Perimeter tiles installed

An afternoon of cutting to fit filled in the remaining gaps on the floor.  Next step will be grouting.  That step is the subject of some discussion.  Current thinking is to tile the sides and top it with some boards that were taken up from the previous porch floor or to use some of the wide boards we saved from the second story project.  Stay tuned.  Once the floor is done the ceiling will go up and the walls will get wainscotting and drywall.

Floor Tiles

Tiling has begun.  We're using 18"x18" ceramic/porcelain tiles in a grid pattern.  We've started out with the full size tiles then will follow with the cut tiles around the perimeter.  The round orange pieces are the spacers - 1/4"for the grout.  The white pieces go under two adjacent tiles and when the wedge is inserted, bring them to the same level (making up for some of the imperfections).  The heating is working well as we've seen single digit temperatures for most of the week while the room remains in the 60's.

levelers and spacers

Restarting the project!

Well, we're back after a long absence.  A New Year's resolution to finally button up the porch project along with many visits from friends and family and the universal comment "you still haven't finished?" has been the kick in the butt we've needed to get to action.

First step is to get the floor tiled.  To do that we have to install the heating elements - in our case a Honeywell system that is electric.  In the picture below you can make out the coils that go back and forth.  These were set in a mortar.  Since it is winter and the slab is very cold, we made the connections and turned it on in order to help cure the mortar.

First layer - heating elements

Powered up and registering 61 degrees!

The next step is to provide a separation layer between concrete of the base slab and the final surface tile.  In order to do that effectively we've used a great new product from Germany.  It is essentially a hybrid of fabric attached to a plastic.  The fabric is mortared onto the slab then another layer of mortor is placed on top filling the blocks.  The system allows for differential movement reducing (hopefully eliminating) any chance for cracking.

Separation layer

Now that the base system is in place, we will wait to let everything cure and look to install the tiles over the next weekend.

Ready for tile!

Ceiling Goes Up

We decided on a beadboard ceiling, made easier by using pre-primed MDF planks. They were attached with adhesive and 1 1/4" nails. It is almost done - just a final strip at the top to complete. We'll be painting it porch ceiling blue. Wallboard and trim is next!

Electricity and Insulation

We are now wired for power and lights! We did some prep work by pre-drilling holes to the basement to feed the wires. While doing that it was discovered that the sill closest to the door was fairly rotten on the inside. This will require some more work - namely adding a 2 part hardener then filling in the void. More to come on that work once the material shows up. Meanwhile, we put up the insulation which is working very well. Temp was only a few degrees cooler than kitchen this morning after a 25 D night. Next step is to install the ceiling material - right now beadboard is the leading contender.

Treasure!

Okay - here's the wallet. It is fine leather that has hardened over the years. The name on the inside is Convers Purington, a well known Bowdoinham name. It is dated 1867. Inside were 3 $5 bills from the 1860's and 1870's, also 4 or 5 $1 bills from the same era. They were folded up tight and were ripped but you can make out quite a bit. These are "green backs" as signified by the green reverse side. There was also a calling card from S D Thorn who published the Bowdoinham Advertiser. We're not sure of the owner or vintage of the boot - it is made of leather and is fairly good condition. The bottle is blown glass, maybe an apothecary bottle? And the last item looks to be something that many young men would carry folded up in their wallets - yes, it appears to be a prophylactic. We checked and they started making them with rubber in the 1840's so this appears to be authentic to the times. This made for lots of fun on Halloween night with our special guests, the former Town Historian. We'll do some more checking and see if we can get some history on Mr. Purington for a future post.

More Demo Work

Halloween is over and we're back to work getting ready for the electrical installation. We decided to remove all the sheathing to make it easier to put up the drywall. This involved removal of a lot of blown in insulation done when the second story project was accomplished. One shot shows the very old with the new of the second story project - that is a dead space created to run the plumbing and shore up the floor beams that had hacked into previously. The string represents a chase for the electrical to run up from the basement. The open spot on the end wall is a hollow area between the formal front door and the outside wall. This is where the treasure was found. More on that to come soon.