Mike's Remodeling Blog

Just about done for 2009 (and it's only February!)

2009-02-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, so installed crown in the guest room, office, and Alaina's room. Installed recessed lighting in the office. Just need to paint Alaina's crown and the crown is all done in the house. Woo-freakin'-hoo!!! "If you wanna crown 'em, then crown their a$$!" I still love that Denny Green outburst. One of the best of all time.

Will probably do just a teeny bit of baseboard upstairs in the hallway and change out the nasty chandelier upstairs and I will be done for 2009! Well, at least I think. Need to save some money with things tightening up some and the 401K now a 201K... :(

Paid jobs though might still happen... ;)

Fireplace Complete!!!

2009-01-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

Well, not really 100% but close enough. Couple of small details left (caulk and install wood to hide TV underneath mantle). But here is the new finish of the mantle (Ralph Lauren Suede finish):

Oh and a big shout out to my friend Spiccoli for the help on the crown. Turned out great - you da man!!!

And I found a before shot for comparison purposes. Note the big ol' subwoofer box was actually hidden in the corner behind a large entertainment center:

Family Room Fireplace Neary Complete!!!

2008-12-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

Well, after many delays, CX season, etc., I decided to get my butt in gear on this project. Oh, and maybe hosting Christmas at the house was some motivation too. But after many different thoughts on design and finishes, I'm at about 95% complete. Just a few small details to wrap up. Thanks to Bill B. for his thoughts on construction and my two colorists (Bonny and Jen) for helping me confirm that I will paint the mantle a different color... again. So without further adieu, here it is:

Travertine was my choice of stone for this fireplace. I will paint the mantle with a Ralph Lauren suede textured paint.

Side detail

Fire burning in the fireplace... or is it?

If you followed this blog, you will recall I was going to put the TV above the fireplace and drop it down via a lift...

Some of the initial framing and the TV on lift in place

Framing complete and plywood in place

So yes, a bit over the top, but I really like it and love the fact that I can hide the TV when not in use. I'm really pleased with how this turned out - this will be my last major remodel project for awhile so it was a nice one to end on (that is of course unless someone pays me a bunch of money to do something... ;) )

Neighbor's Fireplace

2008-09-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of the fireplace I did for my neighbor. I can't take credit for the painting - I let her do that. Turned out really nicely, makes me want to tear my fireplace down in my master bedroom. Oh wait, I still have to finish the fireplace up in the family room first...

BEFORE

AFTER

Mantle Detail

Surround and hearth detail

Chalk up another one in the books!

2008-08-05T15:15:00.001-07:00

Yay! The outdoor kitchen/BBQ is done. Well, a tiny bit of touch up paint and maybe a teeny bit of caulking is left. But I fired it up and burned off all the mfg. oil off of it and it is ready to use. Will get a chance to use it this weekend with family over. Dang thing burns freakin' hot.

With rotisserie attachment in place.

Cool lighting for those late night BBQ sessions.

Sans rotisserie.

I would say overall this project took about 30 hours to complete. I sucko at stucco. It looks okay, but not quite what I envisioned. But overall I'm pleased with the project.

So just the family room fireplace and about 300' of crown and I will be taking a long break from remodeling projects... Although I am going to add some stuff to the garage gym... :)

Long overdue BBQ project update

2008-07-23T00:04:00.000-07:00

Well, seems to be no sense of urgency with any of my projects lately. So I've been the turtle when it comes to remodeling. But I'm starting to enjoy riding a bike again so that has distracted me some. So really, stucco, electrical, and paint and this baby is done. Shouldn't be too bad really. A few more hours of work and it will be time to fire this bad boy up! Couldn't be at a better time since my current BBQ is dying a fast death.

LP drawer on the left, access door (not installed) below BBQ, and bonding cement applied to the Hardibacker so that the stucco will stick. Check out the galvanized LP extension pipe I installed inside.

Better shot of the tile counter. I'm guessing it took me maybe another 13 hours to get to this point. Easy math so now I'm at 20 hours. Seems like too much but amazing how time adds up.

BBQ Underway!!!

2008-06-13T00:32:00.000-07:00

So it took me about 7 hours to get to this point. Seems like a lot, but this is my first BBQ. Really a design build - I didn't have plans laid out, just had the rough measurements. Turned out pretty good. A couple of more hours and I finished with the Hardibacker. Ready for tile and stucco.

Oh wait, the door I ordered turned out to be not what I expected. Apparently, I didn't realize it, but "stainless steel finish" = "steel crappily painted with silver spray paint". Fortunately it was damaged in shipment and after threatening the BBB, I get to return it for a full refund. I ordered a new door. But of course, it isn't the same size so will have to remove some Hardibacker and re-frame the door opening. Figures.

And I need to extend the LP line to the left side of the BBQ. So I'm going to hard pipe it with galvanized 1/2" pipe. And need to run the electrical still - about a 25' trench one foot deep.

More schtuff...

2008-05-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so my mind is getting all sidetracked. I tore down the fireplace in the family room and was getting ready to start rolling on it when I saw a photo in Home Theater magazine of a plasma lift that dropped a TV from a cavity behind the fireplace mantle/hearth. Total coolness factor. Checked out the lift and it was only $3,500. 2.5 times the cost of the TV!!! Lame. So I did some more searching and found a much more affordable alternative - $495 shipped. That's tolerable. So I think I'm going to go for it. Here is the mockup:

Perty cool. We'll see if it turns out as I hope. Oh, and this is sidetracking me some as well:

This obsession never ends... Oh, and I forgot my neighbor wants to start his downstairs bath too - full gut, changing bathtub/shower to a shower only. Thankfully I'm just doing the tile. I did finish up his upstairs bath tile work so hopefully some photos of that soon.

Recent additions to the tool collection:

[Insert Tim Allen Tool Time grunt here]

Finally some laundry room pics

2008-05-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

Floor pattern - diamond pinwheel pattern. Yay.

Stacked washer and dryer with dividing wall. Note the cool little door - for accessing the water and gas lines.

Counter and backsplash (faucet since replaced. Also, undercab light not pictured)

Finished mud room like area. Note that the bench was an old round dining room table we recycled.

Good stuff. Spent quite a bit of time on this, but it sure turned out nicely. Best laundry room on the block. I didn't do it all, as I put off all the painting/staining. There were a few other areas that I didn't do also. But only where there are mistakes... :)

Hopefully some photos of their fireplace I'm working on soon too. I did get the in-ceiling speakers installed in my family room. Now starts the big crown project. Oh wait, still need to finish the bathroom up the street...

Next in the queue...

2008-04-16T15:45:00.001-07:00

Since the old family room fireplace looks like crap compared to the new living room fireplace, I have been asked to replace it. I'm actually okay with white painted brick. However, I really love this design. The main difference will be the lack of the elevated hearth. Mine will be on the ground. I really dig the tiles that go up to the ceiling.

But first need to finish up projects in the hood (did a laundry room full remodel - hopefully photos soon, and tiled a bathroom floor and shower enclosure). Oh and gotta get the AV done in the family room too.

Done Done

2008-03-13T00:17:00.001-07:00

Now I'm onto helping the neighbor with her laundry room. A change of scenery will be so nice. Oh and the surround sound stuff in my family room. Gotta do something fun for myself, right?

99.5%

2008-03-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

Faucets installed. Of course, don't have the hoses to connect the faucets to the water supply. Doh!

99%

2008-03-10T11:32:00.001-07:00

Okay, need to do some minor touch up and install the faucets and this project is OVER!!! I'm so happy. I was thinking I might try to make it one year for this project, but the actual thought of how long it took kinda made me sick. Oh well, lots of down time. This hopefully will be the last glass mosaic project I ever do. That stuff is not fun to work with. Far from perfect but overall I'm very pleased with the way things turned out.

Compare the above shots to my mockup:

Not too bad if I do say so myself...

Counters are in!!!

2008-03-04T00:01:00.001-08:00

Finally! So excited to get the counters in. I owe Nick big time for his help on this. Unfortunately the wall blends with the counter so it really doesn't stand out. But now I will get working on that mosaic wall tile and all will be good in the universe. I really like the counter - it is definitely unique, particularly with the little raised platform.

I can see a little light... almost time to put this baby to bed... Thank goodness.

Model "B" and Model "G" - stoopid foks

2008-02-26T11:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, so see the sink below? Yeah great. It is the wrong sink. I was sent two different sinks. Of course, I ordered them back in July, so I had to contact the mfg. to write a letter to approve a return since it was their fault. Now I have to ship it back before I can get a replacement. And I have to pay for return shipping. Nice. Going to give them a call to get this thing taken care of otherwise I'll have to post my poor experience with them. So far not good as my e-mails weren't returned gol dang it!

The countertop is finished! Big props to Nick for finishing it up for me. Unfortunately can't do anything until the new sink arrives... :(

Sink Test

2008-01-30T22:14:00.000-08:00

That's a good sign - the sink fits the cutout in the plywood. Now hopefully I lined up the sink opening on the counter with the opening in the plywood. We'll find out soon enough. That is one large sink BTW - I would expect there to be no toothpaste on the counter with a target that big... :)

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

2008-01-29T16:32:00.001-08:00

Just need to spray texture the ceiling in the shower and paint it and it is done. Yippee. The door really dresses up the shower and it actually looks pretty darn nice if I do say so myself.

Poured the countertop this past weekend so hopefully that'll be ready to go soon...

Got a little sidetracked...

2008-01-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

Decided my daughter's room needed some lighting (thanks Spiccoli for the inspiration although I don't need anymore freakin' projects ya bastage).

Actually, a pretty easy job - I'll probably do the same in the office too. Now getting rid of the rat(s) in the attic may be a bigger project.

And I think I've been talked into tiling the ceiling of the shower too. Sheesh. It never ends...

Just a measly 5.5 months later...

2008-01-05T01:06:00.000-08:00

And the shower tile is D-U-N. Sweet mother of pearl, that took awhile. I just need to silicone the corner joints and at the bottom and then install the door and the shower is complete. Oh wait, forgot, the ceiling was out of whack by 1/4" over a 42" span so I'll need to float that and texture. Then paint and then done.

So nice to see the hardware in there. Now it looks like a real shower!

In the home stretch...

2007-12-21T22:40:00.000-08:00

Well, at least for the shower tile. I have to install the 4" squares at the top and the tile will be D-U-N. Oh wait, I still have some glass mosaic to do for the niche. Then the tile will be D-U-N. Don't forget the grout too. Definitely excited though to see some good progress. This project is moving SO slowly. Lots o' down time. Oh well. Not as much urgency since there are two other bathrooms.

Mosaic tile is not a very forgiving tile. I tried the technique where you pre-grout the tile (under the paper face) and then set it in thinset. Worked okay, super messy. Didn't have that thinset push through problem with this technique. Still need to do some grout touch up, but overall I would say that method is pretty good. I'll probably do the same with the vanity wall. That's going to be oh so fun. Can't wait... :(

Happy Holidays!!! Be safe.

Okay, faith restored some...

2007-12-11T08:48:00.001-08:00

I guess I did the toughest section of tile first. I was able to tile most of the other walls reasonably quickly. Still couldn't make a living doing this, but at least some significant progress was made. Even the wife said, "Wow, you got a lot done." That happens every full moon that occurs on a Tuesday during an odd numbered Leap Year.

I have to build up the section at the top of the tile (hence the thinset there). The mosaic glass tile is about 1/2 the thickness of the white tile. So I'm actually thinking a little bit now. Amazing to actually use the brain periodically.

Just waiting now for the package to arrive that has that little trim detail I posted below so I can finish up the field tile. I'll then move onto the mosaic that will be 6" tall and extend all the way around the shower. I need to install the bullnose finished trim pieces as well at the front of the shower. And then the 4-1/4" square tiles at the top. Can't wait for those - the easiest part of the job!!!

You think you know, but you don't. And you never will...*

2007-12-02T00:23:00.000-08:00

Well, here is what 5 hours of tiling looks like for someone who thought they knew how to do tile. That's all folks. Whoever gave me the idea to diagonal tile will be hunted down and properly addressed. Holy crap. I used to think I liked doing tile. Can I choose a more challenging tile project? Diagonal tile for the first time and a bunch of glass mosaic tile. That cultured marble is looking pretty appealing right about now...

In the end it will look fantastic, but I still have to question my sanity (should do that on a regular basis really). Oh and you won't be able to tell by the photo, but the tiles creating the border around the niche are actually slightly lower than the diagonal tile. Gawd dammit. I didn't account for there being a slight bow in the tile due to the curing/baking process. So I will have to get a little creative with grout. It's really too bad - all I needed to do was to build up that border tile slightly and all woulda been good. I need to stop doing small chunks of tile where there may be differences in height - after setting some of those border tiles, I shoulda set some diagonals - before the thinset setup. Oh well, ain't changing now.

Oh and I'm about 3/8" too high at the bottom now. Just perfect. So much for spending all that time laying things out. Fortunately my butt will be saved - I'll just need to order this product:

* Quote courtesy of one of the all-time great quote machines, Jim Mora.

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

2007-11-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

Okay, making more progress... still not as fast as I'd like, but I have to remember that I haven't done this stuff for awhile so it is slower going.

Shower area completely waterproofed. Goofed up and forgot to seal the niche so had to take down the waterproofing and redo. And of course I didn't have enough of the stuff so had to add an additional overlap seam with the scrap I had. Lame

Tiled up border on the niche. Amazing coincidence? All the miter cut pieces are exactly the same size. What are the odds of that happening?

Yeah baby! Finally, some of that spendy mosaic tile in place. Will have to cut a teeny bit on the shelf. Hopefully that is the only cutting I do on this entire project. Keep your fingers crossed.

More progress...

2007-11-12T21:47:00.000-08:00

Sheetrock is in, the shower is ready for some Kerdi action (waterproofing membrane). Should have it all by this Wednesday. I think I'll be ready to tile this weekend!

Here is a shot of the niche (very rough):

I'll miter cut the border tile. The color of the mosaic tile isn't even close as you're seeing the tan colored paper through the glass vs. white thinset (and that is the back of the tile). I have been dying to do this mosaic tile so you can see just how beautiful it really is. Do you see the shelf that will be in the niche? It will match the mosaic tile so will blend nicely (note the photo is sideways).

My oh my what can this be?

2007-11-07T10:49:00.000-08:00

Is this a bathtub installed I see? (You late 30's/early 40's folks might remember this line from the School House Rocks era - what did the original line say? Answer below.)

More thanks to the Spiccoli man. Let's just hope it doesn't leak. A few screws to secure it in place and it should be good to go.

Also, I either bought or ordered everything I need to start tiling the shower. So hopefully in a week or so I'll be ready to do that. I'm going with a larger niche than originally planned - this one has two compartments - see below. Looks like based on the measurements the mosaic tile will fit perfectly. Keeping my fingers crossed though.

Need to install the sheetrock and do a quick dry layout to find the exact spot for the niche. Then onto the waterproofing membrane and then the tile!!!

* Instead of "Is this a bathtub installed I see?" the line went, "For goodness sake a cavity." I know, I've lost it.

Some progress but not a lot...

2007-11-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't done much of anything lately, but hope to get the bathtub in this weekend. Spiccoli will help me out Sunday. In the meantime, here are a couple of photos of work recently done:

New Plumbing (thanks Spiccoli for your help)

Mirrors installed! It's actually starting to look like my mockup...
Will probably get back in the queue this month for the counter. Nick's bidness is kicking arse so squeezing me in is not easy. His stuff is even better now so check out his gallery in the links to the right. After the tub is in I can start tiling the shower though so that will take some time. Plus I have a laundry list of things to do for neighbors - I gotta get those done too. I feel bad for committing to them but not following through...

I think it moved...

2007-10-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

That's because I recently picked up this bad boy (insert Tim Allen Tooltime grunt here):

Wow, what a piece of machinery!!! I'm so excited - almost as excited as getting a new bike. No more flipping over pieces to cut angles, etc. This thing swivels in every direction imaginable. Plus apparently it can cut up to a 4"x12", so it should be all the saw I ever need.

I think I'm going to cut some wood just for the halibut.

Still circling...

2007-09-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent photos.

Bathtub removed.

And some more hack work, this time by the plumber - jeeze, use enough flux? What a mess. The likely cause of the infamous "blue water" to this day people still bring up in home sales (and these places were built almost 20 years ago).

Now what?

2007-09-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, the tub has a 3-4 week lead time... Sheesh. So basically I'm in limboland at this point. Did finish up the painting.

Onto the neighbor's laundry room?

Progress...

2007-09-12T23:33:00.001-07:00

Okay, counter is on hold for a bit until we figure out something cool for the seam. Starting to think I like this:

But until things get finalized, there are no worries, plenty of other schtuff to do:

Demo'd the shower enclosure and then determined that the tub wasn't really designed for an alcove. The builder simply glued on a flange around the perimeter. Indeed a nice touch. The old tub is a bit dinged up too, including about a 1.5" crack at the front edge (doesn't impact water containment). So it looks like I will install a new tub:

The integral skirt is an added plus. Might have to cut some tile though that is already installed - yay.

Oh and I swapped out the door hardware - leverset, hinges, door stop. All polished chrome on the inside and the outside door lever is gold to match everywhere else. Also, did the same thing downstairs in the guest bath so that project is done-done. Cool!

Small Setback

2007-09-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well, unfortunately my countertop experienced a few cracks - we were pushing the envelope a bit by going seamless. Oh well, things happen for a reason. We cut the piece in half for a display piece - a nice 4' counter with undermount sink. So during the polishing, the glass we hoped to see in the surface was nearly all gone. Apparently the vibrating vibrated it upwards and into the concrete. Still looked good but not as I had pictured. So like the concrete tile that I dropped for the fireplace, this will give me an opportunity to redo the counter and make sure it is done so it turns out as planned and suh-weet looking. Still have the mold so re-making it wont' be tough. This time though it will be seamed. Just trying to come up with a cool looking seam...

So I'm going to start tearing out the shower now...

Speaking of caulk...

2007-09-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

SNL CAULK SKIT | Funny Jokes at JibJab

Thank goodness for caulk

2007-09-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

Most of these walls have some kinda wave in them - acceptable production tolerances apparently. But boy do the wreak havoc on corner miter cuts. Thankfully there is this new product that I just discovered. It is called "caulk". Glad that they invented this stuff just recently.

Here is the latest photo - walls painted (except up high at the ceiling/wall junction), baseboard installed and caulked, and the wall sconce install from hell in place as well. Stoopid me, should've run a separate switch and then cut into the sheetrock and wired it behind the cabinets. No, I have to go through the soffit above. Remember the alleged magic bullet in the Kennedy assassination? Well, that is basically how I needed to fish the wire through a 2"x4", header, another 2"x4" laying flat, then through plywood shear. All for a freakin' wall sconce! Just about another Calgon moment.

Try and find a polished chrome lockset

2007-09-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

Sum beotch, I guess these aren't big sellers anymore. Went to three different big box stores (HD, Lowe's) and couldn't find any. No levers, no knob style. What is up with that?!!! Oh well, ordered online. No instant gratification here.

Did find new mirrors to replace my oversized ones. Oh and found out I built my frames about 1/16" too small. Gol dang it! Will router out the back just a bit to accomodate the mirror.

Oh and no polish on the counter. Nick's son was sick, so that's more important.

Focking A!!!

2007-09-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

Well, built the frames for the mirrors - turned out nicely, sanded and primed ready to be painted and installed. Oh one little detail - I should've gotten the 24"x30" mirrors instead of the 24"x36" mirrors. Too bad I built the frames to 24"x36". Crap.

I'm off to polish the countertop at Nick's shop!!!

Counter poured!!!

2007-08-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, another quick photo-less update - poured the counter today - thanks to my friend Nick for helping me. I'm excited to see how it turns out - should be really cool. We're doing one big seamless piece, with glass sprinkled in. Color is bone. Will turnover either Wednesday or Thursday to see the finished surface. Polish and seal shortly thereafter and then install on Labor Day weekend! Yay!

Quickie Update

2007-08-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

No photos. Walls primed. Plywood installed. Hardware installed. Mirrors and frame material purchased. Shower hardware purchased. Only thing remaining to buy is the shower door and shower tile.

Coolness factor

2007-07-29T21:30:00.000-07:00

Switch controlled night light at the toe kick. Tres cool. Simple rope light install. Plywood is on the top too so this bad boy is ready for templating.

Yeah, it wasn't on my list of things to do, but saw it and decided it would be a nice thing to have. Hopefully no more middle of the night wakeup calls because a certain 7 year old needs to let us know she has to use the bathroom... :)

Bathroom is underway...

2007-07-28T22:26:00.001-07:00

... in a big way! Here are some shots of the progress I made today. Good stuff. Need to install some plywood on the tops and this bad boy will be ready for templating. Demo'ing the old cabinets was very easy, considering they were pretty much junk. Amazing what you didn't see - the bases had big sections missing and were split in half. This home builder was a hack. Lot's o' shortcuts. Anyhow, enough of the high horse. Here are the shots:

Before

Cabinets removed and mirror taped

Cabinets installed and mirror gonzo!
Pretty much went according to plan - the wall is about 1/2" out of square over 8'. Not horrible I guess. Have discovered a problem that will make my sconce mounting problematic - big ol' stud right in the center of that wall. May have to do something funky with an undersized J-box or something. Or a shallow one and whittle out the stud a bit. We'll see what my options are.

Oh suh-weet, just found this - it's called a ceiling pan box. Smallest allowable box. I can attach it to the stud either right on top of the drywall or recess it. Yay!

Thanks to the Spiccoli man for helping me get rid of the mirror. Hopefully the bad luck doesn't start...

Next steps:

1) Install plywood, template countertop
2) Paint walls, repair glue spots on wall
3) Run electrical for wall sconce
4) Baseboard
5) Install hardware (should be arriving soon)

I think I'm ditching the tub surround idea - K.I.S.S. But that phase of the project is off in the distance as I'm only doing one side at a time.

Done Done

2007-07-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

Can finally put this fireplace to bed. Yay! Thanks again to Nick for all his help and support. Do me a favor and check out his website in the links to the right. Lots more projects in his portfolio.

Well, it took a long time, but there was plenty of down time. Went with a mosaic glass tile for the surround after dropping a piece of my concrete surround. I'm glad that I was able to do a small mosaic job before I tackle the next one. Next one? Yup, no rest for the weary (or obsessive). First need to install a fountain in the backyard (did the electrical already). Pour a pad and set the fountain. Easy. But here is the next big project (Alaina's bathroom):

Already moved the new cabinets from the garage to the staging area (master bedroom). Here we go...

Major Update

2007-06-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, not very consistent in my updating of this site. Oh well. I don't think anyone looks at it very often which is cool. Here are some photos:

Textured ceiling and primed wall - boy, much easier to use the spray gun to do the texture than those little cans. Once I figured the correct pressure things went well. Two coats were necessary to get the heavier texture the builder got. Still not perfect but close enough.

Textured wall where sheetrock shelf was previously. Scroll way down to see what the old fireplace used to look like.

Same as above, opposite side. These sections turned out really nice, and with the light paint, it is tough to tell there was a big patch job.

New paint color - Thunder Bay by Ralph Lauren. I'm not sure though if it is too dark and blends too much with the fireplace. It sure is a nice warm color though. And boy does it break up the light beige that we have everywhere in that room. Maybe more walls will end up this color. Figures though - the one time I pick the right color I only buy a quart.

Should help with the reflected light off the screen a little bit to.

I also templated the surround and just need to pour that and install and this baby is D-U-N. Of course, thoughts of redoing the family room fireplace and entertainment center are floating through my head... flat panel above the new fireplace... toss out old entertainment center and get new cab and build subwoofer into it... oh wait, I have Alaina's bathroom cabinets sitting in boxes in the garage... back to reality.

Finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel

2007-05-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness. I'm ready to be done with this bad boy. The mantle turned out really great - that is one heavy sum beotch, weighing in at approximately 275 lbs. Thanks to Nick and Elvin for helping me bring that thing in the house.

The darker brown surrounding the insert actually isn't the true tile that I plan on putting there. It will be three thin slabs of concrete, but wanted to show you what it will look like when finished. The color here in blogger looks pretty bad actually, not sure why it does that. It doesn't look like that in the original I mocked up. Oh well, you get the idea. It's going to look a lot better when finished.

Anyhow, the hardest part of the project is D-U-N. Some caulking, one more skim coat on the wall, texture, and then paint and I can put this baby to bed. Yay! Then it's onto Alaina's bathroom. Ugh.

This thing is actually starting to come together

2007-04-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I amaze myself - of course, without Nick's help this project wouldn't even have started. Come to think of it, I'd be done as I would've gone with a wood mantel and granite/marble hearth. But this is going to be super suh-weet when it is all said and done. Here is the mantle with the form stripped off:

Memo to self - when trying to turn over something that weighs close to 300 lbs. by yourself, make sure you remove your fingers out from under the wood supporting it. Sweet mother of pearl that hurt. Do you need every knuckle to be functional anyhow?

New subs!!!

2007-04-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

Well that didn't take long - to upgrade my subwoofers. Oh well, these babies are going to rock the house (even more). They are my anniversary present. About 2.5 times the displacement as the other subs. Crazy man, crazy.

Yes, more time in the crawl space... :(

The end is in sight...

2007-04-04T23:49:00.000-07:00

Well, at least for the hearth - although we're hoping to complete the entire fireplace by the end of April. Might be tough since I'm losing two weekends (Easter and a bike race), but we'll see.

So we hired the 6th Village Person to help on the polishing part (Nick gets credit for the Village Person reference):

And of course you can never have too many sidewalk superintendents:

Here is the final color - much warmer than my computer mockup, eh? I really like the color and think it is going to look quite swell. We're going to do chocolate colored tiles around the insert to tie in the chocolate in the hearth and the chocolate colored couch. Hmm... all of a sudden I have the urge to have some chocolate. Wonder why?

A little Mr. Miyagi wax on, wax off action and the hearth will be D-U-N. Yeah baby!!!

You thought I was kidding with the frosting comment?

2007-03-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

Tracy's comment was priceless - "Is that supposed to make it look better?"

Cake Anyone?

2007-03-28T23:31:00.000-07:00

Throw on a little frosting and voila! Actually, this is a better shot of the "cork board" below to give you a sense of what you're looking at. It is the center piece of the three piece hearth.

Still very early in the process - I have been assured it will turn out suh-weet. Just looks a bit funky right now.

Wow it's been awhile...

2007-03-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Didn't realize how long it has been since I last updated this blog. But I haven't been sitting on my arse watching Oprah and eating Bon-Bons. Here are some photos of the work being done on the fireplace:

FORMS

Of course, all this was unnecessary since I've decided to use cork board for the fireplace:

Much better acoustically for the HT. Guess there might be some issues with fire though. Although, who uses their fireplace anymore?

Also, helped my friend with his company, It's Concrete. Download his brochure that I designed here (981k). Concrete is a really neat surface and the design possibilities are endless. Plus, you won't have the same granite like everyone else does (me included). Please pass it onto friends/contractors/etc. if you're in the Bay Area (CA).

So slower going than had hoped, but heck, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Two Words: Sha wing!!!!!!!

2007-03-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here is the scale mockup of the new fireplace. Very excited by the look and am ready to proceed. I'm going to be working with my friend Nick to get this done. Perhaps I'll receive an honorary disciple crown for my work. We'll see.

Started off crapay (French for crappy - would've used an accented "e" but don't know how to do that easily). I got all the wood for the hearth all cut up and figured I'd assemble it tonight. Well, little detail about forgetting about the top of the box adding to the height. So I ripped all my pieces 3/4" too tall. Dayam. Oh well, non-fatal mistake, means I can hit the treadmill instead of working on this tonight.

Fireplace Design

2007-02-25T19:23:00.000-08:00

Here is what I'm hoping the fireplace will turn out like. The lower section won't be nearly as tall (maybe 4"-6"). I'm hoping my buddy Nick can work his magic on this. I'm sure he can.

I like the clean simple lines. Not sure if I'll use this color, but it will be something warm. I'm thinking the burnt pumpkin is out - need something a bit more neutral/safe just in case.

Fireplace project started!

2007-02-23T20:47:00.000-08:00

Well, after talking about it for awhile, I finally decided to tear down the old fireplace. Good timing, as the garbage company had their quarterly "dump" day. So I was able to get rid of all the debris. Nothing eventful for this project so far, other than the large arch piece crashing to the floor when I was removing it. Hadn't expected that to happen. No harm, no foul.

I removed the piece of sheetrock in the center (dome shaped piece) and installed a new one. Taped and now in the process of building up the sheetrock with some mud to make it flatter. I bought a texture sprayer gun and will have to learn how to use that thing, since I've only used spray cans in the past. Hopefully it isn't too difficult.

Subwoofer Optomized

2006-12-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

Okay so I think I'm finally done tweaking the subwoofer. The blue line is the unequalized measured response. The pink line is the equalized response. Not sure if it is the ideal house curve, but I like the way it sounds for movies. Haven't done a test for music yet, but I don't expect to listen to music too much in that room.

I'm getting good output below 20hz, whereas before (look at the graph down below), the frequency rolled off below 30hz. And that was with a ton of boost. I actually lowered the gain on most of the frequencies.

Thanks a bunch to ThomasW over at the subwoofer site posted in the links to the right. His help was invaluable. Small detail of a low frequency filter being turned on seriously impacted the bottom end. Amazing what a little dip switch flipped to the wrong side can do.

Now the low end is amazing. The Darla tapping on the glass screen in Finding Nemo is frightening. I can't even imagine what it would feel (note, not sound) like with two more drivers (which is what they first recommended to me). Although I'm thinking of upgrading the drivers sometime next year with ones that have nearly 3 times the displacement... :)

New Receiver!!!

2006-12-14T15:02:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! Picked up a suh-weet receiver for the HT. So very nice. Thanks mom and dad for helping to cover some of the cost with the Christmas money.

But of course nothing can be easy - guess what? The receiver is 1.5" deeper than my previous receiver. No problem in standard rack/shelf systems. Unfortunately if you recall my system doesn't have much room to work with. So out with the reciprocating saw, jigsaw, pry bar, etc. to remove more wood studs. I installed a stud that was rotated to gain the extra depth. Nice.

Oh wait, there's more - if you've ever worked with HDMI cables, you'll find they are not very flexible. Well, due to the extra depth, I could not run my HDMI cables because they require more room in the back. Sheesh. Fortunately they make these right angle swivel adapters so I ordered two. Oh but wait, I needed three. Great. Ordered the third one, was more expensive a day later, and then was inadvertently shipped to Seattle. Doh!

I sure hope I can fit all this stuff back into that column base. Did I mention the new receiver is about 5/8" taller? That's going to require some fancy action too to get all three components to fit in there. Calgon take me away...

No more circa late 80's wet bar

2006-11-03T20:17:00.000-08:00

Who uses a wet bar nowadays anyhow? Plus the faux marble is two words: UG LY. So I replaced it with this desk. Challenging job, as this was the first clear wood project I've done. No caulk to hide my hack job. But I'm really pleased with how it turned out, other than the color. I knew I shouldn't have trusted a Home Depot guy with two Masters degrees to help me choose the color. Oh well. Can't stain it either since the wood is sealed and the door panel inside the frame is a veneer. I did the top desk piece from scratch. The stain doesn't match perfectly - it's close though. Once again, the HD guy didn't know they had matching stain. I found this out obviously a bit too late. Jiminy Christmas.

Computer inside the lower left cabinet. I even installed a cooling fan inside the cabinet drawing the heat out. That's where I got the idea for the cooling fan for my home theater components. Works out nicely.

Used some leftover tiles and did the same backsplash as the kitchen. Figured why not? Also, put an undercab light in there for the halibut.

Last part of the room to remodel

2006-10-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

It's just cosmetic so really isn't a critical part of the home theater. But it is quite butt ugly so it will be replaced.

I was going to simply replace the nasty tile with marble, but now instead I'm considering having my buddy do a concrete hearth. Click on the link to the right for his latest work. That burnt pumpkin color looks like it has potential...

Sectional and coffee table

2006-10-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of the sectional and coffee table. Need to get more throw pillows to break up all the brown. You can't see the crinkle in the fabric from this shot, but it is there and creates a nice texture to the otherwise smooth microfiber material.

This thing is super cozy, fell asleep in it last night. Won't be the last time I'm sure.

Components...

2006-10-22T17:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of how I hid the components. If you look closely, you will see little wires hanging down with a black pear shaped thingy at the end - these sit over the IR receivers on the components and allows me to control the components from a small receiver hidden on the shelf of the coffee table.

There is a 120mm cooling fan mounted inside this enclosure to help with the heat - particularly the DirecTV DVR - that thing runs pretty hot. The addition of the fan has reduced the temp from about 129 to between 115-122. Every little thing helps. The fan is super quiet (rated at 14db at 12V - I'm running it at 9V so it should be even more quiet).

To remove the receiver (if I need to for some reason) I'll have to remove the door, hinges, and trim piece the hinges are connected to. Cut it a teeny bit too tight. Oh well. Hopefully I don't have major issues with the receiver.

Oh and the new sectional is to be delivered this Tuesday - finally something Tracy is excited about...

HT Finished!!!

2006-10-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, been very delinquent in updating this blog. But the theater is D-U-N. Here are some shots:

Screen Up

Screen Down

Subwoofer
I'm really pleased with how the box hiding the screen turned out. Thanks to Spiccoli for his thoughts on the design.

Note the suh-weet Ijoy massage chair my wife got me for my birthday. So decadent to sit there and get a massage. Not quite the same as real hands, but it still feels good.

I can also say now that the kitchen is 100% complete - I finally painted the handrail separating the kitchen from the family room. It has sat there primed for the last three years...

Universal Remote Programmed!!!

2006-10-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, if you have a ton of remote controls, time to catch up with technology. The Harmony 880 remote is a great RC. You program it online and it takes care of everything else for you. Their software is a bit clunky, but once you get it set up you will be a happy camper. You can even put icons of your favorite channels on it, as well as custom backgrounds. So now I go from 6 remotes to 1. Two words: Suh weet! (this is our second one - I'm sold on their performance).

Also, finally got things squared away with the screen - will be getting a new screen one size smaller (106"). Hopefully this one is perfectly rectangular. Interesting that the company just wants the end caps, control box, and remotes back. Then I'm supposed to discard the rest. I guess I'll try to find a spot for this so I can use it as an outside screen or something.

Otherwise I'm pretty much done with all I can do at this point. A little paint is all that remains until I get the new screen. Then I'll have to do some more electrical work to move the existing box (and in turn some sheetrock work). Then I'll build the enclosure for the screen.

Then it's onto the tile work for the fireplace... but that won't happen until after the sectional arrives.

Tweaking sub so much I've got a headache

2006-09-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder what is better - having very few options and just dealing with what you've got or have tons of options and trying to get things poifect.

Well, having 12 frequencies to mess around with on a parametric EQ is just crazy stuff. I used the old manual technique to try to get my response flat (and then throw in a house curve - apparently this is nice for watching movies - note the downward slope from the 30-40hz range to about 100hz). We'll see.

The blue line on the graph is the subwoofer's response in the living room without equalization. The pink line is my attempt to get that flat/house curve style line. Close enough for me. Once again, this is no THX certified theater. Who knows, maybe someday I'll bring a computer down to the room and do the full on test with software et al. Or maybe not.

In the home stretch...

2006-09-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

Well, other than wiring the floor outlet, everything left is cosmetic. Here's a shot of the components in the column base. Might have made that opening a bit small, I hope I can get my receiver out if need be (when the trim is glued in place - they're just press fit in their now). A fabric covered door will cover up these components.

Still waiting to hear back about my screen - I'm starting to get a bit ticked now since they're not responding to me - e-mails or phone calls. Guess that's what I get for going with a budget screen.

Need to go buy the coffee table too...

The subwoofer from hell, the lost cat, and the new couch

2006-09-25T00:48:00.000-07:00

Well, another couple of hours in the crawl space, and the subwoofer is D-U-N. Finally. Jeez, what a pain in the arse. I don't know what happened - holes didn't line up, screws were too short, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then to top it all off, our cat disappeared. Turns out she jumped down into the enclosure before it was enclosed and had some fun in the crawl space. Well, in my haste to run to the Depot to get longer screws, I guess I forgot to close the access to the crawl space too. So she disappeared for several hours, made Alaina cry, and we were worried with her being an indoor cat. I heard cat fights, but couldn't find her. Then, after I saw a shooting star outside (really), she turned up. Strange. She acted like nothing had ever happened. Crazy cat.

Oh, and we found a great sectional sofa for the living room. A heavy microfiber with crinkles. 10'x10', with three reclining seats. Two facing the screen, one facing the fireplace. Man, these are sooooooo cozy. We got it at Connolly's in Fremont. Good people. They worked with me to try to get close to online pricing. Check them out if you're in the need for furniture.

So I'll crank up the subwoofer hopefully tomorrow to see what it sounds like. Could only play it low volumes since I didn't finish up in the crawl space until around 9:30pm. Need to buy an SPL meter too to calibrate it. Now just lots of little details to wrap up... and hopefully I'll hear about replacing my screen this week.

How many lumps do you want?

2006-09-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

Dang, nearly 7 hours of work today and still didn't finish up the subwoofer. So close. But a lot of things conspired against me:

1) The largest piece of the enclosure didn't fit through the crawl space access. Had to remove some wood framing the opening and it still didn't fit. Cut the piece smaller.

2) A concrete pier obstructed the enclosure. What is up with that? Got the grinder out and cut some of it down. Hammer and chisel too. Smacked my thumb at least twice, and also pinched a part of my palm between the chisel and hammer. Can you spell O-U-C-H?

3) Mysteriously ran out of 2"x4"'s. Couldn't even round up a few remnants. Fortunately Spiccoli helped me out with this.

I was ready to quit, but Marc told me to keep going. So I got most of it done - just need to seal it up with some caulking, mount a side piece of wood inside the column base, and then the amp shelf and amps. Oh, and install the subwoofers. Got sloppy though since I was beat but fortunately no one will see the work. The enclosure is REALLY stout, I'm happy overall with the way it turned out. But working in the crawl space for nearly 4 hours is pretty brutal on the body. Can't wait until that part is over with. Just getting all the materials and equipment over there was a major chore.

So hopefully the subs will be completed sometime tomorrow...

We've got HDTV...

2006-09-21T23:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the DirecTV guy showed up today with the 45 lbs. satellite. I showed him the old satellite that he was going to replace. He said, you can't install it there, it is too heavy. Plus, there is no electrical up there for a larger multi-switch box. He said no problem - you'll just have two satellites. He did a nice job hiding the second satellite, but the cable job was a bit, shall we say, crappy. Black cable? Come on man, where's the white stuff? Oh well, it is on the side of the house that hardly anyone ever sees.

I must say that the UI on the DirecTV DVR pales in comparison to the Tivo UI. Definitely more clunky, and not as intuitive. Such is life though. It is the new version and is compatible with the mpeg-4 HD broadcasts (future stuff).

HD sure is perty though...

I like the big 'uns

2006-09-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Holy cow the subwoofers arrived yesterday and well, they are BIG. Crazy. Yes, I did say, subwoofer(S). As in plural. Hope I don't shake my house and the neighbor's house down (funny, the guys on the forum I'm working with don't think two will be enough - are they crazy or what?). Fits well with the "Go big or go home" motto though.

I put my foot in the photo for reference. Size 13. You know what they say about big feet...

Blue Screen of Death?

2006-09-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

No, not the dreaded blue screen of death. But I'm a bit concerned by a couple of things - I cannot center the image in the screen. It appears there are some defects in the screen. See how some sections of the black fabric are not parallel to the blue image? Pay attention to the bottom left corner and the right side, starting at the middle to the bottom. Hopefully the manufacturer can help me with this.

My other concern is that the screen is pretty darn large. A bit larger than I anticipated. I can see the vertigo potential on some crazy action scenes. Maybe if it is defective the manufacturer will send me a screen that is one size smaller. We'll see...

Ordered a cool IR system that will allow me to control all of my components including the screen and the projector (even though they are in the opposite direction of the components). This will be located right at the coffee table. Pretty cool stuff. One click of the Harmony 880 remote and the screen will drop down, the projector, DVD player, receiver, etc. will all power on and be ready to go.

Electrical done... uh, maybe not

2006-09-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I spent an appreciable amount of time in the crawl space over the weekend doing some electrical work and routing a phone line for the Tivo unit. Great - electrical for the components and sub amp/eq. But wait, I'm now going to move the amp/EQ into the closet. Dang. No electrical in there. Guess I'll have to re-route it over there. It's always something. Oh and now that it is in the closet I guess I didn't need to do the mod on the amp to make it more quiet. Oh well. I did order a cool little in floor outlet that has a brass coverplate/cover. That will go under the coffee table for the projector power. So I was going to have to do more electrical work anyhow.

Memo to self - do not try to fish wires with your spouse.

More stuff arriving, waiting for the screen to arrive on 9/13. I believe that is the last of the stuff, as the front speakers arrived today. I might get withdrawals not seeing a package on my porch...

Here's a shot of the cutouts for the rear speakers:

Let the cutting begin...

2006-09-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

This is where the infinite baffle subwoofer will go. I will get some acoustic fabric that closely matches the paint, build a frame, and attach it for a nice stealthy look. Oh, the subwoofer amplifier and parametric EQ will go in this enclosure as well.

Here is inside the above box - yes, that is the crawl space below. Due to the size of the subwoofer enclosure, I'll have to assemble it in the crawl space. In its assembled form, it won't fit through the crawl space access. :(

This is where the main components will go - receiver, DVD, and DirecTV box. Had to move that beam that is showing. Again, I'll cover this with acoustic fabric (which you can shoot an infrared beam through to control the components). But with this one I'll put hinges on it so it can easily be opened.

You never know what you'll find behind the sheetrock... whoever drew this has a little talent.

Guest Bath Photos

2006-09-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

Quick timeout from the HT project. Here are some photos of my guest bathroom remodel:

Piece of advice for doing large tiles on the wall - make sure your walls are dead nuts. Otherwise your life will be challenging.

This was a fun project, including cutting through the concrete slab to relocate the drain (and resize it to meet the shower code). This project extended into the laundry area where I did new cabinets, a big ol' stand for the washer and dryer, and a seating/clothes prep area complete with a bar to hang up clothes. Seems as though clothes hang there perpetually...

Another memo to self - do not dry fit washer drain pipe. Glue the damn thing right away or you'll be cutting into sheetrock to glue it later. Oh and you'll have a lot of water to clean up.

HT Layout

2006-09-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

Here is the layout of what I'm going to do. I won't be doing the lift in the ceiling due to some restrictions there. The projector will sit on a shelf within the coffee table. Thankfully that is a much easier setup.

Still will be a living room, so the theater will be very stealthy. In wall speakers, in floor subwoofer, components hidden, drop down electric screen built into a soffit, etc.

We do need to get new couches since ours have been destroyed by the cat and a new coffee table too. Hope the home consignment center has what we're looking for... :)

Current Projector - Home Theater

2006-09-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

Even though I don't watch a whole lot of TV and don't get to the movies much anymore, I've always been intrigued by having a home theater. And our living room gets virtually no use so I figured why not use it for a home theater?

Tracy wasn't too hot on the idea but gave me the okay as long as I came up with the money from sources other than salary and bonuses. Well, good thing the gigolo job has paid well. My secret stash of moolah would work perfectly. Actually, I had some stock options that weren't underwater and I was good to go. As my sis would say, "I'm such a capitalist." Someone needs to help out the economy. We do our share - how about you?

It's been like an early Christmas with all this electronic stuff being delivered to the door. Here is my setup:

* Panasonic PT-AE900U projector (native 720p)
* Elite Cinetension High Contrast Gray screen, 59"x105" (121" diagonal) - changed to the 106" diagonal - much easier on my eyes
* Yamaha HTR-5560 receiver (already had, may upgrade in the future if necessary)
* Speakers - Speakercraft in-walls
* Subwoofer - Mach5 Audio 18" x 2 in an infinite baffle setup mounted in the crawl space.
* Sub amp - Behringer EP1500 amp to power the sub
* Parametric EQ for sub - Behringer Feedback Destroyer Pro DSP 1124P
* Toshiba HD-DVD player
* DirecTV HR20 - new HDTV receiver/DVR/satellite system
* Harmony 880 remote

It won't be a THX certified theater, but I think it will fit well for our needs. The room is hardly ideal for a home theater, so why go too crazy? (some people already think what I'm doing is a bit overkill).

Great, Another Blog

2006-09-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

As if I don't have enough time as it is, I've decided to setup another blog - this one to document some of my remodeling work. Blogs are so much easier to work with than my old school html web programming. So this shouldn't take a whole lot of time.

Good way to keep family and friends updated on the status of my projects.