Chapter 7
Double, double, tile and trouble...
Table of Contents
Day 195 - I go up to the apartment in the evening.   Supposedly, John has just left.  Bobby, Otto and Louie are still there.  And it's true, it's true!  I have countertops and they look, as Robert would say, "faahbulous."  They did a great job cutting them (except one corner which is a little too close to the cabinet), and installing them.  Almost everything is in.  They're coming back tomorrow to finish the island and the windowsills.  Apparently, with the windowsills, John let the "decorator within him" take over and told the Fordham Marble people how he thought the windowsills should be cut.  He didn't think to ask me or Robert.  Anyway, Bobby is putting on doorknobs (did I know that two of the doorknobs were chrome and the rest  were dark?  Well, I knew that most of them were Shaded Bronze Lacquered, one was Satin Chrome Plated, and the other was Satin Nickel Plated.  And luckily, looking at them in the light, that's what we have).  Otto is continuing to lay the floor in the front bedroom and Louie is working on the tile in the front bathroom.  They've now figured out, if they put all of the tile  of the same width in the same column, the size difference of the tiles is less noticeable.  Too bad they didn't realize this in the beginning.  At least most of the tile that was put up "haphazardly" (for lack of a better word), is in the shower.  I do notice three things however.  The first is that  the pipes under the sink are STILL not centered on the wall.  I decide I am not going to have them shut off the water in the building (again), open up the wall (again), and have them try and center them (probably to no avail).  I can live with it and you really won't be able to see it under the sink.  The second thing is that the medicine cabinet is centered over the pipes, not over where the sink will be.  This I can't live with.  Louie tells me he can fix it.  The last thing I notice is that, now that the shower is almost completely tiled (except the faucets, the mixing valve, the showerhead and the steamhead), you can see that everything doesn't line up.  The shower head is centered in a tile, the mixing valve, steamhead, etc. are off to the left at least by an inch).  Louie says it can be shifted.  Better yet, without plumber involvement.
Day 194 - Monday, December 1, 2003 - I don't go up to the apartment.  John wasn't there today, but Louie, Otto and Bobby were.  The window guy came and fixed the kitchen window (again).  No one has mentioned who's going to pay for this.  Robert ordered more cork --the Barriga (style) in Armagnac (color).  He had originally ordered two Edipos.  Oh well, it's only 15 sq. ft.  Rumor has it my countertops are being installed tomorrow.
Days 192 & 193 - It's the weekend.  I haven't really done anything in four days.  Neither has John.
Day 191 - I go up to see the apartment with Karen, my sister-in-law.  She hasn't seen it since it was two separate apartments, so it's a drastic change for her.  I really like how the blue glass tiles look.  I think a silver gray grout will be nice.  I can't deal with choosing, nor do I really want blue grout.  I ask Karen if my blog is accurate, now that she's seen the apartment up close and personal.  Well, you'll be happy(?) to know that, more or less yes, although, she thought the kitchen is right there, ready to be finished and maybe that hasn't been conveyed.  Okay, the kitchen is right there, ready to be finished.  It just needs the window fixed, granite countertops, the cork flooring (which BTW, there's now a small issue of what we ordered -- two Edipos, natural and armangnac?  I don't think so (See Day 92)), more lighting, stereo speakers, my cooktop, the outside of the rangehood... ;-)
Day 190 - Thursday, November 27th.  It's Thanksgiving Day.  See Day 132.  'Nuf said about the apartment.  Happy Thanksgiving!
Day 189 - I don't go up to the apartment; I'm cooking for Thanksgiving today.  Robert calls and tells me, he has another place for the bamboo floor.  I tell him, I'm now having second thoughts about ordering it sight unseen.  We decide to wait to see the sample.  I call John.  He's at the apartment with Louie and Otto.  Otto is laying the floor in the front bedroom and he and Louie  are tiling the front bathroom.  He tells me that the blue glass tiles look good, but they are not uniform in size.  He called Waterworks and they told him that's normal.  O-o-o-kay...  Anyway, if I use a grout that slightly tinted blue, I won't even notice it.  Or so I'm told.
Day 188 - Tues. - John calls me in the morning.  He has a question about how I want to lay the tile in the front bathroom.  You might remember we did this already (see Day 175), but John doesn't.  I leave work and go up to the apartment.  I re-decide how I want the blue glass tile done.  I know it's different than the last time I made these decisions, I just hope it looks good.  I also decide to do the front bedroom and hallway with the bamboo flooring we have left, order more 6-inch boards for the living room and use them as a border no matter what they look like.  Can you tell, I'm starting to throw up my hands in disgust?
Day 187 - I don't go up to the apartment today.  I find out, however, that we will probably run short on the bamboo flooring and will have to order more.  Robert tells me they no longer have the same color that the original flooring came in.  I'd like to wait for a sample of the new stuff before I decide what to do, but now John is in a big hurry.  Robert also spoke to Ilaria Cattaneo of Tre Piu. She says, "of-a course we ordered the door jambs and should-a have the other side of-a the lock!"  How long this will take to get from Italy is another story.  She's going to get back to us.  At least it's not August.  My front doors came (the wrong ones, but we needed to put  the frames put in).  I can no longer get into my apartment (no keys).  I'm thinking, this is not necessarily a bad thing.
Days 185 & 186 -  It's the weekend.  It's beautiful.  It feels like Spring and Fall were flipped around this year.  Saturday, my Mom and I shop for Thanksgiving.  Sunday, we all go to the apartment so I can pick out and change tiles.  Come on,... you knew I would.
Day 184 - I go up to the apartment in the early evening.  John, Otto , and Louie are still there.  My refrigerator has arrived!  Granted it's in two pieces (they had to take the condenser off to get it up the stairs), and it's bubble-wrapped, but it's there!  My central air conditioner condensers are in place in the alleyway below my window!  John shows me the drawers for the desk in the kitchen.  Iit's not exactly what I had in mind, but it will do.  I see my doorknobs and locks.  John picked them up in the morning.  They look good.  For some reason (having to do with wall and tile movement), John is putting on a membrane, and coating the front bathroom with this black stuff.  He says, he's going to start tiling in the front bathroom on Tuesday. My front bathroom floor tiles are laid out in my back bedroom.  Some of the blue mosaic tiles are a little schwach (i.e., washed out, weak), and some of the white tiles are too brown or gray, so the guys laid it out for me to take a look and pull out and change tiles, if I feel so inclined. Do I?
Day 183 - Thursday, November 20, 2003 - It is now just past six months.  Six months! I am unable to comprehend this.  But, everything continues as usual.  The day is unmarked by events out of the ordinary.  No phone call saying the apartment is finished and asking for a final payment.  Only the usual routine...  I can't get up to the apartmenttoday, but I speak to John in the afternoon.  The refrigerator hasn't come, yet.  I call.  It's rescheduled for tomorrow morning.  Nobody bothered to call.  The front doors came in.  Unfortunately, they are raised panel doors and I can only used recessed panel doors in my building.  John is going to get flat panel doors and frames, install the frames and doors, and then replace the doors when the right ones come in.  He tells me he needs the templates for the mortised locks, at least so the door guys can cut the correct holes.  I call Simon's and unbelievably, my order is in!  John will pick up the knobs, hinges, and locks tomorrow.
Day 182 - Wed.- I go up to the apartment in the middle of the day to drop a check off.  Sight unseen the Subzero guys are coming on Thursday and I never paid the balance on the refrigerator, so it's C.O.D.  Otto, Louie, and Bobby are cutting and laying the floor in the Den/Media Room.  It looks good, so far.  A new plumber is there-- Eric, but not Eric, the good plumber.  Just Eric.  He runs a water line for my icemaker (I don't know why this wasn't done before) and hooks up my gas dryer.  He doesn't move the pipes in the front bathroom, though.  I'm not sure why.  John comes in while I'm there.  I give him the check, go over a few things, he apologizes to me again, and I leave.
Day 181 - I go up to the apartment in the morning.  John, Louie, Otto and Bobby are there.  The flooring in the back bedroom and little hallway is done and covered with paper for protection.  I decide how I want the flooring to run in the Den/Media Room.  More trim is up in the kitchen.  John tells me the plumbers couldn't come because they all got sick, but their supervisor came to see what needs to be done (that was smart!).  The fireplace guy cancelled (just as well he needs to be there with the plumbers).  The window people agreed to fix the window-- at a charge.  Well, of course they'll change it if I pay them... Robert is going to call and see what can be done.  The Tre Piu guys came, hung the track and the doors.  Unfortunately, the sliding bathroom doors, which have locks on them do not have the other side which catches the locking mechanism to actually lock the door.  Got that?  Robert is going to call on that one, too.  Oh, and the Subzero guy came and rang the wrong apartment. 
Day 180 - Monday, November 17, 2003 - I don't go up to the apartment today.  The plumber, the fireplace guy, the window guy, and the Subzero guy (to see whether they can get the refrigerator into the apartment), are all supposed to come today.  We'll see...
Days 178 & 179 - It's the weekend.  It's cold.  On Saturday, Jessi, Mom and I make a Timpano (see "The Big Night") for dinner.  On Sunday, my parents and I watch Jessi's skating lesson then go into the City to see the apartment.  They say it's much further along than when they saw it last (see Day 124).  You gotta think, they thought it would be done by now, too.
Day 177 - I don't go up to the apartment today.  I know John isn't there.  His wife is going away for the weekend and he has to take the day off (?).  She needs a getaway from her hectic schedule.  Robert tells me Louie and Otto are finishing up the flooring in the back bedroom.
Day 176 - Thurs.- I go up to the apartment in the late afternoon.  Otto and Bobby are still there.  I look in the back bathroom.  The floor tiles are laid and they look really good!  John has also put in the second set of black tiles.  Unfortunately, he put them in the wrong place, but I call him and he says they can easily be taken down and moved (yay!), because he put them on a board first.  This one was just plain wrong, because Robert, John, and I discussed it at length before we started tiling.  Argh.  The bamboo border in the back bedroom looks good with mitered corners.  Otto shows me a "biscuit" (or as he calls it (in a literal spanish translation a "cookie") and a "dado."  My knowledge of contracting and construction increased one thousandth-fold, I leave.
Day 175 - Today was a good day and I have a lot to say, but these days have been few and far between, so bear with me...  I met Robert at 9am and we went up to Fordham Marble in the Bronx to set the templates on the granite slabs the way I want them cut.  Robert chooses the ride up on the train to tell me that Fordham had already cut two pieces, even though we specifically told them (many times and in a fax) that we wanted to come up to place the templates.  Robert had an argument with Mario (one of the owners) and now no one is returning his calls,  Great, just great.  Anyway, they take out my slabs and templates.  I'm so happy to see my granite.  I know it's silly, but when I look at it, I know it's going to look great when it's installed and I am buoyed by this thought.  So, we set the templates, I see the pieces they already cut (I must admit, they did a great job!), and we leave.  After a sumptuous lunch at Subway, we go up to the apartment.  John, Bobby, Otto, and Louie are all there!  Working!  Robert, John, and I go over how I want the tile laid on the back bathroom floor (on a diagonal), in the front bathroom, we lay out the blue mosaic border, decide how many tiles off the wall it should come (two), and then figure out how the blue glass tile will look best. There's an issue with the template for the front bathroom sink-- it's a hexagon, which it's supposed to be, but skewed slightly to one side, which it's not supposed to be.  John figures out that one wall has to be made longer and the other wall has to be a skosh shorter.  This will then leave me with about an 18" wall behind the sink, and I'll go for a 16" medicine cabinet.  While we're there, the inspector from Tre Piu (see Day 75) comes to survey the sitch and see if everything is ready for door installation.  Long story short, they're coming to install all of the tracks and the doors for the bathroom (but, not the closet doors) on Monday.  Although, he tells me we didn't order door jambs.  I'm sure we ordered them for the bathroom side, even if we didn't order them for the hallway side.  robert is going to check on this.  Now to flooring-- I am bordering all of the rooms with one or two boards of bamboo and then running it all in one direction in the middle of the border.  I have to make a decision on how I want the back bedroom to be bordered.  John shows me and odd staggered pattern.  This way will make it all tongue-in-groove and will not move very much with expansion or contraction caused by temperature changes.  When John leaves the room, Otto and I get to talking (en espa�ol) about mitering the corners and having 45� angles.  John says, the floor might shift more this way and come up because it's not tongue-in-groove in the corners.  I can't decide.  I like the mitered look better, but...  Again, I'm "Reader's Digesting" for you-- we're going to miter the edges, then "dado" them and put a biscuit in.  Got that?  Anyway, it will be like tongue-in-groove.  What else?  Bobby laid the bamboo flooring in the back closet, Louie continued to tile the back bathroom and my washer and dryer are stacked and in their cabinet.  Oh, and John apologized to me.  Like I said, it was a good day.
Day 174 - It's Veteran's Day.  I don't go up to the apartment.  Not because it's Veteran's Day-- I don't really feel like  seeing John (although, that generally means I can go up after 4:30pm).  Robert tells me they cemented the floor in the back bathroom, but they didn't do any tiling.  They couldn't really-- they had to find and fix the leak.  Yes, the leak.  Apparently, when they put up the sheetrock to close up the walls, they put a nail (or screw) through a water pipe.  It didn't leak until the sheetrock was moved (probably when the were taking down/smashing off the tiles).  I also found out that Louie and Otto picked up my bedframe.  Did I mention I bought a bed?  The Portico Bed and Bath Store near me is closing and they are selling things off.  I made an offer, they accepted.  I have a very nice bedframe (headboard and footboard).  Now, if I could just sleep in my apartment...
Day 173 - Monday, November 10, 2003 - Today was not a good day.  After discussing tile placement in the back bathroom (again), floor patterns, and various other things, John asked me for money, and I said, no.  Let me explain... about two months ago, we reworked the payment schedule, and the next payment that I was supposed to make, was after I had a finished,  working bathroom.  Two things-- number one, today I said, two finished, working bathrooms and I don't think John liked being on the end of an initial misstatement, that didn't come to pass (e.g., the job will take 4�-5 months, I won't take any other jobs, etc.).  Number two, I still don't have one finished working bathroom.  I mentioned this to John and he said, it was because they had to take down and replace the tiles, twice.  I mentioned that took up two days, when we were now more than five months in, and (I didn't mention this) almost two months since we reworked the schedule.  John was obviously upset, not very nice, and now I'm afraid he will try and rush the job, so he can get paid.  Great, just great.  Later in the day, I speak to Robert who tells me John is going to call me to apologize.  That would be nice-- but I haven't heard from him.
Days 171 & 172 - It's the weekend.  The weather has turned cold.  I did not think I would be doing my "change of season" clothing swap at my parents' house.  But, I do.
Day 170 - Sorry about yesterday's verbosity.  When I got home last night and again this morning, I called Robert to tell him that I really don't like how the bathroom wall looks and to tell Louie to stop tiling.  Why is Louie tiling?  I'm not sure why he was tiling yesterday.   Today he will be tiling because John is on a field trip with Tyler, one of his darling rugrats.  What DOES his wife do?  Tiling is stopped.  I speak to John (after the field trip).  He explains his reasoning for the manner of tiling and says, he will change it.  We are not sure whether I have enough polished Jerusalem Gold tile left to redo the wall.  Robert has bought hinges to match the doorknobs I bought.  Did I mention the finishes?  One is Satin Chrome Plated (front bedroom), one is Satin Nickel Plated (back bathroom) and the rest are Shaded Bronze Lacquered.  The current hinges are Polished Brass with curved edges.  I like the curved edges.  Robert order the squared edges, thinking these will fit either way, where if we order curved edges that are slightly different from the ones I have, there may be a gap.  This is good thinking, but I think going to Simon's with a hinge to see if it's the same size is a good idea, too.  We'll see if the curved hinge fits and if it does, cancel and reorder on Monday.
Day 169 - I go up to the apartment in the afternoon.  Robert has just gotten there.  John and Luis (who has been referred to as Louie in prior postings  ((i.e., the Master of Spackle), since that's what John and Robert call him.  His name is Luis, but let's keep calling him Louie), are there.  Louie is cutting tile.  I go into the bathroom and there is a ton of tiling done on the walls.  The absolute black is up in the middle of the wall and looks really good.  Some of the tiles didn't take the enhancer as much as the others, but I think that will add to the "natural" stone look.  I notice that at the end of the tub, where there is a kind of shelf, they have put four small tiles, instead of two large ones.  I ask why and John tells me, it's to follow the line of the other tiles.  I tell him it looks funny to me and I would prefer just two large ones.  He says, "no problem" and has Louie take them off.  They come off easily, no breakage, as they were just put on.  I'm looking at the walls and I notice that near the window, there are small tiles on one side and large tiles on the other.  We start talking about the living room wall unit and I lose my train of thought.  I have to decide how big the wall unit will be.  Will it go all the way from the chimney on the right side to the wall, thereby enclosing the heat pipe (and having one section with five inch deep shelves), or stop just before the heat pipe and we drywall the heat pipe in all the way to the wall.  I'm not sure.  Then we discuss the fireplace.  I have had misgivings about the size of the firebox since it was done.  And sure enough, the gas log unit JUST fits in there (scraping the sides and shifted to the right, because the ignitor box on the left).  Robert is going to call the fireplace place and ask if we can get a smaller unit and use the logs we have.  I don't think this will work, and I will probably end up redoing (enlarging) the firebox.  Well, we'll see.  Then we walk into the kitchen to discuss the countertops and backsplashes.  Apparently, the granite I chose (Azul Australe, remember?  or was it Astral Azul?)  only comes in "inch and a quarter" thickness.  It does not come in three quarters of an inch which is the usual backsplash thickness.  This became an issue because Fordham Marble read the specs for my Dacor cooktop and there is not enough space between the end of the cooktop and the backsplash, if the backsplash is 1� inches.  So, my choice is, either to move the island wall out 3/4 of an inch or grind the granite down (at a cost, of course) to 3/4 of an inch.  Robert says (without really thinking) that it will give me less room if we move the wall out.  I tell him if 3/4 of an inch makes a difference, I'm in trouble.  We decide to move the wall.  But there's another granite thickness problem.  (Did you think we were done?)  The kitchen windows (and bathroom window) were fixed while I was away.  Yay!  Unfortunately, the panels that close off the larger window openings that I had before, do not come up to the same height in my current window opening.  What does that mean?  That means that an inch and a quarter windowsill will fit underneath one of the windows, but not the other.  As I am dealing with this problem and studying the windows, I notice that the top windows are slightly larger than the bottom windows (by an inch).  I can probably live with this, but one panel and one bottom window, at least, definitely needs to be changed.
Day 168 - I can't get up to the apartment today, but I hear that tiling is going on and the walls are being prepped for baseboard moulding and painting. 
Day 167 - Election Day - I go to the Upper West Side to vote.  Afterwards, I stop by the apartment.  Otto is there, getting ready to leave.  I know John wasn't there today.  I ask Otto if there's anything new.  He says, no.  I don't even go into the apartment.
Day 166 - Monday, November 3, 2003 - I don't go up to the apartment first thing in the morning, because I saw it on Friday.  I get a call from Robert and I ask him about something that's been gnawing at me a little.  John had measured the bathroom wall and told us that with four absolute black tiles on the bottom and three absolute black tiles in the middle, the 12"x12" tiles would fit perfectly up on the wall.  Then how come there was a space at the top?  We discuss this and also moving the middle line of black tiles up one foot (i.e., one tile).  John put a piece of wood in where the middle line of absolute black tiles will go, so he could put in the 12"x12" Jerusalem Gold tiles all the way up the wall.  I'm now thinking where this line is, is a little too low.  As you may know, I've been on John a little to get moving in the apartment (HA!), so I should be please that he took the initiative here... You know there's a but coming... But, the absolute black tiles that he used to measure the space and block out the wall, were not the absolutely black absolute black tiles, but the grayish, black and white tiles that I am sending back.  And unfortunately, the absolute black tiles that I am using, are ABSOLUTELY a different size (smaller) and will not fit right in the space John left (unless you like 1/2" grout lines above and below the black tiles.  I don't).  So, after discussion of various tiling issues (i.e., whether to take down some (16 tiles.  Uff.) of the tiles already on the wall, number of rows of black tile in the middle of the wall, which tile to put up near the ceiling, whether we have enough tiles to make these mistakes/decisions, etc.), I make some decisions (i.e., yes (boo-hoo), three, Jerusalem Gold, yes, etc.).  I leave the apartment with the sound of tiles breaking, ringing in my ears.
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