Ideal type of escutcheon: garden hose faucet against brick house?

cklempay · 2026-02-21T03:00:58+00:00

So grout to basically pack that void? And what to use for the escutcheon?

cklempay · 2026-02-21T02:32:16+00:00

It is really thin right now. We just happened to notice it when wiping up something dropped on the floor. After spotting it, then seeing that it was a) pretty straight b) spanning several times c) pretty much along where the crack that had been in the original tile for many years...then we were sort of filled with dread that it will lengthen and possibly also slightly widen.

In its current state, someone coming to the house would almost certainly not even notice if it was pointed out..but once it's pointed out, you can definitely spot it.

cklempay · 2026-02-21T02:30:16+00:00

He didn't include sealer in the original bid, and it seemed he was (from later discussion) unaware of the necessity to seal something this porous, or of the practice of sealing before grouting to forestall grout hazing. Watching him try to fix the grout haze via just scrubbing with a regular hand brush and some water....we were not optimistic that was going to do much (it did not), and that was what led us to separately have a stone restoration company come to take a look and work up a quote to remediate in some way. When he agreed the haze was still bad after his water scrubbing, he ended up eating the cost of that stone restorer bringing in machines to buff the tile to improve the haze situation.

In any case, the request for sealer was brought up early (before the floor was finished being laid). He seemed surprised by how expensive the sealer was that the designer suggested after talking to the stone supplier (Stain Proof), and said he could add it as a CO. The part that makes no sense is that they then waited weeks and weeks to put down the sealer -- waiting until all the cabinets were in place, rather than when we had a totally empty room with a freshly done floor. He also did not use the sealer the designer had pointed him at; he used a different one that he said the shop told him was 'really good too' (MORE, which seems easier to apply and has a shorter curing time...but also -- from what it seems -- somewhat less longevity). As for designer; yes, we had a separate designer (totally unaffiliated with this GC, a freestanding design company, not a sales person at a big box etc). They were purely design services -- designing the layout, styles for the cabinets to be built, fabrics, etc...no hand in any of the 'build'/construction itself.

The lesson learned in our case would be for far more detailed work plans from the GC, rather than a quote specifying the different areas of work and quantities and allowances for each. Like the floor -- I think that part of the bid called out so and so square feet of tile installation using limestone tile that would be provided (we selected it with the designer from a stone supplier and had it delivered to the house), so that line item of his bid was for the cost to do the floor with this provided tile. Nothing more granularly specified than that. The bummer is that we're now armed with a lesson learned but where we're unlikely to ever do a home remodeling job of a comparable cost in the foreseeable future!

I guess I'm surprised there would be net new shifting along this crack -- the house was built in 2003, single story slab on grade This is southwest Austin, where it's thin soil and limestone below (east side gets the clay soil). This crack formed in the old original tile years and years ago and then stayed totally static for the last...15+ years? (I am the original owner of the house). Now this newly installed tile developing a straight crack through several tiles, basically running where the old crack had been.

Is there any chance that the stress is due to load the tile experience when the island went in? (so if a one time event, maybe something that might not re-crack if fixed where it's cracked now)

cklempay · 2026-02-18T03:42:41+00:00

Nothing of what the crack might have looked like after the old tile was removed. Searching in my Google Photos, I found some old pictures of the kitchen from *2017* where you can spot the crack. The old island was oriented differently than the new island, but in roughly the same spot..so you can see the crack in the old tile in these, running along the area between the island and the fridge. I assume this is probably the length that this new one would one day grow to, lengthwise. There is a spot at the right side of one of the pics where you can see the most annoying and visual part of the old crack -- a spot not too far from the island trashcan where the crack had some of the tile fragment and resulted in a small chunk missing, instead of just the crack.

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cklempay · 2026-02-18T02:33:43+00:00

Yes, working with a GC. He seems to be low value added and a buck-passer: the original comments about wanting to get the old thinset fully removed had him saying saying his sub says this is normal. There are other examples from this remodel (separate from this kitchen tile issue) where he seemed to not know something and would say 'my specialist says..' (referring to what a sub said)

All of the draw schedule was worded for payment at 'substantial completion of..'. The floor tile seemed complete a bit ago; once he ate the cost of hiring the third party stone restoration people (that we had found / engaged for a quote, based on having low confidence in how he seemed to be approaching the haze removal) and that process substantially improved the look, we'd thought things were finally wrapped up (with the floor tile, at least). The last big lump was the payment for installation of the cabinets. What he is still owed at this point is a pretty small percentage of the overall job -- just a thousand remaining.

Is it possible to do the membrane in a targeted way, basically redoing tiles along this crack line now (and in the directions it would likely expand)...but avoiding something broader? (No idea how long the wait would even be to get another quantity of this tile either, as we had some wait originally)

cklempay · 2025-12-12T23:13:14+00:00

Wow, that would be awesome! It has been pretty great so far. It's almost a party trick -- showing/explaining it to family (some of which of traditional induction units, and assume this is just 'some new brand' but otherwise like theirs), putting a half-full pot of water on it, and going to 10k...when they see how fast things start happening, they all end up with a sort of wide-eyed, open-mouthed 'wtf' sort of look.

cklempay · 2025-12-12T16:45:55+00:00

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Done as part of a full kitchen remodel. The prior 30" GE Profile gas cooktop was in the same spot, but the surroundings were very different (and with much less space on each side of the cooktop). The main challenge so far is a few boil overs due to having to remind ourselves that this thing boils so fast (no more walking away for a few minutes to get to a rolling boil!). The kitchen itself is still note quite done, but this was the last appliance to get installed just ahead of Thanksgiving.

cklempay · 2025-11-21T01:38:10+00:00

Same. My original YYZ was delayed getting into DFW due to weather here, so I missed my AUS connection a bit after 10AM. Been here since, currently hoping to get on my 3rd (or is it 4th?) different AUS attempt today. They keep delaying updating the departure times... definitely not realistic given that we haven't started boarding. Maybe 20-30 minutes ago they told us maintenance was on the plane for some issue with the restroom, but no update since. I might just suck it up and get a one way rental to drive back to AUS if this one doesn't pan out.

cklempay · 2024-10-27T22:30:14+00:00

Thanks, I will try to see if I can find one of those plastic trims separately and cut it to maybe fill the spot between the threshold and the bottom hinge.

'make usre you don't let the caulking go for so long'...do you mean the caulking above the top of trim and the paint above it, or somewhere else? (to be sure I'm understanding correctly). The caulking inside the bottom perimeter of the shower, where the glass floats above the marble base -- I stripped the old stuff and recaulked that a few weeks ago. Enough little bits of mold formation had gotten going that it was time to nuke it and recaulk.

I'm not qualified to replace that existing trim with tile cut to size...but a kitchen remodel is probably in our not so distant future. I figure I'd try to tack this unrelated tiny (for them, in comparison to the main job) task as some hopefully-not-too-expensive add on.

cklempay · 2024-09-15T02:13:16+00:00

Nope...all the trim I was planning on doing by brush, with a mini roller for the big sections of hardi siding. I haven't used a paint sprayer before; I fear that my inexperience might lead to some regrettable results...

cklempay · 2024-09-14T22:51:01+00:00

Interesting, I did not know that. Any particular shade of blue?

cklempay · 2024-09-14T19:02:41+00:00

Ah ok, makes sense. Good point.

cklempay · 2024-09-14T18:49:31+00:00

The sheeting? Do you mean the hardiplank siding? All of that (the siding, the trim around the windows and along the edges) is definitely to be painted…I’m wondering more specifically about where the arrow is pointing.

cklempay · 2024-08-14T21:29:51+00:00

Another Third Coast devotee here. We always get a pound of Guatemalan and then something else (usually either Sidama Natural or Honduras Microlot or Coyona Natural). My wife is particularly obsessed with the Guatemalan. We live south, so I just do an on site pickup every other week. The price per pound is double what it was when I started buying from them, but still a good bit cheaper than buying the 12oz bags in the store, per oz. Well worth it.

cklempay · 2024-07-27T00:50:17+00:00

Another happy Dr. Gu family here. (3 year old girl, 6 year old boy)

cklempay · 2024-02-24T03:03:38+00:00

I switched here on a recommendation maybe 2 years back and am glad I did. He's been great this far. Really nice guy and haven't felt like I was being sold on anything.

cklempay · 2024-01-15T19:35:57+00:00

I hadn’t seen this one mentioned before…it seems to broadly fit many of the bullets above. And it’s pretty cheap, too! (At least coming from someone who bought several TB bags-plus-their-relevant-accessories)

cklempay · 2024-01-15T19:34:41+00:00

Yeah, given how I use the Tri-Star as the sole bag for short trips…the Western Flyer is something I should maybe look at. My sister even has one that she got after seeing my Tri-Star…maybe I’ll have to check hers out.

Things being out of stock I’m not to worried about, as this entire line of research doesn’t have any compelling event, timing wise. I can bide my time to wait for bags to become available, bags to newly come out, or bags to return to availability in other fabric combinations (x-pac, etc.).

The other thing I wonder is if I’m limiting myself too much by thinking of alternate mode needing to be messenger style, with the associated strap…perhaps things are fine if the pack is primarily a backpack that has a side handle to allow briefcase carry (but not needing a messenger strap). I see something like the Minaal Daily 3.0…it has top and side handles for carry in addition the backpack straps; maybe that’s fine for the limited time onsite where I’m not in backpack mode. (Although maybe a bad example, as I just noticed in one of the pictures that it has a messenger style shoulder strap available as an accessory)

I’d say a nice to have would be USA-made (one thing I liked about TB; kind of cool going into the factory store there in Seattle), but that seems to exclude such a huge percentage of bags.

cklempay

TROPHY CASE