Update: Plants Under the Fountain

On April 6, 2008 I posted on the fountain area. This weekend I changed the plants. The previous plants did not like the heat and limited water (although there is irrigation to the bed I didn't want to put drippers in providing water). I planted candelilla a desert evergreen euphorb that is very tough and withstands harsh conditions. It is also pack rat resistant.

I then added small landscaping rocks and some petrified wood (gift from an optics professor's ranch near Winslow, AZ - north of the Petrified Forest N.P.)

Here are the new pictures:

New Grill

I bought the new stainless steel (everything inside and out) BBQ grill (Barbeques Galore Turbo STS), finished the tile around the opening and installed the grill.

The Grill Area Modeled by Fringe:
Outside Grill Detail:
Inside Grill Detail:

Grill Area

The BBQ grill area had "lumpy" mexican tile with large and lower grout gaps and the surface was lower at the back toward the house wall. When it rained the water pooled toward the back and in the grout lines. The grill was also very old and rusting out. There was also a stupid looking arch of tile.

Before:
I knocked off the arch of tile and had to replace it with something to cover the marks left on the wall. Since I needed clearance for the grill lid to open up behind the grill I didn't have space for real rock (the preferred option) so I used "cultured" rock. I wish I would have used a different kind (dry stack look) but it is done and I didn't feel like spending hours tearing the new stuff down with a hammer drill. Since the top was so uneven I used leveling cement to level the top with a very slight slope so water could run off. I tiled the top with 18" unfilled travertine (called walnut colored). With unfilled travertine you can really manipulate the look by the color of the grout you use for the joint and it also fills in the voids in the travertine. The perimeter edges are tiled with multicolor slate. I still need to get a replacement stainless steel grill. When I install the grill I will finish the top off tile in the grill cutout area. I installed a fluorescent floodlight on top of the ramada column by the grill. A box with wiring was already present but not being used (can be seen in before picture). There was already conduit running to the top of the column. I attached a box, pulled wired and installed the light and switch.

After (but before new grill):

Dog Shade Area

I forgot to post a picture of the dog shade area I made after I finished the doghouse. It consists of a simple column of block (on a concrete footer). The top block is loose and just sitting on top - I'll explain why later. Eye hook bolts are anchored in the concrete filling the block at the outside diagonal corners. The second to last block is not filled completely. I cut a groove in the block by the anchors so a metal cable has a slot to rest in. The cable is attached to the wrought iron fence and to an eye hook for each open edge. Sun cloth is attached to the fence and the cable with ties and then screwed between two blocks of wood (larger attachment point to prevent tearing) that are concealed in the second to top block. This allows easy replacement of the sun cloth when it becomes degraded by the sun over time. This is topped of by a solid block that conceals the eye hooks and blocks holding the sun cloth.

(The mesquite tree just dropped its seed pods so the dog yard is covered. Fringe likes eating them. The pods provide food for javelina and other desert animals and must be tasty enough for a dog.)

Upstairs Wood Floors and Stairs

I never liked the white carpet upstairs and planned to eventually replace it with wood floors.

Tucson dust + dogs + carpet harbors disgusting things anyway = skanky white carpet

I installed solid 3/4" thick nail down white oak hand scrapped flooring. The stair treads are red oak stained with Minwax early american. The stair risers are multicolor slate just like the slate used elsewhere in the house. I wanted thicker and taller baseboards than what you can buy so I made my own baseboards using select pine 1x4's and my router to chamfer the edge. The baseboards are stained english chestnut (Minwax). Pine stains differently from oak and this stain on pine matched the floor. The stair treads and baseboards were finished with coats of Varethane water based floor poly (this stuff is nice, 4 coats on the treads and 2 on the baseboards).

I removed the not so stylish 80's mirrored closet doors with gold trim on the closet. Eventually I may add more contemporary closet doors but it is not an urgent matter. I installed a Closet Maid track system (after I painted the components anodized bronze) and then made shelving out of oak stained english chestnut to match the paper holder I made earlier.

The flooring/stairs/closet project took me 2.5 three day weekends and about a week and a half of weeknights after work.

The previous owners left the twin bed which is now in the extra room.

Previous work not blogged:
I added lights to the two fans that did not have them. The switch plates & outlet covers are satin nickel and the vents painted to match. The windows are S and W facing so I had Huper Optik Drei window film applied which really cuts the heat and blocks UV to prevent fading. The blue walls are Behr flat enamel Newport Blue and the extra room is Gobi Desert. The walls of the stairwell are Harvest Brown like the living room. The inside of the closet is Harvest Brown.

Before pictures of white carpet and stairs: After Pictures:
View from top of stairs. (black picture frames for my travel pics. I haven't decided which ones.)
Top of stairs looking in:
View of Office Area:
View towards stairs from office area:
Wood Floor Detail:
View of "extra room" from office area:
Closet:
Stairs:

Speaker Wires:

I also ran speaker wires through the walls for the rear speakers.
Colors:

Dog House Door, Gates, Potted Plants, and Organization Project

Winter Dog Door and Threshold for Dog House.

In the winter one door and side vents will be blocked off in the dog house. The second door will have a raised threshold the dogs will have to step over. The threshold will help keep cedar chips in the dog house. I made the dog house door to look like the front door.

House Front Door vs. Dog House Door:

Dog House Winter Door and Threshold: (fringe's head shadow)

Gates and Fencing

I have been slowly painting the wrought iron fencing and gates. I also had a gate installed down in the "pit"area by the pool. This area only had an old piece of chain link fence propped up against the wall with rocks. I installed the footer and threshold block before the gate was installed. The dog yard originally had a single gate up against the house which made it difficult getting things into the back yard. I had the fencing reconfigured and a double gate installed. New gates and old gates and fencing are painted anodized bronze.

"Before" fence in need of a repaint:

New gate in pool "pit' area:

Reconfigured gate and fence in dog yard:

Potted Plants in Ramada Area

NE corner under Ramada:

Plants on each side of gate to dog yard:

Organization Project

I needed a sturdier way to store my various paper/office products. The cheap cardboard organizer was not cutting it. I built these two storage boxes out of 3/4" oak plywood. The shelves (which can be removed) are out of 1/4" masonite. The boxes were stained with English Chestnut and topped with a tung oil finish.

Metal Roof, Gong, & Fountain Area

The metal roof over the bar area and on the dog house are now finished. (The sections of fence in the lower left are surrounding a desert willow until it is big enough to be dog proof. And the red thing on the right is the concrete mixer that I need to get out of the dog yard.)

I bought an Indonesian gong from gongs-unlimited. It is 18 inches in diameter (sorry I couldn't spend over a grand for a 36" one). It is hanging across from the front door since I don't have a doorbell.

The fountain area was surrounded by ugly white rock. (I like natural rocks.) The metal outlet for the fountain was rusted out from being too close to the ground. I repaired, raised and replaced the outlet, bought a new pump and planted Liriope (monkey grass) around the fountain.

Fountain Area Before:

Fountain Area After:

Well, I think it looks much better. The pot with an aloe is to partially block the electrical outlet box. The big bush is a jojoba which probably took up residence by itself (They are one of the most prolific desert shrubs and it does stay (grayish) green year round.

The Finished 2 Dog Dogport

On a previous post I had my conceptual design for a 2 dog dogport.



Well it is now a reality but it certainly took along time. I bought the sump block in the summer. Dug the trench for the footer in August. I finally got around to pouring the footer the last week of February. The next weekend I built the block walls.



Early Week 3 consisted of filling in the block voids with concrete and embedding the anchors for the front beam. The end of Week 3 saw the concrete slab for the floor poured.

Weekend 4 was the final push to frame and install the roof. I always seem to injure myself while doing all of my projects. This one was no different. While carrying the front beam around back I lost my footing on the loose rock and dirt and fell scrapping and cutting my knees.

The roof framework is installed: (I painted all of the wood prior to installation leaving only touch up work when finished.)


The underside of the beams is a textured exterior siding so it looks nice from underneath (because dogs like nice looking things in their house too!). Here I show part of the inside roof and the 2" rigid insulation. The final dogport will have the entire underside of the roof covered and insulated including the overhang.



I capped the sump block with these accent tiles (leftover pool tiles I found in the garage):


The finished 2 dog dog house (without final roof):


The floor is saltillo tile to match the other covered porches. The grout is still wet so appears darker. The dogport roof will have the same metal roof as the roof over the bar area (pics in later post). I plan to get some large pieces of flagstone to put out front. The final exterior walled area is 4' x 7' and there is a 2' overhang From the inside there are views of the mountains through the doors and a view of saguaros on the hillside through the NW side vent. Now all Fringe needs is a solar porch light ;-). In the winter one door will be blocked by a door made to match the house front door and the other doorway will have a panel the dogs will step over that will serve to contain ceder chips. The side vents will also have a panel built to close them off.

The Damage (Cost of Materials):

$863

Price Update 11-9-2008: Total is now $916.28 after building door and threshold and bolts hardware to hold them in place.

Not counting the future flagstone (Update on 11-9-2008: I have nixed the flagstone until I plan the landscape design for the entire dog yard). Cost includes block, concrete, mortar, rebar, anchors, lumber, insulation, metal roof, tile, thinset and grout. I provided all labor for free.

Bar Skylight Take Two + Roof

As you may recall from an earlier posting I repaired existing drywall water damage in the bar area. I also had tiled around the skylight and bar area with slate. Unfortunately the roof above the bar leaked like a sieve even though the previous owners claimed it had been repaired. So this facilitated replacing the bar skylight and repairing the roof. (Requiring the demolition of my previous slate tiling)

Here is a before picture:

It's not a surprise that the roof leaked the existing skylight installation and flashing was ridiculous. The flashing was not overlapping properly so water could easily get in. The skylight glass was attached directly to the roof tile along the front edge with caulking and cement. The supposed fixed roof consisted of applying big blobs of caulking which only served to back up the water underneath the spanish tile because downward flow was then blocked.

The new skylight I installed was slightly smaller so I had to frame up the opening. I also repaired the roof decking and replaced the rotted fascia. The new roof will be metal PBU panels.





Here is the finished roof repair and new skylight waiting for the anodized bronze metal roof.



The finished Bar Skylight:


Since this picture was taken AZ Solar solutions came out and refilmed the skylight glass with Huper Optik Drei. I have also painted the electrical box and conduit anodized bronze. The final picture with the new metal roof will appear in a future post.