BathRoom Renovation - Day Fifteen

Shopping Day! The demolition is complete. The subfloor has been rebuilt and the back wall has been built from scratch. The next steps entail plumbing, electrical and installing the tub. That meant buying the tub. Trip to Home Depot. Tub -- $278.00 American Standard Princeton (an enamel something mix which promises a quieter, warmer, more comfortable bath as well as a scratch / chip resistant finish.) Tub/shower faucet -- $158.00 in brush nickel. We had to call Lowes to find out if the sink faucet was brushed or shiny. Toilet -- $228.00 Geez, all the choices in toilets... apparently there is a grading system, we wanted a bathroom with a grading of a '10'. Plus some plumbing supplies. Bath drain itself was $45.00. A total of $800.00 spent today. Plus $544 in tile spent earlier and $150 in wood and insulation brings our materials and supplies to $1500. Labor to date is about 60 hours at $55/hour equaling $3300 in labor costs.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Thirteen & Fourteen

Last night, hubby/contractor put in 2 hours installing insulation on the outside (back) wall. The bathroom will be better insulated now and the shower wont nearly be as cold as it has been all these years I've lived here.
Today, Asher got in 3 hours before Shabbat started. For awhile there wont be pictures as the work going on now is tedious and wont have much to show. (we'll see -- I might still take pictures.) He's preparing the walls so that the studs are even and we can put up sheet rock. We've (you know the contractor part of we, not the me part of we) -- we've discovered that the sewer line sticks out a bit -- so we'll have to build the wall out about an inch (behind the sink and toilet) so that its even. An 8 foot by 5 foot bathroom isnt exactly 8 by 5. Down to the studs its a little more, but when the sheet rock and tile go up its a little less. While I might think "what's a half an inch?" when the tub is 60 inches, 59.5 inches is a problem. I believe we'll be putting the tub in and then finishing the walls around it. Dont you love my liberal use of the word WE. Dont you love my use of the word LIBERAL when Asher is involved. Meanwhile we hope to be buying a tub on Sunday. I'll take pictures at Home Depot.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Eleven & Twelve

The trip to Texas was great! Hubby/contractor needed time to just be hubby without the contractor part. We really enjoyed spending time with each other and with his family and friends. Last night he returned to the scene of the distruction. Part of the sub floor had to come out. He spent about 3 hours on that. We're hoping that tonight we can rebuild the subfloor with plywood. Look at the floor ... you can see all the way into the basement.
Another 4.5 hours in the bathroom tonight. This time putting down the subfloor. The contractor put down new strips of wood that hold up the sub floor and then put down the plywood subfloor (that's what you see in the 2nd picture).
We're still arguing about nooks. Hubby doesnt think we need them. I think though that I may have convinced him to put two nooks on the long wall. I do need to look for fancy towel racks -- anyone have ideas. Tomorrow night I have to go visit my aunt -- so I'll be surprised when I get home .... I'll let you know what happens.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Ten

My handsome hubby contractor made a beautiful bathroom (handicapped accessible) for good friends of ours and I've included a picture of their shower with the cubbies and also a picture of the towel rack above the toilet. I'm not sure that I want this rack but I think I want something similar. Hubby isnt certain that he wants so many cubbies, but I'm the customer so that's what we're getting! So look at the framing of our nooks. So, most of the work is on the back wall setting in the braces for the shelves that I want in the shower. The lowest shelf is small, just for soap and a razor. The upper two shelves are high enough to put shampoos, face wash and body wash. If the shampoo bottle is 9.5 inches high we need another 2 inches for the sheet rock and tile - each cubby needs to be about 12 inches tall. On the sidewall is also one nook, the same size as the nooks in the shower. I'm going to buy fancy pretty bottles and put in q-tips, cotton balls, band-aids etc in them. It'll be nice to look at. Hubby contractor says that its just a bathroom, to shower and do your business. I explained that women want and expect more . My women friends will notice.

The dumpster is gone! yeah! Several jobs shared the use of the dumpster, our share came to about $275.00. Insallation came to $45. (Materials $970). (Labor 40 hours over ten days $2200) (To date: grand total - $3170)
Meanwhile there are holes in the bathroom floors. And last night a hammer fell through to the basement.

We'll be off for several days. We'll be enjoying the heat and humidity in Houston, Texas with Asher's family.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Nine

We need to put the window in the back wall. So tonight hubby contractor is putting up supports for the window. To the right of the window we'll be shelves that will hold shampoos and soaps and what-nots. Hubby contractor put in another 2 hours of work tonight.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Eight

OK the piece we needed on the new wall is called Ty Vek. Its made of fiberglass and wont tear and wont allow water in. So that'll be against the back of the house.

The new wall cost $150 in materials (plus the $543.04 we spent on tile.) I'll have to go back to all the old posts to find out how much time in labor -- so far its about 28-30 hours of very hard labor. I'll come back and revisit this.

We only have a few hours available to us this week as we are traveling again this time to visit family. Asher hasnt seen his mother in over a year. A contractor's job is not easy. This bathroom renovation at our house, he's doing alone. The walls are big and heavy and unwieldy. Measurements must be exact. It really takes at least two people to much of this work. To do this on Sunday, his only day to relax, also takes its toll. Today he had to go to two customers for much of the day. One to fix a leak and the other to make the basement shower drain better (probably roots growing into the system.) And he had to do some work on our pond (see pond picture -- I eat breakfast out here every morning, its our oasis.)

Asher needed to screw the back wall in, but needed it flush with another piece of wood. so he held it in place and I got to use the drill (YEAH) and screw in the screw. So now I can tell everyone that I built the new bathroom.

The new back wall is in place. Its treated wood, wrapped in Ty-Vek. Its ready for insulation. I believe building a new sub floor is next. Three hours tonight in labor.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Seven

Day Seven. After 3 hours last night, the contractor put in 2.5 hours building a new back wall. Apparently we need the ti-back (which goes behind the new wall), then we need the pink insulation. Then this new wall will installed. This bathroom will become the warmest room in the house in the winter as it will be the only room with insulation on the outside wall.
Labor on the outside wall will add approximately $3K to cost of the project. I have to get an estimate on how much materials will cost for that outside wall.
Lets start talking about colors. Remember what the tile looked like in Day Three. We're thinking about shades of green or perhaps shades of bronze -- we're looking at the accent tile (on the left in the tile picture.)

The most important part of tonight's story.... When I was a little girl our dog of 13 years died. We loved Sandy and were quite shaken by his death. I crawled into the closet in my bedroom and wrote a little tribute to him on the wall. Approximately 20 years later, my parents were selling our childhood home. While emptying all the rooms and closets, my father came across this tribute. I remember writing it. It was a pivotal moment in my life. My most recent pivotal moment is my recent marriage to my heart's love (the hubby contractor). I wrote a little tribute on our new wall. (that's the third picture.)