Bathroom, it works!

We have a working bathroom! The vanity, tub, and toilet are all plumbed and usable now. We are also incredibly pleased with how everything came together. The tub fixtures are even nicer than we had hoped (I suppose they darn well better be given what we paid for them!), and the fact that they came with matching drain, waste, and supply sections is nice. Not only does it complete the look, but it also meant we didn’t have to go try to find ones to match.

Despite being fully functional, we still have a good bit left to do. Most notably, there is no door! We have the door, and we’re in the process of staining it, so hopefully we can hang it this week. We still need to hang the mirror as well.

There are other things like finding a nice shower curtain, drapes for the window, playing with the lighting a bit, etc. but hopefully we’re in the home stretch now.

Check out the latest photos.

Bathroom remodel progress

IMG_2528.JPG by bcavalier.

I took some rather uninteresting photos of the latest progress. Now that the drywall is up and the cement board is down, it's starting to look like a room. The overall appearance probably won't change much over the next few days, until the radiant flooring and tile arrive next week.

Bathroom remodel, day 1

Our contractor started the demolition today, and judging from the pile of rubbish in the dumpster, and the shell of a room that I came home to, it was a good day. We would have loved to do this ourselves, but right now we just don’t have the time to take on a project of this magnitude, especially when it usually takes us four times longer than people who know what they are doing.

Check out the latest pics.

Fireplace 2.0

fireplace by bcavalier.

We finally finished up the fireplace and mantle. I did this quick before and after composite using, of all things, ComicLife (pre-installed on my MacBook Pro). Anyway, I'll spare the long winded details and just point to the photos.

A fireplace-tilin' weekend

On Saturday, we actually laid the tile. Like most things in life, it’s all in the prep work and planning. We managed to come up with a plan to cover the entire facade and hearth without cutting a single tile. The fact that it actually worked is equally amazing. The fact that it only took us four hours is utterly mind-blowing, since this is the first time either of us has tiled anything. We’re usually off by at least a factor of two in estimating how much time our projects will take.

Sunday evening, after the adhesive had set, we started on the grout. It turns out that mixing grout by hand is a bad idea. Join a gym instead, and then go buy a grout mixing attachment for you drill. Seriously, spend the money, and thank me later.

Applying the grout was an on-the-job-learning process for sure, but once we got the hang of it, it wasn’t too bad. When you’re laying 1 inch tiles, though, the grout to tile ratio is very high, so we learned two things. First, you need more grout. Repeat after me: “high grout to tile ratio”. Read the package. Luckily we had enough. Second, it takes a lot longer, but not where you might think.

After this project, I can say that I had two big misconceptions about tile.

1: Tiling is hard.

In fact, laying the tile was very simple. Of course, it really was all in the planning.

2: Wiping excess grout off the tile after you’re done grouting is quick and easy.

(This is the part you never see on Home Depot commercials or HGTV.)

Lies! I am here to tell you that it is neither quick nor easy. I’ll bet, to most people, the word “wipe” implies a nice, relaxed process. However, I’d say that “scrub violently” is more appropriate in this instance. It took 2 hours, lots of trips to the sink to wring sponges, and buckets of elbow grease to get that dang grout off. I’m sure that if you have nice, smooth 12 x 12 tiles it’s a piece of cake. Leave it to us to pick 1 x 1 tiles (that darn grout to tile ratio again), and 6 and 12 inch slate tiles with peaks and valleys like the Rockies. Elbow grease.

In the end, we’re very happy with how it turned out. Hop on over and check out the pics.

Fireplace prep work

We’re starting to dive into the next phase of the fireplace project. With a little help from our friend, we managed to mount cement board to the facade. By “a little help”, I mean that he did most everything while I tried to assist and learn all the ways I would have screwed it up.

It actually turned out to be a good bit more challenging that I had ever thought it would be. Measuring and cutting the boards to fit the firebox opening and the corbels was tedious, but simple enough. After that the fun began, though. The stones in the facade were mostly even, but there were occasional protrusions that really made it tough to get the boards to line up with one another and to be plumb. We planned to use screw anchors and adhesive to attach the cement board, but after playing with them for a while and figuring out how to position the boards, we decided to mount them once without adhesive to make sure it was going to come out right after screwing things down. Luckily it did, so we took them down, and then re-mounted them with the adhesive.

Since the latest photo, we’ve also taped and sealed the center seam with joint compound to smooth it out. We still have to figure out what we are going to do with the sides of the facade, the corbels, and the rim of the firebox, but we have some options in mind. We also have to figure out what we want to do with the hearth.

Hopefully more updates and pics to come soon!

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.

Projects, projects, projects

After a brief hiatus from any major projects, we’re at it again. We’ve already started the project of replacing the fireplace mantle and covering the fireplace facade and hearth with new time. Our carpenter friend made the new mantle out of one solid piece of pine (it’s about 14 feet long!), and it fits over the old mantle and top bookshelf, so we didn’t have to demo anything. If you need a carpenter, let me know, he’s one of the best you’ll find around Pittsburgh.

We picked the tile that we’ll use to cover the fireplace facade, but we haven’t decided what to do with the hearth yet. Right now, we’re leaning toward using some complimentary color and style of tile, possibly larger squares of a more solid color, or even large rectangular tiles.

We’re also getting close to actually starting the bathroom remodel. Up to this point, we’ve been planning and picking out the sink, vanity, tub, fixtures, and tile. We still have several things to pick out and decide, but hopefully we’ll be ready to do the demo in a few weeks.