Author Archives: ellen
Caulking Mess
Have I ever mentioned I hate caulking? The family room shower is large and that meant lots of caulking. At the ceiling, at the floor, in the corners and inside the niches; all needed caulk. I used the same dark … Continue reading
Setting the Granite Shower Bench
I had a nice piece of dark brown granite already cut for the bench. Originally I wanted to use left over granite from the sink top but it was not wide enough to completely cover the bench, and the narrow … Continue reading
Grouting the Shower
It took me several days to get the family room bath shower grouted. My right arm got really sore. But after a few days it was back in shape. This shower took a lot of grout. I mixed seven batches … Continue reading
Shower Floor is Mortared
The shower is getting closer to being finished! The floor layout has finally been mortared into place. I mortared the mosaic tile first, then waited a day to mortar the trim tiles. That way I could adjust them to the … Continue reading
Shifting Tile Layouts
No matter what I do the tile in the family room shower is not going to be square. The walls are off square and my job is to figure out how best to hide the tapers. Of course I asked … Continue reading
Replacing the Oven
This is our third oven. Fourth if we count the temporary countertop model we have used when in between broken ovens. First we used a fun technology with the purchase of an Advantium oven. A combination microwave and halogen heating … Continue reading
Wood fired boiler!
It works! I’m so pleased with the wood boiler system. This fall it was easy to start up. Just a few steps and it was all working as designed. I recorded the steps I took to get the first fire … Continue reading
Kerdi Shower Floor Installation
The Kerdi shower floor is made of sloped pieces of EPS styrofoam that are fitted and mortared to the floor with a non-modified mortar. I had to trim the pieces of shower floor to fit my shower. The floor pieces … Continue reading
Leveling Cement on the Shower Floor
I was fortunate to pick up a couple of free 50 lb bags of Mapei Novoplan 2 self leveling cement compound for free. I needed it to level the shower floor. Although some filling had been done with mortar, specifically … Continue reading
Wall Tile in Shower Completed
The final wall area was around the shower head and under it on the bit of ceiling that has the shower light. I didn’t mix mortar for these two areas but used the acrylic mastic. Plain unmodified mortar is specified … Continue reading
Shower Niches
Just before we left on our extended trip away from home I tiled the shower niches. These are Schluter Kerdi preformed styrofoam covered with the orange waterproof membrane. The niches were an area that the handyman who tiled most of … Continue reading
Almost to Dead Center of Fall and a Revised List
I started this list before the fall equinox but we had distractions happen! There was no summer list. We worked to help our kids move to Germany and visited family. My elderly mom lived in assisted living not far from … Continue reading
Kitchen Drain Fix
One of the items on the spring/summer list was to fix the kitchen sink drain. I stuck a bucket under the kitchen sink drain because it was dripping when the sink had water in it, and I thought the leak … Continue reading
Tile Handyman
When I hadn’t finished all three tasks from the final inspection list in April by the August 28th deadline I got to feeling desperate that I would never finish the building permit so I looked around for a tile installer. … Continue reading
Hanging A Painting
We need to get the last of the decorative items out of storage and decide what to do with them. I have always liked this serene painting that I bought at a second hand store in Indiana years ago. It … Continue reading
Front Entry Closet
The front entry is spilling over with stuff. It is the staging ground for recycling boxes and recent tools and stuff going out to the RV and extra stuff from my kids move that I haven’t organized yet. Given my … Continue reading
Master Closet
The master bedroom has been occupied several times since I set up the furniture in there. Our daughter and her family moved to Aachen, Germany at the end of May. They emptied their house and rented it so they needed … Continue reading
Storage Closet
Sealing the gap between the walls and the floor in the storage closet has been on the to do list for some time. I emptied the closet and vacuumed the floor to access the gap on the outside walls. The … Continue reading
Another Radiant Cooling SetUp
I have again set up the 1/3 HP aquarium chiller that I bought in 2016. This time outside so that the heat from the chiller is not released in the utility room. The controller is inside and the wiring and … Continue reading
Sun Shades
It’s been a slow summer for home progress. A series of family visits and the passing of my dear mother have taken our time and energy. I was also hospitalized three times and I’m getting tired of it. I’m having … Continue reading