Tiling Sucks

So I think we've clearly establishing our blogging roles+responsibilities at this point; Jon takes and uploads the photos. I talk about my feelings. With that in mind, here's the deal:

Tiling is the worst thing ever. It takes forever, it's hard, and even if you work for a solid week on it, it still doesn't come out that great. Tiling makes me cry. Those pictures you seem below of me smiling and looking cute are really just me putting on a brave face for the paparazzi, like Jennifer Aniston.

I thought I would wait to write this blog post until the tiling project was over, when I would have a sense of completion and satisfaction and perspective. However, it is now clear to me that the tiling will NEVER END.

The project began about 4 months ago, when we gutted the gross bathroom- pulling out a busted metal shower stall and concrete shower pan, ripping out drywall and linoleum.

Three months ago we refinished the floor and repaired the plumbing so the shower would actually work.

Two months ago we installed a shower pan and I bought some cool white tiles in the bargain basement of the carpet shop down the street and we thought we'd make quick work of tiling the shower. Then we got married and had a honeymoon.

That part was awesome.

When returned home last week, we buckled down and started prepping the bathroom for the tile work. We covered the walls in plastic sheathing and Durarock and mortar. We then laid and cut tiles for 10 years. Or whatever.

On the bright side, I learned to use a new tool- the tile saw. Tile saws are the greatest. They make a cool noise and clean cuts and re immensely satisfying to use. The problem with the tile saw is that to use it correctly, you have to measure tiles and the spaces in which the tiles need to fit. And ya'll know how I feel about the measuring.

So suffice to say I miscut a lot of tiles. Not by a lot, but by the tiniest fraction of a cut, which it turns out matters just as much.

Last night we spread the mortar, and tonight we will clean and patch up the mortar and hopefully seal it in the next day or two. And then, maybe this project will end. But don't count on it.

Ok, we've been busy - here we go:

We got married

Went on a Honeymoon in Maui

Got back and started landscaping

The rooftop deck has more green now

Amy and the tile cutter

2 full days and 3 nights of bathroom tileing

 I think there are tools for this but hands work well too

We are working our butts off because we booked our first AirBnB client for a week

Small Victories

Amy and I have been getting ready for our wedding and have not had enough time to focus on the Coat Shop as much as we would have liked this month. But, our wedding and honeymoon is shaping up well. Below are some pictures of projects that we've been able to complete in the meantime.

Below is a picture of our storefront with a new 1/2 wine barrel and flowers, planted beautifully by my mom (she is in town for the wedding).

Jay, one of our friends gave us a hand with our window casements. The redwood looks great. This is in the bathroom.

An updated roof deck, still modular! Its bigger, all the metal was scrapped from our basement or other projects.

We will host an Eureka Arts Alive soon, here is Peggy Prior's "Joy in the Morning Photography's" display of North Coast Adventure Center's action pictures. This is in the storefront windows walls.

This is a picture of Maui, where we will be heading soon (before or after the wedding, depending on how our planning goes)!

More work to do: We've listed our loft on AirBnB, http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/184336 and we need to complete our bathroom before we book guests between construction phases (we've already committed to a guest for a week!).

Thanks for reading,

Jon + Amy

Progress and Thanks

Fence: Design by Amy, inspired by Dwell, build by Jon

Gates: Sourcing by Amy at Arcata Scrap and Salvage, 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/arcata-scrap-and-salvage-arcata 

Welding by Michael of Gone Welding: http://www.gonewelding.com/

Cement work by Jonah of Monument Settings.  He did a great job, was close to our budget, and his end project looked great!  He fixed a crack, filled it in, and sanded/stained.  

http://monumentsettings.com/

Saturday garage sale finds: 

$2 table saw

$1 metal shelves

$5 stool

Amy's sunning herself after a rooftop lunch on our fully modular deck

Amy said I looked "pretty" in the light working on the wire for the railing built by our plumber, John from Jorgensen Plumbing of Eureka.  I added the wire cable but the design was Amy's idea.

He was also willing to indulge me and Amy's crazy ideas and materials:

http://local.yahoo.com/info-83711928-jorgensen-plumbing-eureka

Amy building a bench for our shower

We decided to enjoy our hard work with a wine, cheese, and crackers dinner with a soak in our Double Slipper tub, made for two.

We got our tube here: http://www.vintagetub.com/

Jorgensen Plumbing did the install of the tub

Amy and I did the corrugated metal walls 

We are really happy with the outcome of how this room was transformed from a nasty little cave to a sleek start of a loft space.

Thanks for reading,

Jon

Growing to Love

Let's be honest with each other. When we first bought the Coat Shop, it was the ugliest building we had ever seen. It was dark except for flickering fluorescent bulbs and smelled a bit like damp sewage. As I've explained before, every contractor or friend who walked into the place looked at us with pity and dismay. Some of you, gentle readers, expressed similar sentiments.

And the truth is, I felt the same way a lot of the time. It was a bit like finding oneself in an arranged marriage. Yes, I knew that buying a house was what I wanted to do. Yes, this property was well within our budget and had great potential. But was there an instant love connection? Hell no. I hated walking into the Coat Shop. Even as we made progress, the amount of work that lay ahead of us felt daunting. There was never going to be enough time, energy, or money to do all that we wanted to do.

Somewhere in July we hit the tipping point. Jon took over general contracting, we were able to link up with some amazing friends/carpenters/artists, and we worked our littles tushes off. And as the drywall came crashing down and we stayed up late sanding and sealing hardwood floors we found under the linoleum and we found a plumber who got our design ideas (and our budget) and built us the most beautiful shower in the world, I have started to fall in love.


Our fully modular rooftop garden. Brought to you by Jon

It's not a mad, passionate love. It is not the stuff of legends. But I'm starting to look forward to going home to it after work. I am curious how its day went. Yesterday, I even bought it a little wind chime- a gift for the Coat Shop for no reason except I thought it would be nice.

Last night, I wiped down our freshly sanded floors with a damp rag to wipe up any loose sawdust before we spread a hundred thin layers of polyurethane over them. It was painstaking. And y'all know I hate that shit. But last night it felt different. Tender. Worthwhile.

I think it's going to work out.


Working on our other project, the great River Wedding of 2011.

Powering Through

Jon has set up base camp in the Coat Shop. He is operating his business, North Coast Adventure Centers, from his laptop and cell phone in the storefront while building a roof top garden, replacing the water heater, and re-finishing the floors. He is a powerhouse, as evidenced by the fact that the pace of work has increased three-fold in the last two weeks.

Here are some things we've accomplished:
The illuminated signs for the building are up AND working!

We replaced the broken glass in the storefront with a wood panel, complete with address numbers and a mail slot.



We started re-finishing the wood floors and walls, using my all time favorite tools - a sander AND a crowbar.

Good times...


We spent the weekend trolling hardware stores for tools for these projects, and on our way back to the Coat Shop we passed an Open House sign in front of a beautiful Victorian house. We walked in and cased the joint. It had high ceilings, original built-ins, leaded windows - all spectacular. There were 4 bathrooms and the house seemed to go on and on, a labyrinth of lace curtains, ancient wallpaper, and more than a few "trouble spots."

The real estate agent chirped that there were hardwood floors under the carpet, but she didn't know the condition of the roof or the plumbing. Two years ago, I would have walked out of that house full of fairy tale visions of clawfoot tubs and mahogony floors. Now, I calculated engineering fees and feet of insulation,

As we walked out, I said to Jon, "Wow, that's a lot of house." Jon replied, "That's, like, $750 in dump fees." Word.

2 roofs, a back upgrade, and beam hanging

OK, despite the month lapse in postings, we've been hard at work. We've hired and fired contractors, redistributed job responsibilities, done more demo, met and came under budgets, had contractors mess up (a lot), recruited friends to come help us out, and have started to get into a house-building rhythm.

Our major accomplishment of the month was repairing the roof. We added 6 skylights and a roof hatch and replaced the asphalt roof. All for $11,000, so I think we did OK.

What we've learned:

Amy is great at sourcing materials

I am good at making decisions and implementing plans

Amy has great taste

I can implement her choices and styles to look good

Amy is wonderful at researching options and presenting choices

I can negotiate to meet our budget and then push to stay on it

We are really good for each other

Below is a porch roof that we installed in the back of the building. Also, Amy installing wood beams on the front of the building. Note the High Life and stylish graffiti. We do have some nice trees on 5th street!

The back porch- our future entrance- is a work in progress. Note 1 of 2 installed steel gates (from the salvage yard. See previous post and video), redwood fencing, aluminum roof, redwood trim, flowers. I wrapped aluminum around the door hinge attachment points, trying to create a theme. But please don't look at the white window trim. It's coming off next week to be replaced by redwood like the fence. You can also kind of see the grey paint job as well. Amy's color choice coordinates well. I bought Amy the flowers.

Thanks for reading,

Jon