Various House Projects

Guest Bathroom

First, strip to the studs and build a soffet for the new lights.

Move the heating register to under the new vanity

Drywalled and the glass mosaic tile is done.

Vanity is made of cherry ply left overs.

Laddur wire goes inside concrete countertops

All done - just need to clean up and polish very slightly (want that hard-troweled look - not polished)

Refinish Hardwood Floor in Hallway

The carpet in the hallway was all ripped up by Griffey (the dog) so it had to go. We wanted hardwood floors and turns out there was top-nailed red-oak floor under the carpet that matched all the bedrooms (and of course all the transitions where perfect!). It was, however in pretty bad state. Various animal damage and lots of paint and worn out spots. There was water damage from the glass block window (condensate probably).

Lots of damage and paint

Orbital floor sander rented from Hertz. Used 36grit (four sheets) to remove finish and damage. Then used 60 and 80 to finish.

Replaced a few boards where the water damage was too much. A small bundle of 5/16" unfinished oak was only $30. Used 18ga brad nailer.

After re-sinking any exposed nails, covering nail holes and deep damage and a final sand with 120 grit I used 3 coats of Bona Novia waterbourne polyurethane. Each coat dried in an hour or two. New baseboards installed. Finished.

Kitchen Floor Tiling

First job was to rip out 180 sq. ft of 3/4" solid oak stapled hardwood floor. It was water damaged from leaks. Even the subfloor was damaged and was not stiff enough to support natural stone tiles.

Took the opportunity to fix some leaky (read rat eaten!) ducts.

2x4 blocking on 14". New 3/4" AC grade ply.

Still not very flat so applying thinset to fill low points. The sides are low as they are the old 5/8 subfloor. There is a big low right in the center (under lighting) of almost 1/4".

A couple of before shots - First the damaged board in the hall - and showing the dreaded toe-kick saw that lived up to its reputation of being a kick back monster.

Water damage from Griffeys drinking bowl. Will be fine on top of the stone tiles.

Damaged a floorboard so had to replace that first.

Chose to use Ditra as underlayment. Modified under - unmodified on top.

$400 worth of Ditra down - still saves lots of hardbiebacker (cement fiberboard) cutting

Also using the little levelers and wedges.

All done except for the pantry. Need to figure out how to replace the shelves in there first as they rest on the old hardwood right now.

Grout done. Now needs to dry for a bit and then I can clean and leave it to dry for a few days (the blotchiness goes away as the tile dries).

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