Monday, August 12, 2013

Bathroom Redo - Part One

Project Runway?  LOL

Day One (Thursday):  My contractor, Jeremy, came out with his crew of two.  They masked off a nice "runway" to protect my wood floor, draped plastic over the furniture in my bedroom, sealed off the doorway to the bathroom, and started demolition.  Tile was loudly (VERY LOUDLY, Paco would like to add) removed from the floor, the counters and faucets were removed, the glass enclosure to the shower was removed, and the toilet was removed and placed in the shower.
He jumped on my lap when the noise began, and couldn't decide which was better - to bark at it or to simply quiver and shake...

The painters arrived while this was happening, and started work repairing the damaged wall in the bathroom, and prepping the walls in the closets for painting.  There was a lot of spackling to be done in my closet, considering I had just about all the available surface covered with pictures!  Then they left for lunch and the granite guy showed up.  My first granite.  OH MY.  It's beyond gorgeous.  I am really, really happy we decided to spring for granite.  It was fascinating to watch Ignacio, the granite guy (an artisan, really), cut the granite to fit.  It's definitely a skill, and the care and precision he showed made me glad that we had him working on our project.
 
Hello Gorgeous!  Even without the faucets and with the old drawer and door fronts, the bathroom is already looking fabulous!!!

By the end of day one, the closets were painted a nice bright white, the walls in the toilet room were textured (and about 1000% better than what we did), and the granite countertops, plus the sinks, were installed.  Ignacio put a sealant on the granite, which was pretty strong-smelling, but that went away in a few hours.  Even though there is just concrete for the floor, the toilet is in the shower, and there's no glass on the shower enclosure, the bathroom looks amazing already. 

Things that could have gone smoother, but ended up being OK:  We had the paint ordered and mixed, but couldn't pick it up until the first day since it was going on sale that day.  Luckily Jeff was in town and wasn't teaching, so he could run to the paint store and get it.  The faucets came in on Wednesday, but I didn't get a phone call (otherwise I would have gone out to pick them up).  The plumber wasn't scheduled until Tuesday, so I didn't stress about getting them...until Ignacio told me he needed them in order to cut the correctly-sized hole in the granite.  Oops - rookie mistake, but really, how would I have known this?  Again, Jeff to the rescue - he picked them up and we were set.

Day Two (Friday): It was a much quieter day, which Paco appreciated.  Just the glass guy came out to measure for our new shower enclosure.  Paco slept hard all day long; I knitted.  We both enjoyed ourselves!

Day Three (Saturday):  The carpenter came to install the new doors and drawer fronts, plus he put in a new toe kick (the board at the very bottom of the cabinet - it was damaged from both the water and the holes drilled into it to dry out the cabinets).  These will be painted white.  While I had him captive...er, here, I showed him something I found on Pinterest (permanent dividers for a silverware drawer) and asked if he could do that for me.  He can, and took my drawer with him; I should have that soon!
These will be painted white next time you see them.

Things that could have gone smoother but will end up being OK:  My carpenter discovered that both hot water valves were leaking inside under the sinks.  They weren't previously, but somehow after the plumbing was detached from the old sinks, it happened.  Wasn't water the reason we started this project in the first place??  We cleaned it up and put big bowls under the sink to catch the drips, and since the plumber is coming soon to install all of the faucets, we'll have him replace those valves. 
Bowl of (leaky) water; board is holding up the sink to the underside of the granite while the adhesive dries.

Day Four (Monday):  Painters again.  This time they painted the toilet closet and did some touch up in my closet, and also painted the new cabinet doors and drawer fronts, and the cabinet, too.  Everything looks good!  They said they'll probably have to come back after the plumber and tiler have been through to do some final touch ups - I am getting to the point of wanting to put my stuff back into the drawers and move back in, but nope.  Must be patient.

Day Five (Tuesday):  The plumber came and installed the faucets!  I love them!!!  It's just amazing how nicely everything is coming together - they look so gorgeous on the granite, and my bathtub looks super fancy now - well, if you ignore the layer of dust everywhere...
Wowzers!  Makes me want to take a bath, even though it's so hot I'd sweat to death right now.
 
LOVE.

Things that could have gone smoother but will end up being OK:   Something about a cartridge and older plumbing meant that the one that came with my shower thingie wouldn't work, so the plumber had to order a different one.  But he didn't end up needing the bloo-blippy thing for the pipes under the bathtub, so I get to return that, which will hopefully make the new cartridge a wash in cost.  He'll be back to install that when he resets the toilet.  I also noticed a dirty handprint on one of the newly-painted drawer fronts, argh!!!  But I know that there will be paint touch ups done; it was just painful to see that the day after they were painted.

Next time, tile, grout, shower enclosure, and carpeting...getting closer to being finished!

24 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness! Its so beautiful! But the "things that could have gone smoother" make me crazy! And yet, it is all done in a relatively short span of time. Very amazing to see.

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    1. "Relatively" short span - yes. It will feel like that in another month or so...right now it feels like we've been in the throes of remodel forever (which really, it began on June 6 with the flood and damage, so I guess it has been going on longer than I realized). It will be wonderful when it's all finished, and I'm hanging onto that. :)

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  2. It's so PURTY!! And I am dying of jealousy over your tub!

    I think you deserve the granite if you don't get to go to Hawaii.

    You know, your list of things that could have gone smoother is really good for a remodel LOL! I love how fast things get done when you hire crews and stuff. Why is it that I do these things myself??

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    1. I've been thinking of you a lot throughout this process, Lori, and seeing how long things take even with a crew, I'm even more impressed that you take on these projects yourself!

      P.S. The tub is nice but I rarely use it.
      P.S.S. The things that could have gone smoother? Gets worse...

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  3. Looking fabulous. Those darn bloo blippys will get you every time!

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  4. Wow Shelley it's going to look fantastic when it's finished! I love it how big your bathroom is but the "I hate cleaning" in me is glad she doesn't have to clean it.

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    1. Apparently I have a cleaning woman, according to what my neighbor said yesterday. Well, really he asked if I had one, because he kept seeing a black vehicle on my driveway early in the morning. Took me a minute to realize that it was Julia's car he was seeing - do you think I could convince her to clean my house after she's done working out with me? LOLOLOL!

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  5. I LOVE IT!!!!! I can't wait to see it finished!

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    1. Thanks - and I can't wait to see it finished, either! :)

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  6. I love your bathroom! We only have one bathroom, and it's about 1/4 the size of yours - jealous of that tub! I'd take baths even in the summer! :D

    Everything is looking great!

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    1. Thanks! I think the master bathroom/closet area is bigger than my son's first bedroom, back when we lived in California. It is a luxury to have something so big...but Texas. You do get more bang for your buck with housing out here.

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    2. I forgot about that--"Texas bang for your buck!" When I bought my cabin, my brother pointed out that I could have gotten a mansion in Tx for less than half the price. Maybe an exaggeration, but not by much!

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  7. Everything is looking fantastic Shelley!!! So nice! OH PACO!!! He cracks me up. Have a great day!

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  8. Looking good Shelley!!! That's exciting - love the granite

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  9. Love how it's all coming together! (I'm with Paco, that tile removal is NOISY!)

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  10. Your granite looks just like my cabinet-tops in my loft. You are going to love it! Everything looks beautiful!

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  11. Oh yeah, if it were my dog, Cas, he would definitely be barking at everything. He barks at the washer spinning. He even barks at steam coming out of the waffle iron because he associates it with the smoke alarm going off.

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  12. Oh wow, soo pretty & it isn't even finished yet. So lovely. Cool faucets, granite choice, etc. So weird that you had just re-dood this space!
    Hang in there! Ooooo, Ahhhhhh.
    Chrissy

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    1. I know, it's pretty ironic that we spent so much time tearing down the wallpaper...if we'd only known the flood was imminent, we could have saved ourselves the trouble!

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  13. um WOW?
    it looks awesome and YET I know Id accidentally destroy mine.
    maybe.
    I think :-)
    unless you come and hang with me while I do...

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  14. those swan neck faucets. <3 <3 *drools*

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  15. Love it all! Can't wait to see the final product!!

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