Bathroom Progress

The shower project is still moving forward, slowly but surely. I sanded and applied spar varnish to the door, sashes and stops with the finish cut 1 to 1 with paint thinner. Once the stops were finished I cut them to length and fit them into the door and sashes. The glue chip process is more time consuming than I imagined and I ran into problems, but I will save the glue chip process for another time.

Fitting Stops

Another step forward for the bathroom was building and installing the drawers and permanently installing the vanity. I also built the countertop with a book-matched slab of cypress. Before the vanity went in Becky and I installed the electric warm floor and then installed travertine tiles over the warm floor. A layer of thin set was spread over the warm floor mat and allowed to dry before tiling. We tiled the floor in two sessions, in the second session we also tiled the back splash behind the vanity with the same subway tiles we used in the shower.

Electric Warm Floor

Hanging the bathroom door made the space feel like it was contained and allowed us to seal the tiles and apply more finish to the countertop. After removing paint from the bathroom door I sanded it with 150 grit and then hung the door with new replica cast iron hinges from House of Antique Hardware. These hinges are almost identical to the originals. The door latch mechanism is original and works great even though the hardware is over 125 years old.

Installing Drawers

Derby, Tiles and Glass

Oliver's Pinewood Derby Car

Yesterday was the Pinewood Derby race, a fundraiser for the Mattole Booster Club. We built our own track three years ago and this year (the 10th annual) we had computer software keeping track of the racers and the runnings. My wife and I made the trophies and our son built a unique car with steel spikes that he ground from driveway mesh. This event is open to all... girls, boys and adults. This is my favorite event of the year at the school, I love to see what kind of cars come out of the woodworks.

Mattole Pinewood Derby racers 2014

At the house we set travertine tiles in the bathroom over an electric warm floor. There are a few more to install but first the water lines for the tub must be adjusted. We are really close to wrapping up the bathroom, we even have the toilet. The drawers and doors were installed in the vanity and the shower door was hung. I have a bit more finishing to do on the cypress vanity top and also the door and sashes for the shower.

Travertine tiles

We went to Redwood Glass in Fortuna to pick out patterned glass for the shower and the one we liked most was glue chip. I learned how to make glue chipped glass in the H.P.R.T., it is quite easy. First you sand blast the glass, then you cook up some hide glue, then pour the hide glue onto the glass and wait over night for the glue to set. When the glue sets it shrinks and pulls away a thin layer of glass leaving behind incredible patterns that can look like ice crystals or fern patterns. 

Sand Blaster to assemble.

We decided to invest the money towards a sand blaster instead of purchasing glass that had already been glue chipped. Lucky for us the sand blasters were on sale so I spent the next day assembling the blaster and we had to order the hide glue granules because they aren't available locally. The glass shop cut our glass and sent some extra pieces to see what the outcome will look like. Apparently glue chip is a popular pattern and Ross at Redwood Glass liked the idea of having a local do the work instead of having the glue chip done by somebody out of the area.