Demo day 3

Today the roof is completely gone. Dave and Justo arrived at 7am and right away got to removing the rest of the roof and, as the pictures below show, most of the interior walls. Shortly after D & J got here, a third Tombleson employee arrived driving a dumpster-like dump truck. Don't know this guy's name yet so we'll refer to him as Big Bushy Beard Guy. BBBG spent the entire day filling the truck.

Although all of the photos except the first one suggest a bright and sunny day, it didn't start out that way. As Murphy's Law would have it, the day the roof is gone would be the day it rains. It never rains in this part of California during the summer. And besides, aren't we having one of our worst droughts ever? Fortunately for the Tombleson guys, it was a light shower that only lasted an hour or so. Unfortunately for California, it was a light shower that only lasted an hour or so.

Just because we can:

Around 1 we drove over to Moss Landing to drop off our cabinet plans at Mark Concrete. Initially, Kevin was the only one to meet with them so this was Chip's first time to see their showroom. Mark wasn't there but Kaylee was and she was able to go over our plans and answer the few questions we had. While there we found another sample ever so slightly lighter than the one Kevin originally took home. It's also mostly white with the same color specs but side by side, the newer sample seems like an even better fit for the plyboo we're using for the cabinet doors and drawers.

We had originally planned on using stainless steel, rectangular undermount sinks for everything in the renovation but today we both kind of fell in love with one particular style of integrated sink we saw in their showroom:

We're thinking we might splurge and use this style for the two sinks in the master bathroom. Maybe. Perhaps it could be a consolation prize for not getting the $8K cabinet pulls.

Right before we left, we showed Kaylee this blog so she could get a better sense of what we're going after in the renovation. We both really like the look and feel of the concrete counters and appreciate Mark's attention to detail. And we love the infinity drain they use in this integrated sink. We also want to support local craftspeople. But, just to be practical and reasonable, we're also going to get quotes for other solid surface options like Corian or even some engineered stone like Zodiaq or Silestone.

On the way home, we made another stop to the flooring folks to return the linoleum samples and to give them more accurate measurements of the stairwell to see if the remnant samples they're holding for us would be enough to complete the job. As fate would have it, they had added a second roll of the color we want so there should be plenty. But, just to be sure, the owner's son who lives nearby is going to stop by in a day or so to measure the stairwell and to give us an estimate for installation.

Last stop on the way home was FedEx to return the cabinet pull samples. Kind of sad but we know we made the right choice. As the estimates and purchases keep adding up, we're constantly reminding ourselves that we're not the Romneys. We are so not the Romneys.

And there's always the question: What would George Tobleson have done?

Demo day 2

Yesterday the roof came off. Literally. Dave and Justo arrived at 7am and immediately started ripping the asphalt shingles off. Then came the underlayment. Next were the trusses. By the end of the day all that remained were the beam at the top of the gable and the two triangular frames at each end.

The dumpster has yet to arrive so there is debris everywhere. The chickens appear to be handling all of the commotion rather well, at least there has been no slow down of egg production.

There was a lot more activity on Steinback Mountain besides the demolition. John Laughton called to see if he could stop by with a hardware catalog. We're needing to rethink the cabinet hardware because we got our quote from the Contemporary Pull folks and it was a few dollars shy of eight thousand bucks. Yep, 105 pulls for almost 8K. As we told them in our email reply, there was no way we could justify that kind of money regardless of how much we loved their product. Bummer, bummer, bummer.

So around 9 John showed up with his catalog. Although there were a number of options that fit the aesthetic we're going for, we ultimately decided to use cutouts rather than pulls which means we will now be purchasing 3 pulls (for the fridge) instead of 105.

Continuing with the small world theme of the previous post,  John also went to school with the Tombleson boys. Yes, boys. Turns out Tim has an older brother. And John played high school football with them. And, best yet, he remembers swimming in the pool in our backyard. The pool we've yet to see as it has been covered by a deck for many years.

As John was heading out to his truck to leave, Mike and the tile guy arrived. We walked through each of the rooms we could get to which meant everything but the guest house. The pile of asphalt tiles outside the guest house by that time was high enough to prevent a safe entrance. We talked about how we were going to zone the radiant heat and then we looked at the tile samples. The tile guy was confident he could find something similar to the floor tile we're after and even convinced us that 18x18 inch tiles would be a better choice than the 24x24 inch or larger we thought we wanted. Easier to install and less waste were the reasons.

We then went to the stairs in the main house that lead down to the garage. The plywood stairs are going to be reconfigured at the top and the upstairs door is going to be removed. We're also adding three floor to ceiling windows on the walls of the stairwell facing the backyard that will mimic the windows in the living room. So we needed to decide how to cover the stairs since they're going to be much more visible. Both Mike and the tile guy talked us out of using the floor tiles which would require rebuilding the entire staircase and be very expensive for both materials and labor. So the options were either carpeting or linoleum. Actually, carpeting isn't really an option because Zoya our cat will have access to the stairwell when the renovation is done and she is a threat to all things woven.

So it was off to the flooring store where we found a few linoleum samples that were similar in color and texture to the tile. But, we thought, why not pick something that referenced the time period? We actually have a new mantra… instead of WWJD (what would Jesus do?), we find ourselves lately asking "What would George Tombleson do?" Or, in this case, what would George Tombleson have done? Kevin joked with the salesman saying we were probably the only customers looking for the style of 50s kitchen linoleum that, for decades, everyone else has been trying to replace. Because we really didn't need a lot, the salesman suggested we look at the remnants. And it was there that we found five or six rolls of commercial grade linoleum, all of which had the speckled treatment used in the 50s. The roll with a light grey background and white, brown and dark grey specks was the perfect fit. George would be very happy with the choice we're making.

At the end of the day the plumber showed up to see the site and prepare for his quote. He convinced us the wall mounted toilet for the BBQ room's half bath was probably not a good choice. That room is on a concrete slab which would have to be jack hammered and repoured in order to move the toilet bowl less than a foot. And since this will be the bathroom that will rarely be used, why not forgo the $1000 dollar wall mounted option and use a $100 traditional toilet instead? It's nice to have contractors who try to save you money.

Early evening we received an email from Laughton with his quote for the cabinets. Kind of what we were expecting. Besides, we'd much rather have beautiful and functional cabinets than a new Tesla. And, we're confident, so would George Tombleson.

Demo reveal: Small town, small world

Mike showed up at 8 this morning followed by Dave who will be taking care of the guest house renovation. Turns out Dave has a daughter in CSUMB's "CSIT in 3" program which means she will be taking her Ethics and Current Issues in Information Technology course from Kevin in a semester or two. Small world. In a paragraph or two, it's going to get even smaller.

After about an hour of Mike walking Dave through the project, Mike left and Dave immediately got to work. The sound of a sawzall never sounded so good.

When Kevin checked in on the progress a few hours later, Dave asked if he knew when the guest house was built. We don't know because we've never found any plans but always assumed it was built shortly after the other buildings because the window treatments are the same and the bathroom tiles are very similar to the main house.

Dave's guess is the structure was probably built as late as the 70s. He says the wood used for framing it is a combination of woods that look like they were left overs from other projects, some of them weren't used in the 50s or early 60s.

When Kevin mentioned that earlier, somewhat hushed and never confirmed stories about the property suggested the guest house may have actually been the Tombleson son's bedroom (George Tombleson's original plans for the 2-bedroom main house have hand written labels identifying the master bedroom and the "Girls' bedroom"), Dave revealed that he went to Hartnell College and was in the same carpentry apprentice course with Tim Tombleson. Small world getting even smaller! So now we know there was a son and we can add one more person working on the project with ties to the Tomblesons. It also turns out that Dave worked for John Laughton before he joined the Tombleson guys. It's a small world after all.

Today we also ordered and paid for the decking and guest house wall paneling. The decking will ship right away but it's going to take at least 8 weeks for the coconut deco panels.

Tomorrow the dumpster arrives and the process of removing the roof begins. Sure not going to miss the acoustic tile ceiling…. And the tile contractor is coming, too!

13 hours til Demo

Finally got the cabinet layouts complete and this morning printed out three sets. One set for the cabinet guy, one set for the concrete counter guy, and one set for us so that we can figure the total number of pulls. On our way back from volunteering for the Rice Plus Project, we stopped at the grocery store for some dinner supplies and guess who we see as we're getting out of our car? John Laughton, the cabinet guy! So we gave him a set and went over a few questions we had (like is it okay if we purchase the Plyboo plywoods and veneers so that we can maximize our quantity discounts?). He's totally cool with us buying the materials which is good news.

After shopping, we returned to Steinback Mountain to finish emptying out the guest house. The contractors are showing up tomorrow morning at 8!

The biggest change to the guest house is going to be the redesign of the roof. We're replacing the gable roof with a flat roof pitched at the same angle as the main house. We're also replacing the acoustic tile ceilings with a tongue and groove beam ceiling to match the BBQ room.

The second major change will be enclosing the porch at the entrance. This will buy us another 15 or so square feet of interior space.

Directly below the guest house is an enclosed storage area and next to that is our chicken coop which was our first renovation project on Steinback Mountain that we completed two years ago. We had lost too many hens to foxes, including Lady Gaga who was one of our favorites. Now, Sylvia Poggioli and her seven sisters are safe and happy. They do get to leave their compound and peck around our little vegetable garden, but only when accompanied by an adult.

That's Jack, our 14-year old Catahoula Leopard Hound. He can't see very well but he knows something is going on. Where did the bed go?

The third significant change to the guest house will be to its bathroom. We're moving the entrance to be closer to the front door and almost doubling its overall size. We stated in an earlier post that we had hoped to change the floor to ceiling window on the outside of the shower to a slider but the last time Mike and Steve Locke were over they said there would be no way the County would let us do that without adding a deck and railing because of the slope of the hill (see photo below). Not going to happen….

 

The closet (lower right) is going, and the wall with the two doors is being bumped out a foot or so which will both make the bathroom larger. That's also the wall that's getting the Plyboo treatment we're so excited about. We chose the style in the middle of the samples below:

Yes, Jack, this is really happening.

Photos of the demo tomorrow….

Cabinets, cabinets, cabinets

Today was a very productive day. Chip took the day off (Kevin, the professor, has the summer off) and together we completed the plans for all of the cabinetry. We also specced all of the tile treatments for the kitchen, BBQ room, and the 3 1/2 baths.

The matte black tile in the upper left will be the backsplash for the kitchen, pantry and buffet cabinets. It will also be the backsplash for the island in the BBQ room. The grey tile, or something very similar to it, will be the flooring for all three buildings. The white tile in the upper right will be used in the guest house bath and the guest bath in the main house. The tile along the bottom will be used in the master bath. The small white sample near the middle represents our choice for the concrete countertops which will be used in all three buildings.

We found and purchased the black tile a year ago from a Porcelanosa showroom in San Jose. We really liked its modern tiki vibe and didn't want to risk it going out of production before we started the renovation. It also comes in two shades of white and a very cool red. The white we're choosing has a high gloss surface. We picked up the flooring sample at the same time but can no longer find it on their website so we'll probably have to find something else. Mike is arranging to bring his tile guy out later this week. Hopefully, he can get something which comes close. He'll also be installing the radiant heat systems underneath the tile.

At noon we had a great phone conversation with Angus, our sales rep at Plyboo. We met Angus at the Dwell on Design conference and later visited him at their store in San Francisco. We told him which of the two colors of Durapalm paneling we wanted for the guest house and what Linear Line Style Pattern we chose for the master bedroom (see below). He gave us some great tips for installation of both materials.

We also talked about our concerns with the negative review of the PlybooDex decking material we found online. He shared with us the whole background of that customer's incorrect installation and how his company very generously handled the complaints. By the end of the conversation, we were no longer worried about the product and completely convinced we were making a good choice.

And the final good news of the day: We received an email from the contemporarypull.com folks offering us a discount if we purchase more than twenty of a single style. Sometime tomorrow we'll have the final number of pulls figured out but we already know we'll be ordering more than twenty of the pull in the tile sample photo above.

Tomorrow we deliver the cabinet plan printouts to John Laughton. We have four days to clear out the guest house because demo starts on Monday!

Goodbye mancave

Saturday was devoted to making the final choices for appliances and plumbing fixtures. We're trying to finalize all of the cabinet designs and to do so we need accurate measurements for all of the appliances, sinks, and plumbing hardware. We started out at Monterey Peninsula's largest showroom for all things kitchen and bathroom. We're not going to mention their name, but their motto is "Nobody expects more from us than we do." We expected some customer service but left the store after an hour without a single salesperson asking if we needed any assistance.

We then drove over to the BID (Built-In Distributors) showroom for the second time this week to pick up a quote for all of the kitchen and BBQ room appliances. We had some questions for our very helpful salesperson Billy, specifically about the Thermador dishwasher and how quiet it was compared to the Bosch model we had originally specced. They're having a promotion where if you buy two Thermador products you get a third appliance free. Because we're buying a Thermador oven, refrigerator and induction stovetop, we're going to get a dishwasher and a downdraft vent for the stovetop at no cost. The Thermador dishwasher is actually a Bosch in disguise but it is two decibels louder. Saving over $1600 makes it easier to accept a louder dishwasher.

Next, we headed for Salinas Valley Kitchen & Bath located in the Nob Hill shopping center in Salinas. Unlike our first experience, we were greeted the second we walked in. We instantly hit it off with their sole salesperson, Jeannie, and although the showroom is considerably smaller than the big box chain we had visited earlier, we were able to find lots of options to choose from. We spent over two hours and by the time we left, all of our choices were made.

The hardest choice was for the wall mounted faucets we'll be using in all four bathrooms. Of course, everything we liked had a list price hovering around a thousand bucks. Ouch. Ouch times four! With Jeannie's help, we were able to find a Delta model that perfectly fits our aesthetic for about a third of the price. Sold! We also selected the wall mounted toilets we're using in all four bathrooms.  Both Jeannie and our architect Doug highly recommended the Toto Aquia model. It's not as minimal in design as some other brands but Jeannie said you won't find another wall mount system that's as well made. Again, sold!

Returning to Steinback Mountain late in the afternoon and a bit exhausted (shopping can be hard work!), we mustered the energy to return to the cabinet layouts. The bathrooms are relatively easy to design, it's the BBQ room that we're the least sure of. Why? Because it's the room that will be having the most extreme makeover. In its current form, the BBQ room is the quintessential man cave.

The BBQ room is where we display most of the Native American art we've collected over the years and where we entertain. Every Spring we have an end-of-the-semester party for our capstone students and this is the space most of them end up in. Could it be the bar? Probably, but it's also where we spread out the food. And the BBQ room has some of the best valley views. The BBQ room is also where we sit down for holiday meals as it's the only room that can accommodate more than six people. And, occasionally, it also morphs into an extra bedroom for guests.

So our challenge is to modify the space, to make it less cowboyish and more modern and functional without losing its warmth and charm. The pine paneling is going, as is most of the rough hewn trim. It'll be replaced with cabinetry matching the rest of the house. The tongue and grove ceiling stays as will the two shadow boxed paintings we assume are original to the 50s construction.

Hidden behind the island will be an under counter fridge, a full size dishwasher, electric range oven, and a sink. We've yet to figure out where the microwave is going....

Originally, we had planned on keeping a double oven in the main house kitchen. But since we've only used both ovens a few times since moving in, we decided one would be enough and it made more sense to move the second oven out to the space it would be more convenient. As in transporting a Thanksgiving turkey a few feet to the table rather than the 50 or so feet through the main house, into the backyard and then onto the table. The same goes for reducing the return journey of the dirty dishes.

The BBQ room, in its original drawings by Mr. Tombleson, did not have any windows facing the backyard. This was probably to make it easier and safer to grill on its built-in barbecue and cook on its built-in smoker. We have no idea if either of these are still functional and hope to someday restore them. Did we mention there's a pool beneath the deck? We've yet to see it but do plan on someday restoring it as well.

Tomorrow, we're taking the cabinet drawings and all of the cutout spec sheets to John Laughton.

Demo on the guest house starts in a week!

Going solar

As stated before, Steinback Mountain runs exclusively on electricity. When we purchased the home, it came with a pellet stove insert that was great for heating but, like the kitchen cabinets, just didn't fit the MCM aesthetic we're after. In the winter we now heat our home using Morsø wood burning fireplace inserts. After a winter of experimenting on wood choices we found eucalyptus worked best because it burned clean and hot. Now that the windows are all dual paned, it's relatively easy to warm the place and keep it cozy for hours.

Our goal during the renovation is to supplement the wood stoves with electric radiant heat below the soon to be tiled floors. The radiant heat will be used in all three buildings and will be zoned so that we'll only heat the rooms that we want heated. Of course, radiant heat needs either a heat pump or a furnace both of which we do not possess, or electricity. Here comes the sun....

A few months back, on one of our many trips to Home Depot, we reluctantly talked to a Solarcity representative. At our first Dwell on Design gig two years ago we also talked to them but at that time their preliminary study showed that our hillside home was not a good contender for solar. Well, they were a little more interested this year and two weeks ago a very nice sales consultant made a visit to Steinback Mountain. She was convinced we had enough sun exposure to work. But, just to be sure, another rep came to the house today to take measurements, check out the roof structure, and survey all of our water heaters and appliances.

While looking at the crawl space above the ceiling in the main house, the Solarcity guy commented on how impressed he was with the roof's support system. He said he's seen a lot of flat roofed homes and none of them were as strongly constructed as ours. I told him the history of the house and we both agreed a contractor building a house for himself is probably going to do everything right.

See the small building behind the oak tree in the center of the photo? That's the guest house. The Tombleson guys are coming this afternoon to take some more measurements so they can finalize the estimate for the first phase of the renovation. We've come up with a few changes since the architects sent the plans to the County and want to talk with Mike about how these can be implemented.

Three of the changes involve the guest house. First, we've decided to replace the fixed window in the bathroom with a slider. At Dwell we talked with the manufacturer of the slider we have already installed in the main house's master bedroom and he assured us we could use one just like it in a shower. The view from the guest house bathroom looks out onto an oak filled knoll that is very private. So guests will be able to open the slider when showering and feel like they're doing so outside.

The second change we're making is also thanks to Dwell. One of the many Plyboo products we lusted over is a stacked Durapalm paneling (top two samples in the pic above). We had initially planned on covering the wall separating the sleeping area from the bathroom with an Arizona sandstone brick treatment to match the walls in the main house and BBQ room. But when we saw the Durapalm paneling we thought, hmmmm, this is kind of like the walls back home but it's actually cooler, a lot lighter in weight and a lot easier to install. Which means... a lot cheaper. Sold!

The third change we may be making is the decking material. We're adding a rather large deck between the guest house and the main house which will be the spot for a new hot tub. The area where the deck is going has the best and widest views of the Salinas Valley and the Gabilan Mountains. We had originally specced Ipe wood for the deck but have been concerned about how "green" it is. When visiting the Plyboo showroom a few weeks ago, they showed us a sample of their decking material (last sample, bottom right) which is very green. They just so happen to have a few pallets in their showroom of a product they're discontinuing and have quoted us a really, really good price on it. Haven't yet made up our minds, however. There are a few reviews online that are not very positive. We're waiting to see what Mike Locke thinks....