Project, Day 45

More painting, medicine cabinet completed, mirror and lights up!

Project, Day 43

Paint...

Still to do is the molding around the bathroom cabinet, and paint, and the medicine cabinet isn't done. Also needed is sanding the and painting the bathroom trim and door, and touching up the ceiling. In the living room there's the paint, the mirror, the mantle, the speakers, and the baseboard molding. There's a lot of fix up to be done in the hallway and dining room where trim and paint was damaged. Also, the tiles under the wood stove are now completely totaled. Some of the wood around that pad is now gone. And the trim piece that should be under the bottom shelf in the living room is no place to be found. Need a new piece... Registers for the ducts in the living room are hard to find, they are an unusual size - may have to make something.

Project, Day 42

There is still no baseboard section in the tile. The tile is on order (still) from Pratt and Larson. Lights are installed, however Rejuvenation sold me an obviously flawed shade that had to be taken back. I was disappointed that you can pay that much and still have such a clear QA problem. The flawed shade was completely unusable, it wouldn't even fit on the light. At least they where open normal hours on Memorial Day so I didn't have to rush down there after work. Good for me, too bad for the employees though...

The walls in the bathroom are painted and some paint is up in the living room as well. The bathroom also has a door now.

These pictures are small and few in number. They don't show the "issues" and the work as yet undone. In addition, one of the leaks in the basement appears to be at a coupling. I can only hope is stops on its own, which it's likely to do. It is old galvanized pipe. I "fixed" a couple other leaks with clamps.

Project, Day 40

Deann painted the ceiling in the bathroom (and cleaned the dust from the kitchen, and mowed the front lawn...), and I painted the walls later. This is the untouched-up pass. The sink and the toilet are now permanently installed. A couple of pin-hole leaks have developed in the plumbing, in the basement, in the hot water pipe as it goes up to the bathroom. I had to take a break from painting to (try to) fix that. More trips to the hardware store are probably in store for tomorrow. The cabinet needs some more sanding and then is ready to install. The new legs for it are made and ready to go on.

No sign of the contractor today. The tile needs to be sealed.

Project, Day 38

Grout.

Project, Day 37

The tile is 99.9% done. We ran out of the curved edge pieces, again. The medicine cabinet and the door and window trim is installed. And the wall edge issue is resolved. It turns out to be possible to cut tile, on the wall, with a circular saw and a diamond saw blade...

Project, Day 36

I somehow managed to way over buy the fancy green tile, and to run out of the curved tile for the top edges. This is a pain because the tile store, like so many places, doesn't cater to people that have jobs - it closes at 5:00.

There's several small problems with the installation also, such as at the edge of where the door trim will be, and around the corners of the wall separating the toilet from the shower. I definitely should not have started this. The expense, and the unbelievable waste, is embarrassing.

Not Funny

This sort of cartoon annoys me. The term "gumshoe" actually originates as a reference to a specific type of shoes - having rubber soles.

http://www.cartoonbank.com/assets/product_images/39452_hi.gif

So... If there's not a joke here, I don't get it.

Project, Day 35

More tile is up, including replacements in the shower area. The new problem is that the cabinet for the back wall is (was) supposed to mount flat against the right-hand side. But that wall is now tiled all the way back. That side of the front of the cabinet is even a half inch wider so that it would have looked even on both sides if it was flat against the sheet rock and the hardy board and tile went right up to its front edge.

I'm not sure what to do now. Leave a gap between the cabinet and the wall? Tile the whole thing (buy more) and try to find a free standing cabinet that fits? Place it as close as possible and caulk the edge leaving the tiles hidden forever? Pad the left side with a board or trim or something to make that side as wide on the front as the right side?

Yet to do... The cabinet, the rest of the tile, including a few missing floor pieces, the window and door trim, tile up to the trim, grout, seal, sand the plaster, prime and paint, install the medicine cabinet and buy and install lights and fixtures light towel holders, etc.

In the living room, there's the floor trim to install, the mirror, the fireplace mantel to finish and install, paint, repair some damaged trim, touch up the paint in the dining room and hallway, and install the speakers.

Project, Day 33

These photos speak for themselves. There was a tile related error... It's lucky I came home when I did before more got put up.

Tile is extremely difficult to remove, as I now know firsthand.

I got about 2/3rds of them off intact. They all took the paper off the backer board with them. At least I managed not to damage the rows left on.

I had a perfectly good house at one time... If you are considering a remodeling project, take my advice, don't do it.

Project, Day 29, Additional

The ceiling, including the fan vent through the roof is in. And a second coat of mud is done. There's some minor plumbing issues, and I think we're going to have to go further up the wall with the tile.

Project, Day 29

When I got home yesterday some mud and floor leveling compound had been applied. The water was shut off though. Still to do is the vent through the roof for the new fan in the bathroom, and the mirror and some other minor items in the living room. And of course there's the tile...

Fred's Sound of Music called, the last of the speakers are in. I sure wish I could use them.

Elgin Time

New domain name!

http://www.elgintime.com/

Project, Day 28

It isn't worth it.

Project, Day 27

The last few entries have been made in the mornings, and so they actually show what has been completed the day before. This is one such entry. The contractor spent a long day working on the bathroom yesterday and quite a bit was done. I finished the electrical and the ceiling fan, worked on the cabinet that will go under the window, and touched up some plaster in the living room. The tub is fully installed and plumbed, but the toilet is only temporarily in place.

It turns out that the furnace is not broken after all. The oil had been shut off during the broken pipe incident a couple of days before.

Project, Day 26

The contractor did not come on Saturday, I don't know what will get done today. Yesterday I installed all new electrical switches, painted what I could reach of the living room ceiling with a second coat and got about half done with the mounts for the wall speakers.

There's a leak in the hot water feed to the bathroom sink, down in the basement. And the furnace stopped working.

Project, Day 25

Slow progress on the bathroom... A second coat of ceiling paint half done in the living room, some work on the fireplace mantle, a second coat of finish on the trim (not installed), and repaired the cord in the bathroom window so it opens and closes normally.

Project, Day 24

The bathroom is completely gutted out. The tub and toilet are out. A new fan, insulation and part of the base material for the floor have been installed.

The living room is now full or materials from, and for the bathroom so it doesn't look like much more painting will get done soon.

Some of the tiles had to be ordered from Pratt and Larson. That may take four weeks or more.

Project, Day 23

One gallon of ceiling paint covers almost exactly three quarter of the ceiling with one coat.

And now on to the bathroom...

During lunch Wednesday I drove over the a store on Division for some tiles. Just before I got to Ivon, the contractor, Justin Swanson, called me. He wanted to know if I had one of those special wrenches for turning the water off at the street, which I don't. He said the water under the sink had come out of the wall in his hands and he needed to turn the water off "like, right now."

I told him I think the valve is in the basement where the water line comes in from the street. As it turns out it was, but I wasn't sure. I went to the store, then went back home.

Sure enough they had the bathroom partly torn up and there was water everywhere. In the basement water was puring down through the floor. I got all the old towels, and a blanket to soak it up. I don't think it'll be a problem. Could have been a lot worse...

Project, Day 20

Primer...

Project, Day 18

I had to redo some window trim due to the nails sitting into the weight pocket. This sometimes cuts the cord pretty quickly. Other than that, the trim is all up. ...Made and installed a piece for the front of the bottom shelf so it will now match the windows. There's still sanding to do, and the primer.
The basic mantle pieces are cut also.

Project, Day 17

The contractor will be finished with his part shortly. There's a few small items left. Then yet to do is the primer and paint, the fireplace mantle, the remaining trim and the speaker mounts. The materials are all here now.

I also picked up the two front speakers today from Fred's Sound of Music. There's only two back ordered rear speakers to get now.

Project, Day 16

The molding is 90% done, including the picture molding along the cieling, as is the plaster. There's still a few things needed, some parts to fill in, some sanding... The debris has been almost entirely hauled off however.

I'm wondering about starting the bathroom. Good idea, or not?