Running Water IS Essential

Well the bathroom renovation (complete gut and rebuild) came along well.  It shouldn't but it always surprises me how much work goes into such a small room.  Arguably the most important room the bathroom really does need to be great.  We put a lot of thought (long drawn out exhausting conversations at 2 am after way too many beers...) into the layout and composition of the bathroom. After all that hoopla we decided to only change small things, like the f*#%ing walls!  But just to keep this rant under control I'll just dish it out bullet style.

• Rip out everything in the bathroom... including whatever is nailed down
• Drywall
• Ceiling boards
• Endless blown-in insulation 
• Illegally hidden junction boxes....
• Sink, tub, and other bathroom fixtures
• Annoying walls
• Scary trap door to the basement (obviously leaving the drop of death open to any unsuspecting victim)
• Layers of flooring, yes layers...

The demolition took a lot longer than it should have mostly because I was working on my own while Jeremy was trying to keep up with seeding here in Saskatchewan.

Now this bathroom being the second to last room to renovate has taken us this long to get to because of all the previous mentioned discussions (aka: arguments).  Although we only decided to make minor changes and keep the existing foot print there is a lot of behind the walls work here.  So here is the bullet version... hahaha, bullets are my thing today.

•  Bury gigantic heavier than hell cast iron vent stack in the wall instead of having it in the middle of the room.  (I had to be on spark watch when Jeremy cut that sucker).
• Move tub and shower plumbing to the other wall, to allow for easier tap access.  
• Re-plumb sink and toilet with bright shiny new pex. 
• Install a fan that actually vents....
• Rebuild trap door 

Now of course without fail I make all kinds of crazy decisions that stretch a simple bathroom drywall job into a freaking Sistine Chapel style job.  But in truth I didn't find it so arduous as there really is a light at the end of the tunnel.  

Once the walls were smooth, perfect, (hahaha) and painted it is time to install the wiring for the heated tile.  It is a lot of work, installing the tile over top of the delicate wiring.  Mostly because I have Jeremy over my shoulder reminding me every tile not to mess up the wires.... But that's over now and I really should move on.

When we installed the tiles in the kitchen we used 1/4 inch spacers that were kinda cheap and not horribly ideal to work with.  Jeremy threw them all away in a fit of rage after we were finished.  I asked him to keep some of them, you know, "just incase".  And of course he didn't. 

Sure enough we decided to start tiling on Canada day when everyone is enjoying a cool beverage near or on a beautiful stretch of water, and every hardware store is closed.  I called everyone in town looking desperately for some spacers and was able to gather a grand total of approximately 40 spacers.  Well if you've never tiled before that just isn't really enough....  Unless your super motivated to get this floor finished!  So working carefully and robbing spacers from one area to the next we made it happen. 

With a couple base boards, and other various finishing touches we completed the bathroom (rebuild) in about two weeks.  I'm very happy with the results and even got to have a shower in the new tub the day before I left on holidays. 

Before

After

 Completion is such a sweet sweet word.  I'm absolutely in love with this bathroom, it is so much better.  If you notice the rug on the bottom right, it covers the trap door and I have another small rolling vanity there with it's own mirror, outlet and light.  The bathroom is functional and pretty, my favourite combination.

With this room done there is only the porch to go.  There is a lot happening in there but for now I'm taking the summer to do my favourite summertime things (essentially finding water and drinking beer next to it).

The Author

The Time Suckers.  I mean adventure seeking hooligans.

Spring Heartbeat

Tile Heating System

 It can be felt in the air!  Yes that's right Spring is coming.  Along with a hard hitting Spring we appear to be moving with leaps and bounds.

I finally finished the mudding and taping after quite a few hair raising moments where I was sure the whole f**king wall had to come down to fix a crack 3 inches long.  The depths of my drywall insanity were becoming perilous to say the least.  So with the primer up and a couple of deep breathing exercises it was time to get on to flooring.

The tile we picked out for the kitchen is really random and super interesting but I suck at picking colours at the best of times and Jeremy just refuses to do it, So I decided to wait until I could see the floor before committing eggshell finish related suicide.

Drywall and Primer Done

We have tackled some new projects over the last few weeks.  Things like installing a heated tile floor in the kitchen.  It was relatively simple to do.  It wasn't an easy decision as the heating systems can be quite expensive but we caught a sale one day, and pulled the trigger.  Everyone who has heated tile said we would regret it if we didn't do it.  I believed them.  The only part of the process that really held us up was a tiny little step in the directions which stated that we needed to use a hot glue gun to place the sensors down... Well... Do you know where your glue gun is?  We didn't either and apparently neither did half the bloody town.  I called and messaged everyone I kinda sorta knew and finally was able to locate an ex-co-workers mother who is super crafty and not only knew where her glue gun was but actually had glue for said gun, whew.  So about 30 seconds of hot gluing and we were ready to lay some tile.  Note: Wet saws and -15C are not a great mix.

 We had a nice day in February (well not as cold or windy as most at least) and Jeremy tackled the installation of the new front door.  Shockingly everything went as planned and the door looks great.

After a lot of elbow grease we got the tile all done and I finally picked a colour for the walls, Scroll Beige... Sounds boring... Looks boring.   But, throw some white cabnets and all the other frilly stuff in there and I'm sure it will be a great back drop.

Walls and Floors Complete

More Floor... I really love the floor :)

 I finally feel like we are making headway.  We are in a place where every hour spent in the house is manifested into a visual difference.  So it's easy to find the effort within to push just a little harder or longer.

Some of the cabinets

I suppose my good mood may be encouraged by the looming of Spring.  Time to bust out the gum boots, spring coats, and bikes.

Bike riding March 2015