Lingering Lanai Tile Installation

We had hoped to move patio furniture back into our newly-tiled lanai today, but that is not yet meant to be.

As Rodney was putting down the tile yesterday, he started to mutter about, "I hope I have enough tile to finish this job."  He wasted absolutely NOTHING, and with one clever cut on a tiny piece next to the wall, he was able to finish the whole floor, but he had no tile left for any future repairs.

The grouted tile helps make the lanai a more
unified room.  Rodney did an excellent job of
adding tile in front of the laundry room door.

Then he started to grout the tile.  Sigh.  The tile's rough sand finish tore up his sponges as he was wiping off the excess grout, and he seemed to be having trouble stretching it as far as he had hoped.    He said that the grout was difficult to put down but that it was the most durable grout on the market.  He said it would last forever, and for that I am happy.

I was a little upset at the color of the grout.  It seemed very dark to me, but Rodney assured me that the grout would dry "at least two shades lighter."  He was correct.  This morning when I looked at the floor, the grout had dried and lightened so that it blends in beautifully with the tile.

This corner of the lanai still needs grout.

Sadly, Rodney did not have enough grout to finish the floor.  He used a whole bag of grout, (which, on paper, should have been enough), but we have about a 3 x 6 foot area left that needs grout.  Rick said that would not be a problem, so he went out on Wednesday to get more grout.

First he tired Floor Decor because they were closer to our house than Pro Source, which is where we purchased the materials and tiles.  Floor Decor did not carry that type of grout.  OK.  His next stop was Pro Source.

The clerk at Pro Source apologetically informed him that although they usually have that grout in stock, they were out of that color.  The clerk tired to rob a bag of that color of grout from another job, but that did not work out either.

Rick had to order a back-up box of tile and the final bag of grout to finish the job.  The grout is supposed to be on the truck tomorrow (Friday),  but we probably won't hear from Pro Source until Monday.

We are SO glad that we did not try to put down this tile floor
ourselves.  This was a challenge even for the professional.

Of course, that means that the patio furniture will stay in the garage and off the lanai until next week some time when Rodney can come back to finish the job.  We had hoped to enjoy it this weekend, but we will have to wait for that pleasure just a bit longer. I guess all good things DO come to those who wait.

Tasty Water and Terrific Tile

A few days ago, I got up and went into the kitchen to get breakfast.  As my protein bar was thawing a bit, I used our filtered water to fill my cup to take my morning medication.  For whatever reason, the water tasted terrible.  Rick and I had already discussed the filtered water situation, trying to figure out how long ago we had replaced the filters.  The answer: too long ago!

Rick's research revealed that the replacement filter we needed had been discontinued and replaced by not less than four different variations on that one filter, and we were not sure that any of them would fit into the system under the sink.  We decided to change out the canisters for a new filtration system.  On Sunday, the new system arrived via Amazon Prime.  Rick took it out of the box "just to look at it."  He said he would not install it until Monday.

A couple of hours later, I walked into the kitchen, and this is what I saw:

Impatient Rick installs the new water filtration system
under the kitchen sink.

Needless to say, we now have a new filtered water system on our kitchen sink.  One taste of the new filtered water confirmed that we really did need to change what we had been using.  The water now somehow just tastes more pure.  I taste no chemicals.  Perhaps it is all my imagination, but if that is so, I am enjoying my imaginary better-tasting water.

The concrete slab, complete with expansion cracks, does
not make the lanai an appealing place to sit.

On Monday we received a call from Sean saying that he could get a tile installer to our house on Tuesday morning to tile the lanai.  Yahoo!  That is the last structural step we need to make the lanai complete. We chose a light beige tile with a "sandy" non-slip texture.  These tile are made specifically for outdoor areas and for pool decks which easily can get wet.  With the humidity in Florida, we were advised that these tile would be safe.  An added bonus: rather than mopping them, we can just wash them with a hose to keep them clean!

Rodney put down a white membrane over the
expansion cracks so the tile would not split
when the temperatures cause movement of the slab.

Rodney and Sean showed up bright and early this morning.  They unloaded all of the supplies, and then Rodney started to lay out some tile.  He showed us a couple of different patterns for the tile, and after we chose the one we wanted, he got to work.  He told us he would lay all of the full tiles today, and he would come back tomorrow to cut the filler tiles and to grout the whole floor.

Of course, the lanai floor is not square, so Rodney
started with the outer wall since that is the first place
one will see when entering the lanai.

Rodney mixes more mortar in the backyard as he completes
yet another row of tile.  He used a chalk line to make sure each
row was straight and true.

By this afternoon, the heat really set in, but Rodney kept on working.  We supplied him with cold water, and he kept laying our tile floor.  He still has to lay tile around the laundry room door, and that could be tricky because the door sill is almost flush with the floor.

By the end of the afternoon, almost all of the full tiles
were down.  One full row is left, and then cut pieces
to fill in where needed.

Another concern is the amount of tile we were told to buy.  Rodney has done an excellent job, creating almost no waste; however, in taking inventory of what is left, he may have just enough to finish the lanai... or he may be a tile or two short if any of them break while he cuts them.  We will see...

We are happy with the color of the tile which blends
well with both the pavers and with the color of the house.

We can't wait to get the tile finished.  Then Gladys will be complete.  We have taken almost nine years to transform her from a tired, sagging, beat-up old broad into a beautiful old lady who stands proudly in the neighborhood.  This has been a lot of time, money, and work, but we are thrilled that we can call her home.

Looooong Day

Rick got up early this morning, and he has had a long day installing the new light and new fan on the lanai.  I thought he would just install the light today, but once he got going, there was no stopping him.

Rick drilled the first hole, and together we pulled the wires
out and into the garage.

The most frightening point of the day was drilling holes into our new lanai ceiling, but that actually went rather smoothly.  Since the structure is only aluminum, we decided that just hanging lights and fans by a few screws was not a great idea, so part of the morning was spent attaching the light base and fan base to the ceiling and then manipulating the screws we used into a washer and a locking nut, all within a 2" tube in the ceiling.  Rick's fingers may never be the same again.

Our new lighting fixture provides plenty of light.

The lighting fixture we chose is very low profile and sleek.  We have yet to get power to it to see how bright it will be, but I am sure that it will be good enough to add illumination for a walk to the garbage cans or for a dusk discussion with family and friends on the lanai.

The fan was a took a little time to install since
Rick had to wire in the light, the fan itself, and the
remote control receiver.

The fan was a bit more complicated, but it, too, is now firmly attached to the ceiling.  Anyone who is 6' 5" may have to worry about the blades, but they are not in my way nor in Rick's way, so we are happy with it.

Rick adds the blades to the fan.

Rick works in the garage with the light and fan wires.

Of course, the worst part of the day was the snake's nest of wires going into the garage. Rick spent most of the afternoon connecting everything together, only to discover that the new GFI breaker kept tripping each time I flipped the switch.  He took the whole tangle of wires apart again to double check his wiring -- which was correct, by the way.  The trouble is in the breaker box itself, but Rick is too tired tonight to redo that work.  It can wait until he is fresh in the morning.

A light, a fan, four chairs and two tables
now fill part of the lanai.

We did do something yesterday that we had not planned to do until next fall.  We found some padded lanai furniture that fit us well and that was very comfortable.  I really did not want anything with cushions.  That furniture tends to be very expensive and usually is too large to fit my short legs.  The chairs we found have no cushions that need storage, and they stack when we need to take them in for the summer.  We can scrub them down with soap and a hose, just like we do our patio furniture in Wisconsin, so we are happy with our four-chair and two-tables conversation group.  We decided not to purchase a dining table for the lanai.  We hardly ever use our table on the porch in Wisconsin, and we both felt it would be a waste of money to do so here.  Perhaps we will add a chaise lounge to our seating group yet.  For now, we are satisfied with what we have.

We are expecting rain tomorrow, so I am happy that any work we have to do will be within the dry confines of the garage.

Switched Priorities

For two people who came down to Florida to rest and to not get involved with any work for the short time we are here this year, we seem to be doing just the opposite.  We have gotten very little rest, and we have been working quite a bit.

Yesterday, Rick spent the day rewiring the switch by the back door.  We had had a single light switch in the laundry room which sent power to the old (very irritating) motion-activated light that came with the house. The light was located at the northeast corner of the house, near the garbage cans and northern walkway next to the house.  The light was irritating because the switch did not turn on the light; the switch only turned on the power TO the light.  Then, if I were traveling after dark into the back yard, usually to throw out trash or to recycle packaging from dinner, I would have to walk half-way across the patio while waving my arms like a madwoman just to activate the light. We also had to keep the power turned off at the switch unless we wanted to use the light; otherwise, any nocturnal critter running through the yard or along the top of the fence would activate the light.

We successfully removed the old box and fished
two new wires through the wall from the garage
into the laundry room switch by the back door.

The hardest part of putting in the switch was figuring out how to fish the new wires through the wall. Thankfully, we had taken pictures of the wall as we built it a few years ago, so we knew the internal construction and where we might run into barriers.  Rick started by removing the old, single electrical box that was in the wall.  Then he went up on the ladder in the garage and drilled a new 1 1/4" hole through the double top plate of the wall to have access down the wall.  He tried to drop down a wire lead (electrical snake) so we could feed the new wires down the wall.  Of course, having insulation in the wall did not help! With him sending the lead down the wall, I stood inside, with my hand through the hole from the original single box.  When my arm was in the wall almost up to my elbow, I finally felt the lead and pulled it out.

Inside, Rick tied a string to the lead.  Then he went back to the garage and pulled the lead and string back up.  He attached the new wires to the string, and  I pulled the string and new wires back down the wall.  Success!

One down, two to go.

Finished ... at least for now.

Once that was done, Rick cut a hole large enough to install a three-gang box.  He wired in three new toggle switches, so now we are ready for the next steps.  What will these three switches power?

Well, the first one will power the new northern light above our garbage cans.  We made sure that this light was powerful, bright, and NOT motion activated.

Rick actually checks the instructions to see what
to do next to safely install the light.

Installing that light took most of the day.  He climbed up and down more ladders today, first drilling a hole in the house, fishing wires through it, and installing the electrical box and the light itself.  Of course, since it is outside, it took special steps to make sure that it is sealed and waterproof.  We have not added power to it yet since we want to hook up all three switches to lights at the same time.

The new light, tucked under the eaves, will give
us plenty of light to walk into the side yard at night.

Tomorrow we will tackle the second light. More on that note later...