ABCs of flooring

A box of tile is really heavy.
Because tile installers charge $8-10/sq ft which is $8000-10000 I don't want to spend.
C See Dan busting his hump to install tile.

Yes Hunter, you told me so.  VCT would have been the same price and so so much easier.
But sometimes, I have to go my own way.

After scouring the South Bay (where I work) for deals on tile, I went into Import Tile in Berkeley expecting the usual Berkeley fruitiness and not much more.  I told the salesguy Tom that I was sick of shopping for tile, but that I was looking for a modernish 12x24 porcelain tile.  Several photos, 3 samples, and 24 hours later, I had about 1000 sq ft of grey Italian tile headed to my house, at a whopping cost of around $2/sq ft.

Laying tile is pretty easy, really.  The hard part is:

• planning
• prepping the floor
• marking lines
• mixing thinset
• keeping the tiles level and straight
• cutting the tiles around obstacles

More on the specific tools and techniques later.  The work below is about 7 total man hours, all done in the evenings after my day job and 1+ hour commute each way.  No wonder my back and knees are killing me...

This particular tile will be used in the "bonus room" which I have now opened up to the main living room (shown below) and carried into the living room, kitchen and hallway.  I think we'll do a different tile for the bedrooms.

Once the tiling is all done, it's on to the remaining projects:

• finish planning kitchen layout
• finish electrical wiring for the kitchen and baths
• rough in the bathrooms
• structural upgrades (the walls are open, why not?)
• sheetrock, tape, prime the walls
• install kitchen and baths

That all sounds doable by May 1st ish right?  Oi...

Beam me up Scotty

Once again, I've been too busy to blog regularly, so here's some catching up.

Captain's log, stardate 20110208.
The electrical has been upgraded to 200A service, and a new panel installed.
This was more of a safety upgrade to eliminate the rusty and fire-prone old FPE (Federal Pacific Electric) breakers and panel.  Dave from Beckert Electric did some nice work and was very creative:

Now, about those beams.  Recall that the old beams had rotted on the outside, which allowed water to penetrate the beam, and from there to the uprights.  A total of three beams needed to be replaced, and two of the uprights.

It's a fallacy that the beams in an Eichler run the full length of the house.  They generally don't.  The beams are supported by the upright posts, and the beams meet on some of those uprights.

It's still a massive job, but I found the right man for the job (Frank at Larco Construction, 925-595-3180).

His method (from my observation) is to:

1. Support the ceiling on either side of the beam (so you can safely remove the beam) using a temporary wall made of 2x4s.
2. Cut the beam into small chunks and pull the chunks down.
3. Cut away the many, many nails holding the beam to the tongue and groove wood ceiling.
4. Replace the uprights (if necessary).
5. Carefully measure and cut the new beam to size.
6. Lift new beam into place.
7. Screw the new beam into the ceiling for extra support (and to prevent twisting).

The new beams are the closest you can find to the original, but as Tony points out, today's wood is nothing like the old growth wood used in those Eichler beams.  Hold a piece of the new beam vs the old and you will notice a huge weight difference.

OK, onto the photos.

Here's the bracing on either side of the (now removed) beam:

Old beam in chunks on the floor:

Hhighlight of the extent of the dryrot at the front of the garage beam.  Protect the tops of those beams!

Another little Eichler thing.  The tongue and groove ceiling is not all one straight shot.  Seams are staggered slightly for strength behind the beam, but you'd never notice it when the beam is in place:

Finally, a small very cool Eichler find.  The "E11" here refers to the model of this particular home, written here by hand on one of the upright supports.  At the bottom it also says "Walnut Creek":

That's all for now.  Full speed ahead to the next small project.