Showing posts with label concrete. Show all posts
Showing posts with label concrete. Show all posts

Friday, August 21, 2015

Studio Story Part 3: Overcoming the Unexpected

Even when you anticipate that there will be things that you don't know about......let's just say that we have had more of this than we anticipated!  Ha!
I am trying to remain philosophical.  Tis better to know the reality and deal with it, right?!
Yes, that is what it looks like:  an enormous (!) old honeycomb was removed from behind the old shower plumbing.
See that line running UNDER the foundation?
That is irrigation pipe, and it was not capped off.  The studio is part of a major addition 
that was added to the house by the original owners.  Who did it?!

The corner just left of the left window in this image was in such bad repair the entire thing was reconstructed and waterproofed.  

These two people, my architect and the project foreman, are working together to get it done properly.
Many problems have been solved.

Here is the newly-widened doorway leading into the new wet-area.  
This will have a  pocket door.

A new shelving area was added to the old hallway...

And this was taken standing in a newly-created doorway looking from the hall into the wet-area.
The plywood on the far side of the room will eventually be the new door leading out to the side yard 
and a newly-poured concrete slab where I can do stinky messy stuff.

Looking from the main room down the hallway...

Some other fun stuff....
I'm looking at materials for the space.  I chose this birch flooring/stain (on the right)
for the main design area of the studio (the wet-area will have simple concrete floors with rubber mats).  The hexi tile will be installed on the floor of the old shower area in the wet room.  The gray composite material in front of the hexi sample is laboratory countertop material, which is what I intend to use on the counter of my wet studio (just one place, everything else will be stainless surface).  

Here we are looking at a variety of subway type tiles for the shower walls.  I want a combo of rectangular pieces (naturally!) so we are discussing how to do this.

Maybe some combo of these?


I was able to sneak out and carve our initials into my newly-poured slab.
I've always wanted to do this!  Yay!

The status is that we are still chasing an occult water leak which seems to be coming from failed caulking around the old window frames.  This has caused a lot of damage and we are dealing with that.  The sheetrock work really can't begin until this has been solved but the crew is finding many things that can be done while the search is on for the leaks.  The electrical upgrades have been put in place.  I added another circuit to handle the potential load from multiple heat sources.  The design wall board has arrived.  I am using the same material as Nancy Crow has in her Timberframe barn in Ohio, a product from Canada which is not frequently used here in the States but is AWESOME for pinning!  We have figured out how to put it up and finish around it.  



Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Studio Story Part 2: The DeConstruction

Day One:  my contractor arrived and didn't mess around.  By the end of the first day he had removed doors, shelves, and was well on his way to having the sinks and vanities pulled.  All these things were salvaged and went to Habitat for Humanity.  Except for the huge tub:  no way to get that sucker out except to cut it apart.  Sheesh.
Jeremy gets right to work.

My architect examines a mystery spot on the concrete.
There will be more such mysteries uncovered...


Doors, cabinets, and mirrors get pulled out.



as do the shelves

A dyer is always limited by the size of the sink.  I won't be missing these......

And I'm pretty jazzed about having a side-door (where the window above huge bathtub was).
This will lead out to a very basic concrete pad in the side yard.  I can do really messy, stinky stuff out there.

The guy on the ladder is where the tub used to be.

A discussion about the location of the pad...

Woot!  The coffered ceiling is no more.  We discovered some very bizarre things:
sub-par wiring, odd things in the foundation, several holes in the a/c ductwork.  It 
is good to be able to repair this stuff.  Oh, and did I mention the evidence of termite activity (old)?
Ugh!  There is more to add to the list but suffice it to say that I'm glad these things have 
been discovered in order to repair them.  I expected a few side-trips.  I have not been disappointed.

Here we are by the end of week 2.  Stay tuned.....

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Observed Stones and Stone Surfaces in 2014

I love rocks.  I love how they are seemingly impervious to the elements and yet, over time, they begin to wear.  I love how they nestle together in a pile.  I'm particularly attracted to rounded, tumbled stones.  Those of you who have visited my garden or seen images know that I, er, have a few stones lying around out there.  I took a quick scan through my photos taken in 2014 and thought I would share some of the things I looked at, rock-wise, last year.  Why am I writing about this?  Well, one of the things I am always curious about is what artists like to look at.  So I'm showing you one
 of the things I look at constantly.
Petroglyph National monument in Albuquerque NM

Beach stones in California

Bluebonnets amongst the rocky terrain in the Texas Hill Country

Wind-worn limestone at Point Lobos, California

Point Lobos, California

Okay, this is not stone but is part of my obsession..
cast shadows through my corten steel outdoor shower screen.


African basket installation at the Crow Timberframe Barn,
Baltimore Ohio

Poured form concrete

a rock-inspired installation seen at Art Basel, Switzerland

Stacked stone wall, Tirano Italy

moss-covered wall, Tirano, Italy

cobblestone pavement, Tirano, Italy

Limestone wall at my hair salon.

Stacked stone cathedral wall, London, UK

Stone wall, London
Stacked stone and quarried rock, Tuscany

fencing, Tuscany

Roman-era stone steps, Tuscany

Imagine how many footsteps it took to wear these stone steps away...