Geeky Girl Engineer – Page 44 – Nature, travel, pets, home renovation, and geekery

Solar Eclipse : The solar eclipse is the main reason I came out west for vacation. I have seen a partial solar eclipse before, but never a total solar eclipse. It was like Continue Reading →

Snorkeling in Alaska : While planning for my vacation in Alaska, I learned that there is a company, appropriately named Snorkel Alaska, that leads snorkeling tours near Ketchikan. If there is a way for Continue Reading →

Carrie Blast Furnaces : I’m in Pittsburgh for the long weekend. Today I took a tour with Rivers of Steel of the Carrie Blast Furnaces. The area is part of the former U.S. Steel Continue Reading →

Nuttallburg : I started exploring New River Gorge National Park today. It is second on my list of things to see in West Virginia after the capitol. The park is really spread Continue Reading →

Bridge Walk : I spent today doing more exploring of New River Gorge National Park, but I started the day by walking across a bridge. The walk across the bridge was under the Continue Reading →

Master Bathroom Renovation Is Finished!

Posted on May 11, 2014 by geek

The master bathroom renovation is finally completely finished. The bathroom is small, but it has all the features I need and want. It is functional, and I love it. I previously wrote about the cabinets, but the final piece, an open shelving unit that sits on top of the countertop has been installed. All the cabinetry is from Tuscan Hills, and while most of it is standard cabinetry, some of it, especially the false bottom of the wall cabinet for access to the bath mechanics is custom. The tub is an MTI Andrea 14, and I must admit, after having taken a bath in it, it is even bigger than I realized, but it has whirlpool jets and air bubblers and is quite lovely in which to soak. I used frameless glass for the shower and simple, clear glass vessel sinks, so that visually they take up as little space as possible. I previously wrote and posted more detailed photos of the shower, so I am not posting too many here. The plumbing fixtures are all Grohe’s Atrio line. I used Moen’s Iso line for the towel bars and rings, robe hooks, and toilet paper holder, and I used Thomas Lighting’s Pittman fixtures for the vanity lights and wall sconces in the water closet.

Newly renovated master bathroom

Shower

Tub

Wall cabinet next to the tub

Water closet

Vanity

Open shelves on the vanity

One of the sink areas

Vanity faucet

Vanity lights

Ferdinand’s Face

Posted on May 8, 2014 by geek

I just bought a macro lens for my camera. [For photography geeks, I have a Canon 6D, and my new macro lens is their EF 100mm 1:28L IS.] I have been wanting one for a while, and my upcoming trip to Iceland seemed the perfect reason to buy one. Once the lens arrived, I decided to test it out on my favorite subject, Ferdinand the basset hound. Thus, here is a Ferdinand’s face, a photographic study.

Ferdinand’s face

Ferdinand looking up

Ferdinand’s eye

Ferdinand’s nose

Ferdinand asleep

Ferdinand in profile

Ferdinand licking his paw

Ferdinand’s paws (not technically his face)

Ferdinand’s snout

Concrete Crushing

Posted on May 5, 2014 by geek

Excavators with concrete crushers attachments are badass. They just chomp concrete like most of us chomp on walnuts. The claw closes around the concrete, then chomp, and then there is rebar and small bits of concrete.

There is an old railroad bridge being destroyed over Four Mile Run between Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia. Here is video I shot of an excavator destroying what is left of a pier from the bridge.

Vanity Backsplash Tiled

Posted on April 21, 2014 by geek

This weekend I tiled the vanity backsplash. It is a rather high backsplash as I wanted the tile to go at least as high as the wall faucets. I wanted to tile a border around the recessed medicine cabinets, so I decided just to bring the backsplash up to the base of the medicine cabinets. Also, I changed the original design for tiling in the shower, and I have a bunch of left over glass tile, so I might as well use it. The height of the marble tile was determined by the height of the electrical box because I wanted the same tile type surrounding the electrical box, so the cover would lay flat.

Tile frame for medicine cabinets

Tiled vanity

Tiled vanity. Tiling stops before corner where shelving unit will be.

Shower is Finished

Posted on April 20, 2014 by geek

The frameless glass shower wall and door have been installed. I had the glass company place a floating robe hook on the shower wall next to the door, so I could easily grab a towel when I get out of the shower. Also, on the glass front, the new bathroom window has been installed.

All the shower plumbing fixtures have also been installed. Most of the fixtures come from Grohe’s Atrio line. There is an multifunction rain shower head placed in the ceiling and a handheld shower head on a adjustable bar. In the photo below, the valve on the far left is the thermostatic valve that adjust the temperature for both shower heads. Then on the right are the flow valves that turn the shower heads on, the top one for the overhead head and the lower one for the handheld head. Thermostatic valves are a really nice feature because you don’t have to constantly find the right temperature in between showers, and they ensure the same temperature water comes out of multiple heads. I have already used my new shower, and it is glorious! The area is wonderful, nice and spacious but not so big to be insane, and the the bench is a necessity for any woman who shaves her legs.

Shower fixtures

Shower glass wall and door

Shower glass wall robe hook

Shower glass wall and door

Shower glass wall and door in place

New window

Vanity Countertop

Posted on April 17, 2014 by geek

One nice thing about buying a stone slab for your countertop, is that if you have to buy the whole slab, you can request to view and alter the layout of the slab cut out. I found a gorgeous sky blue piece of marble with fluorite crystals in it. Fluorite is my favorite mineral, and the blue goes wonderfully with my green marble tile that will be used as the backsplash. The slab was meant to be mine, and I can never move from my house now. It has now been installed in my bathroom, so this weekend, I will be tiling the backsplash.

Laying out slab (yellow tape shows where the cuts will be)

Vanity countertop

Countertop crystals

Shower and Tub Tiling

Posted on April 16, 2014 by geek

Another major milestone in my master bathroom renovation has been reach. I completely finished tiling the shower and tub area. I laid and grouted an huge amount of tile. I also tiled the ceiling above the shower because I am insane. I don’t know how many hours it took me, but it was a lot, several weekends and nights after my real job work. It looks great in my opinion, but it was a lot of work. I used two different types of tile. The vast majority of the tile is a gorgeous sea foam green marble tile called Biltmore. The main field tile is polished 2×2 inch Biltmore marble. I used various accent pieces for the edging such as the top of the top platform and a pencil around the niches. Skirting tile of the same marble is used for the baseboards of the platform and the walls. The same marble is used for the flooring, brushed 12×12 for the floor and tumbled cobble for the shower floor. I then used glass tile for accents in the niches and for the top of the tub backsplash. The glass tile is made partially from recycled glass bottles.

Shower tile

Shower niche tile

Tub tile

Tub backsplash

Tub platform corner

Toilet area tile

Bathroom Cabinetry Installed

Posted on April 14, 2014 by geek

The master bathroom is thankfully rapidly progressing in the remodeling. I have been tiling like a mad woman, and the majority of the cabinetry has now been installed. The cabinetry consists of a vanity base, a wall cabinet next to the tub platform, and an over-the-toilet cabinet. The wall cabinet was specially designed to have a false bottom that allows access to the tub pump. Once the vanity countertop is installed there will be a shelving cabinet installed at the end. There is also crown molding and other finishing pieces that need to be installed, but the main cabinetry is installed. All cabinetry is from Tuscan Hills through Costco. I used the same style of cabinetry as my kitchen cabinets, but with a slightly different and lighter stain.

Over toilet cabinet

Vanity cabinetry

Wall cabinet

Wall cabinet false bottom

Tub pump access

Bathroom Painted

Posted on April 1, 2014 by geek

Major milestone was reached tonight. I have completely finished painting the master bathroom and bedroom. I repainted the bedroom to match the bathroom. In the bathroom, I primed all the drywall to seal it. I then painted the areas that will not be covered with cabinetry or tile. The walls are a coral pink, and the ceiling is blue. The blue is one shade darker than the blue used one the ceilings throughout the rest of the house. I think the pink and blue will look really nice with the green tile.

Bathroom painted

Driving Pilings

Posted on March 27, 2014 by geek

There is a bridge that is being demolished near my office that is now my destination and entertainment on my daily lunchtime walks. I previously posted video of the demolition of a concrete column. The other day during my visit, a crane with a hanging vibratory hammer was driving steel sheet pilings into the riverbed to form a cofferdam. There was already a cofferdam around one of the bridge piers, which has now been demolished. I am assuming this new cofferdam will surround the next pier, so it can be removed. The before and after photos of the pilings being driven are below as well as video of it happening.

Driving pilings, before

Driving pilings, after