Polished Concrete

Okay, forget the landscaping. I can't wait to have that done, but we moved that back on the list in order to take care of the floors. There are several things inside that depend on having the floors done first, and knowing how invasive a process it is, we decided to do it now.

And when I say invasive I'm not kidding. First of all we had to move everything out of the house: toilets, sinks, refrigerator, oven, the whole freakin' kitchen island, washer, dryer, everything. We covered everything that had new paint or refinishing in plastic. We moved out of the house for a week and lived w/ neighbors. We put everything in a pod in the driveway. The appliances were in the yard. When the job was done we came back to dust city. Closets that were closed and covered in plastic could not stop the dust from getting inside. We've had to shop-vac the entire house and still have a few areas yet to do. Several areas need re-painted or at least touched-up. But...

In the end, we are so glad we did it. It's a major step and has made the house so much more livable. The floors feel great and squeak under your sneakers. No more dusting from the slab. And we love the organic look of it. The aggregate varies as you move through the house. The bump out in the kitchen is a totally different darker color, which was a fun surprise. When you get up close, the color in the aggregate is pretty amazing. I'm glad this job is done.

I've got to hand it to our contractor, Jeff Vasconcellos. He and his crew worked very late several days in a row to get the job done. They know what they're doing and I would use them again.
Jeff Vasconcellos
5723 E Bryce Ave
Orange, CA 92867
(714) 921-9520 Office
(714) 749-8811 Cell

Using up the last of the bean-e-doo in the bathroom. Toilet and sink are outta here.


Please mind the birch.


Always load the tools last.


Dining room:


Kitchen:


Bump out surprise:


Lanai:


Detail:

Landscape Planning

Right now we are starting to plan out our landscaping. So far we've just been collecting images for inspiration, but today I drew out my first sketch. Overall we are fairly certain that we'll be based on a 45º grid, with 2 sizes of concrete squares. We'd like to vary the amount of aggregate between the 2 sizes like the inspiration shot. On the left will be a planter with a bench built into the lip.

Inspiration 1:


Sketch 1:
The red illustrates existing brick that we'll be working around. I think I need to mock up some 3D illustrations to see what it would really look like...

Bring that Birch Back II

In going back through the blog, I realize I never updated this story. When we left off, I was looking for replacement sliding doors for our birch cabinetry. Well, thanks to our neighbors Erik & Rebecca, who are doing an extensive renovation and could not salvage their cabinetry, I was able to salvage doors as well as the frame (large square piece that surrounds the doors). I also salvaged some panelling pieces, which may turn into kitchen cabinetry...



We went a little crazy and continued the paint stripping on into the bedroom with the master closet. I think the effect is pretty nice... a continuous wall of birch.


Wall of birch:


Mini Post: Can Lights and Bamboo
New can lights and bamboo wallpaper. Our paneling on the ceiling was a real mess. We had to draw the line somewhere with the refinishing. Knowing we were going to cut holes in it anyway for the lights, we thought the bamboo would be a nice element. We dig it.

Paint!

Hey, there's that drip edge again:


And those beam caps:

Lanai Victory!

What a long crazy trip this room has been. When we moved in it was 2 rooms... with a dropped ceiling in the 2nd. Everything was bad. Bad bad. The concrete patio was poured and overlapped the lanai's slab between the posts, then the walls were built on top of that. So, this room was lower than the outside. Of course there was rot where water drained down into the house. The 2nd room's dropped ceiling was exposed to the outside... as there were no panels between the rafters in this section. 50+ years of dust and debris on top of that ceiling. Very bad. Wiring held together with electrical tape. Chopped framing inside the walls with no rhyme or reason. Ductwork going to nowhere. Oh, the little things you discover after having moved in.

But, after a full rebuild of this room, I am sitting on the sofa in a room with no tools and it feels pretty good. This one is really just waiting on the floors, but it's good enough for now!

When we moved in there were 2 rooms, posts were not aligned under rafters, much badness.


Human tornado 1 and 2:



Walls framed and furred out where needed. Garbage sparkles under the new lighting.


We added recycled denim insulation to the new exterior walls. It might not do a whole lot... but this side faces the street so we might as well try to cut the noise and wind a bit. BTW, this stuff is a pleasure to work with. Just use your bare hands, tear it and stuff it.


Here's a good example of one of the many surprises along the way. After tearing off the paneling attached to this beam, we found out how the electrical was run to the 2nd room. This one hurts my brain. Nothing a little bondo can't fix though.



Only one way I know to get straight lines. Tape.


Ahhhh. It was nice to rediscover our storage units that had been in the garage for the last 10 months.

Drip Edge Challenge

Something has been bugging me about the way we redid our lanai enclosure... It's the way the siding comes up too high and actually runs up between the rafters. This is really hard to explain, even with pictures. Let me just say that it was a test of bravery for me to fix it. I had to snap a chalk line and run the length of the lanai with a skilsaw, cutting through only the siding and no deeper so as to not nick the beam beneath. It would probably be no big deal for a career carpenter, but for me it was a little scary. But I know that once we're painted it will be one of those details that makes a difference. Do you have any idea what I am talking about? No? That's okay.

Before:


The point of no return:


Successful cut:


Drip Edge installed. Getting ready to paint:

Beam Caps

It really, really, really bugs me that some termite people will just lop off the end of a beam rather than repair it. Actually, it really, really, really bugs me that a home owner would let this happen. Luckily, the ends of the chopped beams were sound so it was simple enough to cap them. I feel much better now. After the house is painted this will be our dirty little secret.