Custom-made toilet seats?

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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.