Fingers Crossed

Monday, February 8

The first thing today is to call the local Code Enforcement office and bump our final inspection another week to Wednesday Feb 17, so we have time to figure out how to center the vanity and then finish up all the final details. We have a long weekend coming up to really drive the project to the end.

Next, we call the plumbers to come back and center the vanity. it turns out that the rough plumbing is correct, but when they installed the vanity, they angled the P-trap a little (about an inch, actually). So, they agree to come back and "take a look at it."

Our electrician stopped by to pick up his final payment. So, I point out to him that the wall sconces are not quite level. The good news is that there is a little play in the mounting hardware, and he is able to move one of the sconces up a little and the other down a little, so they are now level. Sweet!

Tuesday, February 9
Not too much happening today because we are planning to do the rest of the work over the long weekend.

The plumbers show up, and they are able to center the vanity in about an hour. Hopefully, there's no charge for this visit since it didn't take very long and was part of the whole "install the fixtures" part of their original quote. Either way, the vanity is centered perfectly. That could have been a lot worse.

Wednesday, February 10
Whoa that's a lot of snow! There's a blizzard warning today, and that makes for a slow start. It just feels like a "snow day"--the day off kind of snow day.

Well, apparently it's not a day off for the inspectors. At 8:30 a.m. the door bell rings, and here are the plumbing and electric inspectors. I guess somebody over at the code enforcement office didn't pass on my request to delay inspections. Anyway, they're here; so let's get to the 'spectin'. Woot! Pass and pass.

An hour later the building inspector shows up. We don't have the base boards or radiator trim in yet, so we're a little nervous... Pass!

An hour later the fire inspector is here--the one who lobbied pretty hard for us to wire the whole house with wired-in smoke detectors. He is satisfied with the new wired-in heat detector in the garage. He makes sure that the rest of the house has battery-powered smoke detectors; and thank god they all have working batteries in them! Pass!!!

Woot! We completely passed our final inspections (with a little luck)! 'Nailed it!

Must.. Finish... Bathrooom

Monday, February 1
Now that we can use the shower, our sense of urgency has started to wane. The week of Feb 1 to Feb 5 sees us both focusing on our day jobs.

Tuesday, February 2
We pull out one of the vanity drawers and take it with us to Michael's (that arts-n-crafty place that's like kryptonite to dudes) to hunt for a nice frame for the vanity mirror. Although we were willing to spend a few hundred dollars for a nice custom frame, nothing custom really matched the wood stain on the vanity. So, we grab a stock frame for $29.

Wednesday February 3
We can no longer postpone the trim that goes around the two doors in the bathroom--the closet and the entry doors. For a variety of reasons (including that we have neither a table saw nor a great deal of confidence in getting all the casing details 100% correct), we sacrifice some of our pride and call in the carpenter to finish the casing.

A little more sanding in the closet, and we are ready to prime the drywall. I think we are finally done mudding and sanding!

We schedule final inspection for Wednesday February 10. Now we really have our feet to the fire!

Thursday, February 4
That $29 dollar frame gets a piece of mirror stuck in it at the local glass shop for another $30. It turned out well and saved us some coin.

Friday, February 5
Just our day jobs...

Saturday, February 6
We have a lot to do this weekend. First off, we forgot to put silicone sealer in the shower's supply through-holes. So, we have to pull the shower off the wall, and seal it all up.

First, we need to cut the access panel in the wall behind the shower (in the closet). We dry-walled that a while ago, so I hope we remember where to cut the hole... Referring back to a photo of that wall taken before we dry-walled helps us find the right spot. Bingo, no drama.

Now we can turn off the supply to the shower and take it off the wall. I hope the supply gaskets seal up correctly, because putting that shower up was a real chore the first time, or should I say the seventh or eighth time. Fortunately, no drama ensues, and that task is done.

...And here we go again--sanded caulk. The last time we used this stuff was a pain! And we ran out of the stuff! Now that we have more, it is round two with this awful stuff. Done, and the tub alcove is done done done done done done!!! Now we have to wait 48 hours before we can use the shower again...

We whip out the wood putty and finish off the window trim. After a short break to let the putty dry, we prime all the trim, and we call it a day while the primer dries.

Sunday, February 7
Though it doesn't sound like construction, somebody has to launder all the towels we bought for the "spa-like bathroom." Sue is kind enough to volunteer for that task. Then, she heads upstairs and pulls the bathroom doors down, so we can paint them.

Jake's job is to cut the trim for the baseboards; that looks pretty straightforward, there are only about 9 pieces to measure and cut. Hold on, though, that radiator trim needs some work--another detail that has fallen into the "we can do that later" category.

I'm sure people that do construction on a daily basis would have some quick solutions, but it takes us a couple of hours to come with a design that works for us. Most radiator covers (or companies that make custom ones) that you find online are concerned with the big bulky type of radiator (and are butt-ugly and expensive). Ours is small and is recessed into the wall; we really only need a panel and a means of sticking it on the wall. Also, we are in a hurry, so we don't want to wait for shipping or some sales guy to come out.

So, we come up with a design that we can make ourselves. We make another Home Depot run and pick up about $30 worth of lumber.

Next, we cut all the baseboards and paint them and the two bath doors.

It has been a long day, but we still want to get the mirror hung. We select the height where we want it, measure the center-point between the sconces, and grab the level to make sure it will be perfectly level and centered; voila.

Hey! That's not right! The vanity is about an inch to the left of where it is supposed to be. Isn't it great how only when you put the last piece of the project in place that you discover problems! That off-center vanity sticks out like a sore thumb.

We grab the plans and measure, the sconces are right, the electrical sockets are right, the vanity is off an inch. How could this be? Are we going to have to cut open the wall and fix the rough plumbing?!? Put a fork in me; I'm done for the day...

Starting to look like a home again

With the last of the sanding hopefully completed, this weekend is about bringing the house back into the state of being a home and not a construction site.

1. First step, tromp approximately 5,000 trips up and down the stairs moving the tools that have collected in the corner back into their proper place in the tool box.

2. Now that we aren't tripping on things, next step is to take out the cardboard floor that has been slowly accumulating Spackle and grime for several weeks.

3. Next is to suck up the foot thick layer of dust that has settled on everything upstairs. I haven't tackled the full final dusting, just that which is on the floors.

4. Next I can take all the towels and sheets that were on my bed and put them back into the hallway closet where they belong. I can actually see my bed again!

5. Now to get this giant bathtub cardboard box out of the living room. Yes, I know that sounds weird but we were using it as a shield to keep the puppies in the living room while workers came and went. This task seems easy except that the box doesn't quite fit down the stairs as I planned. So now I am pinned in the hallway with a big-ole box and a box cutter. While I hack and slash with my razor blade like I am in the Georgia swamps or Amazon or something, I finally break it down into pieces that can get to the garage.

5. Finally, the last step, taking down the plastic sheets that have been closing off the living room and kitchen from the rest of the house. It seems silly but when those buggers come down, it changes everything. I can't help but smile as I walk through the kitchen door over and over again, just because I can.

So, now we are in the home stretch. I am not sure how much we will get done this week but next weekend we are going to be done. Wait for the full before and after montage that will be coming soon...

Does it need to be square??

Tuesday, January 26
We continue our mudding and sanding in the closet. The drywall work is finally done.

Wednesday, January 27
Well, we've finally arrived at the task of trimming the door jambs for the closet and the entry door to the bathroom. They are in very close proximity, and the trim for the two doors will actually be touching. So they really need to be trimmed out as one big trim project.

The rest of the bathroom project was undertaken with a lot of careful forethought, sketches and pre-visualization of the final result. This door trim project has been a nagging afterthought that has been, well frankly, ignored for the duration. We have figured that we'll just "make it work" later on.

Uh oh. (yep, yet another Uh oh... but the end is in sight, it has to be.)

The top door jamb of the closet door is about 1/2" lower than the entry door. After a good period of contemplating a solution, we decide that we better call up the carpenter to come over and advise. Fortunately, he is available to stop by this evening. Due to the tight size of our bathroom, the dimensional tolerance for just about everything are unforgiving.

The carpenter is having a hard time coming up with a solution to the door jamb height issue, when he spots a worse issue--the wall that is to contain the door is out-of-square--the right side of the door is about 1/2" further into the closet than the left. This wall is sloppy, but could be tolerated, if not for the tight space where it is located.

It's my fault; I noticed the flaw when I installed that wall. Immediately after driving about 20 nails into the studs, I stepped back and saw it. Removing the door did not seem like a project I wanted to undertake; "we can make it work later," I thought.

The carpenter comes to the conclusion that the wall simply needs to be fixed; that is, made square and to the same height as the entry door. Luckily, he is available tomorrow to fix it.

Also, to add more drama, Sue has come home from work with a stomach flu (and to say she is sick is a very big understatement, she resembles a production of a B-rate zombie horror flick.) I hope I don't catch it. On top of that, Lisa and Peter are supposed to be showing up on Friday to have some fun in the city. Time to give them a call and let them know that we have a cootie-house, might need to reschedule.


Thursday, January 28
The carpenters are here. I am surprised to see that the wall fix requires chopping out our wall and doing it over. Fail. How embarrassing.

By the end of the day, the carpenters have rebuilt the wall and door jamb, taped and mudded the new drywall, and they even managed to hang the closet door.

Friday, January 29
The carpenters are doing all the work today. By the end of the day, they have both doors hung and have done a second coat of mud. Things just seem to go faster when call in the pros. Strange how that works, or perhaps it makes perfect sense, you certainly get what you pay for sometimes with do-it-yourself projects.

On a side note, Sue is still sick but she isn't quite the scary shade of green anymore.

Here is what the closet looks like without all the trim or painting in place...

We Took a Shower!!!

Sunday, January 24
We install the casing on the window, and now it's time to address the closet, which we've been ignoring in the push to get the plumbing and electric ready for final inspection.

We put in the last pieces of drywall, now that we no longer need access to the shower plumbing, and we have more taping, mudding and sanding to do. While the first coat of joint compound is drying, we make yet another pilgrimage to Home Depot, and in the rain we load up a van with our closet door. As an added bonus, on the way back, we are able to load the van up with $125 worth of unused stuff that we bought from the 'Depot and didn't need. We are a little soggy.

Monday, January 25
Since it has been raining, the joint compound is taking forever to dry, so not much gets done today.

But, it isn't all bad news... WE GET TO TAKE A SHOWER. It is like being in a rain shower, but not the same as when we were stuck in the rain at Home Depot, this is different and very very very very very nice. I could stay in there all day.

Those Pesky Germans Part 2

Saturday January 23:
The towel bars we bought are made by Danze. The installation is a real chore. Let's just say that the mounting screws have to be EXACTLY positioned. That is a difficult feat over the tub alcove tile. Even though the through-holes are in the right place, the tiles are ever so slightly out-of-plane, which makes screwing in the final set-screws a real challenge.

Using a lot of elbow grease, we finally manage to tighten up the screws.

Now, we're on to caulking the tub deck. We got some pricey sanded caulk that is specially designed to match our grout. This stuff combines the worst aspects of both caulk and grout. It is difficult to apply and a sticky mess to finish up.

Worse, we ran out of the stuff before we finished. That's going to be another long trek out to the tile supplier to get more. It is frustrating to have to wait 48 hours for the caulk to cure before we can use the shower.

Next step, casing, mouldings & closet...

Dim dim dim, bright bright bright...

Thursday January 21:
Jake tackles the shower, finds a few joints needing some soldering touch-ups but now that those leaks are taken care of, we now need to redo the teflon tape or get new gaskets because the thing is still leaking. If you look at our calendar of things we got done today it says

1. Fix leak in shower
2. Create new leak in shower

So, tomorrow we should be able to wrap this up.

Friday January 22:
Lenny the electrician shows up bright and early today to finish up the fixtures. In the garage, he installs the outlets, switches and two florescent lights, our shiny new garage heat detector and our new sconces by the garage door. In the bath, he installs the light in the shower alcove, the light/fan combo, bath vanity sconces and outlets. Oooh, and I can't forget the really cool dimmer switches that we picked out.

With all that electrical stuff in place, everything looks sweet. Sue gets home from work and we stand in the bathroom playing with the switches. Dim dim dim, bright bright bright, fan on, fan off, fan on with timer, dim dim dim. Maybe we are a little nutty but that was a lot of fun.


Oh, and to make things even more awesome, the shower leaks are fixed. We can actually take a shower! Woot!!!