The Nitty Gritty

Last night we had "the talk:"... you know the one....the money talk.  I had heard rumors about the guestimate, I saw the head bob and heard the "a lot" comment so I was braced for this.  We met in the evening since I could not devote that much morning time to another meeting that I knew could have gotten away from us.  There would obviously be a lot of questions asked.  I figured if we could spend an hour or more in a parking lot at the town hall then this was going to be on the longish side.  I had gotten a few snacks and some beer for the occasion since who can handle this kind of talk on an empty stomach and without a drink. 

Peter arrive prompt as usual while Dave was a bit delayed.  While we waited for Dave to roll in and Peter got finished being mauled by the dogs we talked a bit about tiles for the shower.   The pebble tiles are very popular these days for the flooring of showers.  While they can look very cool in the right circumstance, they can also look busy when paired with a busy wall tile.  I saw that problem a lot when I went to various tile places and looked through their idea books.  Dave really likes these stone and since I really haven't given him a lot to call his own in this project (and certainly not the outhouse bathroom) I really should go along with this one.  My concern has been that these little stones feel weird under my feet.  I have stepped on some that were not bad- smooth and undulating...  actually quite nice but I also stood on another set that made me cringe in pain.  Maybe my feet are sensitive or maybe those were not installed properly.  I commented to Peter about this and he said that they install the tiles and not to worry- they would not cripple me.  I was relieved since I really liked the look of the all white stones.  Apparently if you do the grout correctly the stones are wonderful.  I can picture these pebbles paired with a mosaic tile that looks like beach glass (Walker Zanger) or the new Grove Brick tiles from Waterworks in any of the 3 colors shown.

Walker Zanger

or pure white

Grove Brickworks tiles from Waterworks

Grove Brickworks- Booth Bay Blue

Grove Brickworks- Ashley Blue

Walker Zanger Tile

As we were finally all together we went out onto the patio to discuss the different parts of the project and the breakdown of what each would cost.  Since we will have to save some of the project for another time the next step is to figure out how to divide it into phases.

Some of the more interesting digressions included Dave's wanting to wrap the house in pine tar to give it a good smell.  Peter looked quizzically at Dave as to what that smell might be so Dave ran into the house and grabbed a line of tarred hemp for him to smell.  It does actually smell really good.  Next, Dave regaled him about ropes on ships.  There were a few other interesting digressions but you had to be there for them.  We adjourned with some home work.  Peter to get the building permits, Dave and I to cull through the crap and have the tag sale we have been talking about but not having, find a shipping container to store the contents of our garage and finally to have the tree work done.  I am holding off until the last minute on the tree work.  I want to move a lot of plants and it really isn't a good time of year to dig them up.  So, I'll wait until early September.  Plus, I am really going to miss the big Walnut tree so I am going to look at it all I can until it comes down.  We are hoping to have the wood milled so it can become part of the house if that's not too prohibitively expensive- but everything cool else seems to be.