Laundry Days are Here Again

Hooray! After almost three months of having no washer or dryer, I'm so happy to have a new pair of laundry machines. There is so much laundry piled up around here... A friend was kind enough to let me do wash at his house, but one basket a week just can't keep up and I didn't want to abuse my privilege, so I stuck to the necessities. When the new washer or dryer is done with its job, it sings to me!

The Barn Door's Open

Because of space constraints, we decided to close off the bathroom with a sliding door.  We upcycled a beautiful door that we found at Bring.  It is frosted glass surrounded by a solid wood frame.  Gary wasn't satisfied with the barn door hardware at the home stores, so he bought a fancy one from Rustica. I painted the door gloss white to match the moulding and contrast the blue wall.

Searching for Studs

                                                                 Ouch!

When the wall was opened up, we made a map of the studs for future reference.  This is the map we used when ordering the barn door hardware.  Well, it seems the studs were reconfigured, probably when the plumber moved the pipes. So, off to Jerry's Home Improvement store, again. This time-it was the third time that day-to purchase a stud finder.  Seems like the stud finder worked. While backing out of a parking space, a couple of studs backed their pick-up into the car, denting the bumper. It was a very long day.

Floored

Abstract Black. That's the color name of the floor tile. It really is more of a charcoal grey with a lighter, warmer grey grid pattern, similar to a window screen. It has a slight texture.  Industrial Grey is the color name of the lighter grey wainscoting in the bathroom.

Hot Wired

The floor heat is in! It took a gathering of the tiler, the electrician, and the inspector to get it done.  After the wire was glued down, an orange, waffle like membrane was put on top with thinset.

Hurry up and wait

So, we had to wait a week and a half for the rest of the shower. The walls are installed and ready for the plumber. Unfortunately, the toilet and sink can't go in until the tile floor is down. So, no sense calling in the plumber just yet. And the tiler can't come yet. We hurried to get the moulding put in this weekend in anticipation of the tile going in early this week. We can't install the sliding door until the floor is down. And the door must be in before the cabinet is installed. And the cabinet must go in before the washer and dryer. And on and on...

Room to Grow

The shower pan was installed. We had planned on a 48" wide shower, but it seems that after that 'secret space' wall was removed we gained 4 inches more.

'True turquoise' is the name of the color that Gary chose for the bathroom. It is fairly bright, but I think it will be balanced by the grey colors of the lower wall, shower, and tile floor.

The Case of the Vanishing Window

We removed the laundry room window. Being on the west side of the house, it took the full force of the winter storms. It was rotting on the bottom. The hole was framed in and covered with plywood. The hard to find cedar siding went up the next morning. Caulked and painted, you wouldn't know there was ever a window in that wall. Except for the fact that the rest of the wall needs cleaning.

Holes

There are holes in the floor, now, where the shower drain and the water supply lines used to be. There is a hole in the exterior wall covered only by the siding. Probably a vent for a dryer at one point in time. There's a hole in the bathroom ceiling. Actually, there's no ceiling at all. There are holes for the toilet and the washer. Maybe there are holes in our heads for starting this project. Definitely holes in the bank account.

Pick-Up Load of Bathroom

Our bathroom has been relocated to our pick-up truck. Mostly, anyways. We will give what's usable to 'Habitat for Humanity'. The rest goes to the dump. No one wants our toilet because it is not of the low flow variety. Gary had fun (if work can be fun) taking out the fiberglass shower with a reciprocating saw. He said "This is the second greatest invention, after the wheel." That was the most fun we've had in the shower together in a long time.

The Throne

The trucker who delivered our new toilet was very helpful. He used a small forklift to put it in our garage. Helpful, indeed, since it is a one piece monster and weighs in at 98 pounds. It is truly a throne meant for royalty and I know that the king of the house will enjoy it.

Alfie, also a king in his world, found a sunny perch on the old throne.

Secret Room

The shower stall was most likely installed in the spring of 1985. I found an April 1985 'Register Guard' page stuffed in the wall behind the shower. We moved in in the fall of '85. There is an empty space beside the shower that was walled in. Odd. I've always wanted to find a secret room in my house, although this doesn't measure up to my imaginings.

Bathroom Project

Here we go again. It's been three years since the trauma and ecstasy of our kitchen remodel and, like childbirth, only the joy is remembered. We have lined up many of the same folks who worked on the kitchen.

We did a bit of work on this small bathroom 16 years ago. New toilet, new sink and vanity, and a new wall mirror to replace an old medicine cabinet. Yesterday, we removed the mirror and found a 1996 'Eugene Weekly' rolled up and placed (by us) in the wall recess behind the mirror.