Renovation // Transformation

It's depressing to post something that didn't work out, but it happens and hopefully someone can benefit from the experience.

As you might have seen on the blog, we built a pool and a deck. Most is working out fine. The deck wood, however, did not work out well… not by a long shot.

What happened?

After following the retailer's installation instructions — using their recommended (and branded) fasteners, the wood swelled… closing up the gaps and then some. This caused the boards to buckle and eventually push the entire lot of them out on the sides as much as 3/4in. The swelling caused the boards to retain (not drain) water which made it worse. Things got dirty. The wood clearly needed far more gap than the retailer recommended and the design of the clips themselves tended to pull the boards tighter than they needed to be (the screws go in at an angle from a single side — rather than from the top and both sides — pulling each board a bit closer. Had these been top-screwed, it might not have been as much of a problem, but then later sanding and re-finishing would be an issue…

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Wood Woes (Cumaru Decking and AdvantageLumber.com)Read More »

Although the air cleaner has been working well, I've been doing more and more work in the workshop lately and I've been needing ventilation in addition to air filtering. Of course I can open the garage doors, but that's not always neighborly or practical.

The previous owners installed a window in the garage and we replaced it with the other windows in the house. Having a window is great, but still not enough.

Last week, I ordered some fans and today, I made a frame to hold everything together to slide into the window frame. The design of the windows makes this quite easy. The flow is great — over 1500CFMs — and when not in use, it can be removed. When in place, a simple window lock (and the adjacent window) keeps everything secure and in place.

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Fresh Air: Workshop VentilationRead More »

One of the things that Eichler owners are often nervous about is their sliding doors. They're generally original to the house and hard to find parts for. We've got a small stash of handles, but were always under the assumption that the rollers were either impossible to replace or that parts weren't available.

Then Bret and Mary Peyton got their doors repaired and tipped us off to American Sliding Door. Today, Ranko came by to give new life to the sliders. The cost was just under $200/door, but it was worth is as the doors now work like new. Ran did a great job in tuning them up, too — finessing the lock, track and frame… a true "tune up".

Ran took the doors off, disassembled the frame and slid in new rollers. While it looked easy, considering the sanctity of the doors, I'll let him be the expert and do his job. I discussed a few question that some of our readers have asked in the past and he seemed to think he could fix things like locks and handles, etc.

If your sliders are in need of repair, give him a call (and tell him we sent you): 925-285-5443

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Smooth Operator: Sliding Door Roller RepairRead More »

This week, we made a good bit of progress on the deck: about 2/3s of the surface and the planting areas. If it was a traditional install, we'd have been done a while ago, but it's a very time-intensive install with a lot of in-between steps and the heat makes things tough to plow through.

But with progress comes questions. Directly around the pool, we need coping. This was originally planned to be wood to match the deck, but given how much moisture and wear it will see, we're considering an even more durable material like concrete or stone. The material needs to be 3/4in thick, so countertop-style granite (2cm) would be ideal, but expensive. Wood would be the cheapest and easiest to install. Custom concrete tiles would be interesting and potentially cost effective… Thoughts?

Edit: A stopped at a few countertop shops yesterday and today and piked up some samples. Here is the backside of a jet-black countertop granite (when polished) staged at the edge (with some water splashed on the bottom two pieces… but otherwise all the same stone). I think I like it! Some sealer will make it look more gray than white. It's amazing that on the other (polished) side, it's jet black.

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More Progress + More DecisionsRead More »

This weekend, we made a pretty big push on the deck. Yes, this is a pretty length project, but it's also one taking quite a bit of precision and with a few other projects on the list, it's taken a back seat… until this week.

By Sunday evening, half of the cumaru deck boards have been screwed down on the left side of the pool. We're using Ipe Clips and 316 Stainless screws and being precise along the way. While each board is taking a good bit to mount, hopefully the toil will be worth it.

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Decking Progress…Read More »

The deck project is (slowly) progressing — winter and new parenthood have put the projects on hold a bit, but with the warm weather comes the beginning of the latest round of projects.

We planned a planting box surrounding the pool to add some greenery and softness. Also, since the deck is about 14in off the ground, the view into adjacent yards is distracting. I drew up plans for various trellises and screens and stumbled across this idea… do they look familiar? They're fence panels and with their linear and minimal structure, they make ideal screens/trellises. They're also quite robust and designed for outdoor use, so they're quite ideal. They raise the fence line by about a foot so that when the jasmine grows, the view will be a bit more pleasant and private.

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Trellis(es)Read More »