New Backsplash - What a Pain! - Quarter-turn Valves...

[tbellemare]

LOML decided that we needed new countertops, and we probably did.

I'm going to try to keep this short so I don't bore you but the story that leads into this is somewhat interesting.

I made a series of cutting boards out of sink-cuts from apartment building projects, where I used 1-1/2" Boos hard maple slabs for the countertops. So these cutting boards were pretty stout and heavy.

Anyway, we kept one and it was normal to dry it vertically on our sink after use and washing. I bumped it once while in that position and it fell with a mighty thud right on the hot water valve of the, then current, kitchen sink faucet set....

Prior to this particular disaster, I would not have thought that one, seemingly innocent action, could blow that valve apart and cause a geyser to erupt with hot water. I immediately went below the sink and started cranking on the existing shut-off valve. It took a while and I finally got the hot spewing water stopped.

That was when I realized that quarter-turn valves are worth the extra money!

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I also deal with Rental property and a few recent incidents made me realize that quarter-turn valves are REALLY worth their premium (even replacing old working valves) in rentals.

Tom

EDIT: I forgot to add that while changing out the faucet, the whole sink came loose. It has been rusting and nasty for years so we determined that we needed a new sink. Then I was informed that we needed an undermount sink. That lead to needing new countertops, which lead to this thread.

 

[Bill Chang]

I find it a disappointing that many 1/4 turn valves now have plastic ball valves instead of brass.  Guess they find ways to reduce costs any way they can.  At 6.00/piece would like to see something more robust.  [tongue]

 

[Jeff Zanin]

Agreed on the quarter turn valves – I install the the small ones when I encounter a fixture without a shutoff [scared] or with one of the inferior valves.

If space and circumstances permit I use a lever ball valve, these are not attractive or inexpensive but generally more functional and durable than the smaller valves.  Also easier to see and grab.

Jeff

 

[RonMiller]

I did the same thing recently when I dropped a cast iron sink onto the feed line and it blew a geyser.  [embarassed]  Took forever to find the shutoff valve which was out by the road in this farmhouse. Spent a lot of time cleaning up water....ugh. I do rental repairs also and really agree with the 1/4 turn valves.

 

[tbellemare]

I posted some of this in a thread about the RO 90. Please forgive any repetition...

The old countertops were plywood and Formica, with the Formica wrapped up the walls to form the backsplash. It went behind the range vent so I had to loosen the vent to get that part of it off. The Eccentric Chuck really came in handy for that.

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We got some Brazilian Black granite countertops and one of them revealed that a 6' section of wall behind the cabinets was bowed (concavely) almost an inch.

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Where the old Formica was removed, there was a lot of glue and elsewhere between the lower & upper cabinets there were many layers of latex paint. I wanted to remove all of it and get down to the sheetrock. I would then fix the bowed wall by floating it out.

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Using my new RO 90 and one sheet of P 60 Granat, I cleaned about 7' of wall 17" high.

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This is how the sandpaper looked so I switched to a new sheet and finished the rest, which was about an equal area.

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I need to build up the bowed wall by almost an inch toward the middle so I tacked some metal lath to the wall. The bottom of the cabinets have a stiffener that I could use as a reference surface but I needed one on the countertop so I tacked a piece of ~1" scrap to the wall using spacers that I made on the Kapex. Then I made a sort of screed out of some other scrap with recesses that fit the bottom and top reference surfaces. Using it, I could build up the wall with Easy Sand and know when I was where I wanted to be. I could not have done this accurately free hand. I mixed up batch after batch until I got to my screed level.

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Once I got everything to the level I wanted, I skimmed all walls with Easy Sand, sanded them with my Rotex 150 & 90, and then skimmed them again with thinset to prep them for installing a crack insulation membrane.

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More coming soon.

Tom

 

[sl_1800]

I had to replace two under sink water valves this winter, went with 1/4 turn on both.

 

[tbellemare]

When we had decided on black countertops we were at HD for other reasons so I took Veronica over to the tile section to discuss options. When I walked up to the glass mosaics, there were some boxes of Moroccan Sand, 5/8" x 5/8" x 6mm tiles that were marked down from $6.97 to $1.73 per sheet. They looked like pretty nice tiles and it seemed like they would go well with oak cabinets and black countertops. Problem solved. I grabbed them and some from another store and had plenty for not much money.

So I started talking to one of the members here whose a multi-decade tile expert. He can chime in if he wants to be identified. He gave me some good advice about what to use and how to do it.

The next step was to put up the crack barrier membrane. I had to figure out if I could use these little suckers without having to cut them and that would determine my membrane layout. Once I had the pieces figured out, I laid them out and cut them to size using a FS 1900, Festool tape, MFS 400, and a gimme pair of scissors from Harbor Freight.

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Next, was sticking them all to the walls using thinset.

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The next evening was laying out the tile and starting to set tile.

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The following evening (last night) was finishing setting tile.

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Tonight is grout. Veronica's Dad is coming in from NY at around midnight.

Tom

 

[RonMiller]

VERY nice, Tom!

 

[tbellemare]

Thanks, Ron!

It took me until about midnight but I made it!

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Tom

 

[Theshipstore]

Nice Work  Tom

 

[tbellemare]

Thanks, Sal!

What I deliberately didn't show was the wall that was wonky because I didn't get it grouted last night.

I did, however, get the other two walls done and they were the ones that counted, at least until our guests leave.

'Funny thing about this mosaic - it's tough to detect all the flaws until it's grouted. Or maybe it's just my eyesight failing me.

Tom

 

[Jonhilgen]

Well done Tom. 

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Very nice Tom.  Now I feel more comfortable dropping by unannounced for dinner.  [smile]

 

[LostInTheWood]

Agreed on the quarter turn valves – I install the the small ones when I encounter a fixture without a shutoff [scared] or with one of the inferior valves.

If space and circumstances permit I use a lever ball valve, these are not attractive or inexpensive but generally more functional and durable than the smaller valves.  Also easier to see and grab.

Jeff

Same here. Quarter turn is the way to go.   

Nice work Tom!  BTW how did you like the schluter system?  It's seems pretty slick and I like it. I haven't got a chance to use it myself yet.  Most jobs I've done required hardy or the use of Redgard.   

 

[GPowers]

Looks like you made your wife very happy. Was her dad impressed?

 

[tbellemare]

Thanks for all the nice commentary!

You're all welcome to drop by any time.

Veronica, her Dad, her sister, et al were very favorably impressed and that made me happy. They're all in the kitchen right now cooking deserts. I made dinner on the grill's side burner - tempura shrimp, 'shrooms, and onions. It got warm today so I thought I'd take it outside until it cooled off a bit.

I've used the Schluter products on an earlier project and was quite happy with them. It was an upstairs bathroom done in marble and we wanted to make a "boat" out of the whole bathroom.

This membrane was a Noble product called NobleSeal TS that Dal Tile rebrands as their own. I think they call it DalSeal TS. It seems to work pretty well though only time will tell...

The product is often used as a moisture barrier but in this case, it was used as a crack barrier/inhibitor.

It's pretty easy to work with but it cost about as much as the tile (because the tile was close-out priced).

Tom

 

[kdzito]

Quarter turns (valves/stops) are the best!!! Also stay away from valves (stops) with a plastic knob or I even avoid the footballs.  I like the lobed knobs on the valves as well!!!!! Brass Craft from HD is unfortunately where I go.  I can't tell you how many stops I've replaced over the years.  I have and had rentals and at one point lived at 6 different addresses in 8 years and from all of these situations plumbing is the most common maintenance issues I've had to deal with.

 

[Rob Z]

Hi there Tom,  It's nice to see the pictures after all the discussions on the phone! Well done!

 

[tbellemare]

Thanks, Rob! Also, thanks for all the help! That was by far the best distance learning I've come across... The level of detail was great!

Mr. Zito:

I've also been using the lobed Brass Craft 1/4-turn valves. They seem pretty good to me.

Tom

 

[honeydoman]

tom looks good,  i hate doing plumbing but sometimes it has to be done.  but nice work