Last we shared of the pool house was the addition of the batten strips and framing out the vent hood.  Certainly progress, but there’s one big step to cross off the list before the walls can be completed.  Tiling the entire floor, or roughly 600 square feet.  Dun dun dunnnnn.  Though I have the easiest part of the process, carrying/opening boxes of tile, I was dreading this step.

We know from framing the walls that nothing is square in here, with the floors sloping up to two inches over the length of the space.  Luckily, not much phases Ben and on Saturday, he jumped right in.

For a continuous feel, we’re using the same slate tile and herringbone pattern as the kitchen.

One small difference is slightly wider grout lines.  Knowing the floors are a touch uneven, we decided on 3/8 inch grout lines (versus 1/16 inch in the kitchen) to help minimize discrepancies.

Working around the pool proved trickiest, until Ben built himself a marking jig.  Scraps of plywood set to the depth of the pool lip with a screw slightly through the top piece.

The bottom strips slide along the inside edge of the pool, with the screw scoring the top of the tile, marking where to cut.

At the end of tile day one, Ben got roughly 1/4 or 1/3 of the space done.

The next morning, the tile had set so we pulled out the spacers.  I followed up by washing the tile, scrubbing off any extra mastic.

Obviously, grout is still to come.

 

 

 

Having this tile in various rooms throughout our house, we know this tile is durable and the texture is naturally slip-resistant.

Dark floors paired with (what will be) white walls will ground this bright space.

We still have at least several days of tile or tile related tasks in our future, but progress always feels good.

With the decision made to install the board and batten wall treatment above the eight foot mark before flooring, we set our sights on finishing the vent hood.  It’s right off the main pool area, and near the house kitchen, but we wanted a range for entertaining and summer cooking/baking.  When we found a 48 inch range for a steal on Craigslist, we snapped it up for this space.

As a refresher, here’s the plan:

Before we can attach the batten strips, we have to address everything at or above the horizontal dividing band.

The vent hood straddles that band, which meant it was time to build the cover.  To start, Ben nailed a strip of wood a few inches above the top of the duct work.  A 2 by 8 board rests on top, nailed into the wooden piece, creating the top of the vent hood frame.

High ceilings call for a different vent hood treatment, and I personally prefer a tall vent hood that doesn’t go all the way up to the ceiling.  This example from Studio McGee is pure perfection:

Holding a scrap of plywood in place, Ben was able to get an accurate measurement for the front of the cover.  Before boxing it all in, he also added 2 by 4 pieces vertically between the vent hood top and the base of the wood structure.

Then wrapped it with plywood, screwing through the upper part of the vent hood stainless and into the plywood to keep the sides as streamlined as possible.

Quarter inch thick by 2 inch wide strips line the edges, covering the seams of the plywood sheeting.

A six-inch walnut band (to be installed after paint) will wrap the front and sides.

Two floating walnut shelves will flank each side of the range.

Until then, we have plenty of work to keep us busy, but we’re rounding the corner from construction crazy to cohesive cool.

If you can ignore the mess of junk scattered throughout the room, that is.

This is the year of the pool house, hopefully the year we get it all (or mostly) wrapped up.  Last year consisted of a lot of ugly, but necessary work inside the walls, but we did finish the tongue and groove ceiling.

With the ceiling complete, walls covered in plywood sheeting, we’ve started adding batten strips to create the tone on tone texture.

Above is obviously a photoshopped version, while below is the starting point of reality.

Initially, we planned to install the tile floors immediately after hanging all of the plywood sheets.  After a discussion, we agreed it would be best to add the batten strips to everything above the eight foot mark, caulk, prime, and paint.  This way we can avoid dragging ladders over the new tile, potentially damaging it in the process.  The lower wall portions will get the same treatment after the floors are finished, allowing the batten strips to terminate into the baseboard.

Before the vertical strips could be attached, we nailed two-inch strips into place along the ceiling, hiding the gap between the wall and ceiling.  A 3 1/2 inch wide piece of pine casement straddles the eight foot mark, covering the plywood seams.

Two inch strips also cover the ceiling seams, keeping the measurements consistent.

The areas following the vault are square strips, while the rest are cut at a 16 degree angle to snug up against the ceiling slope.

Strips also wrap around the beams, with the ceiling pieces butting into those.  Wires for speakers are still dangling.

With most of the horizontal strips in place, we started installing the vertical pieces.  When I proposed the board and batten idea, Ben wasn’t totally on board with it, but he started researching material and prices.  Pre-cut two-inch by half-inch thick strips aren’t particularly affordable, especially when spaced 8 inches apart.  To keep the material cost as affordable as possible, we cut sheets of MDF into two inch strips.  Once covered in oil based primer and paint, we shouldn’t have swelling issues.

While on the ladder, Ben called out measurements, I’d cut to length and walk it over, then he’d nail into place.  Nailing into plywood is much easier than drywall as it has more bite.  As such, we can get away with small 18 gauge nails, leaving tiny holes to fill.

To further speed up the process, he cut a scrap of plywood to six inches wide to use as a spacing guide.  Similar to hardwood floor install, once the first row is square, the rest go in quickly.

Everything above was installed over a weekend, which is exciting because this part of the process should go along quickly.  I spent my Monday afternoon caulking, so this stretch is almost primer ready!