Bangor Foursquare

Bangor Foursquare - For Sale

2011-08-01T19:52:00.003-04:00

No, I'm not kidding - I'm selling my lovely home. Believe me, this decision is one of the hardest I've ever had to make - I'll miss this wonderful home. You loyal readers know better than anyone how much of myself I have invested in this house. I only hope that the next owner will love it as much as I have.

Why am I selling, you ask? Because I'm in love. Why now? Because the market is stinky. So, love + stinky market = get out while the getting is better than abysmal....I guess that's as good of reason as any.

For those of you who will be sad to see my amazing blogging and home improvement talents go - the good news is that I will continue to work on Tim's house once I move in (lots of home improvement fun awaiting me in the countryside!) and perhaps there will be a new blog coming along with me...

So, if you know of anyone looking for a beautiful, structurally-sound, energy efficient, and eco-friendly renovated home in a lovely neighborhood in Bangor, Maine, please let me know. I hope it will be on the market this week.

In the meantime, all kinds of fun little exhausting things on the punch list - today was scraping and painting the front porch floor and stairs (yes, again). Tomorrow will be removing the wheelchair ramp in the back - you know, the one I couldn't give away... and replacing it with steps. And then some general tidying in the attic, the basement, and maybe a little sprucing up in the back entry. Who knows how we'll fare in this market. I hope it's not too painful. Wish me luck.

Powder Room Reno: Day Whatever Continued

2011-07-27T16:05:00.003-04:00

A few more tasks checked off the punch list! I asked Tim to come over and tighten the bolts on the tank (due to my puny hands) and instead he finished installing the whole thing - including hooking up the supply line and putting on the seat. Pretty nice! So, not only is this high quality toilet installed - it even works! Huzzah!

So, today, I touched up the paint on the baseboards and am considering what to do about the wall around the light. One wise soul suggested a lower wattage light bulb (!) but this same wise person suggested a product from Sherwin Williams called Ultra Hide. I trust this wise soul since he runs a contracting company and used to be a taper (thanks, Steve!). So, I might look into it.

Besides that, just a few last things like putting in a new mirror (I'm looking for a small round one) and some kind of shelving and/or cabinet to put above the toilet to store TP and the like. Still on the lookout for the soap dish too.

In other unrelated bathroom news, I did return this afternoon from a work trip to find this beautiful surprise:
That would be the marble threshold in the upstairs bathroom! Hooray! I can finally call that room done, done, and done! Thanks to Tim and Paul for the wonderful surprise!

Powder Room Reno: Day (Whatever)

2011-07-22T10:39:00.002-04:00

I've given up counting the days of the renovation because now it is just a minute here and minute there. The last few days have consisted of skim coating and sanding a coat every so often. Today, in the ridiculous heat (well, ridiculous for Maine standards, anyway), I finally put in the light. Pretty easy stuff and I was pretty darn happy with it until...

I turned on the light. Ew. Ick. Yucky. Seriously, what is it about me and skim coating? I get it to what I consider to be pretty smooth and then I paint it and see what the the light of the day has to show me: not smooth. Ish. I'm going to need to work on those walls. Yuck. I guess the reality is that they weren't smooth when I began but the light in there before hid a few more evils than this one obviously does.

So, what's left? I need to finish getting the toilet going, hang up the mirror, perhaps put in some quarter round around the floor and baseboards, paint the baseboards, put up a shelf/cabinet up behind the toilet and I'd still like to find a hanging soap dispenser since there isn't any room for one on the sink itself. So, slowly but surely...

Powder Room Reno: Day #*$

2011-07-18T22:27:00.002-04:00

Ever hear of Lamosa toilets? Yeah, me neither. Unfortunately, however, that is the brand of my new toilet. Grrr. In spite of my best intentions, I failed to measure correctly for the new toilet. As you see below, there is some funny architecture in that tiny little bathroom, with a post on the other side of door casing - which I assume to be structural. From that point, it juts out a bit more - and that is where I measured...not in between the casing and the wall. Sigh. You'd think that after 2 years of plotting and scheming that I would have figured this out at some point... yeah, you'd think that.

So, what is to become of my $300 Kohler toilet? Perhaps it heard the nasty things I've said about it and decided to inflate itself so as not to fit... hmm, this is plausible. Luckily for me, it will not continue to sit in the hallway for too long.
Home Depot will graciously let me return it - but, ungraciously, I will need to get it back to Home Depot on my own, despite the fact that I had it delivered to the house. Sigh. That thing weighs a ton.

So, after a brief pout, I went to Home Depot and bought the world's most inexpensive but pleasantly petite toilet. That's right, folks, for a mere $54 you too can be a proud owner of a (...what was it again?...) a Lamosa! I think this thing is probably not long for this world. The good news is that it fits, that it still uses less water than the old thing did, and that I was able to get it in my car and installed all on my own. I will need a hand in getting the nuts tightened, however - I'm not so good at that part. So, there it is: The new potty. Sigh. Off to bed with me. Tomorrow brings more hacksaw action to the grab bar screws (two down, four more to go) and another coat of JC....perhaps some paint, if I'm lucky.

Powder Room Reno: Day 6

2011-07-17T14:19:00.003-04:00

Back from the brief hiatus, folks. I had a few days of other projects to which to attend but I have returned for a few items on the reno to-do list. First, was removing the haze from the tile after grouting on Thursday. If you can ignore the dirty baseboards, you can see the result of the work. I went with a gray on the floor grout for the black and white marble tile. I'm pretty pleased with it - I would have liked white grout but I know that's ridiculous to keep clean on a floor:
And basic white on the wall grout with the glass tile:
Cleaning off and buffing each and every single individual tile is no mere task. It took quite a while - but it's done. So, I next started on patching up the holes around what will be the new light and cleaning up the holes in the plaster made by removing the old chair rail:
You'll see, however, that the despicable grab bar is still there. I had a time removing the ones upstairs, too - it seems the only way to get rid of them is to either destroy the wall (which I did upstairs) or to cut out the screws with a hacksaw. Neither option is terribly fun nor clean. Ugh. I think I may attempt some more work on it later as I wait for the JC to dry around the light and the outlet/switch. Next will be to install the toilet but I'm a little nervous to attempt it myself given the fact that it's a one-piece and quite heavy. Nevertheless, there isn't much room to maneuver for more than one person. We'll see what I can manage. Back to work tomorrow (the kind for which I get paid) so things will slow down a bit here. Wish me luck finishing up this puppy!

Powder Room Reno: Day 5

2011-07-13T17:22:00.003-04:00

It's mostly done. I tiled the floor today, using the mosaic sheets - but this time it's marble. It went down pretty easily and I mixed exactly the right amount of mortar, luckily. However, cutting this stuff is less than easy. It's just too difficult to navigate the wet saw with these little buggers and they're too thick for tile nippers. I'm a bit frustrated. I only need about 6 or 7 cuts to finish this thing up but I've had it for the day.

Besides the floor, I also finished up the wall. I went and bought some glass tile nippers/cutters and they work like a charm. I was able to do the many different sized cuts for the wall pretty darn easily.
So, I'll see what I can find at HD or Lowe's for the marble cuts. I also bought a new fan and separate sconce today at Lowe's as I was returning my (count it) second exhaust fan. Perhaps the third time is the charm -- I opened the box this time, at least, to ensure that I could mount this puppy on the wall before I bought it. I'm just not certain yet how I'm going to arrange them on the wall or what I'm going to need to do to repair/extend/move the hole.

Hopefully grouting tomorrow...

Powder Room Reno: Day 4 concluded

2011-07-12T21:15:00.003-04:00

I absolutely refused to go to bed tonight without having feeling like I accomplished something today - so here it is, folks: a tiled wall. I love this glass tile and it's the first time I've tiled with the mesh sheets - how easy is this stuff?!? Love it. I will have to make a million little cuts (any tips? last time I tried in the upstairs bathroom, it wasn't so easy nor fun...) but for now, it looks good. I'm actually debating whether I will even continue it any further below the line of the sink right now. I had planned to do the whole wall, which includes behind the plumbing, but I might let it go. I'll get a second and third opinion and decide from there (that means you, Tim and Paul).

Speaking of Paul, he once again came to the rescue, dropping off some much needed polymer-fortified mortar that I will need for the floor. I forgot that I need to get the powder kind when I use underlayment - I hate that stuff, but c'est la vie. It seemed silly, however, to buy an entire bag of the stuff for what amounts to a 2'x5' space. So, Paul gave me the rest of his bag from their last bathroom project. Thanks, Paul (and, by association, Leslie :)

In other news, while waiting for my hair color to kick in at the salon, I did a little internet investigation on my phone regarding the exhaust fan/light. It appears that the minute a light is included, it's not recommended for walls. Shrug. Don't ask me. So, I think I'm going to jury-rig something within the existing hole:
Perhaps something along the lines of putting in the code-required exhaust fan on either the top or bottom and then a nice wall sconce or the like. I guess it means trying to find something that isn't too obtrusive for that tiny space. Hooray - just what I wanted, more shopping for hard-to-find things. Sigh.

All right, kids, off to bed for me to rest these weary bones. Tomorrow comes the floor...

Powder Room Reno: Day 4 continued

2011-07-12T12:20:00.003-04:00

I will have something to show for today, dammit. I went back to Lowe's to exchange fan/light and get new (ugly) one that says, on the Internet, that it's suitable for wall mounting. I get it home and directions say "Do NOT mount on wall." Well, f-you. I have to run to an appointment and then have other errands to run this afternoon so nothing to show for today except a hole in the wall and still no fan/light. I decided to at least slap up some of the wall tile to feel that something was accomplished. The cuts aren't going to be fun later but here's a few sheets up, anyway. Grrr. This is the time on Sprockets when we curl into the fetal position and take a nap.

Powder Room Reno: Day 4 (sigh)

2011-07-12T10:01:00.004-04:00

Sometimes I think this blog should serve as a what-not-to-do for DIYers. Today's (first?) mistake: removing the bathroom vent/light on the wall to only discover that the one I purchased is not intended for wall installation. In fact, very few vents with lights included seem to be intended for wall mounting. I know that by code I am required to have a vent in the bathroom but part of me is thinking of skipping it. Sigh. I could then have a nice light instead... blah. I need to think on this.

Powder Room Reno: Day 3 continued

2011-07-11T14:23:00.002-04:00

Sheesh! Finally! After 4 hours of scraping today, I have finally removed all of the flooring and residual adhesive from the floor. I'm sure, however, that using the hair dryer to loosen the adhesive may have released some noxious fumes. Now, I've traded in those fumes for others. I decided to try something different this time for the tile underlayment instead of the Ditra. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Ditra and, a year later, I still have no cracked tiles or grout on my bathroom floor. However, the mortar they suggested using made me feel like I was taking years off my life with the cancer warnings all over it. So now I'm trying the EasyMat system and the primer, I'm sure, is just as noxious. Geez. Why can't anyone invent anything more environmentally (and human) friendly?

So, I'm waiting for the primer to dry and then I'll put on the mat. I doubt I'll do any tiling today, unfortunately. I think by the time I get that all measured and cut, me and my back will need to call it a day. Tiling tomorrow morning, I hope. I can maybe then work on installing the light/fan while the mastic dries. If I'm lucky, grouting the floor on Wednesday, putting in the new toilet on Thursday, and then I can do the wall tile and touch up the paint on Friday and grout the wall on Saturday. Best laid plans... I don't even know why I bother putting this in writing - I'm so jinxing myself right now.

Powder Room Reno: Day 3(ish)

2011-07-11T10:38:00.002-04:00

Taking a short break from back-breaking, mind-numbing floor scraping to stop and smell the flowers, quite literally. I am pleased as punch that my hydrangeas, after a 3-year dormant period, have finally returned and bloomed this year! I was quite close to digging them up this year and giving up on them - I'm so glad I didn't! Just beautiful.

Okay, enough screwing around. I'm about 2/3 done scraping the glue off the floor. Back to it... oh, my back.

Powder Room Reno: Day 2

2011-07-10T16:29:00.002-04:00

Despite the sun still being up, I may have to throw in the towel on my first full day of working on this renovation. I must have gotten ridiculously lucky when I removed the vinyl from the upstairs bathroom last year because this stuff has been a bitch and a half to get out. Unlike the vinyl upstairs that came up in nice long sheets, this vinyl only came up an inch at a time and only with much prodding and cajoling. You can see what ended up being my tools of the trade below:

After about 3 hours, I got the stuff all up but am now left with the glue:
After spending an hour hacking away with the putty knife, I decided that I might try a little heat to warm up the glue and make it more pliable. The hair dryer worked well and I almost got the entire span of the smaller piece of plywood cleaned when I felt my back do a little tingly-popping thing. Yeesh. It's time to call it a day before I incapacitate myself fully. One thing is for certain, I am out of shape and forgot how much stamina it takes to do this work. Thank goodness it's a small little room... I'll try again tomorrow morning, peeps.

Powder Room Reno: Day 0.50

2011-07-10T11:43:00.003-04:00

Finally, that old nasty thing is out (literally)! Thanks to my wonderful beau, Tim, and his super-helpful and strong self, we got that thing out of the bathroom last night. I think there are probably few less gross things than removing an old toilet. Blech.

While I was in the mood for destruction, I also pulled down the chair rail. I really believe that having that stuff up there made a small space look even smaller.

Some bad - or at least uncertain - news was that while the closet flange seemed to be in good shape as well as the floor underneath the toilet, it appears that they glued the flange to the PVC drain. So, at least it's in good shape - I'm not sure yet how it will work to tile around it - I may need a flange extender again. Ugh. Well, at least that's the only unexpected finding... so far.

Today, I tackle removing the icky old vinyl floor and a run to Home Depot and Lowe's where I will purchase tile, underlayment, and a new light/fan. There's nothing like spending hundreds of dollars to really make you feel like you're renovating!

Powder Room Reno: Day 0.25

2011-07-08T16:10:00.003-04:00

The first injury of this renovation project! Woot! What's it from, you ask? Trying to remove the supply line from the toilet. Let me explain...

I was feeling all confident and secure in my abilities (always a bad sign) and decided to get a head start on this renovation. I figured, "Hey, I can at least get the toilet out today." Uh huh, yeah, that was my first mistake. I really think that I should know better by now - anything I assume will be easy will be difficult and anything I assume will be difficult will be relatively easier. So, since the last toilet removal went so swimmingly (er...you know what I mean), I figured it wouldn't be so bad or take so long. Well, look at this nasty thing:

It is not going without a fight, I tell you. I have everything else loosened and ready to go except that stinking supply line. I finally decided to throw in the towel (literally) and call it a day, and I will call in for some reinforcements with less delicate hands than I, it appears.

I will give a parting shout-out, however, to the Turkey Baster. Once again, the turkey baster is the best friend to the toilet remover, removing the leftover water in the bowl and tank so as to avoid an icky mess on the floor and one's hands. Unfortunately, I didn't seem to save the last toilet/turkey baster from the last bathroom renovation so I had to use the one for Thanksgiving. Needless to say, I'm going to need to go out and buy a new turkey baster before November.

Powder Room Reno: Toilet Arrives!

2011-07-08T14:44:00.002-04:00

There she is: My (less than) beautiful new toilet! And, while I'm not the happiest with its design, I know I will eventually come to appreciate it. However, it weighs like a million pounds and is a one-piece toilet so perhaps this appreciation may be longer in coming than one might assume. I seriously have no idea how I will maneuver around that tiny little space to finagle this thing into place. I will need many good thoughts - and perhaps a skinnier self - so please send along skinny thoughts as well.

I also went and got a sample of the tiles I want for the room from my good ol' friend, Home Depot. I think he missed me - well, my boy, I'll be in to visit frequently, I'm sure, in the coming week (weeks? sigh...). Anyway, here is the marble tile I'll use on the floor along with some dark gray grout, I believe:

This other tile is what I'll use for the wall behind the sink. I'll have to think about how to affix a mirror to the tile, however. Before it's even up, I know I will be loathe to make any holes in glass tile. Any ideas are welcome.

So, I'm off to spray paint a small patio table that has been sitting behind my house for a year waiting for said spray paint. I may then attempt to take out the old toilet; this, however, requires some emotional preparation as I'm afraid to see what will lie beneath... updates forthcoming.

Powder Room Reno: Toilet ordered

2011-07-03T08:49:00.002-04:00

Well, I sucked up and did it: I bought the $300+ toilet that I consider ugly but is one of the few that I found that will fit in the Harry Potter bathroom and is not cheaply constructed. So, it's done. The chosen toilet: The Rialto from Kohler. Like I said, I'm not a fan of how it looks but specs are more important than appearance in this case. It's right on the 25.25" target that I need for this tiny powder room. Even better, I ordered it online so they'll deliver it to the house and I don't have to worry about renting a truck or pestering a friend to help me get it home. Hopefully it arrives right in time for my targeted start date on the 11th.

In the meantime, I also saw a nice light/fan at Lowe's that I am considering getting; however, I would like to take the old one out first to see what kind of space I'm working within. I'd hate to make the hole even bigger in what's already a small space. I think I'll go and figure out the tile for the floor and wall later this week.

So it begins...

Project 2011: Downstairs Bathroom

2011-06-24T13:03:00.004-04:00

I know, I know. It's been forever. I'm still kickin', though. And, even better - I'm back with the home improvement project of the year: the downstairs bathroom!

As you might recall, I did update it a tad in the past, including removing the wallpaper and adding some paint as well as adding a new faucet. However, it's time for major overhaul - well, an overhaul nevertheless.

Here are a few before pictures to show you the scope of the project as well as the tiny, itsy-bitsy space in which I'll be working. Loyal readers may recall that this was originally the coat closet under the stairs but was converted to what has lovingly been renamed the Harry Potter Bathroom.

Here's the sink. The faucet was added a couple years ago and the sink is adequately petite enough to stay. The chair rail, however, will be saying farewell. I'm thinking that on this wall behind the sink I will tile with some glass tile. My friends Leslie and Paul recently installed some beautiful greenish-blue rectangular glass tile and it would be pretty to cover the wall in it. It's a tiny space, after all - what the heck.

Next is the beautiful light/exhaust fan combo. Honestly, I've looked and looked for something small and relatively similar in size so I don't need to make any new holes in the walls. However, it's been tough finding something that doesn't stand so proud from the wall. Any suggestions on a flat light/fan combo that isn't so darn fugly?

Then is the toilet. I think this has been one of the most challenging things to find. I've been looking for something pleasantly petite to replace this old thing for probably as long as I've had the house. I've found one or two options - one is terribly ugly and the other is cheap and I'm concerned about its longevity. I'll probably end up going with the ugly because it's also expensive and I think I've learned my lesson about inexpensive fixtures. You'll see below how much fun this will be to install given the room in which I will have to maneuver.

Finally, is the floor. Since this is the downstairs powder room, I think I'm leaning toward some white and black hexagonal tile to make it a little more period-like. Since it's a tiny space, I'm even considering some nice marble. I'll probably do dark gray grout just to keep it looking good. Besides that, I think I'm fairly happy with the paint color in there so I'll probably stick with it. I would like to see about some kind of shelving unit or cabinet to mount on the wall above the toilet. Currently, there isn't any storage in there and it would be nice to have a bit of room to store some things in there.

The timeline is to begin in mid-July after my class is done. I'm hoping I can do it in a week but that probably means it will take me two weeks (see, I'm learning). It's been a while since I've done anything major so I'll probably need a few days to get into the swing of it as well as to prepare myself emotionally for any surprises I may find under that ugly vinyl floor...

Custom-made toilet seats?

2011-05-06T06:36:00.002-04:00

I'm putting out the call for help from my savvy home improvement peeps: I have a friend who is looking for a replacement toilet seat for a toilet that is no longer made. After an exhaustive web search it doesn't appear it's sold anymore. So my question is, does anyone know of a place that can make custom-made toilet seats?

The model and style is the Eljer Savannah (and, yes, I've already sent a stern message to said individual about ordering non-standard items).

I will return shortly for Home Improvement Project 2011: The downstairs powder room!

Goodbye Screen - Hello Curb Appeal!

2010-10-11T13:44:00.003-04:00

I don't even know how to express my immense sense of gratification and satisfaction. As I shared earlier today, from Day One in this house I wanted to remove the screen on the front porch. As you see below (the shot from the realtor), the screened-in porch made the house appear very close to the street:
In this shot (taken during the holidays last year), you can see a closer view. Honestly, we don't have that many bugs in the city and it just never made sense to me to have it.

So, (drum roll, please) after several years, I present to you the front of my house sans screen. I am so excited I can hardly stand it:

Obviously, if you look too closely, you will see the desperate need for cleaning the paint on the front of the house but, like I said, I'm just ecstatic. I look forward to more curb appeal next year when I can bust out some new landscaping too.

Post Script: Front Porch Steps

2010-10-11T10:04:00.003-04:00

I admit to my mildly obsessive-compulsive tendencies. I won't lie. After seeing my "after" picture of the stairs from the other day, I thought to myself, "Self, now look how crappy the stair risers look after you painted the treads." So, yes, I succumbed to my overly developed need for aesthetic symmetry and painted the stair risers too. So, it's done and now I can sleep better at night.

However, spending all this time on the porch the past few days has made me realize that I really hate that screened in porch. I've pretty much hated it from before I even bought the house - driving by the house several times and thinking that I wasn't interested because of that ugly screen. In my opinion, it makes it appear too close to the street. Here's a shot from the holidays last year so you can see what I'm talking about:
Yes, it has to go. So this is my project today and we'll see how far I get on my own. I'm a bit fearful of what this will entail (e.g., who-knows-how-many-years-old rusted-out screws) but I'm going to see what I can do here. Wish me luck.

Front Porch Steps

2010-10-09T14:27:00.003-04:00

I have returned with yet another minor home improvement project! [insert superhero music here] Huzzah! Yes, that's right, this Bangor Foursquare owner will remain the proud owner of said property, so says the paperwork. Woot! To celebrate the end of seemingly interminable months of drama, I decided to find myself a three-day weekend small project: the front steps.

As you can see, they weren't in such great shape paint-wise. What they really need (along with the rest of the house) is a nice long soak in some paint remover but I do not have the time or money to afford such extravagant measures at this time - so, it was good ol' elbow grease to the rescue. After about four hours of scraping (man, I'll be feeling it tomorrow, alright), I put the first coat on these puppies this afternoon.

It's not perfect but it's certainly much improved. Just in time for the snow and salt that will remove the paint from them again, I am sure.

Final Bathroom Renovation Breakdown

2010-08-21T10:05:00.007-04:00

Okay, sports fans, here is the final breakdown (and the more exciting before-after pictures). It's a lot of fun to review these numbers and remember the planned and unplanned adventures of this renovation. Of course, feel free to peruse previous posts to revisit the fun along with me (especially the discovery of the hornets nest):

Services/fees
$217.52 Electrical contractor to run new 220 and new breaker
$125.00 Exterminator to treat and remove huge hornets nest
$154.10 Plumber for two trips - one to fix shut-off valve to house, one to wait for city to arrive
$26.60 Waste materials to dump

Tile and tile materials
$362.18 including white subway tile and trim tile, floor tile, mastic, grout, Schluter Ditra

Miscellaneous building materials
$56.89 for new studs, joint compound, plywood subfloor

Trim and molding
$110.47

Plumbing materials and supplies
$208.00 Bathtub/shower and sink faucets
$95.54 miscellaneous extenders, supply lines, etc.

Big stuff
$158.00 Toilet
$288.00 Vanity/sink
$76.95 Beadboard
$98.00 Lights
$575.00 Tub refinish

Total bathroom renovation costs $2617.25

Overall, I feel pretty good about the costs of the renovation. I was hoping to stick close to $2,000 and I would have been there if it hadn't been for some of the unexpected expenses, which I should honestly expect. Anyway, I think that it was worth it. You can judge for yourself, of course:

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

After again (just because I love this tile and refinished tub so much)

Miracle Method = Like New Tub

2010-08-20T16:23:00.002-04:00

I am very excited to finally have a completed bathroom! Woot! Woot! The Miracle Method guy just left and for a mere $575 I have virtually a new tub. I know I could have gotten a brand new tub for this amount but it would have been some cheapy fiberglass version. Instead, I kept my nice old cast iron tub and it just got a face lift. It's guaranteed up to 15 years, they say, and honestly it looks just like new. I am very happy with it. Even better, I can stand in the bathroom for the next several hours and get a free trip - yes, it's pretty stinky in there. Anyway, it's totally worth it. I'll post my final before-after shots tomorrow along with the budget. But we can safely call this one a wrap!

Tub before

Tub after

Downstairs Powder Room

2010-08-15T13:31:00.003-04:00

True to form, the paint is literally still drying on the upstairs bathroom and I am already setting my sights on the next home improvement project: the downstairs bathroom. There's probably some advice in there for other Type-A personalities and home improvement but it alludes me at the present time.

So, my thinking about the downstairs bathroom (or what has come to be lovingly referred to as the Harry Potter Bathroom) is that it's a nice weekend project. The sink will be staying put as it's in good shape, is pleasantly petite, and just had its faucet replaced several months ago. Structurally it's as good as it's going to get. So this project will entail a new floor, a new toilet, and maybe a new light/fan.

I've already picked out the new tile - just some black and white hexagonal tile, which should only take an hour to lay (seriously, people, this bathroom is small: 24"x67" at its WIDEST part). Although I should be more conservative and less optimistic about my timing - who knows what kind of mess awaits me under the ucky existing vinyl. I certainly learned the rotten-floor lesson from the upstairs bathroom.

A new toilet is another issue altogether. Thank goodness the rough-in is the standard 12" (the bathroom looks to have been added in the 1970s or 1980s) but, as I said, this is a seriously width- and depth-challenged room. The current toilet is a round front and a petite 25" deep. It's hard to find anything that is that small, other than the Kohler Rialto at Home Depot, which I found courtesy of a story on the This Old House webpage. I'm honestly not a big fan of the look of the Rialto, however, nor of the price tag. But, small bathroom beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. My recent trip to NYC showed me that small bathrooms have a certain art to them but I wonder if there was a time when these fixtures were more easily found - the days before McMansions, I would guess.

Other than that, I need to find a less ugly light/fan combination that is also relatively petite (i.e., not having much depth to it). Also not having much luck so far. Anyway, if you run across any of these things in your travels I'd love to hear about them.

Bathroom Reno 2010: Done! (almost)

2010-08-14T17:40:00.003-04:00

It wasn't a terribly sexy home improvement day but I feel good that I can finally say that my part of Bathroom Renovation 2010 is DONE! I don't want to do the big wrap-up, budget, before-after thing yet simply because I'm having the tub resurfaced at the end of the week and I'd like to wait until it is all officially done before I take the exciting after pictures. But, as far as I'm concerned, my part is done and I feel pretty darn good about it.

Here's what I did today: I took back that nasty Home Depot paint (they were nice and gave me a refund) and took that money right over to Sherwin Williams and got my tried and true Harmony. After painting the closet doors and trim, I put the new knobs on them:
I'm very happy with them and thank Sarah again for the bajillionth time for donating them to the cause. Hooray!

I also spent a good hour or so cutting off the legs of the radiator cover to fit the height with the new floor. This was slow work with the hacksaw but it got done and it got subsequently painted:
Then I finished up the last piece of chair rail on the dividing wall between the tub and the vanity area. This wasn't a big deal but I needed to miter the sides and put in the little miter cap on the end where it meets the tile. (I forgot to take a picture, I realize now, and I'm too lazy to do it now - sorry.)

Beyond that, I had to take the bathroom door off before I painted it to plane down the top and bottom a little since it wasn't closing well. It was the first time I used my little hand planer and I'm pretty smitten with it. Anyhoo, the door is now painted and closing relatively well. It still sticks a bit but I don't know how much of that is the heat/humidity and how much is the door but I'd rather not plane it down further until fall or winter.

After that, I put on the last coat of paint on the trim and it was a wrap, peeps.
I am looking forward to taking pictures of the bathtub refinishing process on Friday. It should be pretty cool, well, if you're into that kind of thing anyway (which I know most of you are). I will then report back with the final budget and the before-after pictures. Woot!

Not my day

2010-07-31T13:28:00.003-04:00

Today may not be my day for home improvement. I was hoping to finish up the bathroom today and put up some shades in one of the bedrooms but it's not looking good. I bought said shades yesterday - the same ones I bought for the other bedrooms upstairs over two years ago but, for whatever reason, did not at the time buy any for that room. Well, I thought I measured correctly but obviously I did not as they're about an inch too short for the windows. I was able to rig up something for one window with some little spare plywood action but the other two are not cooperating. I took a break from that task to paint in the bathroom.

Unfortunately, that task also is not progressing as planned. While at HD yesterday buying said shades-from-hell, I decided to pick up some paint for the trim/closet doors in the bathroom. I have never bought paint from HD before and now I realize why. Here's the thing, though: I wanted to get the non-VOC kind like I usually get at Sherwin Williams (theirs is called Harmony) so I got HD's brand (Fresh Aire). Really the same price. Really not the same quality. Ugh. It's all smeary and watery. Yuck. So, I'm going to go back to SW and get the good stuff. At least I only painted the closet doors one coat but it's still an hour of my life that I won't get back (or $36).

The only thing working so far for me today is that I was able to put up the trim where the tile around the tub meets the ceiling. At least that looks nice (despite my blurry phone picture). Okay, back to the shades. I might be back later. I might throw in the towel and quit while I'm still sane and my blood pressure is still relatively low.

Crossing some more off the list...

2010-07-25T11:13:00.004-04:00

I was able to cross a few more things off the punch list today and, boy, does it feel good to be back at this! Hooray for home improvement!

First, I finally got sick of my towel on the counter and hung up the towel bar. Good deal from Target:
Then I grouted the floor under the heater (sorry for poor quality photography):

And then the corner by the shower:
After lunch, I tackled the closet doors. As I said yesterday, these were a donation from The Amazing Sarah, and are perfect! It took me a bit to scrape off the gold paint with which someone at some point felt the need to embellish the doors. Then I had to run to HD to get some new hinges that would fit since they're pretty narrow. Then it took me a while to hang the doors by myself, but I did it, by golly:
They, along with the trim and wainscoting, will now need to be painted and that's about it. I do have some quarter round I need to put up along with the last little piece of chair rail and then that's it, folks. I will wait to put up the final, final, final pictures (and budget) after the tub gets refinished but it feels nice to get back in the swing of things!

Still Kicking!

2010-07-24T16:16:00.003-04:00

I admit it. I was burned out - emotionally and home improvementally - but I have returned, fair readers! After a several month respite during which I licked my wounds and contemplated the universe, I have returned today to finish ye olde bathroom renovation! As I've said before, I really only have a few hours left of work to do so it felt really good today to get back to working on about half of what's left. Here's what I tackled today:

I apologize for the fuzzy picture (my camera died last month so these are from my phone), but I finally tiled that spot under the heater that's been driving me nuts. You can see the not-quite-after shot below:

I'll grout tomorrow. Then I can put the cover for the heater back on and get it painted, along with the rest of the trim, probably next weekend. I have been contemplating building a cover for the heater so it will look more like the vanity so that's why there is a bit of a space with the baseboard there on the right.

Believe it or not, I also finally tackled my "gap" problem! Wait, that deserves a few more exclamation points (!!!). I guess I needed the months off to ponder this problem because when I went about tackling it today it really only took about 45 minutes to fix. You see below the nagging corner:

I shaved off some drywall there in the middle, put on some corner bead, and found some tiles (gasp!) that were exactly the right size for the remaining gap between the old tile and the edge. Quite pleased am I. I will grout this tomorrow as well:

Then I can put on the last piece of chair rail on the side, paint up the whole mess, and be done with it.

The remaining things may get done tomorrow, if I feel up to it. Really, besides the painting, I need to cut the bottom of the closet doors that Sarah gave me, install them, and paint them, and then put up the quarter round between the top of the tile around the tub and the ceiling. I'm planning to have the bathtub dude come in a couple weeks and resurface the tub once all of this is done. And, then, guess what? I'll be done, done, and done!

Post Script: For my very loyal readers, I wanted to mention that Mancha, my cat of 15 years, had to be put to sleep a couple weeks ago. She had been very ill with kidney failure for several years. She was a loyal home improvement buddy, always wanting to hang out for painting, drywalling, and general companionship, and was therefore a frequent feature in the blog. She will be sorely missed.

Stairs After

2010-06-20T09:20:00.004-04:00

I did find a "before" picture, after all. Boy, do I not miss that ugly old carpet. So, here's what the stairs look like now, painted and refinished:

I wonder what else I can get to on my punch list this summer. I know I need to finish the banister and newel post - waiting for a day that I don't mind the stink as much, probably. I do need to do something about that bathroom upstairs. I think I'm going to have to face reality and just pull down some of those tiles [insert very sad face here] and redo the corner as it was supposed to be done in the first place. I'm really not motivated to demo even a few of my beautiful tiles so maybe I will need a few drinks in me to work up the courage first.

Primed and Ready: The Stairs Edition

2010-06-19T11:28:00.004-04:00

As you may recall from last summer, the upstairs floors and stairs were refinished. Beautiful, yes, thanks to Don Dickel. One project I put off and put off was priming and painting the stair risers, which were not refinished.

So, now returning from a short trip back to Washington to see my mom graduate from community college at the ripe young age of 77 (see below), I have decided to get on top of my punch list for the house.

Yes, this also means I am taking a respite from the bathroom final details - I'm still not feeling motivated enough to pull out tile and fix my errors...perhaps soon.

I was absolutely certain I had a "before" photo of the stairs before I began priming them but, alas, such is not life. To make matters more complicated, my trusty old digital camera took its last sub-par photo while I was in Washington. So, instead, the below photo comes to you courtesy of my cell phone, uploaded to Snapfish. It's actually not a bad photo, really. Anyway, you see the primed stair risers, ready for painting.

If I finish both coats of the paint today I'll also post those. Off I go...

Still alive - but barely

2010-05-23T12:38:00.002-04:00

Well, loyal readers, I am back. How long has it been? At least a couple months, I guess. There's been a lot of activity in the Bangor Foursquare. Unfortunately, little to none of it has surrounded progress toward finishing the bathroom. Mostly, the activity in the house has focused around domestic drama. In the spirit of over-sharing with complete strangers on the Internet, Mrs. Foursquare will soon again be Ms. Foursquare - hopefully getting to keep the home into which she has put so much heart and soul over the past two and a half years; here's hoping, anyway.

So, today, I made a meager attempt to get back into the groove and finish up some loose ends. There really isn't much left to do, thankfully, but what is left is perplexing. As I think I mentioned previously, I literally worked myself into a corner during this renovation. As you see below, I wasn't thinking through some of the details as I went along and didn't plan for how I was going to marry the tile board with the side of the wall separating the room. Now, I have a wonky gap between where I ended the tiles abruptly and the edge of the drywall on the side of the wall:

What I was hoping would work was a similar set up that I have on the other side of the tub area, next to the window, as you see below:
Unfortunately, however, this solution doesn't look like it will work on the other side. So, I'm stuck. I'm loathe to pull off tile and/or drywall. Yes, I know, lazy craftsmanship (or craftswomanship, in my case), but I just don't have the heart to do it. Maybe this means that I'm not yet ready to really finish this project. Hmm.

In other, happier developments, however, Sarah from Bangor Bungalow came over a few weeks ago bearing gifts:

These doors are going to be absolutely perfect for the closet. I need to cut a bit off the top and bottom to make them fit and then paint them and get rid of the gold accents someone put on the glass but they will then be exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks, Sarah!

So, once I muster up the wisdom and courage to figure out my gap issue, and trim these doors, all I will need to do is put up a little quarter round where the tile meets the ceiling around the tub and then paint the trim and wainscoting and I will be done, done, and done. I'm hoping to get the tile resurfaced in July or August and then we will call it officially over. As always, I appreciate any potential soutions to my gap issue. If nothing else, from this renovation I will have learned to think through every little detail before beginning a project. These few things left have really been frustrating and they were all of my own making. Live and learn - or, rather, renovate and learn.

Bathroom Reno: Update

2010-04-12T17:30:00.003-04:00

I have lost count on the bathroom renovation. My lack of recall may be linked to the noxious fumes that I woke to this morning emanating from my heaters. When I went downstairs to the basement to investigate, I was certain the fumes were coming from the general direction of my furnace. Nothing spilled or leaking - but definitely caustic. It smelled like gasoline or burned rubber. Not good. And, you've got it, probably not cheap to fix either.

So I called the nice people over at Dead River Company to come look at it. Have I mentioned before that I am from the Midwest? We Midwesterners know nothing about heating oil - I grew up with natural gas and electric heat. Here in New England, we feel the need to be even less environmentally conscious. Believe me, my investment in heating oil is not without misgivings - I have tried to convert to natural gas several times but, believe it or not, they stopped running gas line about a block from here and will not extend it until 10 people on the block sign up so no go on the natural gas. But I digress.

It appears that the smell (which the repair dude said he could not smell - eek!) came from the nozzle not firing as well as issues related to some soot build up in the chimney. I have no idea what this is going to cost me - hopefully the bill will take a while to arrive.

So, while I waited for all of this to happen today and for my headache to subside, I decided to work a bit more on the bathroom. There hasn't been much to report as of late - a lot of uninteresting things like adding the millionth coat of JC to the tub ceiling or to the corner bead. I did finally get the overhead light installed last week - I needed some longer screws to get it affixed to the ceiling, but here it is in all its old fashioned splendor:
Today I was able to sand the last coats of the JC around the tub surround finally paint (yipee!). You can see the fruits of my labor - it needs another coat but you get the general idea:

So, what's left? I will put some quarter round between the tub walls and the tub ceiling, some outsider corner moulding where the drywall meets the tile and then I still need to paint the trim and beadboard. I also have yet to find some replacement closet doors. I'm really not liking any of the styles available at the box stores and I refuse to spend a lot of money on doors for a closet. I'm considering trying to be creative and cutting out the slats on the old doors and seeing if I can replace them with some frosted glass or frosted plexiglass. I guess if I screw it up, oh well, since I was going to ditch them anyway. Here's to an evening of oxygen-rich air!

Bathroom Reno Weekend 6

2010-04-03T15:26:00.002-04:00

That's Mancha, chillin' in the window that is indeed open. It's a beautiful day today in Bangor, Maine and while Mancha soaked up some rays I put in a few more hours on the bathroom. You'll notice I'm counting in weekends now since the day count thing isn't really flying any more.

A combination of sexy and very unsexy work today. First task was filling nail holes with some painter's putty. I got frustrated trying to use the big knife to fill in little holes in awkward places so I used my finger instead. I now am missing some skin on those fingers so I guess I wasn't supposed to do that...um, yeah.

I then put on my last coat (woot! woot!) of JC on the tub surround ceiling. I am admittedly getting much better at skim coating and felt pretty happy with my work today. I'm sure that once I prime it and see all the imperfections I will be pissy but for now it's okay. My plan is to use some quarter-round for that gap between the ceiling and the tile.
I then figured out a quasi solution to my tile-meets-wall problem area by the window. I was generally displeased with my attempt last week to resolve the problem, which entailed putting in some edge tile and then grouting the strange gap between the field tile and these new tiles. So, I bought some trim and put it up today. Once the adhesive dries (I couldn't use nails because it's over tile on the top half of the wall) I will prime and paint it and caulk around the tub edges. I think this will be a better solution to my lack of planning - but we'll see.

I then did a little touching up of paint, particularly behind the toilet, which was really bugging me.

And, then, most sexy of all - I put in the new vanity lights. It was a breeze to take out the old ones and install these new ones (Hampton Bay Classic Collection from HD). My only complaint is that they had little stickers on the metal pieces warning you about wattage for bulbs and now there is adhesive that I can't get off but I'll figure something out.

So, tomorrow (if I'm up for it), I'll put in the new overhead light, prime the tub surround drywall and maybe paint it, and perhaps paint the trim as well. Only a few things left to do after that: closet doors, threshold, something around heater (maybe), and then some towel bars. I can then call this renovation d-o-n-e.

Bathroom Reno Day Whatever

2010-03-28T11:39:00.003-04:00

Well, it's not pretty, it's not right, but it's a solution. I grouted those gaps between the old tile and the edge tile today by the window. It's still wet so I'm hoping it will look better when it dries. I guess, no matter what, it will be covered by a shower curtain so it's not the end of the world if it's a little wonky. Honestly, most of the bathroom is a bit wonky so at least I'm consistent. Besides that, I thought maybe I'd at least prime the casing and baseboards today but after nail setting all the nails (which was disconcertingly painful given what I would assume to be advancing arthritis), I opened up my painter's putty and spackle to find one dried out and one moldy. Ew. Unfortunately, this Bangor Foursquarer is tapped out until payday until Wednesday so painting will have to wait another weekend. In fact, after adding up the budget to this point yesterday, I found I have spent approximately $2,000 on this renovation. Not bad, I know, but a large chunk of that has been in the past month. I'm an education professor, for goodness sake, I don't make much money. This was my budget all along but a few bucks here and a few bucks there quickly adds up. Luckily, the last items remaining (spackle, caulk, outlet cover) will not cost too much. Perhaps next weekend I can then prime and paint and then even get the lights up. In the meantime, I think I will add another coat of joint compound to the tub ceiling and surround in preparation for said painting.

Bathroom Reno - No More Counting

2010-03-21T14:05:00.004-04:00

I have had it. I'm done. No, not done-done. Just really sick of this renovation and I need to take a break. I can pretty much call the time of death on the fun - around 10am this morning when I realized I had forgotten to cut a miter corner on the last stinking piece of chair rail and had to run to HD for the billionth time to buy a new piece. Grr. Since that point, I've been pissy, unhappy, and generally fed-up with this process. I haven't felt this way before about home improvement so I'm a little worried. I usually really enjoy the process and while, yes, I get frustrated, I don't feel like I want to crawl into the fetal position and cry - or worse, kill someone. I guess I'm just tired and it's probably a good idea to take a week or two break before I destroy something or someone.

So here is where we leave things for the time being: I did finish the chair rail, dammit. You can see, however, that I still need to put in some corner bead above it. And I have no idea what I'm going to do on the other side where the tile meets the drywall.

I then got a couple new end tiles and installed those along side of the window, realizing, however, that I totally screwed this up and will now have to make a million little tiny tile cuts. Double grr.I am so taking a break. Of course, the reason I'm frustrated is my own fault. I made hasty decisions and didn't think things through and now I'm faced with stupid issues like this. Yes, ma'am, I'm done. Maybe in a few weeks I will regain my ability to see things clearly and calmly and I can finally finish this stinking project. Until then, you can suck it, bathroom.

Bathroom Reno Day 22

2010-03-20T16:32:00.003-04:00

Today was trim and casing day. I went to HD last night and bought the casing for the door and window but for some reason forgot the closet casing so I had another run today to make (again, what would a day be without at least one trip there?). Thanks goodness for my compound miter saw - it made a little quicker work of the corners. Below you can see my semi-okay handiwork around the window. I decided to go with a bit more dressed up casing in the end, but still simple. I will need to caulk some corners, decidedly.
I also worked on a bit of the chair rail below the window and to the side of the medicine cabinet. I hadn't really thought that one through, to no one's surprise, I imagine. Under the window was fine but I will have an issue of nailing the chair rail into the wall on that right side of the cabinet because it's not long enough to reach a stud. Perhaps I'm going to need to just use some construction adhesive there.

I bet you're looking at that photo above and saying, "Hey, that's funny. What are you going to do with those gaps between the window and the tile." Well, that's a great question. I don't know. I hadn't thought that one through ahead of time, either. I think I might just put some of those end tiles down the side of the window and then fill in with some scraps as needed. Duh. Nice one.

You can also see that I worked on baseboards today, which took most of the day. There are about 5 corners just around the toilet. I assume they framed it in like that to accommodate some kind of issue but it sure made it a bitch to have to cope all those corners. I am admittedly not very good at coping but good enough that a little caulk will hopefully hide the less than perfect joints.
Besides that, I put another coat of JC on the drywall around the tub and sanded and put another skim coat on the ceiling above the tub. I'm going to call it a day - I'm beat. Tomorrow I hope to finish the chair rail and maybe paint. I have a feeling lights will not get installed, however, until later this week. It's almost done...it's almost done...it's almost done.

Bathroom Reno Day 21ish

2010-03-19T19:12:00.004-04:00

Suffice it to say, the renovation is almost done but I've been at work so the time I spend on this is sporadic at best. I ditched out a bit early today and then ran to HD to get a few different things, including some granite sealer for the vanity top ($40 for a small bottle, can you believe that?!?), some electrical tape, and the baseboards and chair rail . I got one baseboard piece in, as pictured above, and then I realized I was going to have to cope. I've mitered before but never coped. I watched a few videos, read some stuff online and in books, and, honestly, I still am kind of clueless about this. I'll go get a coping saw tomorrow and give it a shot. I only have about 12 angles to cope for the baseboard and two for the chair rail. Ick.
Then, despite my vicious bitterness about it, I cut up some old drywall left from our kitchen renovation and put it up around the tub surround. I hate, hate, hate having drywalling but it's done now. I need to figure out what I'm going to do about the corners, however. I hate corner bead - I was thinking about getting some outside corner moulding but I'm not sure how that will fly. Other ideas?

In other news, I was really hoping to replicate the window and door casing that we have in the rest of the upstairs but it seems pretty complicated. Also, I'm not sure how it will look with the little dinky window we have in there (it's one of those crank-out kind). I might just suck it up and buy something basic at HD but I don't want the plain casing we had in there before.

So, tomorrow, I'll put another layer of mud on the joints and on the ceiling of the tub area. I'll go get a coping saw and figure out how to do the dumb thing, and then I'll work on the door casings, try to get the baseboards done as well as the chair rail. It would be nice to paint on Sunday and then maybe get the lights up. We'll see, I guess.

Bathroom Reno Day 19 - Nuh uh

2010-03-17T21:49:00.002-04:00

This was my idea for how to deal with the uncovered space going up the side of the tub and the soffit area over it - beadboard. But, guess what? I don't like it. I think what I'm going to need to do is bite the bullet and put up some drywall. I hate putting up drywall. Actually, that's not true, I don't mind putting up drywall - I hate taping the seams and mudding it. Blah. But I think that's what I'm going to have to do. So, at some point soon - maybe this weekend, I will work on it. I have nothing else to show for today.

Bathroom Reno Day 18 - Wiring new switches?

2010-03-16T09:53:00.002-04:00

As frustrated as I feel about this, I'm generally pretty happy to just be working now on the nitty-gritty details in the bathroom. I did some pretty major research trying to figure out what kind of toggle switches those on the right are - those for the exhaust fan and light. I bought what I thought was correct - a rocker switch with two switches. But, I don't think it's right - the current ones really have three positions: off (center), low on (left), high on (right). The switches I got just are on/off. Hmm. What do we think? There's really nothing wrong with the current ones, other than they're ugly and I just want to get some nice new white ones to match the decor. You'll also see that the face plate I got for the light switches is too big so, yes, I get to go to Home Depot again today.

In other news, our toilet has a slow leak and I'm bummed out. We've tried tightening everything near where the leak is, where the tank connects to the base. I don't know. This toilet got rave reviews on the website so I don't know if we just have a faulty one or if we're the faulty variable in this equation. I am less than excited about pulling it out, packing it up, returning it, and then starting all over again. Hmm again.

Bathroom Reno (Rest of) Day 17

2010-03-15T22:23:00.003-04:00

The photo below is the one I showed the guy at Home Depot tonight. I wasn't quite sure what I needed to do, after installing the drain piece of the new faucet (we got the American Standard Williamsburg design, by the way, and it was a breeze to install), to connect the two pieces. The nice young man (the guys in plumbing seem to be the nicest and most helpful there) sold me a couple pieces and away I went. It all connected up nicely.
Then I went for the last part of the install, which was connecting the supply lines to the shut-off valves. On the right side (which you can see in the above photo) worked fine with the 20" line I had. The left side (which you cannot see) obviously did not. I had to run back to HD for the - count it - third time today to get a longer line. Boy, they're going to miss me when this renovation is completed.

Anyway, my only snag was after testing it, it kept leaking from the drain area. Thom finally found an errant washer that was indeed included in the box but was not discussed in the directions. All was well after that. And, yes, siree Bob - I HAVE A FULLY FUNCTIONING BATHROOM! I'm off to take my first shower after treating the grout last night to resist stains. Whoopee!

Bathroom Day 17 (well, part of the day, anyway)

2010-03-15T09:29:00.002-04:00

I couldn't resist doing a bit more before going to work this morning. I ran to HD to trade out the faucet for the sink and picked up a plywood blade for my jigsaw (After all, what would a day be like without at least one visit to a box store? I seriously think I may go through withdrawal after this project is done). I then came home and tackled cutting out the bottom of our new vanity. Ugh. That's rough. You buy something new and then destroy it. A necessary evil, thanks to our screwy plumbing that comes through the floor. It's not pretty, but it fits. I guess we really only keep toilet paper and toilet cleaner under there so they don't care what it looks like.

I then attached the new faucet (one that actually fits) to the top. I still need to connect the vanity to the wall and the top to the vanity, as well as the plumbing, but you get the idea. We'll see how I feel after work tonight and maybe I'll try to finish this up. It comes with a granite backsplash piece but I'm thinking about leaving it off. What do you think?

Anyway, after some new chrome pulls and a coat of paint on the beadboard, I think it will look nice. We'll get the lights and stuff next weekend probably unless I'm feeling more ambitious than I anticipate this week before and after work.

Bathroom Reno Day 16 - Almost, Ugh, Not Quite

2010-03-14T17:33:00.003-04:00

I had every intention of getting everything functional in the bathroom today. Alas, however, today was not my lucky day. In fact, it was anything other than lucky. I started out the day by having Thom help me carry the new vanity upstairs. Then I had him help me dry fit the granite top and sink that I had gotten months ago at the ReStore. While I had meticulously measured the dimensions of both top and vanity to ensure it would fit, I did not measure where the sink was placed within the top. What we have, folks, is a top that fits but a sink that will not fit. Sigh. Luckily, the vanity came with another granite top and sink that will look equally as nice. Unluckily, the top is designed for a 4-inch centermount faucet. I bought an 8-inch spread faucet. Sigh. I need to go to Home Depot tomorrow and trade it in for a new one.

Then, I tried to tackle the toilet. We got the Glacier Bay Dual Flush from HD. This toilet, according to the reviews online, is very easy to install if you have installed a toilet before - that would not be me. Unfortunately, the directions are less than clear and they do not include a parts list so I was wondering constantly what was a gasket and which washers went with what bolts. Thom finally helped me and we figured it out. It works beautifully and the flange extenders (I used two) worked well along with an extra deep wax ring (the one that comes with the toilet is pretty flimsy). Now I just need to get some toilet shims to level the puppy out on my less than level tile floor. Sigh. Anyway, here is the commode in all its glory; painting touch ups forthcoming.

Next were the faucets for the tub/shower. This was actually pretty straight forward, thankfully. No sighs necessary.

My next sigh came when I tried to get the shower arm to go into the hole correctly as my tile cutting was less than accurate (shocking, I know). I chiseled away at a bit and got it to work.

Paul also guest starred today and came over to do a first skim coat on the ceiling above the tub. It will take a few more coats that I'll probably try to tackle next weekend. I'm not good at it but I'll give it a shot.

So, now, I'm working on figuring out how to cut out the bottom of the vanity to accommodate our screwy plumbing that comes in from the floor. Unfortunately, there is a brace right in the middle of the cheap particle board on the bottom. Sigh. I'll have to rig something else up. After I get the faucet tomorrow maybe I can install it this week sometime.

I am back to work tomorrow but I'm happy to be going back. This has been rewarding in many ways but I am admittedly frustrated that I wasn't able to finish it in the two weeks and that frustration level is now becoming chronic. It's probably good that I take a break this week to do the real work I get paid for and maybe I can come back with fresh eyes and a relaxed mind to finish this project up. I didn't get it all done in this past fortnight but I got close. At least we can pee and hose ourselves off and - hey - that's better than nothin'.

Bathroom Reno Day 15

2010-03-13T15:18:00.003-05:00

Well, there you have it, folks - a grouted floor. Of all my predictions and assumptions, only this one held to be true: Grouting floors is much easier than grouting walls. This morning was spent cleaning the house (as it had indeed gotten very nasty in the past two weeks) and doing the six - count them - six loads of laundry. This afternoon, I then spent cleaning the floor and carving out the grout lines. I decided to forgo the mixable kind (the whole 'this stuff causes cancer if looked at funny' freaks me out too much) and went and exchanged it for the pre-mixed grout, which I'm glad I did. Fortunately, the grouting helped to disguise some of the problem areas. Unfortunately, the color is much lighter than it looks on the box. I'm hoping it will darken up a bit as it dries but regardless I will treat the grout lines in a few days. I'll probably do the same in the shower too.

In other good news, Paul has offered to come by during an upcoming weekend and skim coat the tub ceiling for me. Faithful readers will recall that my prowess is less than stellar in this department. I can then paint it and be on my merry way.

Tomorrow is semi-wrap up day. With Thom's help, I will get the faucets on, the toilet in, the vanity and sink in, and then do a little happy dance (I hope). We'll tackle the rest of the punch list next weekend and beyond.

Bathroom Reno Day 14

2010-03-12T19:41:00.003-05:00

See that? That's the punch list. One more item crossed off today - the floor tile. I gotta tell ya, it sucked. I have never tiled a floor before and for some stupid reason I thought it might be easier and faster than wall tile. Um, no. I am so disgusted by the whole experience I will spare you many of the details. All I can say is that while the Ditra is nice for adding negligible height to the floor, it is not fun to tile on. It's bumpy and I basically ended up having to spread the thinset (which I got right this time around) once on the floor and then had to back-butter each tile too. Not cool, man, not cool. I'm also very concerned about the tile around the toilet. I must not have smoothed out the Ditra when I laid it out because it was lumpy around there and it a sloped a bit. I am wondering if I will have some cracked tiles. Ugh. I'm also concerned about the level of the toilet flange. I did go buy an extender or two but I have read it's not good to add more than two and I might still not make it to the new height of the floor. Double ugh.

Well, I wanted to finish it today and I did. That's something, right? I will wait until tomorrow night to grout. What the heck will I do until tomorrow night? Sleep a bit, that's for sure, and then probably some laundry and cleaning this nasty house. Thom promises to help get the toilet and vanity/sink in as well as the faucets for the bath/shower on Sunday. I guess that will be it for my two weeks then. Hopefully everything will at least be functional by the time I go back to work on Monday. The following weekend I will plan to finish up the ceiling (still don't know what to do with it) above the tub, add the chair rail, the trim around the doors, baseboards, lights, and new closet doors. I also still need to paint that beadboard. Hmm. Maybe the punch list is not getting shorter after all. I'm off to go bandage my poor blistered hands and find me some grub. Night, y'all.

Bathroom Reno Day 13

2010-03-11T20:39:00.002-05:00

I got home around 5pm. I finished grouting at around 8pm. Why did it take so long? Well, I spent a good hour looking for my float. I swear I brought it upstairs just for this purpose a while ago. Could I find it? No. But I looked and looked. Just out of principle, I refused to buy another one so instead I called Paul and then drove across town to borrow his. I got home and then got started. I forgot what a big, stinking mess grouting walls can be. When I did the backsplash in the kitchen last year, I ended up just using my gloved hand. In the end, this is what I basically did tonight as well - despite the float drama. I'll tell you one thing, gravity is not my friend when it comes to grouting vertical surfaces. I look forward to grouting the floor; at least it can't slop all over everywhere. I think it took me just as long to clean up as it did to grout.

I had big designs on finishing the rest of the Ditra installation tonight too. I did finagle it last night to make the piece I had bought work. Then I mixed up my first batch of thinset. Here's the thing: I'm usually lazy and just buy the pre-mixed stuff but Herr Schluter says, "Nein!" when it comes to pre-mixed. So, I followed the directions on the package. Uh, yeah. Big mess. I think I got about half of the package of the thinset to actually turn out. The rest is now an ugly testament to my lack of skills in this area. I will try again in the morning, this time only mixing a small amount at a time (shout-out to Sarah for telling me how to do it correctly).

I'll see how I feel about cleaning off the grout haze around midnight. Doubtful though. I'll have to let it wait until the morning. Then, tomorrow, the rest of the Ditra can be laid and I can start thinking about tiling the floor. I have a feeling with all the twists and turns in that room it will take some pondering to do it correctly. I'll feel lucky if I start laying any tile tomorrow. It would be nice to get the tile down tomorrow and then grout on Saturday and then get the toilet and sink in on Sunday. The trim et cetera can wait. We'll see what awaits me.

Bathroom Reno Day 12

2010-03-10T16:28:00.003-05:00

Last night I predicted that hanging the beadboard today would take double the amount of time I expected it to. Yup, just about. I expected to be done by noon and I was done at 4pm. I think a lot of it had to do with the prep work needed to get things actually going. First, I needed to make sure the medicine cabinet would fit. It isn't anything fancy because we were somewhat limited by the 14-inch opening (we have plaster walls in the rest of the house). I also didn't want anything too ornate since we're trying to keep simple, clean lines in the room. So, this is what I picked (Kohler $98 @ Lowe's). The coolest thing about it is that the inside is also mirrored so it seems lit when you open it:
As you can see, I had installed some furring strips a while back to prepare for the beadboard. I wanted it to be slightly recessed from the drywall up above. I plan on installing some chair rail to finish it off. After the medicine cabinet, I then needed to move the shut-off valve for the sink as it was a bit wonky (Ken laughed at it the other day when he was here). After that, I prepared to cut the stuff. Here's my deep, dark, embarrassing secret: Until this morning, I was a bit terrified of our circular saw. You're probably laughing and I probably deserve it. It's strange because I have no problems with our jigsaw, our miter saw, or a reciprocating saw. I think for me it's just like a lot of things - until I do it the first time I'm a bit intimidated. So, I made my daily homage to the box store and got myself a plywood blade for our circular saw, which was awesome. The stuff cut like buttah. I'm now officially over my circular-saw-aphobia. I then had to prime the edges and then I started trying to nail the board to the furring strips. It took me a while of bending nails and getting pretty frustrated to realize that I needed to drill some pilot holes in this stuff first. Then I was rocking and rolling.

The other revelation of the day was how awesome my Dremel was for making the cut-outs around the outlet and the medicine cabinet. This was a great birthday present from Thom (thanks, sweetie!) and I highly recommend getting yourself one - and, besides, who can't use another power tool? Anyway, you'll notice under the window on the back wall there's a pretty significant gap between the beadboard and the bottom of the sill. What am I going to do with it, you ask? Well, my friend, I have absolutely no idea. I was hasty and silly and began tiling that back wall around the tub without really thinking it through. Now I am going to have to get creative at some point. I was really hoping to trim out the window a bit more in line with the rest of the windows in the house, so maybe I can do something interesting there. Maybe not.

So, on to the final project of the day - laying down the Ditra. First of all, let me say this stuff also gets the awesome award for the day. It's 1/8 inch thick and you can just cut it with a utility knife. Simple. The bummer of the day is that I don't quite have exactly enough. I had measured pretty carefully and came up with needing 60 square feet. Ditra is sold in a roll of 54 square feet. Given my lack of prowess in the measuring area, however, I figured I'd be close. Yeah, close but no cigar. I would usually just go get more but this stuff is pricey ($80/roll). So I am reluctant, to the say the least, to buy a whole other roll for about 6 square feet more of it. Sheesh.

I'm going to go back and stare at it a while longer - maybe it will magically expand. If it does, I can then mix up the thinset and lay it down. I'd like to try to start tiling a bit tomorrow but it's probably not going to happen as I have several meetings during the day. It looks like Friday will most likely be the day for tiling the floor and maybe grouting the tub surround tile. I still don't know what to do about the tub ceiling. Ideas?

Bathroom Reno Day 11

2010-03-09T18:25:00.003-05:00

> This is how Day 11 started, after my first trip of the day to a box store to buy a diamond-tipped tile cutting bit for my drill. Worked pretty nicely, huh? I then used this little saw thing to widen it a bit. I felt pretty good about it. I then thought, hey, I'll have this tiling gig wrapped up by noon so I can move on to the beadboard. Um, yeah, not so much. For some reason I cannot comprehend, it actually took me longer to do the little side walls of the tub surround than it did for the one large wall altogether. I assume this had to do with all the cutting, but geez already. I just finished the last of the tiling around 5pm. So here's what she looks like now before the grouting:
There were some problem areas on these two sides but hopefully the grout will mask a few of the evils. I guess if anybody looks that closely and complains they shouldn't be in my shower in the first place, right?

Tomorrow is all about the walls, I hope. It would be nice to get them done, put in the new medicine cabinet I got, and maybe start on the Ditra for the floor - but I shouldn't press my luck. I guess I just need to start considering that whenever I think something is going to take me 2 hours, let's say, it's probably going to take me 4 hours in total. So, if I assume I'll have the beadboard in by noon I will probably have it done by 5pm. I'm off to mooch a shower off another friend...

Bathroom Reno Day 10

2010-03-08T17:10:00.003-05:00

Wow, it's Day 10. Yikes. And Day 10 has not been as productive as I would have hoped. The day started with a trip to Lowe's to pick up some more tile as I did indeed decide to tile all the way to the ceiling around the tub instead of just beyond the shower spigot. I then proceeded to ask the nice lady at Customer Service about my beadboard that was supposed to be delivered a week ago (remember, this is a stock item). She said it still wasn't in so I kindly asked for my money back and took it over to Hammond Lumber. Not only did they have it in stock (for the same price) but they also delivered it for free an hour later. Nice. I like going there but they often don't have as good of a selection as the box stores, unfortunately. This time it worked out nicely.

Then I returned home all set to start tiling around the tub. The first thing I did was check to see if the tub was level. Phhht, right - HUGE slope. So I played with measuring for about 45 minutes until I found a good place to draw a horizontal line to begin. Then I decided to be smart and try to rig up my little wet saw in the bathroom. Now, I haven't used this thing since a year ago when I tiled the backsplash in the kitchen. So when I turned it on and water started shooting everwhere, I wondered what was wrong. Duh. I forgot to put on the guard. I figured this didn't bode well for the rest of the day so I just took it downstairs and put it on the front porch.

Anyway, after all those shenanigans I finally started tiling around 10am (I had left the house at 7am). Sigh. On top of this, I have just never mastered the art of putting the mastic on the wall and not making a huge mess so I have instead just been back-buttering the tiles individually. I guess if nothing else I know these suckers are going to stick to the wall. I clocked myself at about 20 minutes per row so here's what I had done by lunch time:
Five hours later, I finally finished the long wall, including having to go back and cut each of the bottom row of tiles separately because of the slope of the tub. Anyway, here's what it looks like now with the accent row of glass tiles:

I really had wanted to finish the whole thing tonight but I just don't know if I have it in me. I'm going to at least try to get around the faucet area. Cutting holes in tiles blows.

Bathroom Reno Day 9

2010-03-07T18:26:00.004-05:00

Today's blog entry is dedicated to good friends - Ken and Paul. Many of you know Ken from Bangor Bungalow, Sarah's amazing partner in crime. Others may know Paul, my super friend who has lent a hand in just about every project I've done in the Bangor Foursquare. Both of them helped me immensely today and I am so grateful to have wonderful friends who are knowledgeable, helpful, and - most importantly - extremely patient with me and my begging for help. Thank you, guys.

I started the day by doing something smart - I opened the package I ordered months ago containing my tub/shower faucet. See, I really thought I had purchased only new handles, a faucet, and a shower head, while in fact it came with a new valve as well. Very exciting and much more reasonable now that I consider the price. I'm glad I did this first thing, however, as it possibly meant that I would need new holes in different places, etc., thus delaying the completion of the backerboard hanging. So, I called in a pro - Ken. He and Sarah wonderfully came by and he not only installed the new valve but showed me a thing or two along the way. I love learning new things. It generally fit what was already there, thank goodness, and no leaks! Here's the fruit of his labor:

I'm really hoping that this new valve will go a long way in helping us with a little more hot water pressure in the tub - something we haven't had since moving in.

Then I was able to tackle the rest of the backerboard, which I did with Paul's help. Thom pretty much reached his limit today but I am nevertheless thankful for the help he did contribute over the past few days. (As I've mentioned before, Thom hates home improvement and we generally don't work well together in these kinds of projects so the help he gave was wonderful.) Paul came over to help hang the last couple pieces of the DensShield, which I admittedly was a bit chickeny about as it involved cutting the holes. Given my propensity to measure incorrectly it was helpful to have someone as experienced as Paul make short shrift of the whole thing. We got the last three pieces hung up in about an hour.

I then taped the joints and mudded the screw holes. The process is much like drywall taping, except you use fiberglass tape and you use the thinset you use for your tile. I felt a little more proficient at taping after my kitchen experience a couple summers ago but it's still not as smooth as it could be.

My lack of skill in this area has made me rethink the height to which I was planning to tile. OriginallyI thought I'd go a row or two above the shower spigot but now I'm thinking I might go all the way to the ceiling. To paint this stuff you need to skim coat it with JC and, as I mentioned, I'm not the best at doing this. But, I don't know...I know I don't want to tile the ceiling but I don't know what else I'd do with it. Ideas?

So, tomorrow begins the fun stuff! Hooray! I'm going to start tiling the shower (white subway tile with an accent row of blue glass tile) and perhaps Lowe's will finally deliver the beadboard so I can get that put up. Then grouting on Tuesday. Then all that is left is the floor tiling, floor grouting, trim, toilet, vanity, sink, medicine cabinet, paint, and lights (phew!). Anyway, another great day - thanks again, guys.

Bathroom Reno Day 8.46-8.99

2010-03-06T18:05:00.003-05:00

Woot for half of the backerboard being up! Woot for Thom helping Susie do it! Woot, woot for not killing each other in the process! I'm ecstatic. While I had really hoped to have it all up by the end of today, I'm nevertheless happy that we got the ceiling done (I really hate having to lift stuff over my head) and the big wall done. The last two side walls are the complicated ones so I'd rather wait and make sure it's done right. Then I can tape and mud the corners and seams tomorrow and then maybe I can at least get the Ditra laid down for the floor. It just feels so good to be finally building rather than tearing down. I guess that's a good feeling for life in general.

So, verdict on working with the DensShield so far: LOVE it. It's really pretty light, super easy to cut with a utility knife, just as easy to screw into the studs, and it has that nice Smurfy color to boot. My only tip: wear glasses and long sleeves with this stuff. It has a layer of glass in it so it gets itchy on your skin just like insulation.

Thanks again to Sarah for the help and ride to the dump. I thank you and so do my neighbors who no longer have to look at an old, nasty toilet. It was a good day.

Bathroom Reno Day 8.01-8.45

2010-03-06T10:47:00.003-05:00

I have a renewed sense of hope and optimism today as I round the corner of the first week of this project. On I charge! I finished the furring strips this morning, to which I will affix the beadboard should Lowe's ever decide to finally deliver it. I also dealt with a little bit of a framing issue around the tub so we're now ready to lay some backerboard! Woot! Guest starring today on the Bangor Foursquare is my darling husband Thom. We generally don't play well together when it comes to home improvement so he will be playing a small cameo role this afternoon, as the holder of the backerboard. Three cheers for Thom!

In preparation, I started cutting my first piece. Despite being vehemently talked out of it by the sales guy at Lowe's (he suggested I go to Home Depot and get something else - weird, eh?), I did decide to try the DensShield. I gotta tell you, so far I'm lovin' it. It cuts like drywall (all you need is a utility knife), doesn't need a vapor barrier, and is a heckuva lot lighter than Hardibacker or the like. I'm excited to get things going!

Beforehand, wonder-woman Sarah from Bangor Bungalow will be stopping by with her new truck to help me take the toilet and miscellaneous refuse to the dump - thanks, Sarah! Then I'm back at it. It would be great to get the board up today and get the seams all taped so I can start the floor tomorrow. I guess we'll see what the Home Improvement Gods have to say about that, though.

Bathroom Reno Day 7.46.7.99 - Calling it Quits Before Someone Dies

2010-03-05T15:28:00.002-05:00

I have no new pictures to show you since I really did nothing much of consequence this afternoon. I need to leave now for a work meeting so I figured it's best just to call it a day and quit while I'm still alive. What did I do? I cut a piece of plywood to put around the vanity area, where it seems they stopped running the luan. I replaced the rotting stud. I unsuccessfully tried to remove the exhaust fan. Oh, how can I forget - I then decided to cut the furring strips I got to affix the beadboard to (which Lowe's still hasn't delivered). I measured twice but somewhere between the second floor and the basement I changed the measurement and cut them too short. I guess it's not that big of a deal - I can attach a few smaller pieces as they're just going to be there for nailing, but sheesh, seriously. I guess knocking off early today isn't such a bad idea after all. I'll probably head to the gym and get a shower later. All I can tell you is that showering in the gym makes me only want to get this bathroom up and running again very quickly - the experience seems to bring back traumatic memories of showering in middle school gym class. Shudder.

Bathroom Reno Day 7.45

2010-03-05T11:09:00.003-05:00

Today so far has been slow. I'm itching to start doing something significant but know there are some steps that need to be handled first. I did get in the subfloor around the toilet - it's not pretty, but it's solid - even better, it aligns with the rest of the subfloor, after some creative mixing and matching. Unfortunately, about halfway through the process my drill died so I had to go buy a new one - so some more time wasted there. I now feel ready to start tiling but have to get the framing taken care of first around the shower. To do that, I need help - so I'm waiting for some help. Right now, I'm debating about whether I should tile before or after toilet installation. The flange is set very low and it's not moving (cast iron, welded in there). So I was thinking it might be best to put it in first and tile around it but I know that's not optimal. Anyway, to prep for my tiling job I watched the installation video for the Schluter-Ditra that has come highly recommended by many readers. I'm excited to use it!

In the meantime, I think I'll work on replacing the one rotted-out stud and disassembling the exhaust fan. I've really been thinking that we'd keep the one that's already in there - it works fine, is relatively quiet, and provides some nice light at the same time. I feel weird about keeping old things, though, which is totally wrong, I know. But I keep thinking, what if it breaks? It's going to be a lot easier to replace it now than later.

Bathroom Reno - Day 6.26-6.99

2010-03-04T19:31:00.003-05:00

I'll admit it, folks: I'm tired. How do I know? Well, when Paul came by to give me a hand this afternoon he pointed to a number of things that need to be fixed before we can start hanging the backer board for the tile. How did I react? I cried. This is pretty much the universal sign of Susie exhaustion. In fact, whenever I call my mom crying she always asks, "Are you tired?" And, yes, I generally am. I suppose all you manly-men out there are saying something like, "There's no crying in home improvement!" I reply, you got to get out your frustration somehow. And, yes, today was another frustrating day.

As I explained earlier, I was all psyched that I was going to get to moving today after ripping out the vinyl and prepping the mostly good subfloor. Then I got to the subfloor around the toilet. I figured, hey, it's just rotten on the top layer of luan. No, it was rotted through several layers of subfloor (there have to be at least five layers on there, including what appears to have been pieces of the original wood floor). It took me several hours to get the rotten layers out. Then Paul came over and helped me think through how to replace what I had removed and then pointed to the many problems with the framing around the tub. One 2x4 had rotted out at the bottom, which will have to be replaced. There is no framing in the center of ceiling so it basically goes for 34" across with nothing - this means the exhaust fan will need to be taken out and put back differently. Then, a lot of the framing is not even square or plumb - heck, in a few places it just doesn't even align. All of these things must be fixed. So why did I cry? I think because I had assumed that since all that board and tile was up there that it would be fine to use what was there. Of course, you know what they say about assuming. Not to mention the fact that there was nothing renovated after 1970 in this house that was done correctly (refer back to kitchen renovation for more drama). Indeed, I remembered later having the same sinking feeling when Paul came by during the kitchen reno, when I was all raring to go, and told me things needed to be fixed first. I think I cried then too.

So, after a trip to Home Depot, I started working on replacing the subfloor. I will be the first to call myself terrible when it comes to measuring - I'm just awful at it and consequently I measure once and cut about twelve times. Anyway, I'm just about there, as you see below - then I get to cut out a few more to get up to the height of the rest of the subfloor. Then I'll work on framing and then maybe, just maybe, I can get to rebuilding this Bangor Foursquare bathroom. G'night.

Bathroom Reno Day 6.5 - The Toilet Always Flushes Twice

2010-03-04T12:10:00.002-05:00

I spent the morning removing the old, ugly vinyl floor. For the most part, it came up rather easily. To my surprised delight, the subfloor also was in great shape. A quick measure told me I'll be able to use the Schluter-Ditra with the tile with no problem. I spent an hour or so scraping off the excess glue. What was not in good shape, however, was the subfloor around the toilet:

I thought, hey, no problem. I'll just pull up that bad boy and replace it. So much for my scoffing at the easily removed toilet yesterday. The toilet had its last laugh, I'll tell you. Not only is the top layer of the luan rotted through, but so are all the other layers of subfloor underneath it - we're talking a good four layers of rotted wood. No wonder it was so easy to remove! I'm having a heck of a time getting it all up too. They used regular screws for some of it, which are all corroded and not budging. Sigh. This will plainly be Day 6 trying to wrestle with just this piece. I was all excited thinking that I'd be able to get the new toilet in and get the Ditra down so I could tile tomorrow. Phhht.

Bathroom Reno: Day 5.60-5.99

2010-03-03T16:40:00.002-05:00

After finishing the last of the drywall removal (woot!), I took a nice break and got me some of that there iced coffee from Tim Horton's. Then I mentally and physically prepared myself for Toilet Removal 2010. I had done a lot of reading, a lot of This Old House and DIY Network watching preparing for this moment. I went in assuming the worst - expecting all sorts of floor bolt nonsense. I was prepared. I was prepped. I was one with the toilet removal. So, how long did it take, you ask? About 15 minutes. It came off so easily it made me think that the Universe was apologizing for the hornet episode. It was nasty business, don't get me wrong, but I'll take toilet removal over hornet abatement any day. I think the most time consuming part was getting the water out. I used an old turkey baster, which worked well. So, we're calling it a day. I'll take out the floor and start working on the new subfloor tomorrow. Maybe I'll get a new toilet in, but we'll see.

So, demo is prettty much all done - at least what I would consider the worst of it is done. I pat myself on my back for getting at least this far. I'm off the gym to find me a nice shower. Good night, hornets. Good night, John Boy.

Bathroom Reno Day 5.5 - Please let this be the last "thing"

2010-03-03T13:04:00.005-05:00

Just in case you thought I was overreacting, I snapped a picture of the nest before the exterminator took it away. Icky. I generally consider myself a pretty tough chick but yuck, yuck, yuck. I have no tolerance for that kind of thing. While I was less than thrilled about the $150 I had to spend on the new shut-off for the house yesterday, I am ecstatic to have spent $125 to pay someone to deal with this. Thank you, Maine Pest Solutions.

I now have the cleanest remodel site in the world - I ShopVac-ed the hell out of that bathroom. Nasty hornet carcasses everywhere. He said they got in around the venting for the exhaust fan. I need to go get some caulk and seal off that bad-boy tomorrow when the stuff dries. He says the stuff he sprayed will be good for a year and it's non-toxic - there is no smell or anything either. So I'm back at it. I have definitely learned my lesson about wearing a hat. No need to rain down insect remains on this head twice. Sarah, you offered to let me use your shower. I may be taking you up on that offer tonight...

Bathroom Reno Day 3.40 - Ew!

2010-03-03T10:31:00.002-05:00

Oh, #$%&@! I got around my faucet problem by getting around it - just pulling out the tile around it. I was just pulling out the last off the drywall on the ceiling and guess what I found...a huge-ass hornet's nest in the ceiling. Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew. Yuck! I am now cowering like a child in the next room. Do I call an exterminator? I don't know (and I don't want to know) if it's still active. Once the dead hornet carcasses started to fall I headed for the hills. Ew. Yuck. Nasty. I generally don't have a problem with insects (except cockroaches) as long as they're not living in my house.

Bathroom Reno: Day 5.25

2010-03-03T09:40:00.005-05:00

I'm taking a break while I call for backup. I finally got the long wall of tile down and pulled down the rotting drywall on the window side, as you see above. Interesting hole cut out there. I wonder what that used to be. A window, maybe?

But now I'm stuck. You can see my handy-dandy pink screwdrivers have only gotten me so far. I got the handles off the faucets but I can't remove the rest. The tile board behind them is ready to be yanked off but I don't want to break anything in the process. So, I'm hoping for a call back from some friends to help. Any thoughts in the meantime?

So, while the water is shut off, I might start on trying to convince the toilet to leave. Once that's done I get pull up the floor. Getting there...

Bathroom Reno: Day 4

2010-03-02T18:31:00.004-05:00

This picture pretty much sums up Day 4: Chaos. It started around 8:30am when first the city showed up again to give the water thing another shot (you'll recall they said they'd come back Wednesday - today is Tuesday) and then the electrician showed up. Shortly after, Lowe's showed up. Then the city people wanted me to call the plumber back, so he returned around 9am. I pretty much ran up and down the three flights of the Bangor Foursquare for about two hours. By 10:30am, however, all was squared away: new GFCI in the bathroom, new shut-off valve for the water, and almost all materials delivered. Yes, I said almost - they said they didn't want to bring me the beadboard they had in stock as it was not in good shape (which is nice), so they said they'll bring it on Thursday when they get more (which is not nice).

I guess it's okay, though, as I can't seem to get the remainder of the tile in the tub-surround to come off. Despite what I said about Harry the other day, I appreciated how easily the tile on the drywall came off. I don't know what this stuff is behind the remaining tile but it's' not so much coming off easily. It appears to be like drywall but this stuff isn't budging.

I'm so close now I can feel it, but, alas. I'm too discouraged to even bother cleaning up for tonight. I'm officially calling it now - the upstairs bathroom is out of commission for the next few days. We were still using the toilet and I had some semblance of a sponge bath last night but no more, peeps. Besides, the toilet is seriously wigging out now. It knows the end is nigh.

It also occurs to me now, as I pick out tile shrapnel from my hair and I try to stave off this nagging cough, that I should have been wearing a hat and a dust mask . Yes, I know this but I honestly hate wearing them - they both make me sweaty. And, let's face it, I'm getting sweaty enough as it is. I am at least smart enough to have been wearing goggles and long sleeves. I give myself credit for that. If you're keeping score, that's minus one for being stupid and plus one for being smart. In other words, I'm somewhere in between.

So, despite having not had more than an hour this morning to work on it and three hours this afternoon, I still feel like I accomplished something. I also got to observe some masters in action - I got a quick tutorial in soldering as well as one in fishing wire and adding a new breaker. Tomorrow is an uninterrupted day of work. I'm hoping to finish pulling out that tile and to get the toilet out and the floor up - the last of the demo...I hope.

Day 3.46-3.99

2010-03-01T17:48:00.003-05:00

Boy, am I glad I never offered to go on my favorite reality show: Renovation Realities on DIY Network. If I had, you would have been able to watch me break down on the bathroom floor and cry like a big baby. It was that kind of day. After the whole city water/plumber thing, I finally turned off the other shut-off valve to the house and went upstairs to remove the vanity. This was no easy feat - it appears they installed the plumbing after they installed the vanity so I had to cut out the bottom to remove it.

Then I attempted to install the new shut-offs for the sink but the size I got yesterday was wrong. I went back to Lowe's and attempted to find another one that fit. An employee thought I couldn't read so he proceeded for another 30 minutes to come to the same conclusion I did - they didn't have the right size. So then I drove across town to Home Depot, where a nice 20-something thought he could rig something to make it fit. I then returned home and tried to install it. It did not work again, to my sincere regret. And this is where I started crying, I believe. I then realized that if I cut the pipe a bit lower it was a standard 3/8" (I have no idea what the other size was or why there were two sizes of pipe). I dryed my tears and drove back to Home Depot and got the right parts - all on my own, thank you very much. So, our water is back on (which = Happy Thom) and the vanity is out. While I was at it, I also removed the medicine cabinet, which Thom had vetoed as a keeper. You can see below the result - all of this work seemed to have only taken a few hours but with all of the interruptions it actually took all day.

To feel like I had accomplished a bit more today I then removed the tile under the window.
I'd like to say that I'll try to knock out the rest of the tile tomorrow. However, the electrician is coming in the morning to install the new GFCI and breaker and then the delivery guys are coming with my stuff from Lowe's. Then I have to go to work in the afternoon for a student's defense. So, tomorrow is probably going to be a wash. Although, it does feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel. Once the tile and drywall is down in the shower I'll be ready to pull out the floor and get rid of the toilet. It seems to sense its demise is near; it was gargling while I was cleaning up a bit ago. The toilet death knell.

Day 3.45

2010-03-01T11:31:00.005-05:00

I got some more tile and drywall removed this morning but took a couple hour break as I waited first for the city to come to shut off the water to the house and then for the plumber. Why, you ask? I wanted to turn the water off so I could install the shut-off valves to the sink and remove the vanity. Upon two people trying to turn the supply valve this morning, it snapped off. I called the plumber who instructed me to call the city. After almost an hour of trying, the city informed me that they cannot turn it off but will need to have to come and dig it up...which will be in a few days. Luckily the water is back on so we can use it in the next few days and luckily there is another shut-off to the house so I can get the work done. Unluckily, having the plumber sit around and wait for 45 minutes still cost $60. This is on top of the $114 he quoted me to replace the valve later this week. I am hoping this is the only unanticipated issue for this project. Off to chip away at some more tile. Sigh.

Bathroom Reno Day 2

2010-02-28T12:28:00.004-05:00

A few updates since yesterday. Thom and I drove around to the box stores yesterday looking for a vanity with which we were both happy. Here is what we picked - it doesn't have drawers like we wanted but the color is right and so is the shaker style. It comes with a granite top and sink so I don't know if we'll keep it or use the one I got from the ReStore a few months ago. I'll donate whichever one I don't use.

I also had Paul come over last night to give me a second opinion on the tub issue. After taking turns jumping up and down in the tub (no, really) and not seeing any movement, I feel a little better. It appears while they did cut into the top of the floor joist, they only did so to accommodate the drain so the rest of the joist is intact. I guess we won't have a bathtub falling through the kitchen ceiling after all. Which is nice.

A little bit more progress today with the tile, but just a bit, as I have a church function for a few hours this afternoon. The rest of my morning was spent scheming - trying to figure out the sequencing of what I need to do in the next two weeks - and spending money at Lowe's. Since we do not have a truck (nor do we know anyone who has one -- I know it's hard to believe), I just decided to get everything I needed at one place so they can deliver it all. I guess this way I don't have to do that part of the heavy lifting. They say it will be delivered Tuesday morning, which gives me tomorrow to knock out the rest of the tile.

You can see what's left for me to tackle tomorrow. I'm hoping to get the tub surround and ceiling tile taken down as well as the tile wall that goes behind the vanity.

The rest of today we're going to find the breaker for the bathroom (poorly labeled box) and I'm going to go ahead and install some shut-off valves for the sink. Paul also thought we would be fine leaving the plumbing under the sink as is. It's not pretty but he thinks it's a waste of money to just get it re-routed. So that's that. I think I might instead just call an electrician to help us put in a new breaker and run wire to a new outlet. I hope that is cheaper than a plumber.

To Mildred From Harry (Bathroom Reno Day 1.5)

2010-02-27T16:05:00.002-05:00

> I don't know who Harry is but I'd like to give him a swift kick in the ass.

I did decide to start pulling down tile after all and starting with my smiley face tile (see earlier post) I got a good pace going, mostly because the tile was stuck to drywall, which as you see below, got moldy. Nice one, Harry.

After that, it came down relatively easily until I got to the wall by the vanity. Again, because it was stuck to drywall, trying to pry behind the tile to loosen it only made holes in the drywall. So, I went to HD and got a drywall saw and just cut along the top of the tile and then pryed out the whole wall (and subsequently found the nice note to Mildred). It appears Harry just decided to use drywall for all of the tiling backer. Here's what else I found behind the wall:

I don't know if you can see this very well but it appears that when they did the bathroom renovation (circa 1970 I would guess from the decor) they cut a hole in the floor joist and through the subfloor to accommodate the plumbing. This looks to me like the tub is really just balancing precariously on a few shim-type things that Harry the Boob put underneath it. I'm having a second opinion (Paul is coming by) before I start freaking out but I'm pretty concerned about the tub falling through our kitchen ceiling and I'm also concerned that fixing this mess will be beyond my skill set. Seriously, Harry, you can suck it.

Not smiling (Day 1: Prep for Demo)

2010-02-27T10:54:00.006-05:00

This may look like a smiley face but I'm not smiling. After about a 45-minute battle with the safety rails (they used drywall anchors) I came to find what appears to be drywall under the tile. I'm hoping that I'm wrong and that I'm not going to find a big, moldy mess under the tile when I pull it out. After complaining to Thom about this he remarked, "Well, maybe this is our thing." I asked what he meant and he replied, "The one thing we find in each room we work on where we say, 'Why did they do that?'" Indeed, this may be it. Idiots.

In the meantime, I'm just doing some other prep work: removing base boards, removing hand rails, etc. I may deign to start pulling out tile on the walls today but I'm not sure I'm mentally prepared. I started to feel a little sick to my stomach this morning thinking about the project and what all can go wrong. I'm mostly going to tackle this puppy myself (with the help of Paul and Thom to do some lifting of wallboard, etc.) so I'm hoping it will be okay. I am also trying to map out a schedule of what I'm going to do and in what order. I will need to bring a plumber in because of this mess:
Once I pull out the tile wall I hope that the plumber can then reroute the plumbing through the wall so we don't have to cut a huge hole in bottom of our new vanity (which Thom assures me he will be going today to help pick out). You'll also notice there are no, I repeat, no shut-off valves. I know I could handle putting those in myself using those compression fitting kind we used in the kitchen but I do not at all feel comfortable trying out my blowtorch skills for the first time to be able to pull off running new pipes. So, this Bangor Foursquarer will be calling in a professional for the first time (well, if you don't count the floor refinishing people). I admittedly feel a little wimpy about having to do it (as well as a bit miserly) but I will certainly rest easier knowing there is not water running down my walls...and that's worth $300, right?

So, the rest of today is probably going to be dedicated to filling the coffers of the box stores. I need to get the rest of our supplies including the vanity, the beadboard, the plywood for the subfloor, and the backerboard for the tile.

Speaking of backerboard, I am feeling lured in by what appears to be a DIYer's dream - EasyMat. If you'll recall, we have quite a height differential currently going from our bathroom floor to the hallway floor. I am hoping that a thinner subfloor will help (I think it's just the old hardwood under there, but we'll see) to bring that down but I also know that installing DensShield or Hardibacker or the like plus the height of the tile will be much too much. EasyMat seems to do the trick in terms of height and ease of installation but I've read mixed reviews on the web. So, I'm torn right now. I think I've learned by now that what seems too good to be true in home repair generally is, but maybe this time I'm wrong. Any thoughts, fair readers?

Bathroom Reno: Before Pictures

2010-02-26T15:09:00.003-05:00

In preparation for the Bangor Foursquare Bathroom Renovation 2010, I thought I'd give you all a quick overview of why the renovation is needed and what's on its way outta here.

Let's start with the hideous vinyl floor:
See that nice burn mark on the bottom left of the picture? Nice one. You can also see the front of the existing vanity with its gold highlighted paint and those classy 1970s-esque pulls.

Then we move on to the closet. First, let me say that I'm ecstatic that we have a closet in the bathroom and one so large. Nevertheless, these doors have to go with their gold hinges and gold knobs.

Here's an inside view of the shower/tub. This cream with gold flecked tile goes all the way around the shower, including the ceiling. This should be fun to remove. You'll also notice the multiple safety handles throughout the bathroom. We bought the house from an elderly woman's estate and there were tons of these things throughout the house when we bought it. These are the last two.

Another shot of the inside of the tub surround. We'll also be getting the tub resurfaced in white at some point - probably this summer.

Here's a shot of the overhead light, which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the gold. Too much gold!

Here's one thing I can't WAIT to get rid of: the toilet. This thing usually takes two flushes and seems to run at strange times. It's also just nasty and beige. Ick.

Here is the vanity (see tile that surrounds it - goes all the way around like wainscoting) with the beautiful gold faucet. Double ick.

And last but not least are the vanity lights. I like the placement of them and height of them but the olympic-torch theme has got to go. You can also see the edge of the medicine cabinet. I'm honestly not sure if I'm getting rid of it. I might try painting the frame silver and see how it looks first. You'll also note the switches - two for the lights and two for the exhaust fan and light. I'm interested to see how the rewiring goes for those. Since these vanity lights also have electrical outlets in them we're also going to need to run some wiring and put in a couple new outlets. Hopefully with the tiling taken out it will be a bit easier to run the wire (famous last words, right?). Finally, I'll probably be replacing the door with one of the original doors we have in the basement, the door trim, and the baseboards in the room since they don't match the rest of the house. Of course, these will be the last things to be done.

So, these are the collective challenges I have laid out in front of me in the next two weeks. Wish me luck as I'm sure I'll need it. I'll keep you posted with the ongoing saga.

Making Final Decisions

2010-02-21T17:14:00.005-05:00

I am committed. Really. I mean it. I'm doing it. Yes, I know many of you have heard this before but this time I am serious. With two weeks off for spring break and an able-bodied accomplice, Paul, who has agreed to help with some backer-board action, I think it's time to truly and honesty say that I'm going to do it: In t-minus 7 days I will begin renovating our upstairs bathroom.

So I'm at the final decision-making stage on one major item: the bathroom vanity. I was hoping for a different one but with budgetary and time restrictions I'm going to have to go the way of stock materials. Right now, it's down to color. Right after buying the house a couple years ago, the local Home Depot closed down and moved to a new location, which meant big discounts. So we got a sweetheart of a deal on floor tile. So, we've kind of had to design around that choice. It's hard to explain and I'm not sure a photo will do it justice but it's a light colored blue base with tan and darker blue accents.

So which way do we go? Since we're planning to put white beadboard as wainscoting on the bottom half of the wall and we'll have white tile on the shower walls and this lighter colored tile on the floor (white toilet, white sink, white bathtub, eventually), I was really thinking that a dark-colored vanity might be the ticket. It's not a huge bathroom so I was originally worried about anything dark but I now wonder if the darker color might anchor it somehow - especially because we can only work a 30 incher in there anyway. Our shower curtain (that we're keeping) also has a dark brown color accent in it. Maybe this will work? It's the last thing I need to get and I've been very hesitant about it. I'm concerned I'll spend a bunch of money and hate it. Anyway, here's one I'm considering from HD they call Java ($279):

I really want drawers but I also wanted something more shaker style, which this is not - either way, I'd change the ugly hardware. Lowe's has one - a bit darker colored, which they call "Pepper" ($268), which is shaker style:Thom is going to hate it but I might make him go with me and help choose. I'm torn.

Yes, I finally fixed the doorbell

2010-02-13T11:56:00.002-05:00

How long has it been now? At least a few months. But, yes, I finally fixed the doorbell. What was wrong with it after all that rigmarole of wondering if I needed a new transformer, wondering if it was the wiring, or the actual bell? It was the button. I feel fortunate it was the lesser of evils because my motivation has been lacking, to say the least.

So, I finally fired up the awesome Dremel Thom got me for my birthday and hacked away at the doorcasing to make the new one fit. I think it looks pretty nice. Once summer comes and we can repaint the front of the house, it will look even nicer all touched up.

In other, less exciting, news, I finally bought a tool box (well, I actually bought it back in December with my prize winnings) but I finally put actual tools in it instead of leaving them on the heap of crap that's been continuing to build on the shelves on our basement landing since we moved in two years ago (happy belated houseiversary, Bangor Foursquare :). My super sweet niece-in-law also got me an HD gift card for Christmas so I think I might continue the productivity and go buy some shelves on which to put our amassed paint and miscellaneous crap that has been piling up in the basement.

Other than that, just waiting for spring break to start on the bathroom. I was really hoping for a big, fat tax refund this year to pay for the bathtub resurfacing but no dice - the government decided to cut taxes to put more money in our pockets and now we owe money. Makes sense, doesn't it? Anyway, it looks like bathtub resurfacing will wait until summer when my grant money kicks in. We'll just have to live with a nice new bathroom with an icky old cream-colored tub for a while longer.

Ding, dong, the doorbell is still dead

2010-01-03T15:13:00.002-05:00

I was quite proud of myself today...which quickly evaporated. I was on my way to HD to buy a new transformer for our broken doorbell, thinking that was its problem. As I stood on the stepladder with my flashlight in the basement, I learned that the voltage for the existing transformer was only 8 volts. I think I had assumed it was more like 12-15 so I really thought it was kaput. Seeing that and testing it again, it was exactly 8 volts. So, the transformer is fine. So I figured we just needed a new button. I went to HD and got a nice one and returned home to install it. Unfortunately, despite its beauty, it still doesn't work. So, no issues with transformer, button is new and properly wired (I am pretty sure, at least), so that means it's either the chime or the 90-year-old wiring. I am thinking that instead of buying a new chime or having to rewire, I'm just going to buy a wireless one. I know, I know - tacky, but functional, right? Maybe I can find a cool-looking one?

Bathroom Reno: Postponed

2009-12-31T10:51:00.002-05:00

I am sad to admit it but the bathroom renovation will be postponed. I'd like to say that it will be postponed until spring break but I'm really thinking that I need as much time as I can get and not feel rushed. If I've learned one thing over the past two years, it's that projects generally take at least two times longer than you expect them to take. If I think the bathroom will take over one week to complete it will probably be more like two weeks. So, I think the best bet is to wait until classes are over in May. Besides, I can then afford to get my new bathroom vanity and maybe those heating pads that go under tile. I know we're going to need an electrician and probably a plumber too to deal with wiring and our hot water problem. So, we'll just have a spare room full of toilets and tile until then. In the meantime, I'm considering using some tax refund cash to get our fireplace fixed. With all the power outages here in the winter it might be nice to have an alternate heat source. I think we need the chimney lined and then the flu fixed. I guess we'll see. Anyway, Happy New Year, housebloggers!

$74

2009-12-09T09:18:00.002-05:00

That's how much I have spent of my $300 True Value gift card. Thom and I went back and forth this weekend about just plunking it all down to buy a small snowblower (we're supposed to get up to 14" today, some say) but instead I invested in one of the snow scoops (a bit like a small sled with a bar to hold), a tool box (we actually don't own one!), a speed square, and some ice melt. Nothing sexy or glamorous, unfortunately. I was really disappointed to see that our local True Value doesn't really have buildling materials so my plan for buying bathroom items is a no-go. My new plan is to buy a nice DeWalt drill/driver (our Ryobi cheapie just doesn't cut it for anything major) and maybe then save the rest for miscellaneous tools we'll be needing for the bathroom renovation. My plan is still to tackle this thing when we return from Washington after Christmas. I wanted to give myself as much time as possible, given the fact that everything seems to take at least double to triple the amount of time I expect it to. See? I am learning.

We WON!

2009-11-25T17:55:00.002-05:00

I cannot believe it! I never win anything. But, believe it! We won the My First DIY contest on houseblogs.net. It wasn't really skill or anything, just random chance, but I do not look a random chance in the mouth.

I am already dreaming of a million ways to use the $300 gift card.

Will it be a new vanity for the bathroom (instead of recycling the current one)?
Will it be a new medicine cabinet for the bathroom?
Will it be a new toilet for the downstairs Harry Potter bathroom?
Will it be shelving for our basement so our DIY paraphenalia isn't all over the floor?
Will it be something else?

Hooray for houseblogs.net!

Ding, dong, the doorbell's dead

2009-11-21T17:46:00.002-05:00

Oh, sad. Our doorbell - which is probably as old as this 90-year-old house - has died. It gave one sad little last hum today and then promptly up and died. Serendipitously, TOH Magazine had a little story about fixing doorbells this month. I started with step one, which included seeing if it was the bottom that was broken (according to TOH, this is the common problem). However, the screws were corroded and stripped. I called Paul to see if he had a screw extractor I could borrow but he instead came over with his arsenal of tools and got it unscrewed. Unfortunately, it wasn't the button. We checked the chime - it wasn't the chime. So it appears to be the transformer. I guess the issue will be finding a transformer that is the appropriate voltage - 12 volts, I am guessing. I don't know how lucky I will be in this quest. I think while we're at it, we will also get a new label for the box - it's poorly labeled and we have no idea what breaker is for what.

So, no sexy pictures - sorry. Maybe once I get a new transformer I will take one or two photos. Because, you know, transformer=sexy.

My First DIY

2009-11-18T13:47:00.005-05:00

It's often pleasant to walk down memory lane. I was inspired to do so by the new contest sponsored by houseblogs.net. I have absolutely no qualms about shameless self-promotion if it means a chance at a gift card (hey, we need to finance the bathroom remodel somehow!).

It was fun reminiscing about the first days of homeownership and revisiting my blog posts. Now that we're closing in our second year in the house, I love going back to see how far we've come. What was my very first DIY project? It was ripping down the hideous wallpaper in the kitchen, as you can see above. I quote myself saying, "I was tickled to find out that I could remove all of the wallpaper in the kitchen with one hand, no chemicals or scraping needed! The whole thing took me less time than taping one room to prepare for painting!" Of course, I did come to find that the paint that was underneath that ugly stuff was lead paint.

It's amazing that we went from that to this:

It's even more amazing that I used to tape off rooms before I painted. I really have come a long way in my DIYness and, yes, I love my DIY kitchen!

What seems the easiest project...

2009-11-15T13:08:00.003-05:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I picked up a new faucet at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for a steal - $9. Well, here it is successfully installed in what we lovingly refer to as our Harry Potter bathroom, or the tiny bathroom under the stairs. Before we had the ugly cheap model that could be picked up for about $9 brand new. I think this makes quite an improvement over the old one. I decided last night around 5pm to put this in, really thinking it would take me 30 minutes, tops, to take out the old one and install the new.

You'd think I'd know better by now.

Thom and I (admittedly mostly Thom) toiled and strained and swore for several hours at this thing. Taking the old one out: piece of cake; putting the new one back in without a leak: not so much. After many scraped knuckles and enfuriated tempers, we gave it a rest for the night. I think the basic issue was the very tiny space in which we had to maneuver. I did go to HD last night to get a basin wrench but we couldn't even fit that in the tiny hole underneath the tiny sink.

After some rest, some church, and a good bagel, I gave it another whirl. It seems that laying on my back with my foot up in the air and my tongue out made the basin wrench finally fit in there. No leaks! Much improved! We'll put in a new toilet and tile floor perhaps after the New Year and then that bathroom will be more or less complete.

The plan is still to do the full bathroom upstairs during Thanksgiving week (although I am admittedly a little afraid to attempt to do this with our usual savior, Paul, being out of town that week). If nothing else, this little lesson has reminded me to assume the worst and plan for way more time than I generally think I'll need.

New Terlet!

2009-10-31T13:25:00.003-04:00

It is a sad, sad testament to my life and what it has become when I am excited about buying a new toilet. Really, really sad. As Thom just pointed out, "We're not going to see some cool concert, we're not throwing a party, we're excited because we just bought a pooper." Yeah, that sums it up.

Despite how pathetic it might be, I am excited about my new toilet! After some pretty hard-core research and price comparison I marched down to our local Home Depot and bought this dual-flush sexy thing. 1.1/1.6 gallons per flush. Woosh! Earth friendly and awesome - who could ask for more?

I did read on the online reviews that the seat and wax ring that comes with it (it's an all-in-one model) are on the cheap side so I'll make sure to get new of each. My plan is to start the madness the week of Thanksgiving. No classes and we're not going anywhere so we'll see how much of a mess I can make.

Great Deals from ReStore for Bathroom

2009-10-17T17:31:00.007-04:00

So my plan now is to just buy up everything for the upstairs bathroom as I'm able and then do it all in one fell swoop. I made my first foray today into the ReStore in Brewer, ME and was pleasantly surprised. I think I expected a whole bunch of reruns and yucky crap but they had some really nice seconds - and, sheesh, TONS of tile. I got two great deals that I'm pretty happy with - a bathroom faucet to replace our low-rent version in the downstairs bathroom for $9 (on Lowe's website it sells for $68).Also a new granite vanity top with attached undermount sink for the upstairs bathroom for $120 (from Lowe's - originally was $314 but has one little scratch near the faucet area). The picture here isn't exactly the same but it's close.So, we have a few items left to get: toilet (already picked out from HD - dual flush awesomeness), the faucets for the sink and the tub/shower, and then the doors for the vanity. I did decide to reuse the vanity we have in place - it's not exactly what I want but I found this great place that will make MDF doors for dirt cheap. My plan is to reuse the box we have but repaint it white and then attach the new doors. I also think I'm going to reuse our medicine cabinet - it's a bit groovy for the style we're going for but I think it might look cool if I repaint the gold frame silver. If not, oh well, maybe the ReStore will come again to my rescue.

Piecemealing the Bathroom: Tile and More

2009-10-03T16:16:00.003-04:00

Recognize this sexy light? Yes, I think it was in my grandmother's kitchen too. Well, in the face of great adversity (or the lack of matching lighting) we have decided to do it up really old school and go with this light for the ceiling in the bathroom. It's certainly retro. It's chrome. And, you know what else? It's cheap! $20, baby. Which means, if we hate it, it's not the end of the world. I think it will go with the other lights pretty well. And, that's right, it's only $20.
After doing the bills this morning I found we had a few extra dollars left so I went ahead and ordered our accent tile for the bathroom and then made a trip to Lowe's for the extra white subway tile. We plan to do something somewhat similar to what we did for the kitchen backsplash but instead of interspersing glass tiles throughout we will do one stripe all the way across, probably about two-thirds of the way up. We had a bunch of the subway tiles left anyway so this will look nice, we think.

While at Lowe's I investigated backerboard for the tub surround area and came across this stuff by Georgia-Pacific called DensShield. It looks lighter and easier to cut and you don't need a vapor barrier. I think this is how we'll go, when we're ready.

I also thought a bit more about the lighting situation. The vanity lights that are currently there are the light/outlet combo type; obviously not to code. I thought, no problem, I'll just slap up a new electrical box under each light and we'll install GFCIs. I'm wondering though if it's actually more complicated than that and if this is a job for an electrician. I read something online that said we'd need a new breaker. Ick. What do y'all think?

Piecemealing the Bathroom: Lights

2009-10-03T08:57:00.004-04:00

See them there pretty lights? They're outta here, dude. Since we had to use the last of my summer grant money on plane tickets for the holidays (we love you, family) we will be piece-mealing the upstairs bathroom together. The first thing to go will be these lights. God, I hate them. We instead got these nice ones from HomeDepot that are a little more 1920s-looking.

It says these are "brushed nickel" but they really are more chrome-like. The problem is now finding something relatively along the same lines for the overhead light in there. I'd like something that's more angular, like these, but that doesn't look like a woman's breast (if you've been light shopping lately you know what I'm talking about). I'm not having much luck.

In the meantime, I'm planning and plotting how to piece-meal the rest together. We desperately need to replace the toilet and I'd like to do the floor at the same time. However, as you can see from the photo above, we also have an issue with old cream-with-gold-flecked tile lining the walls as wainscoting. I think I can just take a utility knife and score around the room since the bathroom appears to have been redone in the 1970s or early 1980s with drywall so I can just replace the drywall there for now. I'm fine waiting on the tiling for the walls (if that is indeed what we decide to do). The big problem is the shower since it is tiled all the way around the outside of the bathtub and the entire inside of the shower/tub area, including the ceiling. I am not sure we can afford the new tile yet but I also don't think we can live with blueboard for too long in terms of wrecking it with our only shower in the house. Thoughts?

Contented

2009-09-26T14:02:00.003-04:00

Before

You ask, "Is it deja vu?" And I reply, "No, I've just been discontented." Now I am officially contented. After painting the guest bedroom first one time and then again, I have returned yet again to put my discontent to rest. After searching for what appears to be over a year, I believe I have finally found the correct shade of green that I absolutely love. If you hadn't already guessed, it's called Contented (Sherwin Williams).

After

Thom proclaims that he liked the last iteration but I am clearly the more picky one in the pair. The other green was just too -- something. Too bright, perhaps. It was certainly just "too" for my taste. It just didn't seem to go with the rest of our palette in the house, which is much more muted and earthy. This color is finally the one. I think I am officially done painting the interior of our house! Hip hip hooray!

It's nice to be back at the home improvement game. I still have big hopes for the bathrooms getting done but the last of my summer grant money may need to be used for holiday plane tickets. I think the next semi-big project will be to remove the paint from the front porch decking and stairs and repaint -- perhaps removing the screening while I'm at it. We'll see. At any rate, at least I can finally go into the guest room and not say "ick" any longer.

Bathroom Reno Dreaming

2009-08-04T21:01:00.002-04:00

We have not abandoned household improvement; rather we have taken a hiatus to plot and scheme. As I believe I stated previously, most of my summer teaching money went to visiting the Mouse in Florida so we will be spending sporadically on the bathroom renovation. At this point I'm just trying to figure out the plan of attack. I know we can afford to buy the new toilet this month and we already have the floor tile. So this means removing the old toilet, taking up the old vinyl and subfloor, removing the old baseboards, installing new subfloor and cement backer board, tiling, and then installing the new toilet. However, here are some issues:

1) We will not be able to afford to buy the new vanity until September at least. So taking out the old one will be necessary for tiling the floor. I guess we just put the old one back in until we can replace it?

2) We are uncertain about what to do with the existing tile on the walls and in the shower. There is ceramic tile on two walls of the bathroom, serving as a kind of wainscoting. The shower is completely tiled, including the ceiling. Thom would like to have white subway tile, as would I, but I'm honestly just not motivated to remove all of this tile. I'm toying around with the idea of having Miracle Method resurface the tiles when they do the bathtub. We could always remove one row of them and replace them with some glass tile we have been eyeing. The existing tile and its grout are in very good shape too so it seems a waste to chuck it (and a waste of my sanity trying to remove it). However, we know we have some kind of issue with the hot water to the tub/shower. We don't, of course, have an access panel so removing tile would be helpful in diagnosing and fixing the problem. I would hate to have to mess it all up later.

So, that's where we stand. Any thoughts or opinions are always welcome.

Upstairs Floors AFTER

2009-07-14T13:35:00.003-04:00

Who wouldn't like this kind of homecoming after a nice vacation? It was great to come home late last night from Disney World to see our beautiful new floors upstairs. I'm overjoyed! A bit of touching up of paint on the baseboards this morning has made it a whole lot spiffier. We're going to move the furniture back today.

Unfortunately, however, all of our revelry with the Mouse has left us a bit strapped and I'm sad to report that the bathroom reno may have to wait. Since we already have the tile for upstairs, we may splurge on the two toilets and at least get those in. We'll probably have to wait on all the other stuff and cobble together the renovation over a few months. I guess this will be fine but just not what I was hoping for originally. C'est la vie, right?

Upstairs Floors Before

2009-07-09T09:20:00.002-04:00

The guys from Don Dickel Floors are here and in the midst of the insanity of trying to finish disassembling and moving our bed and sweeping up the cat's vomit that was hidden beneath it, I forgot to take "before" pictures of all of our floors upstairs. Here are a couple from when we toured the house before we bought it - harder to see but you'll get the general idea. Cannot wait to get back on Monday night and see the "after."

Wish us luck, we're off to see a man about a Mouse.

Bangor Foursquare circa 1930

2009-07-06T09:51:00.002-04:00

In the spirit of renewing our house with our much-anticipated floor refinishing later this week, here is a photo of the Bangor Foursquare at 10 years old. We received this photo from the Bangor Historical Society, which was part of their 1930's assessors' collection. As you can tell, the house seems to have been originally something other than just white - perhaps blue or gray (I often dream about getting the house repainted so this may offer some inspiration). The hand-railing on the front stairs seems to have been added later but our near-falling-down garage in the back seems to have been there for quite some time. However, other than the trellises on the right side of the house, everything else seems to be as it is now, almost 80 years later (including the asbestos-tiled roof that we still have and is still in excellent shape -- eat your heart out).

I'll take some before pictures of the upstairs floors this week after we move all the furniture out. Don Dickel Floors (the great people who refinished our beautiful floors downstairs) is coming on Thursday morning before we leave for Disneyworld so all of it has to be moved elsewhere...fun, fun, fun.

3rd time's a charm...mostly

2009-06-26T16:18:00.004-04:00

After calming down considerably from yesterday's Peony Tragedy 2009 (thanks for the thoughtful words, Karen Anne), I attempted to remove the last of the gunk from the bottom newel post today. There are still some lingering places that are more black than brown so I'm not sure how to deal with that but for now I need to be done as Thom has been feeling pretty sick from the fumes of the mineral spirits I've had to use to clean up the Peel Away 6. I wonder if there is a way to even out the color with a stain although I suppose this would just make the existing dark spots even darker...?

Nothing else going on this weekend except for maybe a bit more research on bathroom reno. I'm counting the days to getting the floors done!

I also think that my now successful use of Peel Away has prompted me to use it on our front porch floor and steps - there must be at least 10 layers of paint out there and you can tell it. That might be a July or August weekend project.

Are you f*cking kidding me?!?

2009-06-25T16:04:00.003-04:00

As I reported last year, someone came and stole my peonies before I could even take a picture of them. They finally bloomed yesterday and I thought I'd go enjoy them (now that the rain stopped for 5 minutes) only to find that someone has AGAIN stolen several of them (see above stem with missing flower). Mother f&cking, son of b%tch, a$$hole losers. I seriously feel like sitting outside with a bat and just waiting for them to come by again. I should at least feel happy that I got a picture of them this year - who knows, they may all be gone by tomorrow. I will quote myself from a year ago and repeat, "Mean people suck."

Okay, I admit it: I was wrong

2009-06-23T16:54:00.001-04:00

After being angry and frustrated last night regarding the issues with my Peel Away debacle, I spent some time on the Internet seeing that I seemed to be the only person in the universe with this problem. This led me to believe that the rest of the universe was probably right and I was most likely wrong. I reapplied the goo triple thick this time and used some plastic wrap. It all came off like a dream today when I got home. So, yes, user error. There are a few spots that I need to yet redo (including the bottom newel post that I did yesterday improperly) but I am happy with progress thus far. I was unhappy to see that I got some on the spindles but I know I'll need to repaint these anyway once the floors are done. All in all, then, Peel Away - hooray!

Stinking Peel Away

2009-06-22T21:06:00.000-04:00

As happy as I was to use the Peel Away yesterday, now I am hating it. While I was able to finish one newel post this morning, I came home from work to finish the rest, only to find that the Peel Away paper had not only dried on but also separated as I tried to pull it off. So, not only is my railing not stripped but it also has paper stuck to it. I'm ticked. I searched the Internet and seem to be the only person who has experienced this problem. I guess I will recoat it again tomorrow (I need more paper and HD is closed now, dammit) and see if it will do the job this time, including taking off the paper.

Grrr.

Stripping Sucks

2009-06-22T12:39:00.000-04:00

It will be interesting to see how many hits I get with that title - but, sorry, I'm talking about stripping woodwork. I have spent the past 4.5 hours stripping one - yes, count it, one - newel post. Sheesh. I haven't even started the railing yet, which is going to be an even bigger pain in the ass because at least the newel post has some flat surfaces. It looks like everywhere I didn't really glob on the Peel Away it just has stuck to it. I wonder if I should actually reapply more to the railing, now knowing this. (Un)fortunately, I need to stop for the day so I can eat something, take a shower, and get to work. There was another sign that I needed to stop for the day, however:

Yes, either all the scrubbing or the mineral spirits seems to have eaten through my gloves. I had a blister from last weekend's carpet removal and it even ate through the band-aid. I'm not sure how much was on my skin before I noticed. Yick.

Anyway, it already looks a lot better than before with the black nasty shellac it had on it. I was surprised, however, to see that the wood is not lighter. I wonder if the Peel Away actually only ate through the shellac rather than the stain. Not sure, but I'm actually pretty happy with the color so I'll probably just end up putting some poly on it. There are some spots that are going to need a bit of a do-over but that will have to wait until I can finish the railing. Woe is me.

Today's blog post brought to you by Peel Away

2009-06-21T15:51:00.001-04:00

I realized that to strip the banister and newel posts I would have to remove the carpet, which I did yesterday. So, taking some expert advice from Sarah at Bangor Bungalow, I gave up on the Murphy's and paint thinner and switched over to the real stuff. I decided to splurge and got Peel Away 6, which you see at work now. I don't know yet how it will work but I am already pleased by the lack of caustic odor and drippiness. I will give it 24 hours and we'll see how it turns out. Keep those fingers crossed.

In other renovation news, I am giving up on the dreams of the 1920's-style bathroom. It seems silly to tear out all of our tile on our walls and in our shower, which is in really good shape, and to waste the tile we bought last year. On top of the plumbing issues I shared the other day, I think it's best to just go with a vanity, get our tile done by Miracle Method along with the tub, and maybe just add an accent strip of glass tiles to punch it up a bit. I bought some samples today from cooltiles.com (the place from where I bought the accent tiles for the kitchen) so we'll see what we can put together; it just makes more sense/cents this way.

Away, damn carpet!

2009-06-20T19:12:00.000-04:00

Five hours, a hobbled back, and a million staples later - no more carpet on the stairs! Woot, woot! Yes, I somehow managed to convince Thom of the necessity to remove the hideous carpet on the stairs and we can now officially say that this Bangor Foursquare has been de-1970s-ized! Hooray for the 21st century! Tomorrow I will work on stripping the banister and newel posts.

What convinced him, you ask? I think it was the promise of a vacation to Disneyworld. You see, to get the floors done we're going to need to vacate the toxic promises (as will Mancha) - so why not use it as an excuse to take a vay-kay? Yes, after 35 years of avoiding all things Disney, I have now succumbed to the Mouse. Sigh. But - yippee! - upon returning, I shall have beautiful new floors upstairs! July 9-11 is the date!

I'm sure I will then have to reckon with Thom again about some kind of runner. However, after spending all this time pulling tack strips and staples out of our once beautiful floors I am not all that willing to see more holes. In fact, I think I consider carpeting hardwood very much akin to wallpapering. Indeed, one of the 10 Commandments of Our Old House:

1) Thou shalt not wallpaper over beautiful plaster walls.

2) Thou shalt not cover hardwood with carpet.

3) Thou shalt not punch holes in walls to accommodate wiring.

4) Thou shalt not hammer something with 50 nails when 3 will suffice.

5) Thou shalt not hire lazy contractors.

6) Thou shalt not build garages without proper foundations.

7) Thou shalt not create half bathrooms in coat closets.

8) Thou shalt not paint woodwork, then paint it brown to look like wood again.

9) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's hot tub.

10) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy wife, who is doing all this stinking work.

I may have made a huge tiny mistake

2009-06-18T15:21:00.000-04:00

I spent about two hours today going from hardware store to box store as well as trolling the Internet to find an answer to my problem: dirty newel posts and hand railings. The floor refinishing people suggested we tackle these before we get the floors and stairs done (for obvious reasons) and recommended using a combination of a deglosser and paint thinner to basically clean them so they could then be refinished. After looking at the extremely noxious ingredients in these things I decided to try something recommended by This Old House instead.

Only using one noxious chemical, I mixed equal parts of Murphy's Oil Soap and paint thinner. You can see the results above. Maybe this is what I wanted - I'm not sure. I know that removing almost 90 years of grime is not easy but I also didn't want to have to strip the wood -- maybe I've already done that. Eek.

Plotting and scheming

2009-06-18T09:25:00.000-04:00

The details are starting to come together, folks. I got an estimate from a place called Miracle Method in NH to resurface our bathtub for about $500. For a second, I reconsidered this - I thought, hey, we can buy a new tub for less than that. But I realize these tubs would be probably fiberglass (ours is cast iron) and it would be a major bitch to get the old one out, etc. Miracle Method can even resurface tile but I'm not sure we want to stick with the old tile. I actually found this picture and fell in love with this style of bathroom - I'm not sure we can do it but I want it! We had bought all of this tile last year at a HD closing for way cheap but now I'm not sure I want it anymore because I want this awesome hex tile, which, of course, is much more expensive.

The major concern is that when I look at the plumbing under the current sink it's a total mess, as you can see. I'm not sure what it will take it to get it into a shape necessary to be able to use a pedestal sink. I already knew we'd need to install shut-off valves, which is no big deal, but I'm wondering about rerouting, etc. to get in shape for a pedestal. Thoughts?

In other news, Don Dickel came to give us an estimate on the upstairs floors and the stairway. The rooms were very reasonable but I choked a bit at refinishing the 13 stairs: $600! I shortly considered doing this myself but just don't feel up to it. Besides, they do a great job.

I'm going to probably pull out carpet from the stairs and maybe play a bit with cleaning up the newel post and railing today. Wish me luck.

Half out - half still in

2009-06-14T16:38:00.000-04:00

Before (with hideousness)

Half of the ugliness is now gone. After two hours and about a million staples and nail strips pulled out, it's looking a lot better. Once we get it refinished it will look heavenly. I did find a couple surprises (as per usual):

First, they seem to have put in about a one-inch subfloor in the bathroom over which they laid the ugly vinyl. This is interesting also because there seems to have also been hardwood under there. I guess we'll see the shape of it when we rip it up later. I think I'm more concerned about what this means for dealing with the toilet - I suppose there is already an extension flange there, but we'll see.

The second surprise is the vehemence with which Thom staunchly is holding onto the carpet on the stairs. As you can imagine, it looks pretty silly with the hallway in hardwood and the stairs still enveloped in ugly yellowness. He was unconvinced by this argument, however (as well as several other seemingly unconvincing diatribes). He is dead-set against a runner, it appears (which was my compromise, since I don't want anything except hardwood) so we'll see what else can be fanagled. Any other ideas from all of you marriage-saving readers?

After

Anyway, I'm going to call Don Dickel, who did our floors downstairs, tomorrow and see if we can line up getting the upstairs bedrooms and the hallway/stairs done at the end of the month.

Bathroom planning

2009-06-13T15:15:00.000-04:00

So, have I mentioned what the plans are for Bathroom Remodel 2009? This is what we're planning to do downstairs (world's tiniest half bath) and upstairs with the full bath:

Downstairs

Pull out vinyl and replace with tile floor

Remove old and inefficient toilet and replace with new

Keep sink but replace faucet

Total estimated budget: $250

Upstairs Bathroom

Replace inefficient toilet with new
Remove vinyl and replace with tile
Resurface existing bathtub
Replace vanity, sink, and faucet
Remove and replace medicine cabinet
Replace lighting
Retile bathtub surround
Install new baseboards
Replace linen closet doors

Total estimated budget: $2000

So, now the choices begin - we were close to buying a closeout of a bathroom vanity, marble top, and sink at HD today but it wasn't exactly what we wanted, even if it would have saved us $100. Right now it's trying to agree on things like lights - something 1920's-like, maybe art decoish. Of course, everything I like is ridiculously expensive. But, I will make a call to the tub refinishing dude on Monday and see what the protocol is - does he come before or after we pull down existing tile, etc.? I'm excited to get started!

To ugly yellow carpet or to not ugly yellow carpet

2009-06-13T11:35:00.000-04:00

Well, really, there is no question...well, at least not in my mind. It's just plain ugly - it's one of the last few remnants of the 1970sesque house we inherited and I want it gone, gone, gone. It's dirty, it's nasty, it's got to be at least 30 years old. So, what's the problem, you ask? So, why don't you just rip it out, you wonder? Well, the one immoveable barrier in this ugly carpet problem is the common denominator of my husband - who, yes, likes it. Well, I'm not sure he really likes the actual carpet - I think he likes having carpet on the stairs in the upstairs hallway. I, on the other hand, think it's hideous. I keep wondering if I should just rip it out and deal with the consequences. My idea is to just get the hallway floor refinished and the stairs too to match our beautiful floors downstairs. Thom, however, feels the carpet on the stairs is important to quiet the noise coming down them. I feel this is a flawed argument as we do not actually know if the stairs would be noisy. Really, the only thing going for this hateful floor covering is that the cat's vomit matches the color so it cleans up pretty well.

Final Kitchen Budget Breakdown

2009-06-06T16:33:00.000-04:00

Before 1

Before 2

Before 3

After 1

After 2

After 3

Yes, friends, almost a year later I can finally say that the kitchen is done, done, and done. This monumental (and year-long) triumph can only be celebrated with a recap of the damage it did to our wallet. Actually, when it's all said and done, I'm extremely pleased with how it turned out and the way we fanagled some deals to make it happen.

Drywall for ceiling $60
Wiring from Home Depot $30
Lighting from Lowe's $220

New faucet from Home Depot $80
Countertops from Ikea $237
Paint (for cabinets, walls) from Sherwin-Williams $60
Drawer pulls from Lowe's $60
Cork floor from Home Depot $727
Thresholds from Gray and Sons $40
Tile from Lowe's and cooltiles.com $100

Total: $1614

Appliances (purchased separately from Sears):
Vent hood $200
Dishwasher $600
Refrigerator $800
Range $1200

Total with appliances: $4334

They're in!

2009-06-06T16:26:00.000-04:00

Hooray! I finally have finished the kitchen! After several weeks of putting it off I finally put in the thresholds! It's funny, the hardest part of putting them in is making sure our cat doesn't walk on the fresh polyurethane. Once they are all dry I will touch up the paint on the bottom of the door frames.

Also, here is a photo or two of our front flower beds as I did some considerable heavy lifting today putting in mulch after planting some annuals last weekend. It's looking pretty spiffy. And, for those of you who recall Peony Tragedy 2008, I am excited to report that I should have at least 8 peonies this year - so even if someone steals a couple I should still get to enjoy a few more. All the rest of the perennials are coming in nicely.

So, that does it for the kitchen - at least as far as I'm concerned. Thom's still jazzed about the idea of putting in some molding on the ceiling but I'm really not feeling it. I'll post again with the final budget breakdown, just FYI. I'm so ready for Bathroom Extravaganza 2009 (coming soon)!

Updates

2009-05-15T13:33:00.001-04:00

It's been a crazy past few weekends so I haven't yet been able to put in the thresholds in the kitchen. I'm hoping to do that when I return in June from a slight break. Mostly it's just tweaking the last bit of them, getting some poly on them, and putting them down.

One exciting thing is that we got a picture of our house as it looked in 1930 through the historical society. Our scanner isn't working now but I'll put it up soon. It's interesting to look at - most things are the same except it seems to have been painted grey or blue. I'll get it up soon.

Finally, on a non-sequitor note, I have become addicted to the DIY Network show called Renovation Realities. As far as I can tell, this is the best reality show on television. It's jam-packed with excitement: people who have no idea what they're doing demolishing their homes, usually with power tools. It's non-stop excitement - nail-biting drama. And it just makes you feel that much more competent (episode today - woman thinking studs in the wall run horizontally and then getting towel stuck in circular saw and then trying to pull the towel loose while saw still plugged in). All around good times.

Spatially challenged

2009-04-28T11:41:00.000-04:00

Spatially challenged is what I am. Paul (aka The Superhero) came over last Friday to help with the thresholds. After finishing up one in record time he left the task of completing the second one to what I considered capable hands. We watched him do the first one, it made sense, and we learned. Then he left. Ugh. We must have stared at that threshold for a good hour trying to figure it out. Mostly it came down to the fact that when they added the bathroom in the hallway, they had to knock out a section in the kitchen. This resulted in two different sets of baseboards and trim in the kitchen. One on one side of the door and one on the other. The cork floor we laid was also not exactly straight so all of these complex issues and angles threw us into a full blown argument (we really are not allowed to do home improvement together anymore...remind me if I forget). We threw in the towel for the weekend and so, quite nicely, Paul came back over last night and finished it up. He admitted it was a bit more complex than the first one but he still managed it - something I could not have done on my own. So the realization is that I am spatially challenged - especially with things like this. I get it in theory but in practice I fail. I figure it is good to know one's limitations in life.

So the plan is to get these puppies sanded and then a few coats of polyurethane this weekend. Perhaps by Sunday we will have a completed kitchen! Believe it or not!