Great News!

We have great news!  Our building permit has been approved!   We weren't sure it would go through on the first pass, as it's a tricky project, but it did!  

 image source, Kunkel Moving and Raising

I talked to the moving and raising company today, and it's looking like the BIG DAY will come in just a couple of weeks.

Have a wonderful weekend!

E is for Electricity and Bathroom Chandeliers

 Electricity and water don't mix.  At least not in any sort of healthy way....

 Photo courtesy Country Living.

Here, a photo stylist uses a chandelier as a prop over a claw footed tub.

This is why very special, sealed light fixtures are used in pools and spas.

image courtesy Hilton Hotels and Resorts website

It is why special shower rated recessed cans are used over tubs and showers.

You may be able to find some really lovely shower rated fixtures, like this one, from The Bath Tub website.

We all learned, in grade school, that electricity and water are a potentially deadly combination.  And yet, we still see pictures like this on design blogs, and in magazines.

This bathroom design is the work of the very gifted furniture and textile designer, Barry Dixon.

Barry Dixon has worked in the decorating industry for many years, and his talent as a decorator is remarkable. 
 I see loots of folks trying to emulate this look, but I suspect -- I f the camera were pulled back -- we would 
the chandelier was not over the bathtub at all, and that it is a trick of the camera.

Many of these images are absolutely stunning, and are the work of very gifted stylists. There is a big difference, however, in a space that has been styled to look pretty in a picture, and a space designed for living.

This bathroom was styled by decorator to the stars, Nate Berkus. 

Nate Berkus is personable, and fun, and his styling is absolutely beautiful.

These bathroom vignettes were most likely styled 

this way for the sake of photo composition. 

It is highly likely that the chandeliers in the spaces shown above were lowered for the photo shoots, and raised or removed afterward.  At least, that's what I would prefer to believe...

The National Electric Code, in the United States, reads:
410.4(D) Bathtub and Shower Areas. No parts of cord-connected luminaires (fixtures), hanging luminaires (fixtures), lighting track, pendants, or ceiling-suspended (paddle) fans shall be located within a zone measured 900 mm (3 ft) horizontally and 2.5 m (8 ft) vertically from the top of the bathtub rim or shower stall threshold. This zone is all encompassing and includes the zone directly over the tub or shower stall.

In the bathroom shown above, the chandelier is placed in an acceptable 

location, offset from the area directly over the tub by several feet. 

photo courtesy House Beautiful

Baths and showers are considered wet locations, and there is risk of steam from your bath condensing on the fixture, creating a short that could make the entire fixture "hot".  Additionally, just the tiniest little splash of water could result in a hot bulb shattering, and sprinkling the tub with tiny shards of broken glass!

Perhaps Lette Birn, of the Form+Function Bright Ideas blog, said it best:

 

Electricity and water do not mix. Period! Someone might just one day reach up and touch the chandelier. You can’t tell from looking at it if  it is properly grounded or not or if it has a short that’s otherwise not obvious. Standing well-grounded in a bathtub full of water, THAT’s a recipe for disaster!

Ok, ok, YOU of course won’t EVER think of doing that, but what about your house guests? Another point to think of:  Working day-to-day in a lighting showroom and seeing first-hand what a mess it is when a light bulb breaks, I for sure don’t want to share my bath water with those little sharp pieces! A single drop of water hitting a lit bulb can easily cause a light to burst. 

You might consider a non-electrified chandelier, if you really have your heart set on having one.

image source, Bonanza.com

Chances are, if you live in a jurisdiction that has adopted a building code, NEC410.4(D), or something similar, is being enforced.

If your architect, contractor, or interior designer 

suggests that you add some sort of hanging fixture over 
your tub, you may want to verify their professional 
credentials, as well as check into your local codes.  

It is remotely possible that your local building codes (or lack of) will permit the installation, but most qualified design professionals will still advise against it for safety and liability issues.

image courtesy Coastal Living website

If you really want to "romance the bathtub", how about this lovely mosquito net -- or some candles?

Of course, you can use a chandelier in the bathroom, just remember to keep at least eight feet between the top of the tub and the bottom of the hanging fixture or stay at least three feet away from the "footprint" of the tub, if you want it to pass the electrical inspection.

Beauty + Function + Health and Safety 
= Good Design

And remember, there are lots of people in the design industry who are not qualified interior designers, kitchen or bath planners, contractors, lighting designers, or architects.

There are room stylists, photo stylists, set designers, shelter magazine editors, decorators, design bloggers, television show hosts, and consultants -- with backgrounds in everything from fashion to law.  They may be incredibly talented artistic contributors to the design industry, but they may not have a familiarity with relevant local codes, being more aware of the beauty side of the design equation, than the health and safety aspect.

This is just a little food for thought, as you peruse books, magazines, and blogs that may feature these types of installations.

We're Next!

We're next!  At least that is what my general contractor tells me, concerning our permit to lift the beach house.  It takes weeks and weeks to get a permit in our city, so this is exciting news.

  Ransone Construction and House Moving, photo found via Santa Cruz Construction Guild

 We haven't been idle while we waited, though.  We have worked on some demolition of the home's interior and have done some site preparation to get ready for the BIG DAY.  

And now, fingers crossed, we are next in the queue to have our drawings examined.  Hopefully, all will go well.  The drawings were done by a highly recommended and very experienced engineer, so things should go pretty smoothly....

We have had a lot of questions about what is involved in lifting a house, so just for fun, I thought I would share images of work that some house moving and raising companies have done, along with links to their websites, so you can learn more.

People have been moving houses for a long time, as is evident in this old photograph 

from the Kunkel Moving and Raising website.  The Kunkel family has been in this business for four generations!

Even masonry structures have been successfully moved!  Kunkel Moving and Raising

I think, if a house could be raised this much before the days of color 

photography, raising my house nine feet, in the days of computerized 

control panels, should be a cakewalk, right? Kunkel Moving and Raising.

There is no end to the ingenuity of a determined person. Kunkel Moving and Raising

Here, contractors are stacking cribbing underneath a house, 

as it is being lifted.  Kunkel Moving and Raising

I have to admit, the idea of standing underneath a house balanced on fifteen 

foot high stacks of cribbing gives me the heebie jeebies!  I really hope 

the wind cooperates while the new structural work is finished 

underneath the house, and it get it's new hurricane straps.Matthews House Movers

Matthews House Movers

I'm feeling more and more confident, as I review these pictures  :)  Dent National, Inc

This is pretty similar to what we will be doing -- just going 

straight up -- but we will be reusing our existing foundation.

I hope you enjoyed the little tour.  Hopefully, very soon, our little beach cottage...

...will be up on cribbing while contractors busily work underneath!   Have a great Monday!

Guest Bathroom Demolition

Well, I've shown you our progress on the master bathroom. Now I have some pics of the guest bathroom progress.  The guest bathroom was just awful.  It had been partly gutted, meaning the easy stuff had been removed -- the toilet and vanity were gone, and some of the paneling and sheet rock was gone. But it was still a big mess.  And did I mention it was just nasty?

Flat river rock had been plastered everywhere

-- and not in a good way.

I love this river rock look.

This river rock floor, from Coastal Living, is just right, and counterbalanced by the glass 

shower wall and the white tile and gray walls, so the space doesn't feel too heavy.

When used properly, pebble or river rock tile can be very appealing.

And while this installation doesn't represent my own taste, it is attractive, creative, and again, shows some restraint in using such a visually heavy material.

This photo courtesy Business Week

And this bathroom is just gorgeous....

photos courtesy design-4-less website

But this?

And this?

And this?  They certainly used no restraint here!

I made the engineer get into the shower so we could really tell just how small this shower was.  

Of course, the engineer is very private, so I masked out his eyes for the picture.

Not sure if you can tell from the photo above, but the grout in this shower is just filthy.  My husband stood in there very carefully, so as not to touch anything.  Truly, it was vile.  This entire bathroom was awful, from the moment you entered it through the claustrophobic tunnel, to the nasty shower.  It's not as if this rock was well laid, either.  Do you see the huge gaps between the stones?  I think I could have done a better job by throwing stones at a wall of wet mortar!  Actually, maybe that's what was done here?  Anyway, all that mortar was nasty and gross.  And the whole effect was heavy and oppressive.

Now, all that heavy, grungy river rock is gone:

Including that abomination of a shower!

It's gone, gone, gone, and I am glad, glad, glad!

All that rock found it's way into this pile, along with the old tile from the pink bathroom.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Master Bathroom Demolition

While we wait for the permit to raise our house nine feet higher in elevation, we are able to get a little demolition work done on the interior.  Remember this oh, so lovely pink bathtub?

And the even lovelier shower?

Well, here they are now, along with some bits from another bathroom.

Here's the space where the old tub was.  It was pretty grody under that tub -- lots of rodent poo!

And this is the newly demoed shower area.

It's an improvement, don't you think?

The flagstone flooring from the bathroom has been set aside for re-purposing elsewhere.

Yes, that flagstone goes throughout most of the main level, and no, I'm not crazy about it, but it's staying in the public areas -- at least for now....

D is for Decks

We're thinking about decks, these days.

Remember these rotted decks attached to our "new" house?

Well, they're gone, now.

 Look at all the trash that was under the deck!  

Quite a bit of it is decomposing, but not the soda 

bottles.  Soda bottles are forever (and here 

I thought diamonds were forever)!

Well, actually, the decks are not gone.  They're right here.

The deck on the ocean side of the house will be repaired.

The porch roof has done a great job of preserving the back decking, so only some repairs and updates are needed here.

We will be adding another small deck over the new garage door (for those of you who are new to this blog, we will be lifting this house nine feet, and adding a new garage under the east wing).

This new deck will open off of a guest room.  Because the house sits on a peninsula, there are ocean views to the west and Bay views to the east.  We want our guests to be able to swing open the french doors in the morning and enjoy the sounds of surf and seagulls, a fresh breeze, and the view of the bay.

Won't you come for a visit?

This post is being linked to Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.