No pictures, but...

We think we'll finish up this weekend!  We rode down to Home Depot (for the ninety billionth time) and bought all the stuff we need to finish this project.  We hope.

I am falling asleep on my feet.  And I mean that almost literally.  Thank goodness for having an intern because if I didn't, I would be totally wiped out.  And poor John...he gets up at 4 AM, drives 45 minutes to work, works all day, drives 45 minutes home, and then as soon as I get home, we've started working.  We have wrapped up each day anywhere between 7:30 and 11:00.  (We try to finish earlier on week nights, but that doesn't always work.)  I bought him a gift certificate for a massage as a way to say thanks for the hard work he has put in on this.  He deserves one!!

All I want to do when I get home this afternoon is take a nap, but I have more trim waiting to be painted.  I'm not sure what John plans on doing while I'm painting.  Tomorrow we have to put in the trim and touch it up, and then we hope to install and connect the sink and toilet.  IF all goes well, we can have the bathroom finished by the time we go to bed tomorrow night. 

When we do finish, I think I'll spend the night in the bathroom just so I can look at our hard work.  Juuuuusssssttttt kidding!!!

But I am going to take a nice long bubble bath, and I will probably have a glass or two of wine when I do...

Have a GREAT day!

Progress...

It's been slow going, but progress on the bathroom is being made.  If it hadn't been for 80-year old galvanized pipe, I think we'd have gotten farther along.  We might have even finished already.  Unless something goes wrong when we connect the sink and the toilet, all of the plumbing issues have been solved.

And boy, did we have some issues.  In one day, the lines blew out three times.  The first time, the hot water line blew off where we'd had to cap it earlier.  Once we fixed that and gave the glue time to cure, we turned on the faucet to the tub to help ease the pressure.  No leaks.  Woo hoo!!  For a while anyway.  Then the line from the from the main hot to the sink blew.  We fixed that, waited for the glue to cure, and no leaks.  Whew!!  A couple of hours later, we were in the basement when we heard that familiar pop and then the sound of spraying water coming from upstairs.  I ran up to see what had happened while John ran out to cut off the water.  The new supply line for the toilet blew.  I was ready to scream.  And then John realized he had not gone back and glue the connection after he did the dry fitting. 

About 11:30 that night, we were finally calling it a night.  John had just gotten into bed and I was brushing my teeth.  With hot water.  From the cold tap.  I told him something was wrong, but we'd figure it out the next morning.  About fifteen minutes later, he said he couldn't sleep for trying to figure out what we'd done.  We got up and went down to trace the lines.  The best we could tell (because of duct work) the lines were still right, but we were still puzzled.  I googled the problem and read all about "back flow."  We figured that was what was going on, so the next morning, John drained the tank and let it fill back up, hoping that would solve the problem.  Guess what.  It didn't.  So then we took a marker and really followed the cold line and found that at some point in all of the blow outs and reconnections, we'd crossed the lines.  Easy fix.  Seriously.  It was almost too easy.  That's why I figure something will go wrong with the toilet and/or sink.

Once we got all of that worked out, we were able to begin putting up the bead board and trim.  We pulled up the old flooring last night, and John got the mounting ring for the toilet put in.  I'm playing bunco tonight, so John is taking the night off, too.  The plan for tomorrow afternoon is to put the new flooring down and hopefully get the toilet in place.  Then on Thursday we can get the sink installed and connected. 

We still need to finish the closet.  We decided to Sheetrock and paint inside it, and we're redoing the door for it.  Instead of having a built-in laundry hamper at the bottom and an extremely high linen closet, we're going to put a small cabinet up top for the winter sheets, mattress pad, and blankets, and then we're going to have a regular linen closet. 

I'm getting so excited because what I envisioned is finally beginning to take shape.  When we were fighting with the plumbing, I was getting so discouraged.  I knew we were making progress, but I just wasn't seeing it the way I wanted to see it.  Patience has NEVER been one of my virtues.  LOL

So, here are some pictures of the progress we've made.



The holes for the supply and drain lines fit perfectly!



We have the bead board up.



Trim and medicine cabinet are in place.

The baseboard trim has been painted.





Like I said, my vision is starting to take shape.  Pay attention to the horrible harvest gold flooring because it is no more.  Of course, right now what you'd see is the even more horrible subfloor, but that will be covered soon.

I know we still want to redo our kitchen, but a plumber will be hired to do that job!  Even when we get around to redoing my little half bath, I'm quite certain a plumber will be hired to do that job as well.  :)

Have a GREAT day!

We have a sink!

For the third time.  Maybe.  We hope.  Fingers crossed.


We really wanted one with a "back splash" on it, but the ones we found that we liked were either too large or too small or out of stock in biscuit.  Honestly, I finally got tired of looking and decided that this one will be the one.  Don't get me wrong.  I love it.  I really do, but after looking at sink after sink after sink, I was ready to make a decision.  So I called John just a while ago and told him I was ordering it. 

Now, if it will just come in and actually work.

I was trying to decide between this one and another one that was similar.  This one won out for several reasons.  First of all, it is about an inch and a half taller than the other one.  Next, this one is just a smidgen wider and deeper.  But the main reason is because we can get this one with a 4" centerset faucet mounting, so we won't have to buy another faucet.  Well,until we decide to redo my bathroom.  But that isn't going to happen any time soon!

So what's left to do? I need to finish painting the trim.  I have the cap trim for the bead board and the trim we're going to use at the bottom of the bead board left.  Not much left there.  John has to run the new water line for the toilet.  (Let's hope that goes easier than the plumbing for the sink went.)  Then we can put up the bead board and trim, put down the flooring, install the sink and the toilet, put the new light up, and put the light over the sink back up.  John is going to build a new medicine cabinet and doors for the closet, so that will need to be done too.  I think I'm actually seeing a light at the end of this tunnel! Woo Hoo!!!

Y'all have a GREAT day!

Shoot me...

Once this project is over, if you see or hear of me going anywhere near a home improvement store for anything, tie me up and lock me in a closet until the urge to redecorate/remodel/renovate passes.

We got the plumbing for the sink done last night.  WOO HOO!! So we decided to dry fit the toilet.  Uh...oh crap!!  The new toilet was a good six inches away from the wall.  That was not going to work.  John had decided to call a plumber and have a new line done, so I went and had a seat.  Not much else I could do.  After about ten minutes, he told me to "come look."  He had turned the toilet so that it faced the tub instead of facing the sink.  And it worked with the drain that is already there.  So that's what we're going to do.  (If anyone else doesn't like it, tough shit.  No pun intended.)  Now, he just needs to run a new water line that will go behind the toilet instead of sticking out of the wall.  Yeah, that sounds easier than it probably will be.

Oh, and because we're turning the toilet, the sink we bought is actually going to be TOO small.  I guess it would work, but it would look weird, so we're on the hunt for a new sink.  I found one I liked at the same place we got the other one, but they don't have it in stock in biscuit. Of course not.  That would be too hassle free.  Home Depot has one we can order that I like, but I'm not sure John will like it.  I actually found three I like.  Surely, ONE of those will be one he likes too.

This will be SO worth it when we finish, but yeah, I'm about over it for now.  Painting the bedroom this summer?  Not no, but hellllllllllllllllllllllll no.

Have a GREAT day.

973 trips to Home Depot

And I know it won't be the last one.  **sigh**

Since my last post, we have gotten the upper walls painted and replaced the horrid galvanized water lines and drain to the bathroom sink.  The plumbing has definitely been the challenge.  It took us 3 1/2 or 4 hours Friday afternoon/evening to get the sink drain removed.  Seriously.  The old pipe was wedged between the bathroom and front bedroom walls, and it wasn't going anywhere.  John finally took a sledge hammer and began hitting to top of the pipe.  The only thing that did was drive the straight pipe through the elbow.  The bottom of the elbow shattered, so all he had to do then was chisel two tiny sections of the board away to get the top part of the elbow and the straight pipe out.  I think I heard the Hallelujah Chorus when it came loose.

Sam's birthday party was Saturday (SO hard to believe our little guy is 4!!), so we took a break from the bathroom project.  We did go to Home Depot (that was trip #971) after we got back, but we were so tired that we couldn't think and left with the two plugs for the old galvanized lines.

On Sunday, we made trip #972 and got almost everything else we need.  As we were headed to the checkout counter, John realized he had not gotten the wood for the new closet door, but we were tired and hungry, so we decided we'd go back later for it.  After we got home and unloaded everything, I started painting the bead board for the lower walls, and John started with the plumbing.  I got a couple of the sections painted when he needed my services as his plumber's helper.  Once we got all the old undone and were ready to cap off the old lines, he realized the cap he got for one of them was the wrong size.  Soooo...back to Home Depot (trip 973) for the right size.  When I drove up in the driveway, John came out of the house and gave me a little grin.  Then I saw he had blood on his face!!

While I was gone, he had cut off another section of pipe.  It fell and hit him on the head, and then it cut him on his nose.  Of course the water to the house was off at the time so he didn't have a way to clean it up.  Once he did get it cleaned up, I realized how close it came to his eye.  Scary!!!

My goal for today is to finish the bead board and hopefully get all the trim painted.  John hopes to finish up the plumbing.  Maybe this last part won't be as difficult as the rest has been!  If we can get these things done today, maybe we can put the bead board up tomorrow.  I would love to get the flooring down by Wednesday so maybe we could finish everything up by Friday.  We hope to go to the lake Friday, but it may end up being Saturday or Sunday before we can head up.

I know one thing...I will be SO glad to get all this done so I can get my house clean!  Right now, it is a huge mess, and it's making me CRAZY!!

Here are a few pictures.  Keep in mind:  this is still a work in progress!

Have a GREAT day!

The ceiling is done and John is getting started on the walls.
He had to cut in because the Frog Tape wouldn't stick to the concrete/plaster
ceiling.

 

The first wall is done!

The upper walls are done!  Is the green plaid wallpaper just lovely?
And the holes in the wall really look charming.




John's boo boo.  See how close it came to his eye?  Freaked me out!



Getting it done!

Little by little, the bathroom project is coming along!  We hit a couple of snags, but give me ONE example of a DIY home improvement project that doesn't have at least one teeny tiny snag.  Even the pros on HGTV have some problem they have to solve.

Ours have been with the plumbing.  You saw the picture of the huge hole John made in the wall, so I won't go into detail again on that.  We think (hope) we have those issues solved. 

The other problem was with the sink.  We had the most difficult time finding the perfect sink.  No, we didn't.  We found TONS of perfect sinks.  They weren't the perfect size though.  All of them were too wide.  Until...

I found THE one!  I LOVED it!  This is a picture:

Gorgeous, isn't it?  We both loved it, so we decided to get it.  It is an online only item from Home Depot, so I clicked the ADD TO CART button only to learn that it is OUT OF STOCK.  I was disappointed, but hey, it wasn't the end of the world.  I was sure I could Google it and find it somewhere.  And I did!  Amazon has it.  Except it isn't available for 1 to 3 months.  Uh, yeah...I can't wait three months for a sink.  I can't wait ONE month for a sink.  I started searching everywhere online I could think of.  Kohler, Crane, American Standard...you name it, I looked.  Everything I found was entirely too wide to fit the space we have available.  The only solution I could come up with was to find someone who could refinish our old one and put it back up. 

I got home, and John told me to come look at something.  This is what he had found:

OH GOSH!!  It is SO close to what we'd picked out originally!  But I think I like it even better.  We ordered it, so I better be completely satisfied with it.  LOL  The really nice thing is that there was no shipping or sales tax charge.  Woo Hoo!!  We also ordered the faucet and the towel bar, hand towel ring, and robe hook.  I checked the tracking info earlier, and it has been delivered.  I can't wait to get home to see it. 

We got the upper walls painted Wednesday afternoon.  They are a little more blue and a little less smoky blue/gray than what we'd originally picked out, but the color works.  We still need to buy the bead board and the flooring.  John is going to build a new medicine cabinet and a small cabinet to go beside the sink, and he is going to build a new door to go on the closet.  I really think we'll have this project done soon.  I hope so because my house is a total wreck right now, and it makes no sense to try to clean it since we've got a ladder, tools, and the shop vac scattered from one end of the hallway to the other.

I kinda hope we'll go get the rest of the stuff this afternoon or tonight so we can get busy again tomorrow as soon as we get home from Sam's birthday party.  I think if we did, we could finish up by Monday, maybe Tuesday. 

Guess that's it for now.  Have a GREAT weekend!

Paint Party, Part Two!

For the last, oh, five years, we've been saying we wanted...no, needed...to redo our bathroom.  About two years ago, we had Re-Bath come redo our bathtub and surround.  We planned on redoing the rest of the bathroom fairly soon after, but we never got around to it for various reasons.  Well, except for the four shades of paint samples we had on the walls. 

A couple of months ago, we started looking at what we wanted to do.  I looked online at Home Depot and Lowe's for sinks and toilets.  We looked at paint samples.  We compared flooring samples.  I did a board on Pinterest for my ideas.

We had a "date day" yesterday, so while we were out, we went to Home Depot and picked out the vanity and toilet we liked, the flooring we want, and the paint colors.  NOT ONCE DID WE DISAGREE.  hahaha  The only thing was that we had to make sure the vanity we found would work.  See, in our almost-80 year old house, our bathroom is rather small.  No way could Matt Muenster do a Bath Crashers major redo.  (Although I would throw myself at him if I were to see him in the home improvement store.  Don't worry...John knows.  LOL)

As soon as we got home, I grabbed the tape measure and learned that the vanity......won't work.  BOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!  So, I spent most of the evening looking at alternatives.  We originally had talked about a pedestal sink, and I was okay with that, but I preferred a vanity so we'd have some storage underneath.  Because of the orientation of the toilet, we just about have to have a pedestal sink, so that's what we're doing.  The one we realllllyyyyy loved was too wide (again, the orientation of the toilet...and we don't want to do such a major remodel that we have to change plumbing.) 

We made a quick trip to Home Depot in Alex City to get paint so we do that this afternoon.  HA!  John started taking the sink (wall mount) down, and that's when we ran into an issue.  (No project is ever as easy as we think it will be.)  So the painting didn't get done today.  We have eye appointments and dinner with Jess, Lance, and Layton tomorrow, so we won't get to paint tomorrow.  I guess we'll get going Wednesday. 

Here's what we accomplished today:

(I have NO idea why these pictures are sideways.  They weren't that way when I selected them.  I'm too tired to try to figure it out, so you'll just have to look sideways.)  This is a sort of before.  John had already started taking the trim down. You can see the paint samples on the walls.

 The sink is down!  That part was easy.  What wasn't easy comes next.  The lines had no cut-off valves, and in order to do this project, we either have to have cut-off valves, or we have to turn the water off to the entire house.  Since we both have to work and can't just sit around all stinky until we finish, John was going to put on cut-off valves, which we had gotten when we went to Home Depot.

 Lovely, isn't it?  The threads on the hot water pipe were all messed up, so the cut-off valve wouldn't screw on.  (Eighty-year-old house + galvanized water lines = a big old headache!!)  John ended up having to tear into the wall (PLASTER wall) in order to get the piece off that needed replacing.

This is after he realized he had gone through the wall in the front bedroom.  Yeah, he really IS pissed, but Sam wanted a picture from Pop Pop, so he gave me a smile.  A tired, frustrated smile, but a smile nonetheless.









I love our old house, and I love working on projects.  I hope this one turns out the way we want it to.  Check back.  I'll update our progress.

Have a GREAT day tomorrow.  Even though it is Monday.  :)