Still alive - but barely

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.