Bathroom prep work

We made some time over the weekend to do a bit more prep work for the bathroom. Last weekend, our contractor came over to review all the details and brought up a few more things that we needed to decide about the tile. So, on Friday, we returned to ProSource(see below) and picked out a bullnose tile to go with the wall, floor, and border tiles we had already picked out. Once we laid it all out, the grout color we had previously picked just didn’t look right. We ended up spending more time finding a new grout color than on anything else! It was worth it, though, as the wrong grout color can really destroy the look of the best tile.

On Saturday, I performed minor surgery on the vanity. To get the back to sit flush against a wall, I needed to trim the lip with circular saw, and then add two boards to hide gaps. Taking a circular saw to an antique vanity was a little nerve wracking, but I think it worked out nicely.

While I was hacking the vanity, Lor managed to remove the fixtures and drain from the tub. That involved the use of our favorite tool, and was probably just as scary as circular saw surgery on the vanity. Then, she sanded and stripped the paint from the edges of the porcelain and from the outside of the tub (the paint is directly on the cast iron). We’re planning to paint the outside of the tub with a faux dark copper/oil rubbed bronze look to match the sink and fixtures.

Check out the progress on Flickr.

On a side note, ProSource is a flooring wholesaler. They have a great selection and very competitive prices. The catch is that you can’t just walk in and buy stuff. You have to be, or be working with, a contractor, and you/he/she has to be a ProSource member. So, if you’re working with a contractor, or have a friend who is a contractor, and you’re in need of some flooring, it might be worth checking if he/she is already a member.