Thursday, March 19, 2009

Pieces of a puzzle...aka flooring in an old house

First things first, we noticed that we have a little visitor...who seems to like my pillow.
little kitty feet!
There is a group of kittens who hang out across the street--and in our house, apparently. We just might pull an Urban Vegan and see if we can catch and spay/neuter them. Her story of Buttons is inspiring! I don't want a house full of kittens, though. Do any of you have experience with this? Suggestions?

So, onto the house. In order to do the finish plumbing, we needed to work on a few key things such as laying the subfloor and tile. And after working on this for a few days--we can tell you that NOT ONE wall in our house is straight or square. Everything is crooked! Here is the puzzle master, Tavo, contemplating kitchen subfloor.
Good job, babe!
ahh, bathroom is ready for some cement backer!
Spreading mortar on the plywood


Tavo ensuring the cement backer will stick.
checking and taping the seams
mortar and tile--11 pm on a school night, yet I'm ecstatic! We decided to stick to the classic tile look instead of trendy. It was difficult, though--there are some EXCELLENT tiles on the market.
and we're done for the evening. Grouting fun will occur tonight.


AD LIB
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Okay, so we have been tossing around the idea of doing the kitchen in solid black and white linoleum tiles. Kitch or poor taste? Please give opinions, as we will be purchasing tiles and laying them on Saturday. Also, take into account our already black and white bathroom tiles that can either be contained or continued...

This video seems relevant to our black and white tile argument, as beautiful people are dancing on a plain checkered floor.

We have been blasting the Manu Chao recently--so many good songs from this band! Check out 'Clandestino' before they yank it from every youtube site...

16 comments:

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Ugh grouting...

Christo Gonzales said...

looks good. I rescue kittens - I have two wild ones right now. If these cats are feral then you need to try and tame one - the one that wants to be tamed will become obvious - patience is the key -

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

That looks like a professional job!

I know you two will be so glad when all of this is complete!

For the kittens, probably the best thing to do is to try to cathc them and bring them to an animal shelter or they will continue to multiply.

pinknest said...

i love the classic tile, though! uff, i'm tired looking at all this work. hope you got some rest!

Anonymous said...

It's actually very common to find that the flooring spaces in your house are not square, or straight and this presents challenges in itself, like fitting/shaping the flooring. Looks like you guys have actually done a pretty good job with the bathroom flooring so far!

Selba said...

Wow! I'm amazed that you two are doing by your own without professional assistant :) Good job!

tavolini said...

CCV--really?? Its actually kind of fun, similar to frosting a gigantic sheet cake ;)

Doggy--well, its a group of six cats, which are about 5 too many for me ;) All hang out between our house and the neighbors. I just am not sure..

Katherine--you know, I am annoyed and tired most of the time now, but I can see myself looking back at this period of life and loving it. Random, huh?

Pink--I'm glad you like it!! It was really hard to choose when faced by rows and rows of choices.

Bamboo--thanks! About the crooked houses--you are correct ;)

Selba--only the fun stuff!! We hired someone to do the hardwoods, definitely!

Michelle said...

Huh, you've straight lines?...:p Fun and tedious all wrapped up into one!

Nothing wrong with black and white tiles, isn't that a classic look? I wouldn't throw around any b&w cow nic-nacs though. Unless, well, unless THAT is the look you're going for;)

Anonymous said...

Kitties I love kitties I adopted one a year ago and Ryan and I are toying with the idea of adopting another. Kitties are fun.
Guys your house (the little one) looks amazing, I can't wait to see final result. I had no idea you all were so handy, I know who to call when I start working on my condo :) Where were you when I paid 1200 to have tiles installed in my kitchen bath and entrance totaling about 200 sq ft. Man they ripped me of. :)

buffalodick said...

Black and white would be consistent with the age of the house, looking more restored rather than trendy.. Do it!

The Blonde Duck said...

I think it's cute the kitties are stealing your pillows!

Maggie said...

I agree with Doggy. I've done some cat rescuing in my D-town days and you need to see how feral they are. If they can get comfortable with you so that you can touch them they could make great pets. If not, the best thing would be to get them all sterilized but that can be costly. You can look up local no-kill shelters/foster homes at Petfinder. We found all four of our current animals there. You can read up on the policies for the individual shelters. If they are taken to the humane society they will most likely just be destroyed.

The progress looks great! I love the bathroom tile and I'm all for the retro feel of black and white lino for a kitchen.

tommie said...

first, would totally kick the cats to the curb...

but you never cease to amaze me.... seriously! do you have some Energizer batteries in there?

Anonymous said...

I think the black and white would be great. I mean it only gets kitsch if you do something crazy with the walls. I think you could pair it with a nice blue or green wall. Go for it.

snowelf said...

Nursing homes are a great place to ask if they want kittens. My mom works in one and they highly encourage the residents to play with pets.

Glad to see how everything is coming along!!

--snow

snowelf said...

p.s. I always think black and white tile looks fresh and classy. You guys are fresh and classy, so go for it.

--snow