Mint Frosting

So, we got our new countertops, and we got our new tile, and we painted the lower cabinets. We then had to agree on what color the kitchen walls would be. This turned out not to be trivial. On an individual basis, we sifted through nearly a hundred different shades of yellow, violet, and green. We then ranked the top three or four of each color, and found that we were both particularly fond of a color called Mint Frost.

Now, Annie doesn't go for minty delicacies. They remind her of toothpaste, which she doesn't consider food for some reason I can't fathom. I, however, love mint. I've never met a culinary delight that included mint that I didn't like. And so I am thrilled that our kitchen walls are slowly turning into a constant reminder of the fact that when I get a mint and Annie gets a mint, what really happens is I get two mints.

Ecclesiastes 4:9 - Two [are] better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

Grout!

I love the word grout. Sometimes you sit and think about the sounds that make up a word and think, Those sounds are weird and do not suit the item or action they represent. Not grout. I could repeat that to myself for a hundred years solid and still think, That's pretty much what the name of that stuff should sound like.

Grout goes a long way. I mixed up a batch, and we started using a (borrowed) rubber grout float (thanks again, Tom!) to start smushing it in between the tiles. You're supposed to use 45 degree angles and 90 degree angles and pat dry and wipe softly, so softly that it's like kissing a baby, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. We kinda did that. By the end of it, we were pretty much just shoving into the cracks by hand, smoothing it with the tip of my finger (which hurt -- i don't recommend it), and scrubbing it off afterward.

How did it turn out? Pretty well, for a first grouting job. It has a few minor imperfections, and here's a list of suggestions to help you avoid our problems:

1) Do exactly what the instructions tell you to do, at the specified time, with the specified equipment, in the specified manner.

End of list.

Really, we just had some minor discoloration, and some of the grout didn't turn out very smooth at all. We let it dry a day or two, and we sprayed on some sealant to keep a spilled glass of water from destroying our kitchen.

Our kitchen continues to evolve...we'll keep you posted!

TILING

The next step in our long tiling ordeal was the tiling itself. We realized that we needed to get some modified thinset mortar if we were going to meet manufacturer's recommendations, so the cheap stuff we bought before wasn't going to cut it. "Modified thinset" is a type of mortar that is strengthened with latex (or similar substance).

After another trip to the home improvement store, I mixed up a batch of mortar and I was off to the races. We had about 100 square feet to cover, and I was eager to get it done. I started about 7pm on a Thursday night. Why so late? Because we had to wait 24 hrs. before the thinset under the concrete backer board was cured.

First, I had to "mud and tape" all of the joints in the concrete backer board. Once all that was done, I started laying tile. First, you slap it onto the backer board, then you backbutter the tile. Since we were using 13-inch tiles, the manufacturer recommended spreading mortar on the back of each tile to aid in adhesion.

The trowel for laying tile has some neat grooves in it, and I think it was this single fun part of the job that kept me alive. I finished laying tile about 5:45 on Friday morning.

Perhaps I'm a bit slow, I don't know.

That Friday was a hard day at work, but I prayed a lot and God got me through.

Pics later!

Pictures!

I know, it's a rainy Saturday, and you have nothing else to do, so VIEW THESE PICTURES! They are of me installing concrete backer board. ENJOY THEM.

Flash Drive Vanish!

My flash drive has learned a ninja trick and disappeared on me.

In other news, we recently moved the stove and refrigerator back into the kitchen. I'm pretty stoked about that, but Annie is way MORE stoked about that. The tile is holding up well, and I might as well describe the next step in the tiling saga, even though I don't have the pictures with me.

Once the plywood was down properly, and all the screw heads were sunk slightly below the level of the plywood, it was time to lay the concrete backer board. I looked up the manufacturer's specifications for how to install the backer board, and they were nothing like what the home improvement store people were telling me. The steps were basically like so:

1) Ensure a flat, rigid underlayment (the plywood took care of that).
2) Design your layout of the boards so that there are no four-corner joints.
3) Use a mortar conforming to some particular ANSI spec (the cheap mortar fit the spec).
4) Spread mortar for a single board, press it into the mortar by standing on it, then nail the crud out of it with 1 1/2" (or longer) galvanized roofing nails at 8" grid spacing.
5) Let set for about a day.

The worst parts of this were hammering all of those nails by hand, especially those nearest the cabinets. The second worst part was cutting the concrete backer board. We got a special tool for that, and I still had a hard time. The process involves scoring the same line over and over again.

It worked, though, and the floor was then ready for the actual tile!

Gen 3:19 - In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.

Saturday

I forgot to bring photos to work with me today, but let me tell you what we did Saturday. Not only did we remove the upper cabinets (it almost killed us both), but we then found a window in the middle of the wall. We called a contractor friend, who told us to remove the window and put studs in the space. We did it. I affixed two studs and then felt like a stud.

I'll have more photos of the tile floor process, as well as of the event described in the paragraph above, when I remember to bring my flash drive to work.

Plywood Underlayment!!!

Plywood Underlayment!!! I use three exclamation points to try and make that sound exciting!!!

After leveling the floor (a little bit) by fixing the broken joist (kinda), I laid down some 1/4 inch plywood on top of the asphalt felt. Here is what that looked like!


Once all the sheets were arranged on the floor, we breathed a sigh of relief. We had been living with a tar paper kitchen for over a week.


THIS IS A PICTURE OF ME BEING STUPID.


Apparently, when securing plywood to a floor, one must use deck screws, not finish nails. So, once I had nailed all these sheets down, I had to find the joist locations. Since the joists were under a layer of plywood, tar paper, and 3/4" subfloor, I had to go into the crawlspace and call out measurements for Annie to write down. After that, I came back up and marked all of the joists on the floor:


I like blue lines. We got a ton (3 lb.) of ceramic-coated deck screws and went crazy.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF ME BEING SMARTER.


I should have gotten advice beforehand.

Ecclesiastes 10:10 - If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom [is] profitable to direct.

In Which the House Gets Jacked Up

There is a joist under the south wall of the kitchen in which a huge cutout was made to accomodate some ancient plumbing rearrangement. The cut allowed the southeast corner of the kitchen to sink a bit. I borrowed some jacks (Thanks, Tom!) and set to work propping the joist up little by little. Almost a week later, it was mostly level. The west side was, at any rate. The east side wasn't strong enough, I fear. It began to show some minor cracks and I realized that it just wasn't going to handle the continued pressing of the jacks for much longer, so I braced it the way it was.

Going underneath the house everyday for nearly a week had its effect on me, though. I don't feel so bad about spelunking the crawlspace, which may be because of the plastic sheeting I laid down.

All of that work was to prepare the way for further work on the floor, which needed to be as level as possible. More later!

While We Were Out

After ruthlessly gutting the kitchen and leaving it a roughly opened carcass, we left for a week. When we returned, our non-kitchen suddenly appeared like so:




BRAND NEW CABINETS. We are quite pleased. Oh, and the countertops? Also brand new. The stove is the same old one. Here's our old cabinet configuration, for comparison:


The big difference is that we now have cabinets along TWO walls. The next step was to hoist a joist, which was partially successful. Details later!

Post 150

A landmark post! One hundred and fifty. If I had a nickel for every post we've made on here, i'd have $7.50. That might get me into a theater, but I don't think it'll cover popcorn.

After stripping the room and repairing the rotted subfloor, we shored up the weak spots, as Jon here demonstrates.



After identifying the weak spot (by stepping on it and breaking it, usually), we'd take another bit of wood and screw it into the bad board after screwing the bit of wood into the two floorboards on either side. It worked pretty well.

When all that was done, we laid asphalt felt!



After this, we vacationed for a week, leaving the house on a low simmer. When we came back, what did we find? Tune in tomorrow!

Subfloor Repair

Once we cleared everything out, we found some parts of the floor were weaker than others.



So we decided to repair those weak spots! Let's cut 3/4" treated plywood down to size!


We could probably affix it to the joists with some screws and some effort...



And then we were left with a more handsome subfloor. There were still some weak spots, though they offered more resistance than the completely rotten portions we just replaced. How did we deal with those feeble areas? Explanations forthcoming!

Out with a Bang

We continued removing cabinets. Look, there are some now!


What's behind it? Ooh, gross!



I had to cut that out, sweep it clean, and then put in a new drywall patch. I'm not proud of the job I did, but it seems to have worked.

Once we removed the cabinets, we had to find a place for them to go. Compacting them seemed the next logical step. Witness Mark's preparation!


...and his follow-through.



At this point, the subfloor was exposed inside the house. What fun! I hope to show you how awesome it was tomorrow.

Demolicious!

Cabinetry was removed. Pictures below. Gotta go!