Family Bathroom, continued

Norm says this post and the photos will be super boring for regular people. I say it's my blog today and this is what I want to put in it.

Really, who wants to see my stud(s)? I do have a few shots from behind, of Norm on his hands and knees pulling nails from the floor but good judgment got the better of me and I'm not posting them. Here.

All the drywall was taken out, courtesy of my future son-in-law (thanks Josh!) and Norm spent yesterday finishing the wiring and adding insulation to the exterior wall.

I spent yesterday reading.

It's a hard life. But trust me, I need to do this so that when it comes time to tile and grout I will be well-rested and up to the task.


 

Here's a sneak-peek of the tub in place. It doesn't look very exciting, but if you could see what I see in my head you would be excited.

And maybe overwhelmed. Sometimes what goes on in my head isn't good for public consumption.

Drywall went up today. Quarter inch for the first layer then half inch for the second layer. Some neat stuff called tile backer for the tub surround - it's almost fancy enough that you don't need the tile.

I'm sad to report that there isn't a way for me to have my longed-for heated floor in this bathroom. It requires a dedicated circuit and there isn't a good way to make that happen. I've almost gotten over the disappointment. I say focus on other things, like the fact that when I'm in this bathroom hopefully I'm in a nice deep soaker tub full of hot water, listening to music, instead of just standing around on a tile floor. On that note, we also decided not to retro-fit speakers into the walls or ceiling - Norm found this teeny little blue tooth speaker. We'll be able to stream music right from our smart phones (including the spa station on Sirius satellite) so this works for me. The sound is fantastic considering how small it is. Also, it won't electrocute me.

330 Days

330 days. That's how long it has been since we 'finished' the main floor renos. The tools were packed up and put away on December 7th last year and we haven't even seen so much as a hammer since then. Happy days.

But not every day can be a weekend. It's time to move upstairs (and do the last bit of finishing work on the main floor, since the tools are coming out anyway). So today was bathroom demolition day.

Puppies added for perspective. I'm sure they'll miss the carpet. This is the only room in the house that has any carpet left. Carpet in the bathroom. Ugh.

Big wide counter with two sinks will become a less wide vanity, still with two sinks but with a tall narrow cabinet on the right instead of the weird 'privacy' wall blocking the toilet.

We thought this might be a cast iron tub...it once was yellow. Then it was coated with something. Then it started peeling. It's really quite delightful. It turns out that it's not cast iron, but it is steel. Horking that thing out meant taking out a lot of drywall - it will all have to come down anyway. Getting the tub downstairs and to the dumpster in the driveway gave me a scraped ear and a bruised arm. I know, poor me.

We already had all of the upstairs windows replaced. It's a shame they did such a nice job on the trim, because I had to take it off in order to get that fake tile stuff off of the walls.

And under the carpet? Some funky linoleum. My experience with this stuff in the kitchen leads me to believe that the skill saw is in order here. The entire floor must come up in 2 x 2 chunks. We'll be left with the ship lap which we will cover with 3/4 ply and then with some porcelain tile. Already on order.

Rory is happy there is no more bathtub. This is where he used to get his baths. Obviously, with the tub giving up its skin already, I wasn't too concerned about dog nails. Don't worry Rory, it's too cold for baths now anyway.

Does anybody know a good, available, drywaller? We have done it. We CAN do it. But I don't want to.