Home stuff

Okay, I'm showing off. I just finished a couple photos for a potential customer so I figured I'd share them.

The picture I'm showing is my first concrete counter attempt and is installed in my own home - on my kitchen island bar. The other focus is the pole wrap technique I've used. I've never, ever seen it done elsewhere and all my internet searches has failed to turn up a picture like it. Finally you'll see the floor with the diamond mosaic inlays. I'm kinda partial to that.

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Great work throughout this thread.

Question: Why couldn't you use mosaic travertine sheets instead of doing it individually? That's what I've got on the bench in pic 1. Couldn't that be wrapped around a pole?

That's what it is, but I had to cut them into individual strips.

Love your bathroom. I wish somebody would hire me for something like that. Unfortunately that's a pretty high end bathroom. I'll bet it cost triple what this basement did.

[Donger]

Do you have kids, Dane?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Phobia

That's what it is, but I had to cut them into individual strips.

Love your bathroom. I wish somebody would hire me for something like that. Unfortunately that's a pretty high end bathroom. I'll bet it cost triple what this basement did.

Okay, that makes sense. When we began remodeling our home four years ago, I wondered how they got the tiles straight. That was until I saw that they were on sheets. But I've seen bad mosaic jobs in spite of them being on sheets (we actually had to have a contractor completely redo a bathroom because it was so freakin' bad. I mean, awful!).

Thanks for the kind words. That bathroom was the toughest bathroom in the house to design. I drew up the plans and picked everything in there, every tile, every accent, every piece of hardware - absolutely everything. It was challenging because I was just hoping that all of the different tiles and designs would work together.

It took the guys about 8 weeks to complete it (it had already been demo'd two years prior) and I was in there every hour to make sure that they were doing it exactly as specified (especially the lighting - the contractors we've encountered never want to put enough light in these spaces. I learned my lesson the hard way in my kitchen).

Your work looks great and I wouldn't hesitate to hire you if you weren't 2000 miles away!

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Donger

Do you have kids, Dane?

Not yet.

But here's the kid's bathroom:

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Phobia

I don't have the process down yet but I'm sure learning fast. I'll probably look at this countertop in my kitchen in a year and laugh at my own incompetence.

I don't even understand the difference between Texas, Carolina, KC, and Memphis ribs. Isn't the difference in all these styles in the sauce? I don't even like sauce on my ribs. There's two reasons to put sauce on ribs:
1. They're too dry.
2. They taste like crap. Heh.

My best understanding

Texas - Ketchup based brown sugar and chiles for heat, consistency almost like Ragu
Carolina - Mustard and tobasco
KC - Molasses/Tomato based, thicker, smokier with a more sharp heat, consistency more like syrup.
Memphis - Dry rub

[Donger]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Not yet.

But here's the kid's bathroom:

Heh. Good luck with that.

[DaneMcCloud]

oops!

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Phobia

2

You can't fool us, that painting is actually

[DaneMcCloud]

I've got plenty of pics but I there's on my wife's computer. That's all I've got of the kid's bath on mine.

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

My best understanding

Texas - Ketchup based brown sugar and chiles for heat, consistency almost like Ragu
Carolina - Mustard and tobasco
KC - Molasses/Tomato based, thicker, smokier with a more sharp heat, consistency more like syrup.
Memphis - Dry rub

I understand the differences in the sauces. I guess I didn't realize Memphis was more of a dry rub city. That probably means my style leans more towards Memphis even though I've lived in Carolina, Texas, and KC. Strange.

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Okay, that makes sense. When we began remodeling our home four years ago, I wondered how they got the tiles straight. That was until I saw that they were on sheets. But I've seen bad mosaic jobs in spite of them being on sheets (we actually had to have a contractor completely redo a bathroom because it was so freakin' bad. I mean, awful!).

Thanks for the kind words. That bathroom was the toughest bathroom in the house to design. I drew up the plans and picked everything in there, every tile, every accent, every piece of hardware - absolutely everything. It was challenging because I was just hoping that all of the different tiles and designs would work together.

It took the guys about 8 weeks to complete it (it had already been demo'd two years prior) and I was in there every hour to make sure that they were doing it exactly as specified

8 weeks? Heh. That's a good bathroom. When I first got into this business I actually did a little tiny bathroom with similar tile choices to yours except they chose really huge 3' x 1' panels. I vastly underbid the project and little old lady stood there watching me put up each and every tile. It wouldn't have been so bad but she didn't like color variations from tile to tile and she'd start telling me my tiles were crooked before I had even removed my hands from them. Brutal. She wasn't a candidate for natural tiles - she should have saved the $14 per sq ft and bought ceramic.

You did a heckuva job picking those tiles. Your taste leans exactly where my own does. I'm a big sucker for travertine and even moreso slate when people are on a budget.

(especially the lighting - the contractors we've encountered never want to put enough light in these spaces. I learned my lesson the hard way in my kitchen).

Your work looks great and I wouldn't hesitate to hire you if you weren't 2000 miles away!

Thanks. I love to work for clients like yourself because you know what you want and you're willing to spend the money to get it.

I overlight - it's so much better than the alternative. There's 20+ cans in that basement. I loved and I mean absolutely loved every choice in your bathroom - with the exception of the vanity lights. I don't want to make you feel badly about them, I'm just blunt like this. What was the rationale behind that choice?

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Phobia

I understand the differences in the sauces. I guess I didn't realize Memphis was more of a dry rub city. That probably means my style leans more towards Memphis even though I've lived in Carolina, Texas, and KC. Strange.

Sorry, completely misread your post. Thought the sauce differences were what you were talking about.

[Chief Pote]

Nice job Phobia.

You seem like the type of contractor that pays attention to the finish details. The average homeowner doesn't know what makes those "high" end projects look good when complete. Contractor's that do OR even care are rare.

Originally Posted by ChiefPote

Nice job Phobia.

You seem like the type of contractor that pays attention to the finish details. The average homeowner doesn't know what makes those "high" end projects look good when complete. Contractor's that do OR even care are rare.

Thanks brotha. It's those little things that make the project complete. I really do care - even more than my own house. I've been living without quarter round for my hardwoods at my house for over a year - among many other things. I'd never do that to a client. Heh. Sometimes it costs me too much time but I do like to leave everybody happy.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Phobia

8 weeks? Heh. That's a good bathroom. When I first got into this business I actually did a little tiny bathroom with similar tile choices to yours except they chose really huge 3' x 1' panels. I vastly underbid the project and little old lady stood there watching me put up each and every tile. It wouldn't have been so bad but she didn't like color variations from tile to tile and she'd start telling me my tiles were crooked before I had even removed my hands from them. Brutal. She wasn't a candidate for natural tiles - she should have saved the $14 per sq ft and bought ceramic.

You did a heckuva job picking those tiles. Your taste leans exactly where my own does. I'm a big sucker for travertine and even moreso slate when people are on a budget.



Thanks. I love to work for clients like yourself because you know what you want and you're willing to spend the money to get it.

I overlight - it's so much better than the alternative. There's 20+ cans in that basement. I loved and I mean absolutely loved every choice in your bathroom - with the exception of the vanity lights. I don't want to make you feel badly about them, I'm just blunt like this. What was the rationale behind that choice?

Thank again for the kind words.

The vanity lights were quickly replaced but I don't have current photos on my computer. We bought a couple sets of lights and I put them up and took pictures. Vanity lighting has been very, very difficult for us in the bathrooms. We must have bought 8 or 9 different styles when we remodeled the other bathrooms. We ended up putting in the same light fixture (it's really cool modern, flat strip) in 4 of the 5.

I've been using the same contractor now for my big jobs since 2004. He loves me, not only because I'm easy to work with and pay him weekly for completed work but because I go into projects with a full plan and know exactly what I want. He's told me horror stories of doing 100k bathrooms that the client ended up hating because the client refused to have any input.

I think the key to successful remodel is setting a budget, researching material costs, then doing everything possible to make yourself happy within that budget.

As well as a good, detailed, cooperative, reasonable contractor.