Pot Filler/Tile Backsplash

I love to cook, but I'm always looking for ways to make cooking more convenient. I've long been drawn to pot fillers, or faucets mounted above the cooktop). One year, for Christmas, Michael got me a pot filler (or a can of worms, depending on how you look at it).

Parts of our kitchen were kind of stuck in the 1970s. The tile backsplash was among them. We thought about trying to mount the pot filler over the existing tile, but that proved impossible without an obvious water source to tie into. 

So we dug in. We tore off all the existing tile and found a water line right behind the oven. We have no idea what it was for, but we tapped into anyway (which always weirds me out a little). It turned out to be hot water. Score!

Taking down the old tile was kind of fun, but it was destructive to the underlying drywall. We had to patch a few areas that had giant holes. 

Then came the hard part, picking out the new tile. Really!! Who new it how difficult it is to pick with SO MANY OPTIONS!

Eventually I did manage to pick some tile, (a mix of light and dark gray) and after much deliberation, we decided to adhear the tile with construction glue. It was so easy!! Squirt some on the tile, stick it on the wall. Easy...  until you have to cut. 

Some work had to be done in between soccer games... (what the?)

At this point I realized that the tile seemed to be at a bit of an angle. I couldn't figure out why until I noticed that part of the cutting block had been removed and the countertop wasn't sitting on it correctly. I quickly unstuck all the tiles to the right of the oven (thankful that construction glue is somewhat forgiving!). I corrected the countertop and replaced all the tile. Phew! Crisis averted. 

The next challenge was the backsplash behind the stove. I decided that I wanted to do that section with the tile in a diamond pattern. I kept trying to start at the top and work my way down, because that made the most sense to me visually. I would have to cut fewer tiles because they would end below the stove.  Unfortunately, my tiles kept sliding down the wall. Gravity! It finally dawned on me that I needed to start at the bottom and work up, with a level shelf to set starting tiles on.  Michael put a piece of trim on the wall, leveled it, and I was back to work!

A FEW cuts later (!!!) we were able to finish the tile and install the pot filler. 

Finished product...

Filling in the Holes!

Our house came with a hole-y driveway. We thought it was a little weird, but the previous owner mentioned he built it that way to allow more water to get to the trees. Hmm...

It wasn't pretty. For 3 or 4 years, we lived with it the way it was. Everyone was used to bouncing in and out of the driveway and we became accustomed to the crunch of gravel as an indication of visitors. 

Eventually we grew tired of it. We hired our favorite backhoe operator, Rod Wagner, to come and dig out the holes and prepare them for concrete. He was fast! He had it done in no time flat!

Next we hired a concrete contractor to fill the holes in. He came, he poured, he left!

We love a quick project with a big benefit!!

Theatre Room Round 2

In May of 2010, a minor disaster struck at our house. Our new septic system worked beautifully for most of its first year through a summer, fall, winter, and most of spring. At some point, a happy little gopher decided to do some digging (we think?!) and made way for irrigation water to find its way into our drain field. So one morning, after a night of our neighbors flood irrigation, we found our basement under 5 inches of water. The water had filled our drain fields, ran over the top of the septic tank and flooded into our house. Not the best thing to wake up to.

Because the water had run backwards through our septic system, it was deemed "black water" and EVERYTHING that it came in contact with had to be removed.  We (or I should say our insurance company) hired a disaster clean up company to step in and take charge. 

After all of our low lying objects (washer, dryer, air hockey table, theatre seats, and cabinetry) were removed, the disaster guys tore out all of the flooring, doors, and trim and then cut out the dry wall (3 feet up from the floor). Then they began a floor disinfecting process that took several days. Our furnace rests on the basement floor, so they had to disinfect that too. 

Here are a few beautiful pictures...

The return of the horrible orange floor!

After the disinfection/destruction process was complete, we began the process of rebuilding. 

We re-redrywalled and repainted. We tiled the laundry and utility areas and we installed new carpet. We put in new trim and doors and we purchased a new washer and dryer. We were able to salvage one row of theatre seats because they were up on the riser and never came in contact with any water. We couldn't find a new matching set, so we decided to put a sectional couch in instead. 

Although the process was stressful and involved a lot of work, we restored out theatre room to (even better than) it's former glory. All's well that ends well!