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Gulf Island Building.

1M views 8K replies 149 participants last post by  Katie Cabana 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all:
Since the summer of 1997, I have been building a cabin and house on our 1/2 acre lot here. Before I dive into that part, I am going to show a few photos to set the stage a bit. We are remote here. No services of any kind, except that which we provide for ourselves. So don't expect to see any paved roads with big trucks delivering any materials.
We live at the head of a small bay, which is both a blessing and a curse.
When the tide goes out, we have to clamber over hundreds of yards of rocks to get to our boat. When it is in, I can float logs right up to my little railway to move them onto the log deck. Well, not any more, but more about that later.
This is the bay in front of us.
 

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#2,412 ·
When she's done playing, out comes the vacuum cleaner to try and tidy up the mess.

It actually looks pretty good at this point.

Now it will sit another 24 hours to let the putty harden up and tomorrow she plans on taking the rest of the old paint off.
 

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#2,414 ·
So far, it has taken her about 5 hours to do each side.

It won't take too long to get the rest of the paint off, but then she needs to get the wood ready for varnishing.:thumbsup:
 
#2,416 ·
Well, she's certainly looking forward to getting it done...that's for sure.

With the weather turning cold on us this early (only 14ºC today, just under 60ºF) she will have to do all the varnishing inside as well.

We were going to sand the door and hang it tomorrow, but I think it wiser to not take that risk.

P.S. I can't fly a 747....yet! :laughing:
 
#2,418 ·
Still cool here today, but warming.

The missus has all the paint off the door now, and we are experimenting with how to get some sort of residue out of the wood. It looks like a brown stain - possibly from some badly removed varnish from a previous life.

We're working on the problem as we speak.

I tried a scraper, and it takes some off - but not all. I think we will try another application of the paint remover next. If that still leaves something behind we will use some wood cleaner & brightener we have...or maybe I will sand first, then try the cleaner if that doesn't work.

Whatever it is, is quite sticky, so sanding won't work just yet.
 
#2,419 ·
Have been working on the tile in the ensuite, and as soon as the wall tile was done up to the top of the windows, it was obvious that I needed some trim tiles above that. Something along the lines of what is in the shower downstairs.

Since we didn't have any contrasting tiles on hand, it was another trip over to town today to find something.

Had to go to four different stores before I found anything remotely close.

I will be chopping up 13 x 13 tiles into smaller squares. Like so...
 

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#2,421 ·
The cutting gets done on the back deck. Part way through I looked up and spotted some neat colour in the sky. As quickly as possible, I ran upstairs and got the camera and started shooting.

It looks like I missed the good part, but what was left isn't too bad.
 

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#2,422 ·
Oh wow, that sunset is just beautiful, it is just a reminder of how beautiful your part of the world is. Looking at that pretty picture just makes me take a deep breath and sigh, thanks buddy for starting our day off in such a great way.

Man, you haven't been letting any grass grow under your feet, when we don't hear from you we know you are busy busy. Your saw has a nice big table on it, what is your max cut?
 
#2,423 ·
The saw in that pic has a 10" blade and will cut 24" deep. Plus it will cut through a 2 1/2" thick brick. The bridge saw - 7" blade - cuts 18 1/2" deep, and the first wet saw I got cuts about 16" deep.
 
#2,424 ·
It's the missus' birthday today, so I expect I will be getting less work done than usual. :(

"Keith, can you help me with this", "Can you help me with that" ... can hardly turn her down on her birthday, can I? :no:

I'm going to clean off the small tiles and get the first ones up as quickly as possible - then maybe I can get a pic to show what we have been up to. It seems that 4 out of every 5 tiles needed to be cut. Very time consuming, but it is starting to come together. Still no marble done, that will be the very last thing...except for the floor tiles.

And we do have the grout on hand, so hopefully no delays there.:)
 
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#2,425 ·
Buddy, I have seen times I could have used a saw that size, my saw is nowhere that big, I really don't know what size the blade is, I think maybe a 7 inch. The wait on your pictures of what ya'll have been doing is always worth the wait.

Tell your sweety we hope she has the happiest birthday ever.
 
#2,429 ·
Well, that's the price I have to pay for drawing up such an oddball house plan, isn't it?

I just did a quick count of the whole and cut tiles on the walls...60 whole and about 220 cut.

Getting started on the last row of trim tiles now, should be able to get a pic up sometime later today.

If I were to bake a cake, it would be named something like a Rock Cake! Probably not right up there in the world of culinary arts! :no:
 
#2,432 ·
Tried to get some pix of the tiling so far in the ensuite, but it's awkward to say the least.

This is looking at the right side of the room as you walk in. I'll get some better shots tomorrow I hope.
 

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#2,433 ·
Looking good buddy, I know it is tough working in a small space.

When do ya'll usually get your first frost? They are saying we probably will have a warm winter this year. I just hope it gets down in the 50s and 60s, at least maybe we can camp and fish for a change.
 
#2,435 ·
That is quite surprising, I figured it would get cold quickly up north and snow a lot. In past years it would frost usually around the last of October here and we got a few snows each winter but not anymore, it is unusual if we get snow at all now days.
 
#2,436 ·
Well, you have to remember that we are right at the south west corner of B.C. Maybe less than 50 miles above the U.S. border. The Pacific Ocean is a great moderator of temperatures, and it (the ocean) doesn't freeze here. So there is always that great huge mass of water to soak up any heat or cold which may come along.

Right now the water is quite warm - still great for swimming. It is normally the last half of January and February that it gets cold here. By cold I mean down to just below 0ºC, or 32ºf.

If you go inland 100 miles or more, then it gets a little cooler. And head 500 miles north and it can get downright chilly.

That's why we live in the banana belt! :)
 
#2,437 ·
I love learning new things, that is just amazing, I would have never guessed that but now that you have explained it, that does make sense. Speaking of banana belt, I worked with a fellow who had made his career in the Navy as a boiler tender aboard several ships, we were talking one time about different places we had been and he made the statement that he had sailed around "the tropics of Alaska". I said "what" :eek: and he repeated it. I had to leave so I wouldn't laugh.
 
#2,438 ·
Tropics of Alaska eh? Well, I have been to Alaska in the summertime, and it was none too tropical even then.

Although neither was it cold. Amazing how warm it gets in those northern climes in the summertime. Mainly because the sun is up so long up there.

There is a place in the Yukon named Mayo. Their claim to fame is that the temperature gets to 95 above in summer and 95 below in winter. Personally, I think they are pulling our leg, as it never even got close to that during the five years I lived in Whitehorse.

The coldest when I was up there was -84ºF in Dawson City one winter - and that's just about right on the arctic circle. Don't recall what the highs might have been, but certainly not +95ºF. Maybe 80º tops.

Normal lows might dip to the -45ºF range, but very rarely any colder.
 
#2,439 ·
I just can't imagine being in a place that cold. The coldest I have ever been in was -11F back in 1950 in Memphis Tennessee, the hottest was 110F here this year. It was so nice and cool here this morning Judy and I went up on Raccoon Mountain for a short walk.
 
#2,451 · (Edited)
The coldest that I was knowingly in was -54º in Whitehorse, and that was the time it went to -84º up at Dawson City.

The warmest I am aware of was at a hot spring in one of the California deserts many years ago. It is the next valley over from Death Valley, can't remember the name.

They have a beautiful hot spring and one of the lower pools has several trees around it. Every year they get a used parachute from a nearby airport and spread it out between the trees over the pool. It's really gorgeous.

Every day I was there it topped out at 108ºF. I think at night it went down to about 100º. You can camp right there - and no charge!

Just went Googling for the name of that hot spring....Saline valley Hot Spring.
 
#2,440 ·
Good to see you're finally getting a break from all that oppressive heat.

Just finished cutting some of the marble - back in a minute or three with the first pic.
 
#2,441 ·
One of the back corners of the surround has about a 30º angle. The only way I could cut that was with the bridge saw. So it has come in useful for something other than cutting that art glass the missus has.
 

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#2,442 ·
When it comes to marble, with all its' natural fissures, I'm always leery of having to cut a corner out like this. You need the angle grinder with diamond blade to do it. But since it is done freehend - at least the finishing part - I'm always nervous.

No trouble this time.
 

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#2,444 ·
None of the marble by the surround is set yet, just set in place with wedges to make sure everything fits right. I'll be doing that as soon as I'm done posting here.
 

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#2,445 ·
Came back upstairs a few minutes ago to find the missus staring intently into the ensuite...and she said to me "You know what?" That usually means something is wrong.

No, why don't you tell me..."I really like the way that dark tile ties everything together". Phew, thank goodness for that! I was afraid for a minute that she wanted the whole mess ripped out or something.

I stood on a short ladder just outside the door and took this. You can see the three windows which look into the bay.

There are strips of wood below the bottom row of tiles on those short walls, and they are spacers to allow either tile/backerboard, or wood to be used to cover those areas. HRH hasn't yet made up her mind.

I like the tile idea. Easier to keep clean and will undoubtedly last longer.
 

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#2,446 ·
That is some really pretty marble, I would have been nervous also. Could you use some clear epoxy to glue that corner back on, it is way too beautiful not to fix. You do beautiful work buddy, there is no doubting that at all. Your home is a master piece and the location is totally breathtaking.
 
#2,447 ·
Thanks Jim...

As it happens, that piece is going to fall under the lip of the tub. If the break shows - which I don't think it will - it could certainly be fixed with epoxy.
 
#2,448 ·
First row of marble on the wall is now set. I made sure I had plenty of the white thinset mixed and ended up using the balance to set the first handful of floor tiles.
 

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