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Manhattan Remodel and Cape Cod Affordable > Episode 15: Installing Glazed Wall Tile and a Pedestal Sink

Applying Glazed Wall Tile in the Bathroom

Project: Manhattan Remodel and Cape Cod Affordable, Episode 15, Part 1

Bob is at the Manhattan Brownstone, where work is underway in the bathroom to hang wall tile and set up the pedestal sink. Bob meets Rob Shedrofsky of Davinci Stone, suppliers of the Porcelanosa glazed clay tile that is being applied to the walls. This Subway tile gives a sleek, urban look to the bathroom. Permanent pipe fittings are put in place, and the anchors are marked and set in the wall before Mario Taormina from N. Pagano Plumbing installs the Toto pedestal sink and faucet. The faucet, handles, drain, spindles and diverter are attached, and a code-specified P-trap is set in place to carry waste water from the sink and prevent sewer-gas backup. Bob then visits a $3.5 million Minton tile restoration at Bethesda Terrace in Central Park. The 49 original tile panels were deteriorating structurally and had to be removed in the 1980s. These panels are comprised of 16,000 individual tiles. They will be restored, backed with stainless steel, and returned to their original spot on the vaulted brick ceilings under the terrace.

Part 1: Applying Glazed Wall Tile in the Bathroom: Rob Shedrofsky from Davinci Stone explains the tiling process to Bob as the Porcelanosa wall tile is installed in the bathroom. A glazed clay tile is being used on the wall, while the floor will be done in a porcelain tile that is super strong and only 3/8 inch thick. The wall tile is a Subway design, replicating the look of the New York Subway on a larger format. Shedrofsky explains how the datum line is used to create a tile layout that is centered from top to bottom and side to side for a pleasing look. The tiles are applied to the wall with an petroleum-based mastic and a 1/4-inch notch trowel. The mastic is less expensive than thinset, sets up quicky, and prevents sagging or dipping tiles. The tiles have an 1/8-inch joint that is held by spacers for 24 hours while the job cures. After 24 hours, the spacers are removed and an unsanded white grout is applied to blend the seams into the tile and give a sleek, urban appearance.
Part 2: Installing a Pedestal Sink
Part 3: Minton Tile Repair in New York's Central Park

This project deals with two very different notions of home. Bob begins on New York City's Upper West Side, where an 1890s Brownstone is revitalized through high-quality craftsmanship and sensitive design. New York's past meets its present, as the entire floor is recaptured and refurbished to create a spacious urban apartment on the doorstep of Central Park.

At the same time, Bob works with a Cape Cod developer to apply Massachusetts land use statute 40B to create affordable housing, and a neighborhood of homes in Mashpee, MA. These Energy Star certified homes show how quality building practices and reasonable asking prices can work together to provide livable, affordable homes and neighborhoods to those who work in our communities.

Also from Manhattan Remodel and Cape Cod Affordable

Episode 1 - A New Lift for a Manhattan Brownstone
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Description:
Bob is on Manhattan's Upper West Side to renew a 2,000-square-foot Brownstone apartment. First, he looks at what made Brownstones significant, including their details and façades.<br> <br> Inside the building, Bob shows how the space was cut up in the 1940s to make a warren of rooms. These walls and finishes will be removed as the space is gutted to prepare for new studs, walls, plumbing, and finishes.<br> <br> Pieces will be salvaged for architectural resale, including the pink sink from the bathroom and the retro cabinets in the kitchen, but everything else will go. Bob also visits Central Park, its caretakers, trees, and monuments.
Episode 2 - Demolition in the Manhattan Brownstone
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Description:
The big story is the cornice molding found in tact when the drop ceiling came down. The molding will set a tone for the main living space, where the bricks have been removed to install a flue liner and drafting fireplace. All of the 40s wall, surface, and ceiling treatments are gone, along with the lath and plaster, leaving the bare brick and exposed joists from the original construction. Remodels have cut into the joist work or damaged it, so some reworking will be necessary to build up for the floors and ceilings. The floor joists are sistered to make a level, solid footing for the Georgia-Pacific Plytanium subflooring that goes under the wood floor. Laser levels allow the carpenters to set level lines throughout the apartment horizontally for the floor and vertically for the new steel studs they are installing. Finally, a flexible flue liner is run through the wall, and up the chimney for the new fireplace.
Episode 3 - Building Affordable Homes on Cape Cod
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Description:
Affordable housing is the story in this project as Bob heads to Mashpee, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, where a state law is helping put higher density, affordable housing in place for four families who live and work in the community. Bob meets Pat Fiero of the Housing Assistance Corporation who explains the hurdles faced by families needing to live near their workplaces in a town where the average home price is $450,000. Bob visits Mashpee Commons and looks at mixed-use development that is providing a town center, housing, commercial property, recreational space, and a new church as a start to this new town development. Bob also meets the developer, Joe Valle, who explains the challenges in developing affordable housing and how this project was made possible by invoking Massachusetts? 40B land use and development law. On site, Bob Bevilaqua moves the earth to prepare the sites, shows the tie-offs for electrical and phone lines, and explains the drainage plan.
Episode 4 - Falmouth's Model for Quality Affordable Housing
Episode 8 - Installing Drop Ceilings, Custom Windows, and Mechanicals
Episode 9 - Paneling the Kitchen, Installing Hot Water, and Hanging Doors
Episode 10 - Cladding, Insulating, and Zoning for an Affordable Home
Episode 13 - Installing Pre-Hung Doors, Hardwood Floors, and Gutters
Episode 14 - Affordable HVAC, Painting, Kitchen Cabinets and Counters
Episode 16 - Refurbishing Wrought Iron, Custom Kitchen Cabinets, Profile Molding
Episode 17 - Kitchens, Feng Shui, and Energy Star Homes
Episode 18 - Finishing Details in the Manhattan Brownstone

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