RedneckModern

Getting Warmer

It's no surprise that we're big fans of Anderson Heating. We've turned to them for almost every heating need since their visit to repair a leaky pipe. Over the course of the renovation, we've found a few folks who are the unquestionable go-to's and Glen and Ben are two of them. Glen knows more about fluid-mechanics than most engineers (and I'm married to one and a son-in-law to another).

Our boiler for the radiant heat was installed a bit backwards a few decades ago and it was on its last legs. Granted, it might've held out for another season or two, but the last thing we wanted was a broken heater on a cold night in Concord with our heating guys tackling jobs in the South Bay.

I contacted them few weeks ago when the old-boiler broke again and Glen talked me through a fix (a safety switch was thrown). We began to discuss the idea of a new boiler. Given the market forces and the warming temperature, they were able to offer an outstanding deal on a new Triangle Tube Solo-110 wall-hanging boiler. Additionally, since the unit is energy-star rated, we're eligible for a $1500 tax-credit at year's end (which might not hold out forever)...

We decided to take the plunge and on Monday -- a week or so after we initially discussed it, Glen and Ben were installing the new unit.

As with all of their work , the installation is top-notch and super-clean -- just the way I like it. We even worked together to install a bit of pegboard over the old drywall to give the wall a bit more finished look and a lot more functionality.

After the install, Glen took the time to go over everything in detail, which was quite nice.

Here are some pictures of the install before I re-loaded the utility room with garden supplies. Fortunately, since there's so much new room available, I think I can store my new battery-powered mower out there.

Tiling: The first step...

The tiling job in the bath has been a project a long-time in coming... and to be honest, I'm a bit apprehensive about tackling it. I will be our first major, vertical ceramic-tile job. Maybe that's why it took 2 years to approach.

But it's time -- and to start, we needed a good base. There's all sorts of very low- and very high-tech solutions out there. Since we were generally re-tiling (and not moving anything), we didn't need to look at a newly-mudded floor, but that was one option -- to tear it all out and start over. With the radiant heat lines in the floor and a perfectly working drain system, it made little sense to jack up the floor and start from scratch.

We also looked at the Kerdi membrane which was almost a keeper save the fact that for the "full" system, you also needed to use their special, but very cool, drain. If we were doing a brand-new install (like in new construction), I'd definitely select this system.

Then there was vapor barrier and cement board in a traditional installation... but the original install didn't seem to have a shower pan or liner when we tore it out... which isn't the worst thing on slab construction, but we thought we could do a bit better than the original.

Thanks to the wisdom of the folks at the John Bridge Tile Forum, we opted for Hardibacker and a waterproofing layer(s) of RedGard. Hardibacker is much easier to cut that Durock or Wonderboard and it completely immune to water damage. With no barrier behind it, but a full barrier of RedGard, the shower should stay nice and dry -- even dryer than a traditional shower as there should be no water penetration to the substrate. In fact, with the RedGard, I could have likely just used Drywall, but that seemed like cheating, somehow (Kerdi actually recommends drywall behind their membrane).

Casie is calling it the "death shower" because of the red color. It'll be white soon enough. And hopefully waterproof.

Update: It only took about 6 hours for Casie and I to wrap the shower in white subway tile (one by one). It's not a bad first attempt methinks and I can't think of anything we'd have done differently (yet) -- except maybe "bricked" the pattern (to hide seams, crooked lines, etc.), but that would have meant cutting a lot of 1/2 tiles. There were some happy alignments with tile and some little nits (the corners necessitated either a sliver of tile or a lot of grout. I opted for the sliver). We learned a couple of things:

1: the $59 4in tile saw from Harbor Freight with the $12 diamond blade (we found the saw on sale for $44) worked quite well for these little tiles. Granted a 12X12 would have been hard to cut, this el-cheapo tool performed wonderfully. Plus, the teeny size meant I had it next to me the whole time. It's really, really loud, though.

2: Starting from the bottom is a must. As much as I wanted to have the top edges be a full tile and the bottom edges disappear into the floor, gravity had other ideas. As it were, we got lucky as the top courses are all full pieces.

3: Working in teams is ideal... one person mixing thinset and getting tile and another cutting and placing. It'd have been a hard job solo.

    

EamesLoft.com

In the spirit of sharing, here's another of our recent finds and faves: EamesLoft.com

This is actually a brick-and-mortar space in Brisbane, California advertised a lot on Craigslist. It's run by Tim and Tom who scour the west coast for great finds and offer them up at unbelievable prices... and deliver (locally), too.

You won't find an original Wegner Poppa Bear chair there, but you will find some great, and often one-of-a-kind pieces. Tim works behind the scenes at the airport and has been able to rescue quite a few modernist/industrial pieces -- specifically Herman-Miller parts -- and reassembles them into custom configurations. See the picture below with the ivory seat, table and teak cabinet... something like this would work really well against an Eichler window for extra seating/storage and a bit of window protection.

In addition to finding them online, they have a few choice pieces in the showroom of India-Rose -- ironically, a shop owned by a colleague in the design world (and a happy surprise). Much of their pieces are seen best in photos online as their main space is a bit cramped at the moment as you can see in the pictures.

But don't let the lack of a glitzy space fool you -- you couldn't hope for a cooler and more genuine pair of guys. We're always happy to find nice people in the world... and nice stuff.

Locksetsonly.com

Getting to report a good experience is a high-point of blogging about the renovation. So many times, it's the opposite... but all-in-all, we've been quite lucky: Anderson Heating, Abril Roofing, All-Pipe restoration and All-Bright Electric (lots of "A" names) have all been rock solid.

Previously, we'd purchased doorknobs and deadbolts from Home Depot -- their Defiant brand (which I think is a house brand). They look good, but they don't quite "feel" solid and some recent YouTube snooping made me doubt their security.

Schlage locks have a good reputation and a nice feel... but they're generally more expensive than your average Home Depot special. I priced them out online and found LocksetsOnly.com to have a good price and a easy-to-navigate website... so I rounded up the order: 3 locking knobs, 3 deadbolts, 4 bed/bath and 2 closet knobs... I had a question about the deadbolts and keying the locks alike and Jerry answered by question via email within the hour.

The only thing that bothered me was that the locks were coming from out of state... preferring to patronize REX, our local locksmith (who's very cool), I stopped by his shop to see if he could come within 20% of the price... As he said to me: "Somehow they're selling these to you cheaper than even I can get them. As much as I'd like to help, I'd say, just go with them."... Saddened, but reassured, I went home to place the order. No sales-tax and free shipping was a bonus.

That was Monday afternoon -- about 4PM.

Today, Wednesday -- about 6PM -- the locks showed up at my door via UPS. All locks keyed alike. Packed well. All seemingly good-to-go.

Amazing.

I'll report later how the install goes...

Unica Home

Over the holidays, we ended up in Las Vegas -- a guilty pleasure.

In between visiting most every thriftstore in the area, we found and stopped by the Unica Home showroom... we didn't even know they had a bricks-and-mortar presence, but we were amazed with the space.

So much great stuff... and the place is huge. The pictures tell the best story.

Framed Out

One of the last things we want to do in the dining room is to install a hanging credenza. We're planing to use more IKEA cabinets -- they worked so well in the kitchen and laundry room.

For a mock-up, I measured it out and taped it off -- the cabinets come in quite a few configurations and we wanted to see how each size might look (we ended up with 5 options total -- from 30 to 36in wide and 18 to 24in high). we taped out the depth on the floor so we wouldn't build something that ended up hating knees and thighs.

We decided on 3-up at 30in wide (90in wide, total) and 18in high (and mounted at table height) -- the wide and thin profile looked the best... thoughts?

(The blue tape is the frame, the green is the doors and side panels and the black is the top)

Photo Finish

Our friends Stephen and Katrine used the house a few weeks ago for a photoshoot. While it was a bit of a production with the models, stylists and assistants, the house handled it well and they got some amazing shots.

One of the nice things about the architecture of the house is that it needs very little to compliment it. Even living in it, we're reluctant to clutter it with massive pieces of art or decoration -- the house simply doesn't need it. Fortunately, even without an overabundance of art, we've some picturesque furniture, so that's a bonus.

With Katrine's help, we hope to be able to host some more shoots like this... so, if you're looking for your next location, drop us a line.

 

Foster Art?

Since the major renovations are mostly behind us, the posts sometimes might become a bit random, here's one:

Growing up in the antebellum South and going to art-school in the hometown of Edgar Allan Poe gives one a certain aesthetic point-of-view -- at least until they move to California and into a Mid-Century Modern home. We've traded Faulkner for Eames.

And since the move, we've toted much of my college-art around and are now hoping to find good homes for these pieces. Maybe that's you! If you happen to be a friend on the east coast (Kate? Erin? Dana? Rob?), I'll even box them up and ship them to you knowing that they'll have a warm home to reside it. Otherwise, they'll end up in my mother's barn.

From left to right and top to bottom:

• Peter Borman / Alkyd, Epoxy and oil on linen ... Peter was an older classmate at VCU. This is a portrait. He was a nice guy with an amazing face and towering stature. (24X36in)
• Clockwork / Gelatin Silver Print ... This is a photo of a wind-up chicken in action. Taken with a Kodak Brownie camera as far as I recall. Framed in a unique, aged frame. (15.5X19.5 / framed size)
• Portrait of the Artist / Alkyd and oil on board ... This was fashioned after James Joyce, who's pictured in the group-image below. When I had hair and vintage round glasses, it was actually a decent resemblance. Framed in a gold-tone, aged frame. (21X27 / framed size)
• Mr. Wilmore and his Wife / Alkyd, Epoxy and oil on masonite ... This is a portrait of my grandparents fashioned after the Arnolfini portrait by Jan van Eyck. ... (18X24)
• Spanish American War Regiment Roster ... This is a document from 1898 listing the troops in the Forth Regiment. My Great Great Uncle Bill is in there somewhere. They misspelled his name. It is archivally mounted in a great maple frame (28X32 / framed size)

 

$10,000 House

From Life Magazine (c1951). Courtesy of The Selvedge Yard.

 

Chromography

Chromography: This is a mini-site put together by Stephen Coles of the Mid Century Modernist ... some neat stuff.