Alex Cordrey Construction – Our Georgetown

Alex Cordrey Construction is based in Fremont California.

Measurements and Mockups
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Measurements and Mockups

Alex Cordrey Construction, Renovation

Measurements and Mockups

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After a week of demo and two weeks of framing, Larry from Clearwater Plumbing has arrived for his rough in. Meanwhile Spencer and I continue to refine critical measurements for shower glass and he’s nailed small mockups for the shower walls to the bottom plates of their respective walls. There are two panels of shower glass. A fixed panel sits on top of our curb and rests in a pocket routed into the header beam that spans the shower and WC. A sliding glass panel tracks between shower and WC doorways. The fixed panel calculation is the easier of the two. We know the height of the curb and can estimate the sandwich of thinset and cement backerboard (3/8″ total). The pocket we routed into the header for the glass gives us plenty of latitude. Call it 48″ x 88″.

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The sliding glass panel is another matter. We had to estimate the sandwich of thinset + Ditra uncoupling membrane + thinset + tile + clearance for the floor guide and subtract that from the finished height of the header above the subfloor. This gives us a sliding panel that aligns vertically where the fixed panel disappears into the finished header. Call it 46.375″ x 87.75″.

The back wall of the shower has two layers of 5/8″ drywall. This is fire rated and designed to keep adjacent unit walls relatively soundproof. We’re replacing the fiberglass insulation behind this drywall with Safe and Sound Rockwool. Behind that is sheathing and an air gap before my neighbors unit repeats all the layers from sheathing to drywall. We’re going to waterproof the drywall with Schluter’s Kerdi membrane. The left and right walls will be waterproofed with Schluter’s 5/8″ KerdiBoard screwed right to the studs (and penetrations covered with thinset and Kerdi Band patches). While KerdiBoard walls can be wet shimmed to true them up, our crew’s attention to framing flatness eliminates any concerns there.

Given the size of the Porcelanosa Bottega Topo wall tiles (47″ x 47″) I had been trying to avoid vertically trimming the first course of tile. The whole shower is tiled with just 10 pieces, however I wanted to establish a center height for the accent tile strip and shower controls. After making the calculations and working with Spencer I made a story pole from cardboard furring strips and attached it to a stud as a guide. Fifty-six inches off the floor is considerably higher than most shower controls but having experienced the excentricities of french plumbing it’s nothing. We do have two other showers one of which will have ADA compliant controls.

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I use Figma for interface prototyping at work. I’ve been amazed at it’s rendering capabilities on this project. More on Figma and other software employed on the project later.

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Michael Robertson2020-08-29T07:13:39+00:00August 25, 2020|Categories: Alex Cordrey Construction, Renovation|Tags: Figma, Renderings, Schluter Waterproofing|

Week 2 – We’re being Framed
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Week 2 – We’re being Framed

Alex Cordrey Construction, Renovation

Week 2 – We’re being Framed

With the debris removed, Alex Cordrey’s crew could begin the process of reframing the space. Summerhill did a decent job with the original framing. The very beefy subfloor and iJoists were solid and though we’ve not done deflection testing, our engineer has done deflection calculations during an earlier phase when the entire bedroom and bath were going to be tiled. We’re solid under foot and that’s obvious when you walk around. The subfloor doesn’t talk back.

Most, scratch that… all, Robertson projects, regardless of media, involve overbuilding of some kind, and this reno is no exception. I’ve spent far too many hours watching amazing builds by NsBuilders out of Boston, and Matt Risinger’s Build Show not to be influenced by their framing and materials approach. I consider both reno porn though Nick Schiffer’s NsBuilders takes things to the nth level (and budget often).

Alex uses engineered lumber in headers and load bearing situations but doesn’t typically get asked to build exclusively with LVL product. LVL, or Laminated Veneer Lumber, is like plywood, composed of layers of glued together wood which results in a stronger, straighter product less prone to warping or twisting. LVLs are as much as two times stronger under compression and tensile loads. Most importantly when making walls that have to be very flat for super-sized porcelain tiles (47″ x 47″), their uniformity is a big plus. So the bathroom framing spec’d LVL. Note: LVLs cost 2-3 times more than conventional lumber. Don’t worry in the excesses to follow, this is just table stakes.

The vanity wall which would hold wall-mounted cabinetry, Cambrian countertop, and two giant Keuco medicine cabinets was framed with 2×6 LVLs. If the wall was taller you could open a climbing gym, it’s that solid. On the shower/WC side of the room we’d install a massive 4×12 Parallam header supported by 2×6 LVLs to accommodate another wow feature of the bathroom. Alex’s project manager Spencer joked that we might finish the bathroom by putting .5″ glass over the framing and leave it that way. If you geek out on framing, it’s that pretty. I loved seeing the taught string lines on the vanity wall confirming the wall was bang on plane. If the “big one” hits CA I expect the bathroom framing will stand intact atop the rubble pile.

With generous blocking we’ll have super-solid fixtures and future flexbility.

Summing up, stud to stud we have an 84″ x 49″ Shower, 41″ x 49″ WC alcove, and a 132″ Vanity Wall. The long wall behind the Shower and WC saw the original 2x4s replaced by LVL 2x4s, including special framing for the in-wall Toto toilet. Now the project has good bones. A big thanks to Alex, (L to R: Ramon, Fernando, Spencer – masks down for ten seconds for the photo).

Framing Gallery

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Michael Robertson2020-08-17T06:28:49+00:00August 17, 2020|Categories: Alex Cordrey Construction, Renovation|