spent New Year's Day in a fruitless frenzy trying to take down the old media centre/bar in the den. This was my fault. I thought because we had the dumpster we could just knock the baby out and the replace the carpet later. I thought it would be an easy job.
When it came down to it, after we'd spent an hour clearing everything out of and off the bar and then finding new homes for the junk, Steven took a screwdriver to the back of the unit and pronounced it wasn't going to be so simple. Some of the wires for the cable and electrics come out of the floor. The cables that run to the speakers in the other rooms in the house run through the HVAC vents (?!?). In short, he didn't feel confident taking it all to bits and being without a TV or music for days or even weeks.
So reluctantly we cleaned the unit and put all the stuff back.

And then some devil prompted me to wonder again why the was a hole under the light on the unit. We'd thought it was to push the lamp cord through and it would connect to a socket at the back of the unit or even in the basement. But although we'd poked and prodded at it when we first moved in we couldn't find a power source down there so we'd let it go. Now I was curious and we had a tool we hadn't had two year's ago: a flashlight! Steve said he'd run down to the basement if I shone the light and see if he could see it. So I shone it, and then I squinted down the hole.
The following exchange then took place:
Steve: I can't see a light
Modernemama: No, But honey, I know why they drilled the hole.
Steve: Why?
Modernemama: Because they lost their gerbil.
Steve: What are you talking about?
Footsteps up the basement stairs and then he took the torch from me and looked for himself.
Steve: Hmm. I saw that before. I thought it was a shadow.
Modernemama: The shadow of a dead gerbil?
Steve: Sweetie, that's not a gerbil, it's more of a garden rodent.
So now I not only have to live with an ugly media cabinet in the den but also the knowledge that there is a dead rat inside it and the only way I am going to be able to get it out is to demolish the thing once and for all.
And it took me two days to get the speaker cables back in the right order on the stereo receiver (a 1970 Russound model MP3) but at least the iPod is plugged in and we have music throughout the house once again.

More demo

original 1968 formica
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

When you've hired a dumpster and learnt how to swing a sledgehammer to great effect you might as well use it.
We couldn't do anything else to the boys' bathroom in the way of demolition so we moved on to the laundry room. Actually I take no credit for this, the "we" was all "he". He cleared the room, unsrcrewed the upper cabinets and resorted to the sledgehammer when the were unresponsive. Then he carted it all out to the dumpster, which is now full.
I'd like to clean up the walls and hang new cabinets but he thinks it will be better to wait until the kitchen gets replaced in 2008. My original thought was to do this room and use that s a makeshift kitchen while the big room is being done. But I can see the benefit of waiting - that way we can go throughout the kitchen, mud room and laundry with 18x18" tiles, and get a clean, continuous look.
The only question is whether I can live with a half-demolised laundry room for 20 months.

Santa? No, the demo man

Santa? No, the demo man
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

He's looking surprisingly chipper for a man who just rearranged the back of his new car on a dumpster. If you add the cost of the bodywork to the renovation we are now seriously over budget. Grr. His only excuse? "I forgot it was there". Huh.
I knew it was only a matter of time before he "personalised" the car but on our own driveway? The morning after he filled the dumpster? How is that possible?
Anyway, the ceiling is now down, we can see where the hole in the flashing round the vent pipe caused the water damage, and the assessment is that it's not too bad. The biggest relief is that there is no longer any smell of mold or rot in the room so I think we can change the cruddier insulation and start putting things back together again.
Next on the list: change the wastepipes to PVC, upgrade the fan to a quieter model, install a light over the shower and a GFCI circuit.

The shower pan nightmare

Floor under shower pan
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

The terrazzo shower pan is no more. Steven drilled a couple of holes, hit a chisel with a hammer and used a sledgehammer vigorously for an hour or so and that base stood no chance. I'd been dreading tackling this beacause I'd heard horror stories about how difficult they were to remove. It turned out to be fairly easy. That was the best part of the day.
The second good thing was that forty minutes after ringing to enquire about dumpsters (skips) we had one sitting on our drive. And two hours later we had just about filled it.
It was far harder carrying the lumps of broken terrazzo out to the dumpster than it was breaking the shower pan up. That stuff is heavy. But here's the scary bit: the pan was just resting on the floorboards. No plywood reinforcement, no tar-paper or liner. So when you break up the shower base tiny pieces of terrazzo rain down through the cracks in the floorboards onto the bathroom ceiling below. And when you switch on the light in that bathroom you realise that not only does that no longer work, but the fan has stopped also.
Now my problem is that we still have to take up the cement floor tile bed. I imagine that this has a liner because otherwise what stops the mud falling down the spaces between the floorboards? But what if it doesn't? How much debris can I afford to let fall onto the ground floor bathroom before the ceiling collapses? The nightmare continues.....

Xmas Day 2006

demo left wall
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

Some people eat turkey, some open presents and some spend the day with relatives. We do demolition.
Steven stepped up and removed the partition that was preventing us from taking off the last of the wallboard. There's a little mould on the ceiling that was under a piece of framing, but nothing worse. We will experiment with diluted bleach to remove it, but unfortunately there's also a tiny hole in the ceiling where the wood slipped as it was coming out. Whoops.
He is finding that demo is rewarding and kind of fun too. The next job is to try and prise (hammer, drill, jackhammer) the terrazzo shower pan out. We'll see if he's still having fun after struggling with that for a couple of hours.
Wish us luck.

Down to the studs

Finally.
I've been taking the wallboard off over the past couple of days and I made a couple of discoveries. One was a few scary alien-like corpses that could be either large insects or small birds or even actual aliens. They were behind the vanity wall and they had been dead for a very, very long time. I would have taken photos but I didn't want to terrify anyone into sending out the exorcist. The other was some clean, white mice skeletons behind the wallboard on the opposite wall.
A way nicer surprise was the extra foot of space I uncovered behind the shower. It seems that those terrazzo shower bases came in a standard size, 4'x 3', so they built the shower to fit the pan. I discovered this when I couldn't get a piece of sheetrock out because it had been framed in. When I demolished more wall I saw that a frame had been built onto the sheetrock and there is no reason why we can't take it out and have a 5'x 3' mud-base tiled shower. It will make the room a little larger and only add another three square feet of shower tiles to the ever-expanding budget.

No plumbing fixtures

No plumbing fixtures
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

I had to suck it up and call the plumber to remove the valves so we could turn off the water. While he was here he took out the toilet and hauled it away and put the vanity and very heavy countertop out for the garbage. The garbeage men arrived ten minutes later and that's the last we'll see of that baby. Will have to tip them big time on Friday as they have been dealing with a lot of demo trash.
The plumber asked if he was coming back to replace the waste lines with PVC. It hadn't occurred to me but as we don't know what sort ot mess they could be inside it makes sense to do it when the wallboard is out. He also said they could replace the supply lines. With PEX? I asked. No, with copper he replied, it's been tested for years. So you take out the copper pipes and solder more copper in there. Hmm.
The he asked what we were doing about the shower base. Mud, I said. Oh, lead pan? I do that.
What? They still use lead and copper in NY? I just freaked at the thought of more of these heavy metals being brought into my house. The explanation that they've been in use for years doesn't cut it for me either. If I followed that logic I'd be cooking over an open fire lit by rubbing two sticks together.
It is the C21, right? Even in NY?

Vanities

We made the decision that the bathroom vanity is toast so I took a break from tile destruction today to check out a few vanities in the local showrooms. I know I swore I would never set foot in Expo again but I was desperate and willing to explore any option.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in the door was that the new Kraftmaid Venecia kitchen displays were finally open. Last time I was there they were waiting for the granite countertops to be installed and I asked the "Can I help you guy" what the cabinet price per linear foot would be. I was told they were very expensive (the doors come from Italy, you know) so they would run $1800. Well guess what? That was another price pulled from the ether by someone who didn't know what he was talking about and couldn't be bothered to find out. The prices on the vignettes ranged from $440-$998. Pricey but half what I had been told. This lack of attention to detail (aka customer service) didn't surprise me but it didn't put me in a positive mood for vanity shopping either.
Of all the vanities on display, and there are lots to choose from, only one would work in the space. This simple square box from Kohler's Purist range is a whopping $1450 for a 24"x22"x16" box.

.
So, practically speaking, to hold toiletries and towels you would need two, plus a countertop and then the sink and faucet. At least $4000. Crazy money.
I didn't find anything I liked anywhere today but at least when I got back home, I found that the garbage fairy had been, swept the bathroom floor and taken all the boxes of debris to the garage.
It's a slow process.

A lot of old drywall

or a valance of tiles

This is where I finished today. There is a 2" (60cm) border left around the room plus this tiny bit behind the door



I just ran out of boxes to put the debris in, otherwise I might have pressed on to the bitter end. I can't do anything about the "valance" as I'm not supposed to jump on and off ladders at the moment and my arms won't reach up there without a lift.

I had hoped someone would volunteer to help me but so far that hasn't happened, although last Saturday he did carry to the garage one (1) box of old tiles. This morning I suggested that getting a plumber to take out the old toilet would make us look like pussies, we can easily do it. The look I got back means I'll be finding out on my own.

Rot free windows

jane's demo
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

I found out how that window stayed rot free (at least on the inside) for the past 40 years. Teak trim, baby. I demo'ed the frame today and the window is builder's standard pine, but it was framed inside with a sloping lower edge of oiled teak. A brilliant solution and if the tiler can't find a way to tile neatly around the replacement I might have someone build me another teak ledge. And maybe we'll add a teak shower seat while we are at it.

Taking it off

...one tile at a time.
Although the tile was laid in 12x12 mesh backed sheets, it doesn't come off like that. I take the chisel or a long-handle flat-blade screwdriver and tap that with a hammer.This loosens the tile so it pops out or I prise it off. It's slow but it's not too messy. I am doing it in 30 minutes stretches, and I like to complete an even section and then clean that up before I take a break. So far I have filled four boxes, six Trader Joe paper bags and a wastepaper basket.





At least the floor is done-that really was the easiest part.
Steve took off a door from the vanity and turned the water off on one faucet. The other one is apparently stuck. This is a major inconvenience as I wanted to get the countertop out so the garbage guys would haul it away today. Oh well, if he can't budge it at the weekend I 'll have to get the plumber to do it when he takes out the toilet and fits a thermostatic valve for the shower

The demolition continues

I can't believe how easily the floor came up, or at least the first few square feet. I've taken off 3sq", so only another 27 to go! I barely have to tap it with the chisel and whole sections of tile spring into my hands, leaving the grout to be swept up later.


Earlier I took the medicine cabinets off the wall. I was really surprised to find how clean it was behind them, because you never know what you are dealing with when you start these projects. Once again I thank the original builders who worked clean and built solidly. I wish they were still around.
Actually taking out the cabinets did lead to a discovery. We decided to save them for the moment and store them in the boy's bedroom next to the bathroom. When I cleared a shelf in the closet I found a white yarmulke, size 7 1/4". Not riches, but a part of the heritage of the house.

Renovator's Remorse

We have begun to get quotes for the bathroom renovation. I can see that this is going to be a long process. We've already started with the "what ifs". The first what if was really quite sensible. What if we replace the window before we re-tile the bathroom? The window isn't failing but it nearly forty years old and has had some repair to rot outside. It is also a sealed unit. It would make sense to replace it now with a venting one and I think we should have another Marvin awning installed. So the budget expands, and the timeline extends.
Then there is the vanity question. We have a floating vanity in this bathroom that I love. My original plan was to keep the unit and junk the marble top but we have to take the unit out to strip the tiles behind it so will it stand up to this treatment bearing in mind it is laminate? Can I find another floating vanity that I like at a price I can stomach? And as for a not-hideous medicine cabinet, why are these things both ugly and outrageously expensive?

I'm beginning to regret starting this and there is a long way to go. Renovation should be fun and I'm not feeling it.

Electrical switches

Electrical switches
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

I finally put another piece of the electrical lighting system jigsaw together this weekend. I located the outlets for the centre switch on the seven-gang in the kitchen. This has been bugging me for thirty months. But I'm getting there. In case I forget it goes like this:
Top panel L-R: spots in great room; cans in kitchen; cans in eat-in part of kitchen
Centre Panel: socket with horizontal switch (still a mystery). Vertical switches: pond pump; tree lights; exterior rear floodlights; great room balcony lights; great room third storey lights; chandelier
Bottom: dimmer switch for umbrella pendants.
Now I only have to figure out that horizontal switch, the switch by the kitchen slider, the one by the front door and the two by the grarage doors. And then I can get the x10 system we inherited to work too.

Now we're demo-ing

Actually, it's less "we" more "I" as Steve has gone to Los Angeles. He said to leave it and he'd get round to it at the weekend. When I asked which weekend it turned out to be Xmas. I think I can have the walls stripped before then.
It was no wonder we had a leak. The wallboard at the bottom of the shower was completely black and rotten. Whoever replaced the shower valve didn't caulk around it and water has been dripping down there for who knows how many years. All that damage for want of five minutes and a $5 tube of caulk. Luckily, the wood behind seems sound and every other piece of board is dry so far. It doesn't really matter as we're going back to the studs and putting in cement backer board but if the wallboard is dry there is less chance that we'll have any structural problems or other nasty (expensive) surprises.

Garden gate

As of yesterday we have a new gate. Hurrah. It should last 10-15 years, double hurrah. Unfortunately our handyman thinks the rest of the fence is toast. Boo.I asked him if he would make us a custom fence to replicate what is there now, but he demurred. He thinks we should get a "nice" cedar fence from the local cedar place. Boo hoo. The local cedar fences are only slightly less horrible than the vinyl stuff. (Have you noticed how vinyl fences almost glow in the dark? How do they do that?) I'm not going to worry about it until it actually falls down, even then I might not worry, after all the gate is as solid as a rock.

No turning back now

A four-day weekend, no work or outside obligations, so when would you start the bathroom demolition? Three o'clock on Sunday afternoon? Sounds like a plan.
Actually this wasn't supposed to happen at all. After the plumber came back to fix the downstairs shower (the second time's the charm!) I decided that we could take off the shower doors from the boys' bathroom that we aren't using, to replace the broken ones downstairs. An easy and cheap fix that took ten minutes and most of that was taping up the glass so we can put them out for the garbage.
Then Steven decided to take off the frame as well. The screws came off ok, but we had to use a box-cutter (Stanley knife) to cut through the layers of caulk. Still the frame wouldn't budge. So Steven gave it a good tug and as you can see a good few tiles came too.
We weren't sure whether to do the demo ourselves or get the tilers to do it but I guess that problem has solved itself.

It's a leak, not a drip

The plumber had to come back to fix the shower that was still dripping - it worked fine till I tried to use it! Luckily it was, as I suspected, just a piece of dirt that was stopping the valve from shutting off and I don't know who was happier about that, me or the plumber.
I thought we were done with leaks until I went to wash my hands on Saturday. I couldn't believe my eyes. Water was coming out from the base of the hot faucet. I'd seen water there before but thought we were just splashy washers and wiped it up. It was the first time I'd witnessed this phenomenon. Steven decided that it was just a washer job and he'd fix it while I went out. No big deal.
When I got back several hours later he was very proud that he'd changed the O-ring and all was working again. "I couldn't believe how easy it was" he said, so I trotted off to test drive the tap. I turned it on and the water seeped from the base again, maybe not as fast as before but there was definitely a flow and not just from the spout. Even better, when I turned on the cold tap water flowed from the base of the hot faucet. Like magic.
Steven was not impressed. He took it to bits again and made sure everything was tight but that didn't fix it. By this time the local hardware store was shut, so armed with the Kohler valve we set off for Home Depot. Unfortunately Hopelessly Depressing did not have the correct part for the 40 year old tap so we looked at a new unit. Twenty 8" faucets and not one we liked. What were the odds? We left empty-handed. It's not leaking badly and we'll be renovating that bathroom eventually so we might as well wait and get something we like.
At this moment I'd just like one bathroom that doesn't leak, drip, where the toilet doesn't continually fill or the shower pan isn't cracked. Just one.

Forgive me voters

It's all my fault. I asked, you voted, The Guy was even persuaded by the power of democracy not to use his super delegate status and changed his vote from the Red Crackle vessel sink to the Red & Black, which was my favourite too. But something didn't seem quite right.
I spent all my free time haunting bathroom and home improvement stores trying to catch a glimpse of the four nominated vessel sinks. At Expo I was able to see the Red Spiral and it was way too modern for our space. I was also able to look at a black version of the Red Marble sink but it seemed weird to simulate marble in glass. It just didn't gel. Nowhere on my travels could I find either the Red Crackle or the Red & Black. I was getting desperate and just about to order the latter when it occurred to me to make a template of the vanity so I could better imagine the sink in situ. That's when I worked out what had been bothering me. The Red & Black vessel sink was 18" in diameter, the vanity top is a trapezoid 25"x33.5"x33"x11". The sink was just too damn big.
I don't know how this happened, after all I'd measured it twice. I knew the dimensions, but I'd been so caught up in the colour and pattern I just hadn't envisioned the actual space. The Red Crackle sink is 16 17/18" and for about 30 seconds I thought that would work. Then I came to my senses, dumped the whole splash of colour concept (that will have to come from the hand towels) and looked for something 15" or less. Guess what? There's not a lot out there. But there was one company that makes a glass vessel sink. One that I'd seen before, that was, in fact, the original inspiration for this room.


The 15" Oceana Black Nickel Glass Vessel Sink. It fits, it's in stock, it was on sale. And so, dear readers, I bought it. When it's right, jump on it.


I'm not ashamed to say I made a mistake in putting forward unworkable solutions for the powder room renovation, I apologise to those of you who invested time in voting for a vessel sink only to find your vote disregarded. I ask for your forgiveness and offer this piece of advice as much to myself as to you:
Measure thrice, purchase once.

I want my recessed ironing board

I have spent days pouring over the blueprints for the house, discovering a few interesting things along the way. On the original blueprints the entry way had a flagstone floor. This made perfect modernist sense: the path to the front door was also flagstone so the inside and outside flowed together. I am actually quite glad decided to floor the entry and great room with parquet as it's warmer and is great for working out: put on a pair of socks and glide as if you are on a Nordic trainer.
The carpet in the downstairs powder room should have been ceramic tiles and when we have saved enough money to redo the kitchen it will be tiled at the same time. The windows originally were all 6'x4' units but some were changed to smaller 4'x2' rectangles. The duo square windows in the master were planned as rectangles and we may change them back as it will be $500 cheaper that way. Most notably different was the living room, or as we call it, the den. On the blueprints the floor is level, no raised platform dividing the room into triangles. I really want to talk to Mr Geller to see if this change was incorporated after the first blueprints were drawn up and if there is a structural reason for keeping it. If there isn't, I'm thinking about removing the platform altogether.
Anyway, I thought I'd identified all the differences between the blueprints and the house we live in until today. I asked Atlantic Blueprint to scan the plans onto a CD rom and I spent an hour or so carefully examing them. It was as if I was looking at them with a new eye, things jumped out at me: The kitchen cabinets had been planned differently and the wall of windows became a half wall of windows and a sliding door. But it was when I came to the laundry room that I got really excited. The plans called for a recessed ironing board. How neat is that? I checked out the wall in the laundry room but there is no trace that it ever held such a contraption. I don't iron but I'd love to fit such a thing in the space.

No more drips

At last the plumbing saga is over. Twenty-nine months after we moved; four plumbers, two contractors and two frustrated homeowners later we have a new valve installed on the shower in the downstairs bathroom. In fact we have what Greg, the latest and greatest plumber, swears is the last valve of this type on Long Island. As the alternative to finding and fitting this part (an easy 40 minute job) was to
a) remove the tiles to get at the pipe, cut it and fix a new type of valve, or
b) remove the bookcase we had built in the old pantry, cut a whole in the drywall, cut out the old pipe, fit a new valve, patch, spackle and paint the drywall
you can imagine how happy I was. I wouldn't have got so frustrated about the constantly dripping shower had I not had to use this bathroom every day while we wait to start work on the other two leaky bathrooms. Now I can sit in my study without hearing the drip, drip, drip, knowing I should be doing something about solving the problem.
And now we have a plumber we are happy with we can start on the master bathroom renovation, the boys' bathroom remodel and the laundry room redo.

Preserving the work of Andrew Geller

History of the Pearlroth House



The second video about saving the famous "double diamond" beach house on Long Island, better known as The Pearlroth House, is up at YouTube.

Please share it with everyone interested in modern architecture so we can preserve this mid-century icon.

Inspiration

I was fooling around with my new digital camera yesterday and took this shot


These lights are made from umbrella stands the previous owner found on a trip overseas. When I uploaded the photos to my computer, I realized that the copper and bronze tones of the lampshades were the same as the floor tiles I had chosen for the boys' bathroom.



I don't know why this didn't occur to me before. Maybe it was some sort of unconscious inspiration? But it should tie together nicely, at least I hope so.

Bathroom decisions

Weeks, more like months really, of visiting bathroom showrooms, tile stores and the hell that is HD Expo:
How much is that countertop?
$2500 per linear foot.
Are you sure you don't mean $250?
Salesperson sighs and shrugs, it costs $800 linear foot to ship and $800 per linear foot to install; plus tax.
Could you check that for me?
Salesperson sighs again, rolls her eyes and says she can't find the literature.
Aaaagh.
Obviously I wasn't in the market for a countertop at $250 but $2500, that piqued my curiosity.
I finally found a tile I didn't hate at Expo. But the thought of dealing with the with the winning personalities and sales techniques of the people there was more than I could bear so I took the name of the manufacturer, went home and googled them. Turns out the distributor is less than 10 miles from where I live, they have dealers and showrooms in my area and, big plus, on the website I found a video of the nearest showroom's vignettes.
Their porcelain tiles were exactly what I was looking for, modern but warm with a great selection of red/brown tones that will suit a room that is visible, when the door is open, from most of the rest of the house. So we visited the showroom and found that the tiles were cheaper than at the other store. Phyllis the wonderful, patient tile designer at Porcelanosa spent hours with us selecting tiles that will fit within our palette and wasn't in the least offended when I rejected floor tiles yelling, "no, too Tuscan", "I hate the tumbled marble look". We chose two contrasting tiles for the walls and a coppery slate look for the floor. Phyllis is still looking for a shower floor tile that will fit into the design, but we're almost there.
Once we had the tiles sorted the rest of the fixtures fell into place easily. Now I'm waiting for the plumber and the tiler guys and hopefully in the early New Year we will go from this


to something like this

Early Fall 2006

early fall 2006
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

We've had a couple of bonus days here with temperatures in the upper 60s so I've been out taking a few photos of the exterior before the leaves disappear completely from the trees.
We lost very little in the storms last weekend, although the fence that was shaky is very rickety indeed now. I went to look at fencing but everything is so awful -vinyl in colors of mushroom and beige or cedar that looks as if it will last a season or two but no more. So we've decided to ask our handyman (who is building us a gate) if he can rebuild the fence the same as it was before only stronger. The trouble is that he is a superb handyman and very much in demand so I imagine the whole fence will have fallen down before he has time to see to this project. C'est la vie.

Save The Pearlroth House Video

Save the Pearlroth House!

Watching this video I feel equal parts sad and hopeful.
I'm saddened to see any part of this estate torn down, even the poorly-maintained additions. Just the digger approaching the recliner left by the pool distresses me. I always want to re-use everything.
But I'm hopeful that more people are understanding the value of modernist architecture and that the original Pearlroth House, designed in 1958 by Andrew Geller, will be preserved.
If enough money can be raised the house will be moved, restored and turned into a museum so more people can appreciate and enjoy it.

Blueprints

blueprints.jpg
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

Today I went to the Village Secretary to see if they had a copy of the plans for our house on file.
What luck, our file was full of permits and a full set of the original plans signed Andrew Geller, Northport, NY June 1968.
It was an overwhelming moment. Although I know that the design is made up of rectangles and polygons, I had never seen the house in one dimension and didn't fully comprehend the simplicity and the beauty of the design - one element just flows into the other.
I borrowed them and rushed off to Atlantic Blueprint in Huntington to get them copied. Eventually I will get them scanned to a cd so we will have them preserved in another format. Right now I'm waiting for Steven to get home and see the surprise.

Save The Pearlroth House

One of the most renowned mid-century modern beach houses, The Pearlroth House has been a famous landmark on Long Island since it was designed by Andrew Geller in 1959. The Modernist gem is featured in both architectural and design magazines, but it fell into disrepair and was in danger of being razed. Then Jake Gorst, the grandson of the architect stepped in and set about trying to raise enough money to relocate it to another site in Southampton, NY and to restore it to its original glory.
Exhibitions International is helping the fundraising effort to save The Pearlroth House by hosting a cocktail reception at the Center for Architecture, 536 Laguardia Place in NYC on October 27, and a tour of modernist architecture on Long Island on November 4.

Too many of these unique houses are lost each year and we have an exciting opportunity to preserve this one for future generations to enjoy. Contributions can be made via paypal and are tax deductible.
Steven and I are trying to ensure that our wonderful house, also designed by Mr Geller, remains a home for our family and for those who are lucky enough to live here after us.

Fall Color Begins

rhodo color
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

Because we can't agree on the design for anything indoors, we've been gardening again this weekend. This is Azalea Cannon's Double, just planted in the sunken bed beneath the dining room window. I also put in five hostas and an unidentified rhododendron, all bought for half-price from the local nursery. I love a bargain.
The plan here is to put in a few inches of mulch in the spring and get a couple of pallets of river rock to finish the bed.
Round the side of the garage we pulled out eight bags of ivy and planted three Little Star Junipers and two golden-green evergreens.



We are suffering from sore backs and there are probably another ten more bags of ivy to pull elsewhere in the yard. I hope the weather stays fair so we can finish next weekend.

Den Makeover

Since I can't find any inspiration for the master bathroom, I thought I would put it out of my mind for a while and tackle the den. After all that's where we spend most of our time, hanging out, watching TV, drinking cocktails. No wait, that's what the den was built for, but we keep our liquor in the freezer or the refrigerator or down in the basement. So we have this huge bar/media center in the den that effectively divides the room in two. The half with the bar in it faces a well lit area that was used for playing cards and the TV/music center faces the darker half of the room -perfect for viewing as long as there are only two or maximum three people watching TV at any one time.
I really would like to remove this whole entertainment center and put a flat screen TV on the wall and relocate the bar part to either the kitchen or the basement or the dumpster. My man thinks this is grounds for divorce. He loves this huge laminate monolith and swears that everyone except me does too. (I think they are being polite or sarcastic).
He also thinks we have a design dilemma. The center sits on the raised part of the room and if we remove it we will emphasize the diagonal, which will be weird for TV viewing. He may have a point.


It seems that we have got to the stage with this house where we are both uncertain what will work and neither of us is willing to take a chance. It all seemed so easy two years ago. What's changed?

We never stop working for you....

...and we send out our direct marketing bumpf via UPS so we are sure it gets to you.
Honestly what would you think when you arrived back after canceling your mini vacation because of a colleague's death, to find a UPS package in the mailbox? I thought it must be a vitally important document that I needed to open immediately. When I tore open the envelope and pulled out a letter from Verizon introducing their FIOS fiber optic internet service I was irritated on so many levels.
Firstly, because it was marketing disguised as an urgent mail.
Secondly, because it costs more money to send out direct mail via UPS and the consumer will be the one who ultimately foots the bill.
Thirdly, because I was so fed up with the awful customer service that Verizon provided that I dumped them in favour of Vonage more than two years ago for the home phone and for T-mobile for the cell phone last year.
Nowhere in the two page letter did it explain why I should switch my cable-access broadband to FIOS although it did let me know that I only had until October 31st to take advantage of their special offer. One thing I've learnt living in the US for six years is that if you miss a special offer there will be another, even better one along straight after.
At the moment they don't even offer Fibre Optic TV in my area so I'd have a different provider for my internet, tv and phones. That would be even more inconvenient than the present set-up, so I see no reason to change. And I'm sure when FIOS TV becomes available they will announce it by sending me another expensive direct mail.

The eldest and the best

Midge 1987-2006
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

Midge the cat died Thursday afternoon in her favourite spot in the garden. She was nineteen, born in Oxford, England, moved to Belgium when she was just a kitten and then to the US six years ago.
She was so big that the customs guy at Newark Airport wanted to know if I had a dog or a cat in the crate. She loved to spend hours outside soaking up the sunshine or sheltering from the rain. She slept with us every night until this week when she could no longer get up the stairs. If you were sad she would jump on your chest and stay there until you felt better. Even a sniffle would cause her to run to give comfort.
On Thursday she was weak but she crawled to the door and I lifted her out into the yard and took the paper and my coffee so I could sit out with her. She made herself comfortable in the undergrowth and dozed most of the day. After I walked the dogs they insisted on going over to see her. They looked at her and wagged their tails and she raised her head up. I went in to get changed and came out to get her and bring her inside for the evening and she was dead. Steve came home two minutes later.
She really was the best cat , always happy, never bad-tempered even when Cassis used to leap on her back from 10' away. She tolerated the new animals Wilba, Polly, Sadie, Cassis and Jefke although she didn't like them the way she loved her humans. She was the last animal left from the kids' childhood and the last European. She will be sorely missed