2 steps forward, 1 step back

Remember I said we'd come back from vacation to a working second toilet and sink?  Not so much.  This time it wasn't me biting off more than I can chew - when the plumber came to install the toilet bowl onto the carrier (in wall toilet), he discovered that they had set the carrier too low.  3" too low.  

After some discussion with the head guy, this means I have to take off the tile around the toilet and cut off the cement board there so they can move the carrier up.  Then I get to reinstall the cement board and tiles so they can then come back and install the bowl.

Well, at least I didn't hire someone to do the tiling - and at least I hadn't finished it yet...

Tile!

We made it!  Well, I have to grout tonight, but unless the grout gods hate me way more than usual - we made it!  There's enough tile done to install the fixtures - which means we'll return from vacation to a second flushing toilet and sink.  That is so very exciting.  Nothing like creeping down a flight of stairs at 4 am because you really have to pee and you don't want to wake the dog up and get him all excited.

There is absolutely no way I would have finished this much of the tile (the wall to the left is also tiled up 2 levels) without the cheerful sweaty labor of Jaimee and Sabrina, and the clean up crew of Autumn.  Thanks guys.  My sanity appreciates.

And yes, I have tiled rather oddly.  Most people do either the floor or the walls first, not parts of each.  If we're going to go down that path, I suppose most people hang the rest of the ceiling and walls before tiling at all.   But you know what?  Second flushing toilet.  That's all I have to say about that.  Sometimes the little things in life are important enough to make you figure out how work over and around a sink.

I will say the tiling was so much easier than the downstairs bathroom, mostly because this time I know what I'm doing.  I also brought the tile saw upstairs, which made a huge difference for speed - and leg exhaustion.  Grouting tonight and then the beach tomorrow and recovery from a week of late night tiling!

Now we're rolling

Finally got enough of the basics done to start putting up walls and floor!  The walls are about 2/3 up, but enough to get tiled and have the fixtures installed.  The floor is ready for tile.  I need to paint on the waterproofing membrane, and then tile away!  I'd love to finish enough of the tile to have the fixtures installed before vacation, but that might be a little aggressive even for me.  If I miss though, at least I'll be in a great spot for when we get back.

From here:

To here (actually a little further than depicted, that wall is covered and the seams have been taped):

The thing about small bathrooms

is that there isn't much room to work.  And roughed in plumbing means pipes just sticking out of things...  Combine those elements with heat and tiredness, and you smack your head on pipes a lot.  Here's to Harry Potter.

Man, I hate the tedious behind the scenes work.

I've been working on the bathroom every night after work.  The weekends are pretty booked, so that's all the time I have.  It's been progressing, but right now the progress is frustratingly small to the eye.

The new plumbing is roughed in, and I've nearly finished the electric - installed a new recessed light and a new light/fan combo - but the majority of the time has been in leveling out the walls and figuring out how to deal with covering some of the plumbing.  It's so boring - all this cement board in the hall, and I just want it up on the wall!  But if I don't get the walls straight now, you'll really be able to tell.

I've framed one wall twice, as the first time I built it too far away from the wall (plumbers then told me to redo it and notch the studs for the plumbing).  I'd be done with the electric already, but for some reason one of the lights doesn't work now that I added another line.  The subfloor is laid, but I have to get everything up to the level of the shower pan.  Essentially - the "Sarah is not a pro" status has really slowed me down!  However - I'm gettin' it done.  If slower than I hoped!

Crazy busy - but not much to show

I've spent the past month keeping up with the garden and running about like one of those animals at the zoo that hold still for a moment and then take off with a burst of speed.  Nope, can't remember the name.

Anyway, the backyard looks pretty much the same, just a bit more grown in.  It's actually taken quite a bit of work and lots of added plants, but the main area is still rather a dirt pit.

However, there's been a bit of a focus change - the upstairs bathroom decided to begin leaking into the downstairs bathroom, so the renovation timeline for that got moved up.  I had it demo'ed on Monday, and just ordered all the fixtures.  Hopefully the reconstruction will begin next week, plumber willing...  

We had originally thought that we would turn the bath/toilet 180 degrees and make the upstairs little nook room into the bathroom (it has a window!) and make the current bathroom the closet.  The first estimate I got to move the plumbing was ridiculously expensive though, so we nixed that option.  I'm waiting for the second plumber, but in gutting the current bathroom we gained a ton of height and a wide skylight (why do people drop ceilings???) so it's already looking more spacious.  Stay tuned for more updates as the project actually progresses!

See, it looks a little different

We worked on and off in the yard this week, and then Hobs came over for a marathon gardening session on Sunday.  We:

• buried the drip hose (thanks Mary!)
• planted my birthday apple tree (thanks Dad!)
• added a ton more topsoil as things settled
• moved the big hydrangea
• moved the lavender
• moved something else that I don't know - perhaps a lily
• leveled out the yard
• set a path using the bluestone we found under the concrete
• planted jasmine, thyme and clover seeds.

After all that, we're in a really good place for the ground cover to take off (hopefully!) and make the back stop looking like a dirt pit!

Springing it in with a vengeance

The backyard had a concrete path that led to nowhere - it was basically a sidewalk down the middle of the yard.  Since the path to nowhere bothered us, we decided to rip it out.  We rented a jackhammer, bought some topsoil to replace the concrete, and bribed friends with the promise of steaks, beer, and the use of a sledgehammer if they came to help.

Jackhammering was too much for me (I'm too short for leverage, and don't have the weight to overcome my height), but luckily our taller friends ruled it while Jaimee wielded the sledge to break up the pieces: 

Once the pieces were broken up, everyone pitched in to load them into bags and carry them out front.

I managed to avoid this heavy labor by spending my time building a "litter box" for Loki, as well as a compost box for the results of the dog-litter-box.  The team then filled the trench with topsoil (we need to get more), and covered it with weed fabric so we don't accidentally create a feral cat litterbox, and we re-routed the drip hoses for full yard coverage.  At the end of only a couple hours, we were done!

I know, it kind of looks exactly the same, since the weed cover is running where the concrete was.  But the ground cover seeds are growing well, and I've ordered some supplementary plants, so hopefully planting will take place soon and change the look!  We also discovered a lot of slate (and a mini-boulder) buried under the concrete - we saved it, and will figure out something to use it for.  Suggestions welcomed!

Maintenance March ends with a swear

...Maintenance is boring.  And sometimes frustrating.

To end up the month (there are still lots of tasks to do, but they'll just have to be worked in), Jaimee got a new garbage can, and labeled our garbage and recycling with our address.  I took my phone apart to replace the cracked screen, and managed to break the replacement screen while putting it back together.  Sigh.  Waiting for the replacement for the replacement (good thing Jaimee had a spare phone so I'm not totally out of touch).

I'd like something a little more exciting - so we're on to Spring it on April.  I started some groundcover seeds to replace the grass and the sedum that didn't handle Loki well.  In a couple weeks we're going to tear out the concrete path that's still back there and get the groundcover well started - hopefully!

March theme

Apparently my unofficial theme is to be late in announcing each monthly theme, but hey.  Onwards.

Settle in February went well.  The murphy bed got fully attached to the wall, the legs and headboard were painted, and it got its mattress.  We hung shelves for Jaimee's media center, and moved my bookshelf into my office.  More pictures and random hooks got hung, we dropped stuff off at the thrift store, and basically just found homes for piles of things.  Most importantly, we hung the door that will separate the guestcave from my office.  The pictures and saga on that (why must we pick the world's heaviest door?) will follow in a later post.

But we were talking about March.  Sometimes it actually feels like spring around here, and between that (gotta do prep work!) and the messes of the past couple months, this month has become Maintenance March.  In addition to continuing the work on the murphy bed and the door, so far I've:

• spent a couple hours repairing the backyard fence
• ordered the seeds (after research and consultation!) for the lawn replacement
• patched and painted the multitude of holes created in the walls during the frequent hunt for studs in the past couple projects.  In the process, I discovered that rubbing alcohol removes latex paint from clothing.  Thank you interwebs!
• taken care of 3 old cans of paint (related to the above)
• put window bars up in the basement window over the deck
• and hung a new backyard solar motion detector light (creepy backyard intruders of the block begone!)

Next up - fixing the wobble on the downstairs toilet and patching and sealing the spot in the basement that the cat keeps staring at.  The excitement never ends over here!