Author Archives: ellen

Finishing Up the Bathroom

Posted on April 3, 2020 by ellen

There were a few more tasks to finish the bathroom remodel. The contractor and his helper came one more time to complete the job. The largest project was the installation of the solar tube in the ceiling. He finished the … Continue reading →

Posted in -Chronological Recent Posts, Bathrooms, Construction, Design Style, Energy Efficiency, Plumbing, Reduce Reuse Recycle, Solar | Leave a comment

Shower Niche Light Issues

Posted on April 1, 2020 by ellen

The niche light was a disaster. It did not go as planned. What I wanted to do and what happened were not the same. I wanted a sleek row of LED lights that were waterproof or damp proof in the … Continue reading →

Posted in -Chronological Recent Posts, Bathrooms, Electrical | Leave a comment

Bath Assembly

Posted on March 31, 2020 by ellen

It took less than a day for the contractor and his helper to assemble the bathroom. But it was not without headaches. The faucet is a used kitchen faucet I purchased on Craigslist. In my first install the edge of … Continue reading →

Posted in -Chronological Recent Posts, Bathrooms, Construction, Design Style | Leave a comment

Bathroom Tiled

Posted on March 29, 2020 by ellen

This last week the tile in the back bathroom was finished by a contractor. I decided that these jobs are taking me entirely too long. I might have even skipped this remodel if I didn’t have to do it for … Continue reading →

Posted in -Chronological Recent Posts, Bathrooms, Construction, Design Style, LEED Project, Tile | Leave a comment

Brick Patterns

Posted on March 21, 2020 by ellen

In the middle of the bathroom floor I planned for an accent inset. The tile I wanted to use was 3″ x 6″ tumbled marble that I bought at the Restore. I only had one box of the tile but … Continue reading →

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Why Shopping is Not Research

Posted on March 20, 2020 by ellen

My normal practice is to research every part of the house remodel. I usually spend hours on the internet gathering information about the best way to design and complete a project. But every once in a while I forget to … Continue reading →

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While I Was Away

Posted on March 17, 2020 by ellen

It’s unusual to see progress while I’m not even home. But having a contractor seems to have helped. The room was drywalled before I left and sprayed with texture to match the house the next Monday. Then the Kerdi board … Continue reading →

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Hamilton in the Time of Coronavirus

Posted on March 16, 2020 by ellen

When I left Colorado a week ago there were three confirmed cases of the virus. I went to California to celebrate my sister’s birthday. We had a lovely time mostly with family but she had tickets to take me to … Continue reading →

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Insulating the Bathroom.

Posted on March 12, 2020 by ellen

About three quarters of the rear wall of the bathroom is poured concrete below ground and insulated on the outside. I added polyiso to the inside of the concrete wall and replaced the Fiberglas with rock wool. The interior walls … Continue reading →

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Prepping the Tile

Posted on March 9, 2020 by ellen

When we started this gut remodel project the goal was to purchase as many used and recycled products as possible. Besides the LEED mandate to reduce the use of new materials I was looking for items that would lower the … Continue reading →

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Antique Vanity

Posted on March 6, 2020 by ellen

Originally I just had in mind to use a copper sink in the back bathroom. I love copper and this is the last bathroom remodel. But copper sinks are expensive so quite some time ago I found a huge copper … Continue reading →

Posted in -Chronological Recent Posts, Bathrooms, Design Style, Maintenance and Repair, Reduce Reuse Recycle | Comments Off on Antique Vanity

Rear Bathroom Gut Job

Posted on March 6, 2020 by ellen

In order to meet the minimum standard for LEED all the substrate around a tub or shower must be paperless including the ceiling. It’s required even under tiled walls. The existing tiled walls had been waterproof for over 30 years … Continue reading →

Posted in -Chronological Recent Posts, Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Deconstruction, LEED Project, Reduce Reuse Recycle | Comments Off on Rear Bathroom Gut Job

Berlin

Posted on March 5, 2020 by ellen

Because our kids are living in Germany we try to get over there a few times a year. We love just being with them and the grandkids but this visit we also got to accompany them on a short vacation … Continue reading →

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Reused Closet Door

Posted on February 12, 2020 by ellen

As long as I was working on the barn doors in the family room I decided to see if I could install the closet door. The jamb was already installed when I realized that I didn’t have a door that … Continue reading →

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Double Barn Doors

Posted on February 11, 2020 by ellen

I bought a pair of glass insert french doors five years ago thinking they would let in the extra light from the family room into the dining area. However when I finally decided to hang doors in the space, I … Continue reading →

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Stair Nosing in Hall

Posted on February 7, 2020 by ellen

The hall stair nosing was cracked and becoming a trip hazard. I had already replaced one of the edges with a dark bamboo piece that I purchased at a Repurposed Materials auction. I have a couple of 8 piece boxes … Continue reading →

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Utility Room Storage

Posted on February 2, 2020 by ellen

We severely reduced the size of the original utility room to make room for a dining area and to move the kitchen into the space. But in approximately a 6’x10’ room we fit in a stacking washer and dryer, a … Continue reading →

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Draining the Spa

Posted on February 1, 2020 by ellen

I had to drain the spa because the winter weather is unpredictable and I did not want the pipes to crack. My planned repair did not work. I ordered the new spa heater from Acura Spa but it was cold … Continue reading →

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ERV Fixed

Posted on January 20, 2020 by ellen

Unfortunately the control board on our ERV has been fried since last summer. It was probably due to several experiments trying to get the Lutron Grafix 0 to 10 voltage dimmer to work with the ERV. My son bought a … Continue reading →

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Spa Wifi Controller

Posted on January 20, 2020 by ellen

Last year I purchased a wifi controller for the spa so that I could set the temperature from my phone instead of having to go outside. Although the device did not seem difficult to install, it required opening the spa … Continue reading →

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