Month: May 2017

I hate to be the one to have to say this, but as you know, there are quite a few people out there working on houses that really don’t do the best possible job.  A good part of my week is involved with undoing things that other people have done incorrectly.

Something that I see repeatedly has to do with bathtub installations.  I will get right to the point:  if you are having a bathroom redone, meaning, the tile and the tub is being replaced, here are the three things I see being done wrong:  One, the tub is not level,  two, the point where the tile meets the tub is not big enough, and three, they use tile grout between the bottom row of tile and the tub.

Tile grout is lovely as grout, but houses shift with time and temperature, and you need to allow for those tectonic plates to shift without creating cracks.  That’s why you leave 1/4″ of space between the tile and the tub.  Also, ok, use grout, but then you must then fill the tub half way so it sets and cures in a stretched out position, otherwise when you fill the tub it pulls the grout and cracks it.

Also, silicone caulk is really hard to work with– it’s messy and sticky.  You have to know what you are doing.  So, caveat emptor.

So anyway, I am always amazed at how often I am asked to caulk a tub.  And here is a sample of the process, which yes takes about 4 hours to do correctly:

 

It’s not the best pic in the world but you get the idea, this had caulk that was all blackened with mildew stains.

So . . . in we dive.  Basically you clean it out using a razor blade.

This tub had two layers of caulking in there, a top layer of some kind of caulk (probably acrylic, not silicone– easier to apply but cracks and does not really waterproof anything).  Under that was tile grout, hard as a rock.  I broke several razor blades on this one.  .

Starting to look a little more civilized with all the gunk removed, but above is not fully clean yet.    Like most jobs, surface prep is key.  After cleaning it with a razor blade, I scrub it with baking soda and a scouring pad, then I brush it with alcohol.

Next– we tape.

Some people just wing it using a caulking gun and their finger, and while it works I guess, I think it always looks sloppy.  Anyway, at this point there is no longer time to take pix, as the stuff cures really fast.  and VOILA:

It’s always hard to get good pix of a tub caulk job because everything is bright white, but hopefully you get the idea.  The added benefit of using high grade tub/bath silicone is, it will kill all mildew in sight, and if you have issues with dark stains appearing on the bottom of your tub, this will reduce them by 95%.

Another day in the life . . .

 

So a new client called and asked if I could put a bed frame together.  Sure, I said.  I figured, two of those steel bed frame doodads, put on the four wheels, 2 sets screws, and done.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  Silly me.

So it turns out it was a Woodcrest Pine Ridge Mission Captains Bed.  It seemed simple enough, three boxes on a pallet.  Off we go.

The trick to any self assembly furniture is to not think too much, or try to do anything without consulting the directions.  I will say, as a reviewer, this kit gets about a C- from me.  One problem was, the bag of connectors was kinda hard to work with:

In better kits, each different connector comes in its own re-sealable plastic bag.  This was one bag with 10 or more compartments, so once you cut things open it was VERY easy to mix things up or lose them.  If I had it to do over, I would bring a bunch of little tupperware containers to keep them organized, as there were almost 180 connectors, and many of them were almost the same size.  ANYWAY back to the job!

Of course it is always a thrill when it starts to take shape!

I will also add, as part of my overall product review, this was harder than it had to be because the slats here were not uniformly cut, and I had to do some sawing on one or two to make them fit.  But hey, I am a handy . . . person.

More pix . . .

Once I got to this point I figured I was almost done, but NOOOOO . . .  I literally had to build the drawers, all three, pretty much from scratch.

Another issue, the posts for the knobs had been painted, making them too big to fit in the holes, so all 6 had to be sanded down with a file.  Yeesh.  But, success.
I hope I don’t sound too negative here, I love putting furniture together, it’s like doing a massive jigsaw puzzle, and often it’s very much of a “me vs. them” challenge which I adore.  But I will say about this particular item though, the directions were more difficult than most– there were at least two points where I had to make a critical decisions, and I simply had to make an educated guess.  I guessed right, but it was close.   And I was a little surprised at how barren the drawer parts were, I would have expected more pre-drilled holes in a kit.  Things were so basic I found myself wishing I had clamps and a workbench, but, I managed to make do with tools at hand.  Also many of the pre-drilled holes for the bed slats were either nonexistent or not in the right place and I had to work around that.

On the plus side, the client was fabulous, supplying me with snacks and bottles of water throughout the 6 hours.  So, despite the many difficulties, it was a success.  All in a day’s work 🙂