Monthly Archives: October 2016
Taking apart the shelf in the shower
The grout under the gray quartz shelves in the master shower cracked, giving water a route to the structure behind the tile. We discovered this in July. Jacquela and Steven have used the shower in the hall bath since, to ensure no more water penetrates behind the tile and into the lumber.
Today, Joe from Austin Stone carefully chiseled the grout away from the quartz shelf, freeing the shelf, exposing the blue waterproofing that was applied to keep the lumber dry. In turn, that revealed how the shelf was cemented — with the same epoxy grout used to seal the joints between wall and floor tiles. This epoxy grout is inflexible — which means … it apparently cracked apart as it cured and as the shower pan and walls settled.
For the next step — Odell from Ranserve and Joe applied silicon to the blue waterproofing. Silicon is flexible where grout is not. This will allow the shelf to “float” as the house continues to settle. Finally, they set the shelf into the silicon — to spend the weekend curing into position.
Bling me
Last night, Jacquela and Steven attended the “Champions Dinner” hosted by the Austin chapter of the American Diabetes Association. We were invited to thank us for raising more than $1,000 to help research to find a cure for diabetes. Jacquela is type 1. Steven pedaled 48 miles in the Tour de Cure.
Steven got one medal — “25” — for riding in the Tour. The second medal goes to Champions, for raising more than $1,000.
The “blinds guy” hangs the shades
Jaime from Austintatious Blinds delivered and installed the new shades for Jadin’s bedroom, the loft, the front bedroom, the train room, and Jacquela’s hobby room.
Pin a tail on the donkey
It’s finally time to put the house numbers up.
Odell, left, and Kevin, right, supervise as Cris lays out where the house numbers will go, using templates that came inside the packaging for each number. Everything must be level, plumb and properly kerned.
Why the window does not open
The tall window at the rear of Jadin’s bedroom opens — but only part way. As the casement swings, it hits the underside of the roof and is blocked by the fascia. Bottom line: The window is too tall, or the roof is too low.
Waaaaaaaaaay back when this window was first installed and tested, Ron and Steven noted the obstruction. They met with Brett the architect to work out approaches that would allow the window to open completely. They settled on raising the roof over this window — or, less destructively, cutting open the roof from the underside, and cutting away a section of fascia about 2 feet wide. Then Ron took medical leave.
Today, Odell and Steven walked the site with Cris and Kevin. We elected to open the roof from the underside, cut away the section of fascia, box the underside of the roof.
With that done, the painters must now caulk the holes in the framing, prime and paint everything — after the gutter team cuts away about two feet of gutter, installs a new downspout to the left of the window, and erects a diverter that tucks under the shingles to push water into what will be two gutters, one on each side of the window.