Wednesday, March 9, 2016

The Great Bathroom Remodel of 2016.....Part 3


So let's talk a bit before I show more Reno Porn photos.

Our first choice of flooring was this.......


It's a tile product that looks like weathered wood.  We chose the whitewashed pecan board look as it is in gray tones.
This tile comes in long planks like wooden board flooring.

Our contractor gave us a look when we showed him what he had picked out.
Seems this type of tile has a problem.

First they don't always come perfect from the factory.  Contractor has had experience with laying this flooring and has found that the boxes of tile contain many planks that have factory flaws-they come bowed and are not straight.  What happens when you walk on tile planks that aren't straight?  Over time and stress they crack and break, meaning floor repairs over the life of the tile.

Also, even if the tiles are true your sub floor needs to be perfectly plumb.  A square tile(even a 12 inch one)can be laid on a less than perfect sub floor and be ok.  A long plank tile laid on the same less than perfect sub floor will cause problems and you end up with buckling tiles and/or cracked/broken tiles over time.
Contractor has had complaints about these plank tile floors he has put in once the floors are walked on and has had to redo them.  He does not like to put these in anymore(and who can blame him?).

So since we are flexible and not ultra-picky and want what we want no matter what! people, we chose a second tile in the same tones as the original.
It's called Chilo Grey.


Bonus was that this gray tone square tile was ONE THIRD the price of our first choice....score!

Day 2 the walls were mostly back up, except for this one segment under/next to the window.
I would be ok with leaving the drywall unpainted(PURPLE!)but there is the little issue of taping and spackling the seams.
Oh well.....


After the weekend(they don't work the weekends), Day 3 of the job, the walls were all up and the first round of tape and spackle was also done.....


The new bathtub and walls were also in.
So white and shiny and new!
Knobs, faucet and shower head still to be installed.


We went for a tub surround/shower wall system as opposed to retiling the bath area.
The cost was less(tiling is slow and tedious work and costs much more in labor)and the maintenance/upkeep is easier.  No grout to clean constantly.
We chose a wall system with built in ledges for soap and bottles of 'poo.  Hopefully Hubs won't fill them all up with stuff.

On Day 4 there was another round of sanding and spackle and then the mortar went down on the floor and the tile got laid.


Things are beginning to look like something now.

Day 5 was a short workday with  another round of sand and spackle and then the white primer went up on the walls.  This is the "boring" part of the process as spackle has to dry in between coats so it doesn't look like any progress is being made.

Day 6 another round of primer and then the first coat of paint went up before they left.
We chose a warm gray called "Tempered Gray" for the wall color.


Knowing that the small little paint chip you choose your colors from sometimes can be too dark or overwhelming once it's on your walls, even though this was what most would call a pale tint, I was still reticent about the color until it went up and dried.


Here is someone else's room painted with this color.....


I wanted a warm gray but not something that was too brown or muddy.  This tint seemed not as cool as some grays can be, but still clean looking.
My fears were assuaged once I saw the dried walls.

I didn't get a photo of the walls in the bathroom with the paint up until after they were done.

Day 7 was more coats of paint and some trim work and grouting the tile floor.  Trim going back up is white as is the closet door. Grout is a darker shade of the tile so it recedes into the background.

This photo below is where we left off for the weekend when Day 7 was done.  The job couldn't be finished on last Friday as expected.

Due to a manufacturing flaw with the sink top which wasn't uncovered until Friday when they took it out of the box, the trim couldn't be finished since they couldn't install the vanity cabinet/sink first....which needed to be done first.
Ugh.

So this is where we where at the end of Day 7.
Walls done, floor done, tub and surround and tub/shower fixtures done.


Not a great shot of the grouted floor and the wall heater is still propped up in the corner and not put back into place.

Luckily for us another Lowe's nearby had the same sink top we ordered in stock so it would be available by Monday to be put in and the job wouldn't be held up weeks and weeks waiting on another identical sink top to arrive.  Had another sink top not been available locally we'd have had to go find one at another Lowe's elsewhere in the state or wait for another one to be ordered and arrive from the manufacturer.  Or, since I am not ultra-picky I might have gone with another sink top that WAS available now.  I wanted the plain white one but could have talked myself into something else if push came to shove.

The sink flaw was small(a pinpoint sized spot/hole where the glaze hadn't taken on the right front corner of the unit but why accept and put in a flawed product when we didn't have to?  Having spent this amount of money(!!!)I wanted it right.  Plus being on the front I would have noticed it every time I used that sink.   I guess I do have a level of picky-ness if I am paying for it. lolz

But everything came together on Day 8 of the job, which was this past Monday, with just a few little issues to correct/address.

I'll share the final photos in the next Update Post.


Sluggy

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

More Lying and Rite-Aid Pain Deals

Back to Rite-Aid on Friday and bought on the other Wellness card...........



All the March Pain Deal items I bought on the first card, plus Joint Flex Cream....on sale for $17 but $16.79 with Wellness 20% Gold discount.
I had a $3/1 ManuQ to use with this one, making it $13.79 using Plenti Points and getting $17 back in new Plenti Points for buying it.

This lot cost me $52.85 in Plenti Points and earned back $66.00 in new Plenti Points, thus a $13.15 moneymaker.

Sluggy


Monday, March 7, 2016

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "We are Getting Close" Edition--



This shot is of the new bathroom tile before it was grouted I shared over the weekend on my FB page.
 We are going with a neutral and plain color scheme having lived with the green cacophony for long enough.  I detest the beige/tan route so we went with grey/white.  The floor we initially chose was a plank porcelain tile(the durability of tile in the bathroom but in the shape/form of wooden planking instead of squares)called Brazilian Pecan White Glazed.

Basically it looked like an old weathered wood floor but in grey tones.  It was more expensive(much more!)and had inherent design issues so we went with boring old square tiles.  Boring is GOOD after living through that strident tonal poem of greens which overran our bathroom before. lolz


Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week.......

1. Sunday--Leftover Lasagna
2. Monday--Sausage Patties on Rolls, Sauted Cabbage
3. Tuesday--Leftovers
4. Wednesday--Fish, Potato Salad(using up old taters), Grilled Asparagus
5. Thursday--Leftovers again?
6. Friday--Italian Torta, Salad
7. Saturday--?


And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Leftover Lasagna
2. Monday--Sausage Patties on Rolls, Sauted Cabbage(I just had the Cabbage)
3. Tuesday--Leftovers(I had Stroganoff, Hubs had Thai Chicken and a can of Soup)
4. Wednesday--Fish, Roasted Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus
5. Thursday--Leftover Meatloaf, Grilled Mixed Veggies
6. Friday--Leftover Pecan Chicken and Fish, Leftover Asparagus, Halushki
7. Saturday--Chinese Take-Out

6 meals cooked at home.
2 new meals and 4 nights of leftovers in some form or another and 1 night of Take-Out.

We finished up many leftovers last week.  I took the leftover sauted Cabbage and used it in the Halushki I made on Friday.

As for my grocery spending for March.....some of this was bought the last few days of February but using March monies.
I spent $77.82 at 4 stores/5 shopping trips the last 9 days.  I also went to Rite-Aid 3 times but I didn't spend any money as is the usual.  ;-)

$77.82 spent of the potential $250-$300 March food budget so between $222.18 and $172.18 left to spend with 24 days left in the month.

Leftovers going into this week......Cheese Lasagna(which will get put into the freezer shortly if not eaten up early in this week), Halushki, Roasted Potatoes, Breaded Fish.


Here is this week's "food plan"--

1. Sunday--Roasted Chicken, Stuffing, Deviled Eggs and Roasted Carrots and Cauliflower
2. Monday--CB's Birthday Meal out
3. Tuesday--Philly Cheese Steaks(I'll have Halushki), leftover Veggies
4. Wednesday--White Chicken Chili, Biscuits, Salad
5. Thursday--Tacos or Taco Salads
6. Friday--Crab Cakes and Shrimp, Coleslaw, Steak Fries or add to leftover Roasted Potatoes(for Hubs and CB)
7. Saturday--Leftovers or Take-out

This week will see 5 new meals cooked and 0-1 meals of leftovers(re-purposed into new dishes or not) and one meal Out.

What I need to buy for this menu? Ground Beef, maybe more lettuce, Provolone Cheese(for the subs), Cauliflower and more Cabbage.  Luckily with St. Patrick's Day nearby cabbage is cheap this week.  I got the Cauliflower on Sunday already and the Ground Beef on Friday(Weis Friday only Special)so all I need for this week's meal is the Cheese.

Of course I'll put a caveat on this week's menu as it may change, depending on what College Boy feels like having and if he is going to be around at dinnertime.  Both of those factors will affect what I actually make and serve.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Let's Have a Foursome! Meme

Here's a Meme taken from Ur-Spo.
Something light and fluffy for a Sunday afternoon.  8-)


Four names I go by:  Sluggy(doh!), Dee, Denise, MOOOOOOM!!!

Four tunes I adore: (currently as this changes often) I couldn't limit it to 4 only......

Some French New Wave from the late 1970's.....

Also from the late 1970's/early 1980's.......


Ditto......can you tell yet where my head is at lately? lol....


Classic Little Feat...........


Classic Thorogood......


Another Beatles Classic tune.........



And for fun these two updated/topical versions of a classic song/little opera......






And something highly danceable.....


And back to the late 1970's again.........




Four things I hate:  sickness, bigotry, being cold, the death of someone I know and love

Four places I have worked: For Costume Designer in Brooklyn NY, at Mexican Restaurant in VA as waitress and part time cook, at Fabric Store in West Orange NJ as assistant manager, at The Virginia State Opera in Norfolk VA as a costumer

Four things I love to watch: art, cooking shows, live theater and music(sorry but ballet puts me to sleep), genealogy shows

Four places I have visited:  Tijuana Mexico, Moncton New Brunswick Canada, Los Angeles California, Niagara Falls NY/Canada-both sides

Four things I love to eat:  lobster, steak, cannoli, collards(cooked properly w/meat)

Four favorite drink:  dark craft beers(stouts and porters), properly made iced tea, kombucha tea, dark ginger ale

Four shows/plays:  this one is just too hard to choose given my previous occupation/college degree......The Man of La Mancha, Bells Are Ringing, Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd

Four things I am happily anticipating:  moving out of PA,  traveling, the end of Winter, becoming a grandma(tho that one is not happening anytime soon)

Four things I am dreading:  this political cycle, having more renovation work done, dieting, the actual moving process

Four items on my bucket list:  I don't need a stinkin' bucket list!

Four people I think will respond: Sonya Ann, McVal, Lorraine(if she finds some time), Kim(ditto).



Now it is your turn.  Copy and paste the meme and put in your own answers.


Sluggy

Friday, March 4, 2016

The Great Bathroom Remodel of 2016.....Part 2


*NOTE*  Let me say first that if I use the wrong construction/building terminology I apologize.  I am not familiar with all these words not being in the trade.  But I'll do the best I can making it understandable.*

So after 3 hours of banging and sawing, etc. this was what my ugly bathroom now looked like.....or rather my ugly bathroom became an ex-bathroom and even an EX-ROOM!


Gutted down to the studs basically, even the ceiling left, leaving a lovely view of the underside of the roof.

After the demolition of said bathroom I was called in for a consult.
Why?
Well tearing down the walls, floor, ceiling and various fixtures meant exposing lots of goodies hidden behind it all and exposed reasons, as well, why the room had been configured how it was.

The head guy, a delightful young chap named Caleb, asked me, "When did this bathroom get remodeled last?", which I found a strange thing to ask.

To the best of my knowledge this house, built in about 1986, has had only 3 owners including us, in it's whole life--the people who had it built, the people from Iowa, who only lived here 2 of the 4 years they owned it, and Hubs and I.
But the innards of the room told a different story........


That hole in the floor with exposed pipes in this photo is where our bathtub sat until hours earlier.
The worker's bag of tools is sitting over 2 cooper pipes that where capped off to which either a toilet or a shower was attached at some point in the past.  Which means our full bathroom was once either a half bath(sink and toilet only)or a 3/4 bath(sink, toilet and shower).  I tend to think it was a 3/4 myself because why move a toilet across the room?

Caleb also was astonished that these capped off pipes, even though capped off, were extending above floor level?  He couldn't believe that our bathtub(well two of them actually had)had sat above these pipes and they had not penetrated the floor of either tub in the last 15+ years.
These capped pipes were cut down below floor grade and recapped.

Reinforcing that our tub was not original to the bathroom was the fact that the studs on the wall next to where the tub was had been notched severely to accommodate water supply pipes that had not been built into the wall structure such that they were no longer structurally supporting the framework of the house wall and that large blocks of wood had been nailed to what was left of the boards to help keep them together.  Thankfully these boards were not load bearing but still it means that the tub was a remodel, by the previous to-us owners(as why would the original owners design/have a house built and then turn around and remodel it thusly?).

The photo above was taken after the cooper piping which served no purpose had been removed and before those compromised studs were replaced the following day.

Then there was the vent pipe debacle............


Every bathroom has a vent pipe which is connected to your toilet and sink and tub/shower drains.
This keeps sewage gases out of your house and helps the drains drain well.
Pictured above is our vent pipe.   To the right is our toilet fitting(under that ladder thingy)and where the bucket is sitting is where the sink goes.

This vent pipe runs from above the roof through the attic space, down into the bathroom and down to the first floor and eventually into the basement.
Usually a vent pipe runs through the room in the wall.....but not ours!
As you can see below this pipe was running through our bathroom into the room and not tucked into the wall!

This is the only reason they could find why this bathroom had both that lovely soffit built our from the actual wall that housed those potlights and the reason why we had a half or knee wall located behind the sink/vanity......

Half wall behind the vanity area, under the mirror....hiding that vent pipe which came out into the room's interior.......

 Soffit over the mirror....where that vent pipe "u"ed and jutted out into the room even more(like 12 inches out into the room!)before rising above the ceiling into the attic space.


So in order to NOT have to have another knee wall and soffit again the vent pipe had to be relocated inside the wall.
Kaching!
That was the sound of more money leaving our wallet since more supplies needed to be bought to do this and more labor would be expended to get that work done.
sigh.

But it was so worth it NOT to have those design features replicated in the bathroom again.


You will also notice in this photo above that the vent pipe does NOT connect to the sink drain(behind that bucket on the left).  Caleb asked if our sink drains always ran slow and didn't drain well.  Why, yes they never did!  That's not because they were perpetually clogged up with hair and gunk we put down the sink drains it was because neither sink was connected to the vent pipe and thus not up to code!! 
A drain works best when it's vented, much like when you open a canned good like evaporated milk, if you have 2 holes, air pushes in the second hole to help the liquid escape the can faster.
So now both bathroom sinks(they are oppose each other located on this wall)had to be hooked up to the vent pipe which meant more labor time and money as well.


So a good part of the rest of the work day was spent tucking the vent pipe into the wall......


And bringing the sink drain up to code.

So Day 1 ended with the room gutted, pipes removed and/or relocated and stuff brought up to code.
It was such a mess in there I didn't really see how this was going to get finished up in the short time frame the contractor gave us.  True they are now going to be at this a day or two longer than planned due to the extra work but I was weary that room would ever be presentable again at this point.

*I just want to mention here that our contractor, who came to look in on the job and talk about things on Day 1, told us that our house, even with these issues, was becoming a dream to work on, and compared to other houses in this area that he has worked upon, it was practically a brand new house.
I suppose he was talking about houses in the older areas around here, like in Wilkes-Bare proper, where housing on the whole is quite a bit older....like 1910-1940's older compared to our 1980's abode.  Back in the earlier part of the 20th century houses were not built to anything approaching current building codes(if there even WERE building codes! lol)and many were slap dashed together and have not stood up to the test of time.
Just our little bit of a taste of remodeling/renovating one bathroom has me rethinking any plans to retire somewhere and buy an older house that "needs work".  The only exception might be a house that needs total gutting down to a "shell"and renovating it totally.

Day 2 began the rebuilding of the bathroom.


New wall studs put into place(they left the old compromised ones as well as the blocks that had been added as there was no point in removing them, it would have cost more time and money)and the old piping was removed.


The new bathtub was installed!


And wallboard began to be put back up, first on the ceiling so the room wasn't open to the attic/roof which kept the room a bit warmer for working in.  That's the base of the new ceiling fan too.

So Day 2 I don't have as much to talk about and nothing else to show......new framing goes up, old pipes removed, tub installed, new piping installed in the tub area, a new ceiling installed and the ceiling fan.

Day 3 and 4 will be discussed in the next installment.

Sluggy