Almost

Tony was chugging along with the bathroom renovations and then came to a screeching halt. We had experienced a tornado that came through the area. Driving rain, high winds and hail managed to knock out our power for two days. Luckily, the weather wasn't that hot and we were able to get by. It really sucked that it took two days before our power was restored. We had sustained some food loss but all in all, we did OK. Tony managed to pick up where he left off and was busy installing the lights. One problem, the light fixture had a cover that didn't totally hide the back plate for the wiring. Being the engineer that he is, he used the spare marble that we had and custom made a fitting to finish off the bathroom lighting fixture. It came out fabulous. It was the perfect finishing touch.

He was on a roll and had to finish off the border around the bathroom. The vent cover was hitting the marble so he went ahead and customized it. He was busy out in the garage cutting off a small amount at a time. I'm glad that he took the time to finish off the details. When he installed it, it looked fabulous. Matthew commented that the bathroom looks like the hotels that we've been to. I agree. The color of the bathroom, the details that he went into have been totally worth it. He's got to install the medicine cabinets and seal the tiles and then we'll be ready to really enjoy the bathroom. The goal is to get it done before our friends arrive next weekend.

Not quite there yet

I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. The shower door was installed today. After a week of it sitting in the garage, it was quite nice to come home today and find it installed. We'll have to wait for the silicone to cure but it is quite lovely to look at. The work is coming along when Tony has the time to work on it. I feel bad since he's doing the work after hours when he gets home from his day job. The punch list is getting smaller and I am sure he'll be really thrilled when this project is completely over. Looks like I'll have to find something else for him to do around the house. Any suggestions?

Progress

Tony returned to work and has been working on the renovations at night. He's pretty tired after a long day at the office but he's chugging along. We had a problem with the water pressure in the house the other night. A couple of days go by and we still couldn't figure out what the problem was. The other day, I look out in the yard and I find a whole flock of birds bathing in our backyard. Aw....how cute I say to myself. Then I realize there is a river running through the back yard. What the heck, it rained but it didn't rain that much. I go out to investigate and find out that there was a hole in my well hose. We had to shut down the water and the pump and vacate to a hotel. As a result, Tony lost a few days of construction work and was anxious to get started again. We returned to the house, the repairs were made to the well hose and Tony quickly picked up where he left off. The marble tiles went up fairly quickly and he even installed the bathroom floor by Saturday evening.


Happy days! We waited the mandatory 24 hours before he started to walk on it. He was biting on his nails since he was afraid he was going to hear the tiles crack like potato chips. Since it didn't crack, he started to grout the tiles. The grout was sponged on and we waited for it to cure. We returned home this evening and Tony proceeded to polish the haze off the tiles. I can't believe how beautiful the marble looks. We can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. All that's left is to install the toilet, install the bath and shower fixtures, hang the medicine cabinets (we hope they arrive this week), wire up the lights and the get bathtub enclosure installed. We can move the vanity back in and start the clean up of the master bedroom and bathroom. I am optimistic that the construction process will be completed by this weekend. This gives me ample time to clean up the master bedroom and move out of the guest room. We'll have the guest room ready by the time our friends arrive in early August for their visit with us.

Break Time

Tony has been trapped in the house for the past two weeks. He's been working really hard. He cleaned up and I decided it was time for a road trip. Matthew and I recently watched an episode on the Travel Channel about the birthplace of the original hamburger sandwich. It originated in a place called Louis' Lunch in 1900 and is located in New Haven. What the heck. Distance never stopped me from getting to food. We hopped in the car and drove up to New Haven to grab dinner.

Louis' Lunch is a very small establishment. There is one catch. You don't get any ketchup or fries with the burger. It is still made in the original equipment from 1895. The burger is grilled in an original cast iron grill and served between two slices of white toast. The only acceptable garnish is cheese, tomato and onion. Ask for ketchup and you will be thrown out of the establishment. We arrived and found people all over the place. You may get potato salad or dirty chips as your side. We ordered the burgers we wanted and found seats and waited patiently for our food. The burgers were good. So good that Tony and Matthew had seconds.

Walls are in

Tony's been busy putting finishing off the new walls. Everyday I return from work and I am amazed at how much he has accomplished. Today, the walls have been completely installed, spackled and sanded down. The amount of construction dust floating around the house is unreal. I can't go anywhere without finding a film of it in every room. I know that the house has to be completely sanitized at least twice before I can actually say that it's clean. I don't like construction but when you can actually see the progress, it's worth it. Tony will complete this and start installing the marble on the wall. He's going to have to cut out the marble to fit around the tub and shower fixtures. It's going to be interesting to see how that progresses along.

Tub Installation

Tony's cranking along. Not bad for a first time bathroom renovator. We worked on getting the plumbing done for the new tub. It's an air jet tub that allows the water to circulate and not harbor mold and mildew. Something that is quite important to me. I never liked the thought of water sitting dormant in a jacuzzi tub and having it blow back out the next time you turn it on.

Tony and I worked together to lift the tub into the house and had to install and reinstall the tub three times. The tub kept hitting a beam in the bathroom and Tony had to shave it down to get it to fit. The third time was the charm. I was happy that I didn't have to lift it anymore and he's now busy installing the rest of the hardware.

Problem

The new medicine cabinets are supposed to be recessed into the wall. Tony went ahead to start the preliminary work on carving out the size of the cabinets and found that there were way too many pipes, too many support beams for this to happen. That really sucks. The cabinets that we picked out are really nice and are supposed to look like a picture frame. In addition, I asked for more electrical sockets and that it doesn't look like I'll be getting as many as I'd like. I hate these little surprises that you encounter as you go along.