Piping [s]

The master bathroom fixtures: Moen mixer and three way diverter valve, Moen shower head, Kohler body sprays. The valves are pull-on push-off so you don't have to fiddle with the temperature. I went with flush mount body sprays.



Pops taught me how to sweat pipe this weekend. Left to right: flux, solder, pipe abrasives, sparker, tape, propane.

1. Clean the pipes with a wire brush.
2. Goop some flux on.
3. Connect.
4. Heat them with the propane torch.
5. Add solder when the pipe is hot enough to melt it, the flux will magically suck it inside the joint.
   

The piping is installed, supported, and pressure tested.



The potted items on the deck now have drippers controlled by a single valve.



I still need to buy a lawnmower, but the grass and vines are growing plenty.



Sweet coincidence of Port au Prince!

Garage doors [s]

Fed up with the garage door that opened into the dryer (pictured below), I bought a replacement that would open into the side room. I went with a steel exterior type.



I bought a second for the garage-to-outside door, this one will be a challenge because it requires a dog door.

Then caulking and trimming on both.



The sod is still alive. The black bamboo should eventually grow alongside the railing in the left part of the image. In the same planter, under the deck, I put the large jade bush I got from SFS nursery.


Thanks to Jon, I have plywood up in the master bathroom so it's time to think about fixtures.



Shower head, body sprays, done. Price Pfister had a nice diagram illustrating the closed loop plumbing necessary for body sprays.

One year [s]

So the little one had is first birthday this weekend. Cuteness abounded, and was equilibrated that night when his pops and friends went to see Zombieland. Great movie, I'd recommend it to anyone. It's funny, gruesome, and doesn't try to shoehorn too much meaning into a horror/comedy hybrid.



After a year of skimming, I've put up a net to catch most of the leaves upwind of the pool.



I bolted a steel cable to opposite ends of the deck to manage shear forces, but lacking help I haven't been able to tension it yet.



I pulled the rest of the drywall and plywood super-subfloor. Beneath that was some very thin acrylic that can stay. It's all been green sealed. Capping the shower revealed that the leak, it was at the soldered section at the topmost L-bend.



The interior walls weren't insulated, I took the opportunity to amend this for thermal and acoustic reasons. Small spaces were filled with foam, as was the area surrounding pipes since I hear the foam is superior to fiberglass.



So I'm thinking a main shower head aimed at 45 degrees so I'm not right next to the wall with six feet of unused bathroom space. The new wall should make plumbing the thing a bit easier; more space for the extra knobs and piping required for side sprayers.

Compromising admissions [s]

Dear Miss Manners,

Say you're at work and, er, laying cable - so to speak. Then, hypothetically, the [insert business unit] manager walks in and takes a nearby stall. You know who it is because he's talking on the phone. But you're all done, so you...

1. Flush and go knowing full well the associate he's talking to will become immediately aware of his locale.
2. Be courteous to him and discourteous to the next person in your stall.
3. Hang around until the conversation is over.

You might say he's as culpable for the fallout of his conversation venue as a driver is for bumpering someone while talking on their cell. But who really wants to adversely affect the operation of their company nowadays?



The mirrors add light and space to the bathrooms. I can get away with the panels for the sides of the upstairs bathroom and all of the downstairs. I shudder to think of how much a custom 5' x 3' is going to run me for the main, upstairs piece.

Also shown is the untrimmed switchage. A big feather in my cap is knocking the switch count from four to one (but really zero since the light and fan are on motion). A black eye is the annoying drywall work needed to cover the unused box components and the wire spanning them to connect the light and fan leads.



Another column will be good once I find my drywall anchors. The frameless door can be seen in this one.



I yanked the door to the storage nook in the media room. Then sent the electrical from under the tv to said nook. The end result should be clean stowage of the cable box, xbox, wii, and perhaps a dvd cart.

Rebroadcast without expressed, written consent:

• Never mind. Found yer seat. I'm booking 13B, although one usually does not want to sit in aisle 13...
• I will never speak Singaporean to you! Never. Even if I were pissed drunk.
• I'm pretty sure I'm the only one out of the 4 of us that can get hammered off of 8 tasters.
• And you'd best not be moving the bear skin rug. It really ties the room together.
• Oh, and there's a Sephora in Omaha!

Now for a little something different [s]

I read that the next Watchmen trailer can be seen at Quantum of Solace. Opening for Batman and James Bond, not too shabby. I was blown away by the first peek, and then slightly anxious when I read that Alan Moore didn't want any credit or money from the project. Further investigation (wiki) is more reassuring; apparently Moore hated the first screenplay written twenty years ago and then declared that the medium was not appropriate for his story. Cut and dried, his point is that only with comic books (/graphic novels) can the audience deliberate on the intricacies of each frame and reference previous moments with ease.

Well the film was made. With any luck the final adaptation resembles the second script, written by Solid Snake, which was regarded by Moore to be as close to 'filmable' as Watchmen can be.

Without a doubt Watchmen is very subtle and detailed in its dialog and imagery. The theatrical experience will be a much different one, perhaps replacing the brooding feeling with greater tension.


I cleared out the media room some. At center is the mst3k 20th anniversary box set.


I put the upstairs bathroom vanity in tonight. The granite top was a bit weighty, but I managed to not ding anything.


The shower was finished a little while ago. It's nice.






I was talking to Sarah and realized I should be keeping track of Good Spots for recommendations and those times where my cranial isn't firing on all two cylinders. I'm in the initial listing process with specs, reviews, and approximate prices to come. Then I'll open it up to collaboration and never have to wonder where to eat/drink/go out again.

Upstairs bathroom [s]

Getting there [s]

The 'rents came down this weekend. Mom bought me the taxadermed animal I wanted so badly.



Cement board, tile saw, sealer...



The media room has a long way to go. But Justin's gaming chair has found a good home.



The chandelier aglow.



Upstairs bathroom preparations. Copper green on the studs, plywood on the studs, roofing felt on the plywood, cement board on the felt, tile on the cement board.



For this one I'm going with some 16x24 travertine pieces. The lighter color is key for not making the tub look freakishly out of place.

Making space [s]

I threw up a surf rack and a hanging device for the neoprene. The garage is slowly becoming more spacious.



On the clipboard right now is an order form for window coverings. I'm leaning toward wood blinds or cellular shades. Should I go with the former, I'll have to decide between stained wood to match the floors or bright white to match the window trim and baseboards. I created another mindblowingly photorealistic mockup of what either might look like.

Please chime in if you have an opinion.



I ordered a chandelier for the entryway or above the stairs. The criteria was low-key, no faux candles or faux crystals, and no single pieces that are bent more than a few degrees.



One subject of contemplation is door choice for the upstairs bathroom. It used to have a pocket door, great for space but I always found them difficult. Chances are I'll put a regular door in, but I'm considering a slider with some translucent material inset in a wood frame.



So the rest of the bathroom is empty. Cement board, tile, vanity, shower door...



I picked up a Panasonic bathroom fan from Dixieline. It's quiet* and all, but the main perk is that it's not crazy ugly. Most are. They're all plastic, some are huge, others drop several inches down from the ceiling. The worst offense of all is having the ugly yellow, plastic light. The last fan tucked under the joist, no such luck here. I had to relocate it a couple inches so there's a bit of ceiling repair to do.

It wasn't too tough to install, though I had to extend the electrical and fuss about getting the pipe through the wall.

* Maybe too quiet.



It has been noted that I haven't posted photos of the shower with fixtures. Now I have. Bronze finish is looking good for some, if not all of the house. In fact, Jon installed door handles on Saturday.

Floors [s]

The flooring has begun. I don't have any shots other than the following:



However, rest assured Jon and Dave have it down to a science. The hallway leading to the master bedroom is done. We'll probably cover a lot of ground tomorrow, so to speak.

Bobby mowed down the remaining junipers, I sealed and tested the shower, and everyone plus Connie finished the fireplace.



And we managed to squeeze in some cards/Chop Stix/boba...



... and a little pool shenanigans.

Burning the midnight oil [s]

Busy days and nights. The beams have been verathaned. The shower and fireplace are nearing completion. Tomorrow will be a foray into flooring. This weekend will feature some prodigious laying of hardwood.



The shower's looking pretty good. Fixtures will be bronze. As we went along, I picked up on the following:

• Different size tile comes in different thickness
• Keeping to a single size as much as possible makes life easier because of the first bullet and because 2' != 1' + 1' because of grout.
  
• The 2' squares are awesome.
• To finish the grout, go over it a couple times with the rough side of a two-surface sponge. Then do the smooth side, it works nice.
  

Next up is touching up the grout and then sealing it. And to decide on a door. Probably simple clear glass; as few surfaces as possible.