Samples

Last year, before I had my bathroom remodeled, I requested all kinds of tile samples. I went to the home improvement stores and bought full-size tiles as I tried to make a decision on what I wanted.

It was tough! Finally, the contractor had me meet him and we walked through it together.

I knew I wanted the tile that looks like wood. I knew I wanted it light and not rustic. I found the tile for the shower first, but I needed a decorative tile and a floor tile. The contractor pulled the floor tile (his second pick. The first was rustic and I don't do rustic) and I was like that's it!

I had an idea for the shower floor tile, but I wasn't sure it was right. It was. That left the decorative border tile. The contractor pulled a variety of choices, put them with the three we'd already picked, and it was easy to eliminate the ones that wouldn't work.

That brought us to the final version. Final with shower door.

Now, a year later, I have tile samples...it seems like everywhere, although it really isn't.

This big hexagon tile I can make into a trivet. I just need to buy a glue gun and some supplies. And maybe watch a few YouTube videos, but what do I do with the other tiles?

I have a full size floor tile that ended up being far too light for the bathroom. I also have the little samples in the picture at the top of the post. I don't need coasters, which is the only thing I can think to do with the small square ones, but the accent tile samples? The shower floor tile samples? What do I do with them?

I don't do mosaics and really don't want to start, but tossing them away seems wasteful. Does Home Depot and Lowes take the samples back? I don't even need to get a refund, I just want the tiles out of my house.

Bathroom: Final

I don't know what I'm more excited about: Wicked Deception being available or my bathroom being finished.

It took two and a half weeks to get my shower door. They were originally supposed to come on Monday, but didn't show up until Wednesday. And then I couldn't use the shower for 24 hours because I had to wait for the silicone to set.

And then I could finally, finally shower in my own bathroom again and it was glorious!

I went with a frameless shower door. It's my first and it's taking a little getting used to, but it's so pretty and so contemporary looking that I like it. The contractor expanded the shower by a couple of inches, maybe less than that, and it makes it feel huge! Part of that could also be because I was using my dad's bathroom and his shower was smaller than my original shower was.

I'll admit it. I still will stop and stare at it, totally in awe. My original bathroom tile--heck, the entire bathroom--was so brown. I'm not an earth-tone person. I'm sleek and bright and modern and clean lines. We lightened up the paint, which I love. It's got a touch (just a touch) of yellow in it and it feels so happy and airy. And even though the shower is taking up a little more space, the bathroom feels bigger now than it did before.

I've had to make a few adjustments. I have a niche now instead of a corner shelf, and while I like the look better, it's given me less space than I had. I have a squeegee I keep in the shower and it's held up with a suction cup. And won't stick to the tile because there's a texture. I almost hated to put it up on the glass. I did this in my old shower and didn't think twice, but the new one.... It's so pretty.

There are also two plastic suction cup soap trays I had up on the glass. Those I haven't put up and I need them. I found a stainless steel one online with two soap trays connected to each other and I ordered that. One less suction cup on my glass and better looking than the plastic.

So there you go. The last installment of my renovation adventures.

Well, sort of.

The contractor forgot to paint the ceiling in the water closet area. I'm trying to get him to come out and finish it. We've had three no-shows so far. Will there be another bathroom adventure blog post? Stay tuned.

Bathroom: After

It took nine days of work, but the bathroom is finished. Well, mostly. I don't have the shower door/glass yet and that will take another two weeks and I wanted to share my new bathroom.

Or mostly new. I did keep a few things.

If you want to see the before pictures, check out this blog post. 

 

Bye, bye brown bathroom! I like light, airy colors and my new bathroom is all that.

Bathroom In Progress: Home Stretch

I'm writing this on July 7th. The bathroom renovation is scheduled to be done tomorrow. That will be two weeks worth of work with weekends off and the no-show on the July 4th.

Today, they painted the walls. The ceiling and trim still needs to be painted and there is still a lot of clean up to be done.

There are also some things with issues. Like the toilet was reconnected and now the water doesn't fill the bowl. There are a few sharp edges on the tile/trim that concern me because if someone is going to hurt themselves, it will be me. Also, the door to the water closet will not close. The floor must be higher now than the old floor.

Overall, though, the space is beautiful! The paint color is awesome and I am totally in love with it. My photography skills do not do it justice. Maybe when I do the after pictures, I can try a different time of day, and the lighting will be better. Or I might just be a bad photographer with my iPhone. :-)

Also, the right-hand mirror in my bathroom has been crooked since I bought the house. It made me crazy! I asked a handyman to fix it, but he told me it would take hours and at what he charged per hour, it wasn't worth the money. The guy who fixed it said it took about thirty seconds. Thirty seconds! I've been losing my mind with that crooked mirror and it was a quick, easy fix.

The shower door guy did show up today--while I was at my doctor's appointment. Grr. Luckily, I anticipated that my luck would be bad on this score. What I did was go online and look at shower door handles. I found one I really liked, did a screen capture, and then created a Word document with what I wanted: Clear glass, brushed nickel hinges/handles/whatever, and the picture of the door handles I loved. I printed it out and gave it to my dad last night. Just in case I'm not home, I told him.

And (of course) I wasn't.

My luck wasn't all bad, though. The contractor said the glass guy reported that in three weeks, the cost of the glass will go up 40%. FORTY PERCENT! OMG! That would have made me reconsider using the old glass door.

So one of the things the contractor did was take the shower out a few more inches, so it's slightly bigger now. He also went higher with the tile and lower with the sill. If I'd gone with the old shower door, I wouldn't have gotten that extra space and the wall between the tub and shower would have had to be cut down. I'm glad the price increase is at the end of the month and that I got my order in on time to avoid it.

The other great piece of news is I am now able to park in my garage again. This will make life so much easier, especially in the mornings. I was driving with my wipers on for about twenty minutes even though it wasn't raining because of how much the windshield was sweating after being left outside all night.

Here are the not quite finished, but we're close pictures:

Bathroom In Progress: Part Seven

When I posted Part Six of this renovation story, I didn't think there was any chance they'd be done this week. I was wrong. It looks as if they will be done this week. Today, they grouted.

It makes the bathroom look much more finished. They're not done yet. There's lots and lots and lots of cleanup to do. They also need to paint and put in the kickboards to hide the edges of the tile. This is all on the agenda for tomorrow.

The shower door guy, who was supposed to come out today, didn't show up to measure. He is (allegedly) coming tomorrow morning. This will be the third time he's scheduled. Maybe we'll get lucky? Because the shower can't be used without the glass.

I'm tired. Tired of not having my bathroom. Tired of men walking through my bedroom multiple times a day. Tired of sharing my dad's bathroom. I'm sure he's tired of it, too.

Even if I can't use the shower for a little bit while we wait for the door, at least I'd like to be able to use the other parts of my bathroom. Soon. I hope.

Pictures from today. With grout!

Bathroom In Progress: Part Six

On Day 5 of the renovation, the contractor said he wanted to come and work on July 4th. I was like, the holiday? Really?

He's British, so he doesn't celebrate, he said.

I was going to say no, but then I figured if they work on the holiday, it will be one day closer to done, so I agreed, but asked him to come at noon so I could sleep in a little longer. He agreed.

And noon came and went. No contractor. One o'clock. Two o'clock. No phone call, no text. That's right, after cajoling me to work on the holiday, he was a no-show.

The crew did arrive on Tuesday morning, but they were gone before I got home. I also learned that the guy who is supposed to measure for the shower glass was rescheduled from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning. Despite the fact that I was supposed to make decisions about hinges and handles and such. The contractor told my dad that he knew what I wanted.

I immediately hooked up my laptop and put in to work from home. I'm not living with someone else's decisions on my shower door for years on end. I hate having my schedule disrupted, but the door is important.

Here are pictures of what my bathroom looked like at the end of Day Six:

 

Bathroom In Progress: Part Five

End of week one of renovations. This was the day the bathroom was supposed to be finished, but I knew it was an ambitious schedule and the odds were small that they'd actually be finished in five days.

The contractor wanted to come on July 4th to work. I was going to tell him no because I didn't want to deal with the work and the guys in my house, but then I thought it will be done sooner if I say yes. So we settled on noon so I can at least sleep a little longer on the holiday.

The color of the floor tiles is nice, but I didn't realize how long they were. I have accent tile in my niche, which I really like. And it looks as if the shower floor tile will be on the shower seat. I'm not 100% on this since it might just be lying there while they're working on the shower floor. I think I'm okay if it is going to be on the seat or isn't. I use the seat for my shampoo bottle, not for sitting.

When I was house hunting in 2016/2017, I spotted this one house before the listing went live. It was just like the house I currently had, but it was on a level lot. The hill I had at my previous house is why we were looking for somewhere else. Anyway, the house was priced below market value, but I didn't like it.

My Realtor was like I could buy it, and with the deal I'm getting, use the extra money to make renovations. I gotta tell you guys, after one week of renovation, I'm tired of it. I don't think I would have survived a whole house makeover.

Pictures from Day five:

Bathroom In Progress: Part Four

Day four got the shower tiled. If you remember from the part three post, the shower was only partially tiled. That's because the accent tile was on some netted backing and it kept wanting to collapse when the main tile was put above it. They had to stop work and let the accent set overnight.

Today is also the day the guy from the foundation company finally got around to calling. It's a good thing it we didn't need them because, boy, was he late to the party.

Another interesting thing happened today. After the guys left, my dad went to get the mail and our neighbor was outside with her girls. She was curious about what was going on over here and my dad told her about the cracks in the bathroom and that we were fixing it/renovating it.

That's when she told my dad they had the same problem at their house. They'd gotten their bathroom fixed earlier. Maybe the end of last year? I can't remember.

I also asked the contractor about the seat for my shower. I didn't see anything and it was tiled and wouldn't they build the seat first? I discovered they had that covered and that they don't have to build seats any longer. The same company that made the orange stuff for the shower walls also made seats that just needed to be set in.

Oh, and instead of a shelf, I got a niche. Also the niches are pre-made by that company and simply slid into position.

The original finish date for the bathroom was supposed to be July 1st. I knew we weren't making that date, and as it turned out, I was right.

And even after everything is put together, I'll still be waiting for the door guys to install that. They came out and measured the second week of upheaval.

Pictures from Day Four:

Stay tuned for Day Five!

Bathroom In Progress: Part Three

Day three of bathroom renovations saw tile start to go up, mostly around the bathtub.

Three days without my bathroom.

It was inconvenient from the very start, but now it's like getting old and inconvenient. My dad lives with me and we have never shared a bathroom. He and my mom had their own and we each had our own here, too. But now I've invaded his bathroom.

I didn't think I had much counter space in my master bathroom. I always felt as if I could use a little more, but moving my things to my dad's vanity showed me just how much space I really do have. Instead of moving everything over, I ended up only pulling out the items I really needed.

My dad volunteered to move his things to the powder room, so he's shaving there and using it more than his own bathroom. Also, my dad had a wooden toilet seat and I discovered that the paint has been scrubbed off of it in a variety of locations. There's nothing else wrong with it, but it looks horrible. He never complained. I ordered a new seat--a plastic one so we won't have to worry about the paint being scrubbed off of it.

My closet is on the other side of my bathroom and I moved the clothes and other things I needed out of there and into the closet under the stairs. Everything is hanging on and over-the-door hook. I can't tell you how many mornings I've taken a shower, gone back to my room, and realized I forgot to grab clothes from the hall closet.

The other inconvenience is the tile has been in my garage since the first day, and because of where it was positioned, I couldn't pull the car all the way into the garage. This didn't seem like a big deal until the first morning I had to drive to work and my windows had all this condensation on them. They also continually fogged up as I drove and I had my wiper blades going to keep the windows clear.

And let's not forget the afternoon storms. As I'm writing this, we're under a severe thunderstorm warning. I'm just hoping it doesn't involve hail because my car is parked in the driveway and there's nowhere to shelter it.

Day three pictures:

 The pink/red stuff in the shower is sealant.

Bathroom In Progress: Part Two

Day two of the renovation began the process of putting things back together again. This is when the contractor made an interesting discovery.

My shower drain hadn't been installed properly.

I'd been worried about the way the grout was separating in the corner of the shower and water getting behind the walls and making mold. I didn't need to worry about that. There was no moisture back there. My problem was the drain.

Instead of putting it in with one part, they'd used three of them, jury-rigged them together. Apparently, they were seated any which way. And instead of my water draining, it was pooling under the shower floor. This was a big problem and could have led to a mold issue.

Wouldn't you think the housing inspector would catch this before signing off the plumbing?

They also discovered grout and other gross things in the drain. Looks like the guys who built the house didn't clean up right. Anyway, it's fixed and cleaned up now and they installed this Schluter system in the walls and floor of the shower. I'd heard about it when a guy I worked with had his bathroom renovated and it's supposed to be top of the line stuff.

They also installed the new green board thing around the tub. Sorry, I can't do better than this, but you know, I was maxed out with the orange shower liner. :-)

Here are the day two pictures I know you're waiting for:

Bathroom In Progress: Part One

I promised on Tuesday that I would tell the story of the foundation company. Some fun here.

The guy came out and did the inspection. He said the odds were 95% that there was a crack in the foundation and that I would need foam injected under the slab to level it. Because he wasn't completely sure, he didn't take a deposit.

We also had a little time crunch going on. The renovation was starting on Monday and this was the Thursday before. They normally need five weeks lead time, but he said he'd work with the scheduling department. I should call him as soon as the tile was up on Monday and he'd jump on it.

Okay. So the tile came up on Monday and there's a crack. My dad calls the guy. Three times. A few hours apart. He finally calls back that evening. Keep in mind that literally two business days have passed since this guy was out to inspect the foundation. He's left the company and no longer works there. He's going to pass our number on to someone else.

I'm like, um, dude? No warning? Did he not give two-weeks notice?

Anyway, the contractor wasn't concerned. He said it was a stress crack and nothing affecting the foundation. And the guy who quit from the foundation company was worried about one side being higher than the other. But when I ran my finger across the area, everything felt level to me.

Do you know when the guy called who took over for the guy who quit? Thursday. THURSDAY. By then, we had the tile done around the shower and were starting to put down the liner for the floor.

Here are the shots of the tear down:

Renovation Day Two brought a revelation about the the shower. Stay tuned for that story.