Tag Archives: House Work

January 18, 2013 · 5:52 pm

Porch Ironwork

Installation of the iron work on our new porch has started – the last major element to finish. We now have a new gate, round window grilles, and ironwork panels in the arched wall openings. I bought the ironwork panels many years ago – they are about a hundred years old and were originally part of an elevator. The window grille design was inspired by a picture in the 2002 book Red Tile Style: America’s Spanish Revival Architecture by Arrol Gellner and Douglas Keister. The new gate is patterned on our original garden gate.

I am very happy with the results so far, despite all of the work, delays, and cost overruns. The breakfast bar and railing are the last pieces of ironwork to go in – and are still being made by Brian’s Welding. This weekend, I start repairing my poor garden – all torn up by construction.

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January 12, 2013 · 9:58 pm

Ceramic Tile Floor

The ceramic tile floor on our new porch is done at last – and I am very pleased with it. The combination of the Floral Mural by Fireclay Tile, paver tiles from Gladding McBean (one of the oldest companies in California), and Mexican painted tiles looks good. It has taken much time and effort to get this done (the mural had to be made twice due to color problems – taking six weeks each time). SP Tile & Granite did an excellent job of installation. Despite the still-missing railing and tile breakfast bar, and the winter cold, John and I had breakfast on our porch for the first time this morning.

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January 7, 2013 · 3:29 pm

Tile Floral Mural

Our lovely new tile Floral Mural by Fireclay Tile was left in a box on the front porch today – in preparation for installation starting tomorrow. I put together the 25 six-inch tiles on the dining room table to be sure all was in good order. We are slowly creeping toward completion of the new porch on which we started construction in July 2012. The tile and ironwork are the last major elements still to be installed. We were able to use the space during the holidays – but not since they put down tar waterproofing on the floor. It is blocked off now to keep the dogs from jumping and sliding in the tar.

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January 2, 2013 · 12:43 pm

Salamanders big and small

In the garden disruptions associated with our porch construction, I have uncovered several nests of salamanders, under rocks and buried in the dirt. I have seen two salamander types in our back yard along the Guadalupe River in San Jose, California. From the pictures on the Californiaherps web page, they are:

Aneides lugubris, the Arboreal salamander, a species of climbing salamander native to California, where it is primarily associated with oak and sycamore woodlands, and thick chaparral. About 6″ long – Pictured above.
Batrachoseps attenuatus, California Slender Salamander, a lungless salamander found primarily in Northern California, one of a handful quasi-endemic amphibians in the state. About 4″ long. Pictured below.

The big one pictured above is guarding a nest of eggs. The two species live near each other but not together (the pictures here were taken of salamanders living under different rocks about a foot apart). I have seen as many as seven in one nest underground – large and small but all of one species. I once turned on the water hose and out shot a very surprised large salamander who had been hiding inside. They mostly hold still when uncovered but they can move fast. I try to leave them alone – only moving them to a safer spot if their current location is dangerous.

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Tagged as garden, House Work, San Jose, Willow Glen

December 26, 2012 · 11:56 am

New Home for Van Gilder Glass Panel

Last week, the Van Gilder stained glass panel was finally installed in the wall between our dining room and new porch. The large and elegant stained glass panel was created by Walter Somers Van Gilder for his home (1007 Circle Park Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee) about a hundred years ago. In July, it came home: re-leaded and refreshed by Vincent Taylor Architectural Art Glass. The picture below shows my son Paul D. Goodman, the great-great-grandson of Walter Van Gilder, helping to install the panel in our home in Willow Glen, California. We designed a window enclosure so that the panel could be removed for cleaning. Last night, I enjoyed sitting next to the panel as we celebrated Christmas dinner with family and friends. I think my great-grandfather would be happy to know that his creation continues to bring pleasure to his family.

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December 14, 2012 · 11:21 pm

Stucco Done

Our new porch got its stucco wall covering yesterday – which will cure for several weeks before we can paint. A stucco finish has many layers, starting with paper, then wire, followed by a smooth base coat, lastly the textured final coat. The original wet grey color is turning pale as it dries. The winter’s damp weather here in Willow Glen will ensure a slow curing and harder result. The final work is also complete on our new brick paths (made of old bricks) – which look wonderful! Still to finish:

Stucco around the final window (the new smaller window was installed today – a surprise late addition because of mis-measurement on where the roof ties in)
Install ceramic roof tiles
Install electrical fixtures – inside and out
Paint inside and out
Decorative iron work
Tile floor

We should be all done by the end of January. Of course, I originally thought we would be done in September… silly me.

Bricklaying

This week, we are getting the bricks laid on top of some of our new concrete paths in our back garden. Jack and Rudy Batinich are the masonry contractors working on this project. The picture above is of Rudy’s work boots – showing the toes of a man who kneels a lot.

They started by sorting our collection of old bricks so that they knew what they had to work with. We probably need about 200 more old bricks than we have.
Next, we decided on design. The big area to be bricked will be running bond pattern with a border, and will connect with two walkways – one jack-on-jack (or stacked bond) and the other in basket weave classic brick pattern. We have about fifty irregular clinker or burnt bricks which will be in the border.

I think this is going to look good and be very functional.

Tag Archives: House Work

Porch Ironwork

Ceramic Tile Floor

Tile Floral Mural

Salamanders big and small

New Home for Van Gilder Glass Panel

Stucco Done

Bricklaying

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