A little about Travertine Tiles

Travertine is a sedimentary rock formed near hot natural springs. It is a type of limestone, with both these varieties of natural stone sharing similar characteristics including the occurrence of fossils and a porous nature. Travertine tiles are extracted from quarries in large blocks. To counteract the holes in travertine it tends to be ‘filled’ making it a suitable wall or floor covering. Travertine tiles are usually filled with an epoxy resin to give them a greater level of porosity. The next step in making them a practical choice for kitchens and bathrooms is called ‘honing.’ Travertine tiles are honed through an abrasive process which helps to make its surface smooth and even. The extent to which the travertine is honed will determine the finish of the tile. A medium hone creates a matt finish. Travertine tiles with a matt finish are the most popular for kitchen and bathroom floors, where they provide a high level of slip resistance. More extensive honing will result in a high polish. Travertine paving for outdoor areas is tumbled with the use of rock and debris to produce a chipped edge finish and incredibly rustic appearance.

Preparing the surface

Honed, matt tiles like the Light Travertine Floor and Wall tile are a very good choice for kitchen tiles. Your kitchen floor needs to be prepared first before you lay a single tile. You should ensure that the surface of your floor substrate is flat and even and that the adhesive you are going to use will easily adhere to it. The floor may require priming to make it suitable for tiling on to. The floor must also be fully cleaned with all dirt and debris removed so the adhesive can set evenly.

Marking out and dry laying, cutting tiles

With a tape measure and piece of chalk mark the mid points on all four walls. With the chalk draw lines across the floor from each mark to the mark on the adjacent wall. This should leave you with a grid containing four sections. Dry lay a row of travertine tiles from the centre to the wall of one of the sections. Use tile spacers to establish grout lines. You should then be able to work out the cuts you need to make. Tiling from the middle will ensure that the cut tiles are only used on the outskirts of the floor. Travertine tiles usually require cutting with an electrical wet saw as they have a greater density than standard ceramic tiles. Travertine, however, provides a harder wearing surface than ceramic.

Tiling with Travertine tiles

Choosing the correct adhesive is important in ensuring your tiles adhere to the underlying floor securely. For travertine tiles on a kitchen floor a flexible adhesive is recommended. Tiles can contract and expand with changing temperatures and a flexible adhesive will make breakages and cracks less likely on such occasions. Spread adhesive from the middle and lay the tiles just as you did in the dry lay you had carried out earlier. If you have little experience of tiling or this is your very first DIY tiling job then it is recommended you choose a standard adhesive opposed to a fast set variety. Standard adhesives take a lot longer to set than fast set adhesives which will enable you more time to carry out the job. Remember to start in the far corner opposite to the entrance of the room. This will ensure that you don’t box yourself in and end up having to walk back over tiles you have just laid. Standard adhesive can take around 24 hours to set. Once the floor is set you can seal the tiles. Sealing travertine tiles will prevent the surface from absorbing moisture and staining. Read the instructions on the sealant packaging carefully. Sealant can normally be applied simply with a spray bottle. Once this has dried you can grout the gaps created by the tile spacers. Waterproof grout is the best choice for kitchens and bathrooms. Once the grout has dried this can also be sealed by the same method but any excess grout on the surface of the tiles must be cleaned away first.

Travertine Mosaics

You can complement your travertine kitchen floor with a travertine mosaic wall design. Travertine mosaic tiles create a stylish backsplash above worktops and oven hob areas. Travertine mosaics are attached to mesh sheets which can be easily cut and installed. A travertine tile backsplash provides kitchen walls with far greater protection than wallpaper or paint.

We were getting ready for bed late one night when my son ran breathlessly into the room. “The toilet is not flushing and there is water squirting all over the floor.”

{insert screaming, crying emoticon here}

We are a family of six people and our old house has two toilets. The one downstairs doesn’t work so well so the one upstairs is the mainstay. This toilet was installed way back in 1962, however, so you can imagine the amount of water it ate with every flush. And worse, the drains are so poor here that we would have to hold the flushing handle down until all the water was sucked down the bowl. I estimate that the sucker wasted 10 to 15 gallons of water with every flush. Yes, our water bill is atrocious. So I couldn’t say I was sad to see the old porcelain hag go. But at 11:30 at night on a holiday weekend?!?!?! Noooooooo!

Providentially, I had an extra toilet on hand. It was actually a miracle. In late October, Delta Faucet asked me if I wanted to try out their latest toilet, with SmartFit and WaterSense® technology! Sure, I said, imagining that I had months to install it….. my my my, such are the plans of mice and men…

We trudged upstairs to check out the damage. I knew the old toilet leaked a bit — the floor is spongy and it squeaks. After a quick caucus, we figured the wax seal beneath the toilet was shot, and since we have to remove the old thing, why not install the new Delta toilet now? The box said it had an EZ Out Toilet Removal Kit, so maybe something will actually be easy for us this time?

We rolled up our sleeves and set to work. The hardest part was removing the old toilet. Those screws were welded on by time and eternal moisture problems. Good riddance.

The EZ Out Toilet Removal Kit is really neat! It has a stiff block that is actually a compressed sponge. You plunk it into the old toilet bowl to remove all traces of water. The kit also has gloves (YAY for that!) a plastic scraper the remove the old wax ring, and a plastic bag to throw the wax ring away. My son actually got excited (it was his first toilet project) and wanted to scrape the wax ring himself. Son, BE MY GUEST!

Yeah, he looks tired. It was only 2 in the morning…

We unboxed the new Delta toilet and I got my first look at it. Delta had sent me their luxurious Corrente series toilet and it’s beautiful! It’s narrow, so it fits better in the small space. It’s also elongated and taller than average!!! I can’t tell you how important this is. I sometimes get a stiff back in the mornings, and it’s not fun to have to .. well, you know. Those low-to-the-ground toilets are fine for 6-year olds but let’s face it we haven’t had a 6-year old here in a decade. Time for the toilet to grow up.

Yes, the cat made sure we were doing everything just right. She often joins in on our projects, which is OK except when she gets too close to the wet paint or, in this case, the silicone adhesive… *sigh*

The tank is so tiny! It has a special contraption inside — this must be the WaterSense feature. It only uses 1.28 gallons per flush! And the flush is very powerful, so no flushing twice. It works perfectly even with our sluggish plumbing system.

Here Livvy is supervising the toilet seat installation. Delta even provides that in the package!

Taaaadaaaa!

Now if I can only convince the cat to use the thing…

So Delta saved my skin that night. It was a true miracle that we had the toilet on hand, truly. I love Delta products. I think they are built to last. I have lived in a lot of old homes, and I’ve only ever seen Delta products stand the test of time. We are still using the old Delta faucets here, installed by the previous owners in the late 1960s. They faucets never leak and are still working perfectly. That’s proof of some good manufacturing there.

Here’s the poop on the new toilet we installed. It flushes without any problems and we love it!

• RSL (Rigid Supply Line) model is available for use where required by State or Local Plumbing Codes.
• Maximum flush power while saving you money, Delta 1.28gpf WaterSense labeled toilets are virtually clog-free.
• Features the exclusive SmartFit tank-to-bowl connection and SmartFit supply line, reducing potential leak points, over-tightening of the fasteners and cracking the toilet.
• Delta toilet kit includes the tank, bowl, toilet seat, mounting hardware, SmartFit supply line, wax ring and SmartFit Multi-Tool. No additional tools required.

Oh, and we did find out the reason for the old toilet failure — when we lifted up the old toilet, the drain was filled with a wad of those “flushable” wipes. It was my wonderful job of running a plumber’s snake down the pipe to loosen everything down there. Yeah. Don’t you believe it when those wipes manufacturers say their products are flushable — they are not!

Your deck is an outdoor living space, and it should be as functional for you as any room in your home. If you’d like to create a deck area that’s perfectly suited to your family’s needs, it’s essential to have a good plan. Rhino Deck can help make determining and executing your plan as seamless as possible.

First, identify your needs. The more specific you are, the better your results will be. Will you be using your deck for cozy family dinners? To host large parties? To house your new outdoor kitchen? To lounge by your pool? Your deck’s function will largely determine its size, features, materials and layout, so pinning down exactly what you need it to do is essential.

Next, consider your specific space. Location, foot traffic patterns, sunlight exposure, existing landscaping, availability of plumbing and electrical fixtures and your home’s footprint should all be taken into consideration to determine and deal with your limitations. For example, let’s say you have a small backyard but dream of a deck that’s ideal for large parties. One option could be to build over most of your yard. Or you could build a smaller deck and find creative ways to make your space work for you, such as creating levels or setting up temporary party spaces.

Once you have your plan firmly in mind, take the time to sketch it out. You don’t need to be an artist. You just need to translate your basic design onto paper so that others can help you execute it. Your city planners or your homeowners association may also need to see a visual of your plan to determine what permits, if any, will be necessary.

Once you’ve determined logistics and created a solid, feasible layout for your deck, you can get started on selecting your materials. First, think practically. Go back to your function and space planning to help you determine what would best meet your needs. High traffic areas require highly durable materials. Areas with high sun exposure need fade-resistant materials. Another factor to consider is maintenance: Once the deck is installed, how much maintenance are you willing to undertake?

Next, think about aesthetics. Your deck space should blend in beautifully and effortlessly with your home and perfectly reflect its style and sense of place. Determining your home’s style first, and then thinking about your personal preferences within the scope of that style, will help you determine what boards, rails, and accents will look best.

Rhino Deck offers three lines of composite decking, with different levels of durability, strength, and maintenance requirements. The company can help you determine what products best fit into your specific deck plan. Rhino Deck also offers a wide range of attractive decking styles, meant to suit any decor. If you need ideas, the Rhino Deck product portfolio is a great place to start.

Once you have all of your deck ducks in a row, all that’s left to do is build, then enjoy your perfect outdoor space.

I’m finally getting around to patching the siding around the new kitchen window. Well, the kitchen window isn’t exactly new anymore. Remember that 2010 kitchen renovation? It was new then. And I, um, never finished patching the siding til this week. Heh heh.

By the way, can you “Find the Kitty” in this photo?

Yes, the house is suffering. I’ve completely neglected the back because the interior has needed so much work. We only have the downstairs completely done… I have such nice, neat little plans to finish the downstairs bathroom, gut and restore the upstairs bedrooms (they are still 1855-style with the original plaster and all), and then get to the siding and porches. But the house has other plans. It’s been clamoring for attention in areas that are NOT in my schedule!

The tub decided to spring a leak (blast those fiberglass cheapos!!!) and ruin the kitchen ceiling. The large garage door spring broke off and we have to manually haul the 100-pound door up and down whenever we want to get into the garage (there’s no “regular” entrance into the garage). The insurance company loudly complained about our “lack of siding” around the kitchen window — although we DO have plywood siding beneath the tar paper but they don’t care, all they see is tar paper so they think it’s just bare wood framing beneath, sigh. Add to the mix a myriad of other problems like flooding damage and the front porch sagging terribly due to excessive water and a washed-out foundation… tired yet?

SO as much as I would love to give the kids a summer vacation where they can play cool video games and play their guitars and keyboards all they want, I must be a meany mom and make them help me. I sometimes feel like the house is going to swallow me up. It’s SO needy. But I love the old thing and it gives me a chance to tinker and build stuff, which I love to do. I just wish it wasn’t so consuming and so durn expensive. I hope that by the time I finish all the “big” renovations, I’ll still be around to enjoy my labors!

What have you been doing this summer? Are you glad to see the season end?

Balloon-framing was the alternative method of post and beam framing. P and B framing requires massive timbers with strong, skilled workers. The labor for this is extensive and demanding. The invention of balloon-framing sought to curb this expense and make home-building less tasking. Wikipedia sums this up nicely:

Balloon-frame houses are not being made anymore (not in quantities, anyway). American home-building shifted to the platform-frame (stick-frame), and is now coming full-circle back to post-and-beam framing. (I won’t delve into another new and exciting form of house-building– the modular home).

I am not too keen on balloon-frame. Let me tell you why.

• Greater risk of fire. Since studs are like long toothpicks which go all the way up from foundation sill to roof rafters, there is a tremendous risk for fire. If a fire starts in a wall, the flames will race up the long studs. The air flow from sill to rafter feeds the fire, until the house is essentially consumed from top to bottom. Fire stops (blocks of wood nailed between the studs at intervals) were added later to reduce this risk. Many old houses do not have fire stops. Mine does, though (at least, what few walls I have seen inside).
• Drafts, dust, vermin. My house is very, very drafty and dusty. I dust the house a lot, and still we cough and cough (the family has developed what I call “Morning House Syndrome”). The staggering amount of dust in this house is amazing. If I do not dust for a day or two, a thick powdery coat of gray dust settles on everything. The plus side of this is that there is plenty of air circulation here. The bad side is the air is dirty and we hack and cough all day. Smells are a problem, too. Odors from the moist basement and smells from bats in the attic circulate in the framing and come right into the house. The house stinks. Also, smells are not the only things that race up and down the studs! Mice love balloon-frame houses. So do bats. Because our exterior siding and eaves still have so many holes and pocks, we have a problem with bats. They are well able to scurry down the studs from their attic nests. I have to say that I hate bats. I am not afraid of mice (besides their uncleanness), but I cannot tolerate bats in my house. When I redid my front Entry Hall, I had left the top of the door framing open, to continue it later. Oops. So, any wall-removal that we do must be replaced very quickly, or the room must be completely sealed off and then scoured for lurking bats.
• Sagging and twisting. This isn’t as much a problem for me. What old house is not sagging or twisting? But, because the long studs support the entire load of the house, we must take great care that studs do not twist or bend. It has not helped that previous owners have carelessly hacked and chipped at the studs in order to install an electric receptacle box here or furnace vent there (some fools even cut out large chunks of the foundation sill to install ducts). When we finally do open up the walls, I do wonder how much of the structural support of the studs has been compromised. In every area that I have opened up so far, I have found transgressions of this sort. Therefore, we must have a stash of “emergency” studs to sister to any compromised framing. Anything can happen once we remove three tons of lathe and plaster and flooring!

So…. balloon-framing, for all its hype at the time, has turned out to be problematic. It seems to be plagued with more problems than stick-framing, and is less-sturdy than post-and-beam. I hear that balloon-framing is the structure of choice for metal-stud homes, and that sounds like it works better than with wood.

I think it’s important to know what kind of structure your house is before you start tearing away at it. For one, I want my efforts to be long-lasting and sturdy. Two, I would have appreciated it if previous homeowners had been more careful, caring, and fore-sighted about the work they had done. After all, I am living with their successes and their errors. So, I am trying to keep future homeowners in mind as we do this.

I’d read an unusual book (for the time) many years ago, The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live by Sarah Susanka. In it, she laments the bloated blueprints of modern housing, and prescribes building smaller, more efficient homes. Her book, published in 2000, is called “groundbreaking” by the publishers. That gives you an idea of when the push for efficient modern housing began– at least among designers and builders. Actually, I don’t think builders have even caught on yet.

Back to the Versaci article, I was impressed with some of his ideas about the “new” little house (not that they were new to me, but perhaps for some of his readers).

Living in Upstate New York watching the rich get richer and the poor get much poorer, I’ve noticed the change. Older houses (like mine) are crumbling, farmers are selling their land, and huge castle-sized homes built on the hilltops are gobbling up resources and crowding everyone else out. It sends the environment, the tax base, and the sense of community all awry. It is also interesting to note that rarely do these opulent five-bedroom homes house large families. Large families tend to be poorer, and have poorer and smaller houses. How ironic. And wasteful. And disrespectful of the rest of the community.

Now, old houses can be very inefficient and wasteful, too. Most of the houses in New York State– built before 1970, built even before 1900– were constructed in a era where “energy” meant wood fires for cooking and heating. Old houses waste resources, too. So don’t think I am holding the poor old homes at a nobler standard. However, modern home-building cannot claim any excuse for their excessive wastefulness except greed.

Well, Versaci continues and I nearly bowled over when I read the next few paragraphs:

And there is! It’s something that was under the noses of rich city-slickers for decades, those Fifth Avenue architects who snubbed their noses at what was happening with the “little” people– the people who had to be efficient, who had to work smartly:

manufactured housing!
GASP! No! Say it isn’t so!

It’s the new wave of the future! Well, it is now that the Fifth Avenue architects have “discovered” it.

Yes, manufactured (or, “prefabricated”) housing is much more efficient. It isn’t terribly new, either. It was invented in the early 1900s by a company catering to middle-class families looking for comfortable middle-class homes in middle-class neighborhoods. But the building boom after World War II blew the home kit away. “Planned communities” began in cities like Levittown, and the plague spread to the rest of the country.

I believe that a lot of our traffic, stormwater, and property tax problems today stem from such “planned communities.” It is an idea whose funeral is deserved, in my opinion.

With the mortgage problems in this country (due to exponentially high consumer debt), the energy crunch, globalization policies like NAFTA and SPP that are killing our labor force and industry infrastructure, it is time– yea, past time– to end excessive waste and the glut of consumerism that infects our culture. From home-building to neighborhood planning to individual lifestyles, change is required. This is a critical time for our country. Can we really scale back and tighten the belt before more collapses?

It’s called the Ambient SkyCeiling. It’s actually an LED panel (some are flourescent), and they illuminate the images from behind. They are absolutely gorgeous! I think they’d be neat for Upstate New York, where skies are almost always cloudy and dull. Imagine coming in to the house and having sunshine and a bright blue sky over your head! And so bright! You wouldn’t need lamps to read your personalized books by. Nice.

Of course, they are pricey- this one is $50 a square foot. And then there’s the cost of energizing it. But still, pretty cool.

Photo courtesy of Sky Factory.

The software is pricey, too– I’ve seen it listed for over $50 and some is as high as $100. Consider that when you realize that graph paper is $3 for 50 sheets, and pencils are just pennies (and if you are really cheap, you can always grab some of those promotional pens that businesses give away, for free).

The only problem with hand-drawing a floor plan are the multitudes of changes that you make on the paper. I like my plans to look neat; and a paper can only take so much erasing. So I have drawn tons and tons of floor plans, each with various changes. I’ve lost track of them all. Software has the benefit of instantly saving everything. But the software programs just don’t seem to be precise enough, unless things have changed and programs have really improved. I have to recreate another floor plan for my first floor and I’m dreading having to draw it all over again. But on the other hand, I really wonder if software will be accurate and if I can learn the program quickly enough. What do you think?

A few summers ago, I took down the sagging, water-laden drop-ceiling panels from my garage (we’d sprung a leak in our garage roof that year), and found an old tin ceiling above. Wow! It was beautiful!

Unfortunately, very little is salvageable. It has a lot of rust and water damage. I peeled off a few panels but they cracked when doing so. So far, most of the old tin ceiling remains in place; I’ll probably take it all down when I renovate the garage into a family room or something.

The garage used to be a kitchen, way back when– before they had cars, lol. There are still remains of the very old wallpaper from the late 1800s behind the 1960s paneling. It’s like stepping back in time! There are several layers, and some of the old wallpaper is flocked, or has gilded, hand-painted flecks, and such.

I like the tin ceiling effect. I was disappointed that I couldn’t reuse the pressed tin from the garage. I have a very large dining room, and I wanted to “do up” the ceiling with tin. But the tin is way beyond my budget. I got this bright idea to use textured wallpaper on the ceiling, to simulate pressed tin.

I did this several years ago (WHAT A JOB that was! You think it’s hard hanging wallpaper on walls, lol! Try a ceiling! It will burn fat faster than you can say “Leptovox.” Thankfully, ithe job was made easier when I got some helpers involved). So several years later, the wallpaper is holding up remarkably well!

My dining room is a beautiful, warm ruby red. The deep dark color helps to stabilize the room, because this room has four windows and six doors. It’s a busy room. I painted the wallpapered ceiling with just a whisper of pink paint. The room glows.

That green garland you see is my makeshift crown moulding (which is on my To Do List yet). The garland is wrapped around the perimeter of the room to hide the ugly wallpaper seams against the top of the wall. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing. And it’s cheap!

So if you have a hankering for those nice old pressed tin ceilings but can’t afford to cough up the big bucks, try textured wallpaper. I just love the effect, and everyone comments how nice it is.

Finfer incorporates cutting-edge designs and added touches to produce one-of-a-kind residential options for an elite customer base in the L.A. area. Here are seven current design trends to help homeowners achieve the same results in their own homes.

Brass

The warmth and elegance of brass provides a welcome touch of color throughout the home. Relegated to second-tier status for many years, the antique look of brass has now come back into vogue and can be spotted in lampstands, drawer pulls and many other applications in modern L.A. homes.

Functional Kitchen Spaces

The stark, barren landscapes of the metal and marble kitchen have given way to rustic tiles, slate floors, wooden countertops and other functional elements to give a warm and welcoming look to the modern kitchen. Splashes of color and earth tones offer added visual appeal and allow the kitchen to be a gathering spot for families and friends throughout the year.

Lacquered Accessories

High gloss lacquers are increasingly popular as accents to walls, windows and other focal points throughout the home. When combined with the rich earth tones and vibrant hues in use by professional decorators, these accessories can shine even more. For added elegance, lacquered chests and screens can provide a classic look for libraries, living rooms and bedroom suites.

Vintage Chic

Ornate screens and dividers, brocade curtains and everything vintage is new once more. Mixing modern art with antique furniture can create a unique look and feel for homes in need of a remodel. Artisan furnishings are also popular: these hand-crafted works of art can spice up any interior design plan and offer one-of-a-kind beauty for L.A. homes.

Personal Art

While modern abstract art is popular among many L.A. trend setters, personal preferences should dictate the choice of art displayed in the home. Finding the right mix of old and new can create a fresh look for interior spaces. But the key to success in collecting and exhibiting artworks is in finding the pieces that speak to the individuals living in the home.

Primary Colors

Saturated shades of red, blue, green and yellow can generate visual interest throughout the home. Sticking to one integrated color scheme throughout the home, however, is recommended to create a cohesive theme and to provide a sense of unity in each room and living area.

Indoor-Outdoor Spaces

The warm and sunny climate of Los Angeles lends itself easily to outdoor entertaining. Creating livable spaces on patios, in garden areas and on decks is essential to make the most of the California sun and to create natural gathering spots both indoors and out.

Innovators like Stephen Finfer and others in the real estate industry are incorporating design trends like these into their residential properties and creating unique living spaces for discriminating buyers and renters in the L.A. housing market. By taking some cues from these design experts, homeowners can ensure the most modern and beautiful interior design for their own private residences.