Pottery Studio — Part 6

At the end of Pottery Studio — Part 5 I was removing the old floor tile in preparation for the new tile going down.  If you recall, when I ordered the remainder of the tile I needed, I discovered the new batch was not a match for the same color/stock number I already had, so I needed to figure out some way to blend or coordinate the two shades.  I had already planned to use a gray border around the adobe brown field, and after some experimentation, decided to have a double border — a gray outer border, and a reddish brown inner border surrounding the tan-brown field. 

Not sure how it would end up, but just went ahead with it.  Here the gray tile is down, and I'm test fitting the inner border. 

While I was using a staggered brick pattern for the inner border, I chose to put down the field in a herringbone pattern.  Here most of the tile laid down, before grouting. 

At this point, I made two decisions.  First, the bold tile pattern clashed with the bold yellow walls.  I decided to repaint using the same neutral off-white that I'm using for most of the rest of the house. 

Second, I had initially intended to use gray grout for the whole floor, but on a whim, decided to use a light brown grout for the field tiles, and found a grout color that seemed to match.  I did the same thing for the foyer, and that looked good.  I used gray grout for the whole floor in the kitchen, and that presented a more commercial look.  For the pottery studio, with its artsy three-color floor, the matching grout for the center section seemed like a good idea.  (I've now reconsidered.)

You may notice that the grout in the center section does not match the tile.  Hmm.  First, the gray grout went on without incident.

But as the light brown grout dried, it developed what is called efflorescence.  That is when the water in the grout dissolves minerals in the grout (portland cement), which minerals then rise to the surface and turn white.  Sometimes additives to the grout (polymers) do the same thing.  Adding too much water can be the problem.  Since the gray grout gave me no trouble, and I didn't mix the brown grout any thinner, it may be the additives that were the culprit.  Here is a photo of the dried grout compared to a batch of grout just applied — the difference is dramatic.

I had the same problem with the tan grout in the foyer, and learned that scrubbing with a sulfamic acid cleaning solution would correct the apparently common problem.  I need to wait three weeks for the grout to harden before doing this, so no photos of the finished floor with baseboard for now. 

In the meantime, I will be cleaning out the other (south) half of the pottery studio, and extending the new tile floor into that part.  I've started relocating stuff in the house to accommodate the shuffle.  The temporary kitchen counter you see on the left gets taken apart and reassembled in the workshop; I've had to clear out that room for this.  The workshop is soon to have its two windows filled in, and a new window installed in a different place. 

I'm still waiting for the stucco to cure on the outside wall of the pottery studio before I can apply the stucco paint.  That result will have to wait a few weeks for the Pottery Studio — Part 7 post.  My next post will therefore be another cooking venture (the pizza post has been more popular than my remodeling trials :-).  Apple-cranberry pie with a whole wheat/olive oil crust.  Really good!

Pizza!

I've been busy doing prep work for the new tile floor in the pottery studio, and painting the stucco on the back of the house, but like everyone, much of what I do revolves around the basic maintenance of life—for my dog and five rescued cats, and me.  That of course includes feeding everybody.  The dog eats dog food, and the cats eat, well, cat food—not too appetizing from my perspective.  Luckily, there's also pizza!

Home made, of course, and here's how:

The dough is pretty much the same as your basic yeast bread.  For one 12" pizza, these are the ingredients.
  - Flour.  230 grams, about 55-60 grams of which is whole wheat and the rest is white bread flour.  Bread flour is made from "hard" wheat (high protein, high gluten—to make it stretchy).  Soft wheat flour is used for cakes; "all purpose" flour is a mix of hard and soft.
  - Sugar.  ½ tablespoon.
  - Salt.  1 teaspoon.
  - Yeast.  Active dry.  About ½ teaspoon.
  - Optionally, I add a few shakes of oregano.
  - Olive oil.  About 1 tablespoon (I don't measure)
  - Water.  4 ounces.

Mix the dry ingredients, then add the oil and water, then mix and knead.  I use my 37-year-old stand mixer for this, and use the regular beater bar (because the amount of dough is too small for the dough hook—if you're making dough for two or more pizzas, then you can use the dough hook).  Machine knead for five minutes, or hand knead for 10 minutes.

Take the dough out and compress and round it to make a uniform and smooth ball (actually this is important, so it will stretch out properly).  Put the ball of dough in a container and cover, then put in the refrigerator for 24 - 36 hours.  In other words, make it a day before you need it.

It slowly rises and comes out the next day looking like this:

Your oven and pizza stone should be preheating.  Ovens are different, so you'll need to experiment, so the pizza top cooks at the same speed as the bottom of the crust.  The last oven I had was really hot on top, so I had to put the pizza in at the bottom of the oven, with the temperature set around 480˚.  My current Bosch oven has lots of modes and different heat, so some experimentation was needed.  I now put the pizza in at the hotter top of the oven, and at 450˚.  I use a pizza stone, so the pizza goes in the oven naked on the stone, put in and taken out using an aluminum "peel."  You can get by using a pan, and skip the peel and stone, but your results may vary :-)

Once you stretch out the dough, you don't want it to sit for a long time, or it will tend to stick to whatever it's on.  So prepare everything ahead of time, and don't dawdle.  I make my own sauce.  I start with a can of crushed Italian (plum) tomatoes (with basil).  I add some olive oil, plus a little sugar, salt, and oregano, then blend in a food processor.  I use part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated myself, of course.  If you buy cheese already grated, it has cellulose added to keep it from sticking (cellulose=sawdust).

Stretching out the dough takes a little practice, and your dough has to be correct (strong and elastic, but not too—that is, not like a rubber band).  It can't stick to your working surface, so you must use flour or corn meal to keep it sliding.  Some people use regular flour, some people use corn meal.  I use a half and half mixture of whole wheat flour and semolina flour, the latter being Bob's Red Mill, made with No. 1 Durum Wheat, and ground to a sandy texture (Semolina flour may be hard to find; I get mine from amazon.  Semolina flour is used to make pasta.)  The whole wheat/semolina mixture works great to prevent sticking and it also tastes good.

So spread your counter with the stuff and plop your ball of dough into the middle. You can't have too much; what doesn't stick to the dough will be there for the next pizza (if you're doing more than one).  After awhile, you'll figure out how much you need.

This is the final result.  My pizza takes about five minutes total in the oven.  As always, your results may vary.  For further (professional) advice, the worldpizzachampions series on youtube is recommended.

Pottery Studio — Part 5

When last we left, the new windows were installed in the front of the pottery studio, the interior finished, and two layers of roofing felt applied to the exterior wall in preparation for stucco.  The next step was to attach a metal weep channel at the bottom of the wall; this allows for any water that manages to get behind the stucco to run down the roofing felt and exit at the bottom of the wall.  The channel also provides a neat ledge for the stucco to sit on at the bottom of the wall. 

Next the wire mesh goes on, fastened with special furring nails that have spacers to keep the wire about a quarter-inch off the wall.  I also use galvanized 1/4" crown staples in between the nails to provide further support.  Then the corners are reinforced with heavy wire corner bead.

Here's a closeup:

Here's a photo of the first (scratch) coat starting to go on.  It's called the scratch coat because before it has hardened, a special tool is used to scratch horizontal grooves into the soft stucco.  The grooves give the second coat something to adhere to. 

With the scratch coat on, the second coat is applied (it's called the "brown" coat, which must have some historical significance . . .).  I'm still developing my technique, so I'm calling the resulting texture "rustic."  After each batch of stucco goes on, it's a good idea to mist it with a fine spray of water every couple of hours so that it doesn't dry too quickly and crack. 

Here both coats of stucco are on, and the plastic sheet removed from the windows.  Tomorrow I'll apply a very thin coat of finish stucco to even out the texture a little.  After that, it all cures for a month before I can apply two coats of elastomeric stucco paint.  Like the name implies, it's a flexible coating that keeps out moisture and bridges any small cracks that may develop.  It also makes all the walls the same color :-)

While I'm waiting, I'm going to put down the new floor tile in the pottery studio, scrape and stain the fascia and eves on the front of the house (will match the front door frame), and continue to apply stucco paint to the back of the house.  And work on the new water supply system . . .  Here's the old tile in the pottery studio getting blasted off the floor.

Pottery Studio — Part 4

And so it goes.  This time new windows in the north side of the pottery studio, replacing the old single-glazed slider and tall skinny fixed side windows (with their flimsy aluminum frames) with an insulated Andersen picture window over an awning window (same pair as in the kitchen).

As seems to be the case with my window replacements, the new windows are different sizes, different types, and in new locations than the old windows, so it's never a matter of removing the old window and sliding in the new one.  I end up reframing the wall.

To see what's inside the wall, I first remove the drywall.

In this case, I was happy to find out I could leave the old header in place, saving a lot of work.  I needed to relocate an electrical receptacle for the pottery wheel to a more convenient place (the old location will be behind a shelf unit).  I discovered that someone had drilled holes through multiple studs for an electrical cable where mine needed to go, but for some reason had not actually routed a cable through said holes (but more work saved).  The old receptacle box becomes a junction box.

I removed the side windows first, and discovered the builders had not covered the studs with sheathing, but had applied the masonite shingles directly to the studs.  I applied plywood sheathing.

With the side windows removed and covered over, I tackled the center slider.  I needed to remove all the framing in the center section to make way for new framing to accommodate the new windows.  Left a big hole . . .

Then the new framing went in.

Then sheathing, black roofing felt, waterproof rubber membrane, and the windows . . .

Back inside, I insulated the new wall and put up drywall.  Here some of the joint compound has already been applied.

After finishing the taping (joint compound, etc.), and a first coat of paint, I started installing the window jambs and trim (but have run out of trim stock at this point).

So the inside needs some more trim on the picture window, caulking, installation of the electrical receptacle, and semi-gloss white on the trim, and another coat of eggshell yellow on the walls.  Outside—just getting started.

I've put on a second layer of roofing felt.  Now in preparation for the stucco, I need to add metal weep channel along the bottom of the wall, and then the wire mesh can go on.  With that on, I'll put on corner reinforcement wire, and then start applying the stucco.

After that, I'll likely start putting down the new tile floor, at least in the front of the pottery studio, and continue with the wiring and water supply lines in the new master bathroom.  I'd also like to get the new windows installed in the workshop and master bedroom, but that may get put off.  Sigh.

The New Kitchen — Part 8

Long time without a post.

When we left off last time, I had ordered more tile for the new kitchen floor.  Well, the tile was delivered to Home Depot after ten days or so, but a lot had been broken in transit (UPS), so they suggested that those tiles be returned.  They also suggested a special order directly from the tile factory (to avoid breakage), that would be delivered directly to the store along with the tile the store ordered for their own stock (to avoid breakage).

The expected delivery date was about a week, but that ended up being more than two weeks, and then that new order contained a fair amount of broken tile, but I took it anyway.  It also turned out that they accidentally ordered the non-skid version of the tile, which contains little bits of black grit in the clay.  So it didn't match what I already had, but close enough.

So I adjusted, created a passable pattern and forged ahead.  Here's the tile starting to go down—over thin-set mortar spread with a notched trowel.  You can see the slash of new concrete running across the floor where I put in the drain pipe for the sink.

Here's a photo of the tile stuck to the floor, sans grout.  I put down the tile in four batches over the same number of days, so I could walk on the tile I put down the day before while putting down the next area.  The area of bare concrete at the lower right is where the refrigerator will go; the plan was to use the old tile without the grit outside the single ring of non-skid gray tile.  But I ran out of that plain tile, and so had to order more.  When it eventually came, it was a lighter shade, so I ended up using the gray tile with grit there (but that further delayed completion of the floor).

Here's a photo showing grouting in progress.  I started at the far end and worked my way to the foreground (again, one section per day).  The tile in the foreground has had the grout pressed into the gaps, and then the excess scraped off with the edge of the grouting float.  After ten or fifteen minutes (time to clean tools and mixing bucket), I cleaned off the excess grout from the surface of the tile using big sponges wrung mostly dry, finishing with sponges rinsed in a bucket of clean water.

Here's the finished floor.  Most of the baseboard has also been installed.

With the floor finished, I was able to move the refrigerator from the pottery studio to its rightful place in the new kitchen.  Of course the refrigerator was wider than the pottery studio door opening, so I had to remove the door, along with its hinges and the door stop molding, and even then it was literally a squeeze.  

So the kitchen is coming along nicely, and you might think I would just build the cabinets for the other side of the kitchen, order the Corian countertop, and have my official kitchen sink and cooktop (and dishwasher).  But no, that would make too much sense, from a logical perspective.  But alas, no cabinet-grade plywood in the garage (more would have to be ordered).  Instead, I have drywall and ½" sheathing plywood in the garage that is taking up my storage space, as well as boxes of Andersen windows here and there.

So now that I have moved the refrigerator out of the pottery studio, I have room enough to restructure the front wall in that room and install the new windows there.  The old windows are single-glazed with flimsy aluminum frames, and no interior trim (just drywall).  Getting rid of all of those, including the tall, narrow side windows.  The new windows are the same as in the kitchen—a small picture window over an opening awning window.  Inside and outside views follow.  Obviously I need to relocate more stuff . . .   Outside, the wide white trim and fake masonite shingles will be gone!

The New Kitchen — Part 7

Short post this time.  I cleaned out the stuff stored on the kitchen floor, pulled up the rest of the old carpet, and then built and installed the bases for the cabinets on the west side of the kitchen.  Then I pulled out the quarry tile I had leftover from the foyer (the same tile will go in the kitchen, but with a different color grout), to start layout and to see how much new tile I needed to order.

At the left end of the cabinet bases is a (painted white) 4" platform I had to build for the dishwasher (since my countertop will be 4" higher than a standard kitchen counter).  Next to that is the base for the sink cabinet, which will be recessed to provide out-of-the-way floor space for the trash can and pet food containers.  The final long run of cabinets will house the electric (smooth-top) cooktop, but other than that, will be filled with drawers.

I ordered the new tile; it will take a couple of weeks to get it.  In the meantime, I need to power-wash the stucco on the back of the house, and apply two coats of stucco paint.  I also have the parts to assemble a drip irrigation line for the trees on one side of my driveway.

I could start putting down the tiles I already have, but since I got those awhile back, I'm concerned the new ones might not exactly match.  I'd rather wait and mix them up, than have half the floor one color, and the other half a slightly different shade.

The New Kitchen — Part 6

Time to put tile on the wall behind the new stainless steel counter.  This took awhile because, 1) I had to wait for the special-order blue accent tile pieces to come in, 2) I had to wait at least two days for the adhesive to dry before I could apply grout, and 3) I encountered the typical unexpected setbacks.  Other than that, the whole process was pretty straightforward.

There wasn't much prep required for the wall itself—the tile adhesive would work well on the painted drywall.  But maple trim pieces were needed on both sides to border the tile, and an aluminum channel was needed on the bottom to provide a neat interface with the counter's integral backsplash.  I didn't do anything special for the upper border (the ceiling); I just ran the tile up all the way, leaving a slight gap, which was ultimately sealed with a bead of white caulk.

There was nothing solid to nail the maple trim pieces to, so I fastened them with construction adhesive, and held them in place while that dried with a couple of pieces of wood and some wedges.  The aluminum channel was just cut to length and was fastened with the tile adhesive along with the bottom row of tiles.  While the trim adhesive dried, I laid out the tile on the counter and measured the spacing to end up with equal width tiles on both sides.

This is what the aluminum channel looks like—it's the same thing I used for the border of the foyer floor, except this was 5/16" high, while the floor tile version was 1/2".

Because of the confined space at the bottom of the wall (and around the electrical boxes), I started tiling by applying the adhesive to the back of the individual tiles, rather than putting it on the wall (and using a notched trowel in both cases).  I have a sliding-table wet tile saw with a diamond blade, which made the job of cutting the tiles a breeze, and making the cuts for the tiles surrounding the electrical boxes feasible.

The next photo shows the tiles ready to be grouted.  I used a 1/8" gap between the tiles, and unsanded grout.  Unsanded grout can be used for gaps up to 1/8", and sanded grout can be used for gaps as small as 1/8".  Based on my experience with this job, I will use sanded grout in the future, as it seems smoother to apply and requires less work to clean off the excess grout and get nice even grout lines.  Since I will be using the same tile for my master bathroom walls, it's a lesson that will be applied.

I used "bright white" grout.  Home Depot also carries "snow white," but that was sold out so I couldn't compare the color samples on the boxes.  (Both sound the same.)  The bright white worked fine for my slightly off-white tile, but was jarring between the ends of the blue accent strips.  So I dug out the white grout while it was still soft, and later, applied masking tape around the new small gaps.

The next day, I filled in those gaps with a medium gray grout (that I already had).  The tape kept the gray grout from staining the white.  That was my first unexpected issue.  The second I encountered when installing the electrical receptacles.  I'm using the "decora" style receptacles and switches in the kitchen.  The faceplates for those are fastened with two screws (versus one in the middle for traditional style receptacles).  The screws go in just above (and below) the electrical box.  If you're screwing into drywall, that's not an issue, but with tile cut closely, the screw will not penetrate (obviously).  So I had to get out my grinder (with a diamond cutting wheel installed) to cut away a little more tile.

With the electrical receptacles and faceplates installed, the job was finished (well, as always, needing a little more trim—between side panels and soffit).

Next, the bases for the cabinets on the other side of the kitchen get installed, so the quarry tile floor can go down.  Getting there.