bringing you up to speed

some of you are aware that we have been going through a bathroom remodel for the past two years months, and a few have asked for a report. okay ... you can kick yourself for asking later.

this is what we started with prior to november 5, 2008:

nasty old tile, nasty old wallpaper that was peeling, nasty old trim that was never properly installed. nasty old pipes in the shower that rattled loud enough to wake the dead when it was attempted to turn the dial to "hot" ... which was an exercise in futility, since the temperature never went above "lukewarm."

anyone who knows me probably guesses that i squealed with joy when we bought this house, because of the presence of light yellow tile. well, yes, i sorta did. but then we moved in and found that the tile has been "grouted" in places with silicone caulk. yeah. seriously. it was horrible. and given the fact that a) the shower never really worked, and b) persons trying to use the shower had about three square feet in which to bathe themselves, we turned the shower into marc's personal spray box for his geek projects. handy, but a second usable bathroom was more important. hence, the remodel.

so the day after the election, our contractor arrived. (yes ... i said the day after the election. remember that? first week of friggin' november??) some demolition immediately took place, and soon the bathroom looked like this:

no more tile, wall taken down to reroute the plumbing, ceiling partially removed. this was after about, oh, three weeks of work. during that time he also had several family emergencies to tend to, so our "two- to three-week" remodel was already off schedule. (didn't help that he would come in for an hour or two of work, then take off for the day. wish i could find a job like that.)

the whole goal of the remodel was to have a second bathroom by thanksgiving. well, thanksgiving came and the bathroom looked like this:

the new wall was up, expanding the shower space and giving us some wall space for things like, say, towel bars, which we didn't originally have. but usable? not so much. oh well ... maybe it would be good to go for my mom to use when she visited in three weeks.

no. not that either. really, not much changed between thanksgiving and my mom's arrival. it was inexplicable, really.

but after the holidays, the contractor "laid down the law" with his family and said he needed to finish this job. well, thanks.

last week he finished mudding and sanding ... only to fall off his stool just after sanding his last patch of ceiling ... and put his head through the new drywall on the wall behind where the toilet will go.

deep breaths. ohhhhhmmmmmm ....

but then it was ready for paint. finally.

so last week i put on 2-3 coats of primer, 2-3 coats of ceiling paint, more ceiling paint because the ceiling just won't cover in spots, and two coats of wall paint ... a pretty beigy grey.

this week? there's actual tiling happening. sqeeeee!!

now i don't want to get too excited ... i'm still not sure he believes me that replacing the window is still on the to do list, and he's completely forgotten marc's repeated queries about bringing the outlet up to code. and at this point we've paid for so many trips to menard's so he can buy one. thing. at. a. time. that we're sort of running out of money in the bathroom budget. but it's starting to take shape. and worst case scenario, we finish all the trim and putting up all the fixtures once the toilet and sink are plumbed. that's doable.

so as we enter month three, let's recap:

election.
tile removed.
mother-in-law needs to go to hospital for knee problems.
drywall down.
brother-in-law falls down stairs, bangs head, near death.
black mold discovered and cleaned.
brother-in-law sent home to die.
trips to menard's for a part. then another part. and some cashews.
brother-in-law gets kidney transplant and is, amazingly, better.
thanksgiving.
some drywalling happens, along with rerouting plumbing and installing a fan/vent.
christmas.
mudding, sanding, putting hole in wall with head, more mudding, more sanding.
painting.
painting.
painting.
tiling.

and ... it's february.

and there you have it.

Comments

[Amy Coose]

Oye!! We remodeled our master bath a few years ago and it was so stressful, but so worth it now! Can't wait to see it when it's all done.

[AnnaMarie]

Oh goodness - truly you will be ready (and deserving!!) of the new bath when it is finally completed! :)

[Anne]

Oy Vey. I'm soooo sorry. It looks good though! The tile is really nice!

[Ann-Marie]

You simply must have a tea party or something to show it off once it is DONE!