Tag: Bathroom

You Light Up My Life

Published on by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

Over the weekend, we enjoyed windy, gloomy weather.  No work on the roof, but Ben did some work inside.  On Saturday, we ran our usual errands, Ben washed windows, and cut the left over slab of Bubinga to fit the entertainment center.  Sunday, we had high temps in the 60’s, so we took a trip to Home Depot to get various electrical supplies.  Cooler days are better for attic work and we took advantage of it.  First, Ben ran wires for the theater speakers.

Speakers will flank the front living room window for a true theater-like experience.  The wires run from the outside wall, through the attic, and down the wall behind the entertainment center.

While he was up there, he moved the cable from the temporary place to the same box behind the tv.

Though unfinished, that is better than this:

You may have noticed the sconces are gone, too.  Ben pulled the wires completely out because we’ll never have sconces there.  Now we’ve got patching to do.

That’s all great, but I was most excited for the pendants in the main bathroom.  While painting the small linen closet, I realized just how dark that bathroom was.

Step out of the dark ages, we have created light!  Finding lights Ben and I could agree on wasn’t the easiest part of this bathroom reno.

We knew we wanted chrome pendants with hidden bulbs.  Of course the options are nearly limitless, but we also wanted something around the $50 or less price point.  One of our original choices were industrial chrome pendants for $48 each from Lowes.  Currently, the bathroom doesn’t have a ray of natural light.  We will add a Sky Tube, but Ben and I worried the downward direction of the lights wouldn’t fill up the bathroom.

Luckily, using only one rod kept the pendants high enough, giving off more light than I thought.

And we love the look.

The style of this pendant is very similar to this one from Home Depot.  Twenty dollars less each, and I like the style of the Lowes option better.

We’ve got some trim installed, but more to do.  Then filling, sanding, priming, and painting.  And grouting the tub, installing the toilet, getting the sink functional, adding functional items like hooks and such.  But we’re getting there.  I’m getting some of the finishing touches ready.  And you caught a peek at the shower curtain that inspired my revised plan.  Mood board to come soon.

What did you do over the weekend?  Have you found a cheaper version of something that you liked more than the expensive option?  That’s always fun for me.  Usually I gravitate toward the more expensive items.

You’re so Vain, Vanity

Published on by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

Our main bathroom is taking shape.  Yesterday you saw Saturday’s progress, but on Sunday, more bathroom magic happened.  Ben started working on the vanity.  After finding a remnant piece of quartz for sixty bucks, we nailed down the width of 43 inches.

With the linen closet ready to rock, we could start the vanity.  Right off the bat, Ben and I agreed we wanted an open design similar to the basement bathroom at our first house.  I even made a to scale Photoshop drawing.

Ben had 3 1/2 inch square oak posts already, so we used those for the legs.  For a modern look and sleek clean-ability (a must with two little boys!) we chose the Archer sink by Kohler.  But we had a little problem.  The sink is almost 20 inches wide, our top is 43, and our legs are 7 inches wide.  43 – 20 – 7 = 16 inches.  Divide 16 by 2 (we wanted a drawer on each side of the sink) and you get 8 inch wide drawers.  That’s the outside dimension, now take away an inch for glides and another inch for building materials and you’re left with a 6 inch drawer.  Too little space to make it worth building drawers.  Boo.  On the upside, this made building the vanity a little easier.  Instead of cutting several pieces to make openings for the drawers, Ben used 2 by 6 boards to frame up the top.

To secure the boards, Ben drilled long screws to hole the boards to each other and the studs in the wall.

But not before making sure every part was level several times.

Then Ben nailed the legs to the cross boards, using filler pieces where our floor isn’t completely level.

Tile floors don’t work to hold the leg bases down, but shelves stabilize nicely.  Knowing we won’t have drawers, I adjusted my plans to include two shelves instead.

For maximum stability and strength, Ben cut plywood (not MDF) to size and notched out the post corners.  To cover the ugly plywood edge and add even more rigidity, he tacked on an oak face.  We shouldn’t have to worry about the boys using the shelves as a step stool.  In our humble opinions, the easiest and sturdiest way to support shelves is with cleats; thin pieces if wood which the shelf rests on.  Ben added two short ones to each leg and a long piece along the back wall.

One shelf down, one to go.  Through the power vested in me the internet, I give thee a second shelf.

And a peek at the counter and sink.  Oh look, here’s another.

And I snapped a ton of pictures of the cutting and polishing process for those requesting a granite post.  Check back for that tomorrow.  After a weekend of work, this is what we accomplished.

And a little action at the tub.  Ugly framing covered and a pretty granite sill on top.

Have you ever built a vanity?  Do you prefer the look of an open style or the option to tuck items away in a cabinet?  Who’s excited for the stone cutting post?

Tile on the Floor

Published on by Our Humble Abode17 Comments

I’ve said it before, progress on the bathroom is slow.  We’ve got a million and ten projects we’re working on, some more pressing than others.  First removing the water heaters to make room for the geothermal.  Then installing a new dishwasher.  And a whole house fan to keep us cool.  All necessary things that have taken focus off the bathroom.  Such is life, I guess.  In the video tour, you caught a glimpse of the newly installed floor tile.  So here’s how we got to that point.

Before we could install the tile, we had to determine the layout.  We knew we wanted a brick pattern and preferred the look of it running parallel to the door.  Then, Ben measured the distance between the wall and the bath tub.  Centering the middle of the first tile on this portion looked best, instead of centering the first tile over the entire room length.

More of the room is this width, not the full 8 foot span.  Ben marked the center of the tile with a pencil, making it easier to line everything up.  After nailing that down (figuratively, of course) Ben measured and cut the rest of his pieces.

Including this hole for the floor vent.

Sometimes tiles are finicky and break while cutting.  Well, not these.  Ben said these tiles are crazy strong and a dream to work with.  A happy Ben means a happy tile job and very little complaining.  And, this is his best toilet cut out to date.

Turns out a paint can is the perfect template.  Knowing this is a small space, Ben pre-cut and fitted his tiles before mixing the mastic.

Install was crazy quick because of this.  Seriously, I watched him set the first few, walked down the hall to clean up a few things, came back and saw this:

Sure it helps that the tiles are 1 foot by two feet, but it went fast.

The following morning, V helped me pull out the 1/16 inch spacers and I got to work cleaning the floor.  Wetting the mastic with a rag makes clean up super simple.  Then I used a utility knife to scrape the higher sections of mastic out of the grout lines.

Bring on the grout!  And a toilet, please.

Just Keep Tiling

Published on by Our Humble Abode18 Comments

That’s Ben’s motto these days.  We’ve had the main bathroom shower surround tiled for over a week now, but little projects keep popping up, preventing further progress.   Instead of waiting longer to share, here’s where we’re at now.

Tile from tub to ceiling makes the 8 foot ceilings feel taller and opens the space.

A functional tub is great, but the lack of grout means the boys can’t splash during their bath.

I’m in love with this tile.  It’s a nice gray/cream color with subtle pattern, but nothing that jumps out.  Our floor tile is in and has sat in the garage for a week, while our bathroom floors look like this:

In our down time, we like to relax while watching a show on Netflix or Hulu through our Play Station.  Not a single cable jack exists in this house.  Through wireless internet, the connection is terribly slow, stopping several times to load.  Finally, Ben had enough of it and rigged up a temporary fix.

Cable comes from outside, at the end of the pool room, under the deck (the original owner’s plan), into the floor in my office, up the wall and over.

And we need an actual entertainment center.  But we’ll have to finish the basement, re-roof, install the new geothermal unit, and I’m sure do several more things before an entertainment center can reach the summit of our huge to do list.

After signing closing papers yesterday morning, the boys and I ran errands, including a stop at Joann’s and TJ Maxx.  Picked up another pile of fabric and I’m half way through with this sewing endeavor.  I spied a cute golden yellow and white rug at TJ Maxx.  For $19.99, I figured I could find a home somewhere.

Right now, it’s at the French door off the deck, but I’m considering using it as a large bath mat in the main bathroom.  Not completely sure yet, but I think it’s adorable (and surprisingly soft!).

What’s at the top of your to do list?  Bathroom renovations starting soon?  Need a new roof?  Working on a painting project?  Share with us.

Tub Thumping

Published on by Our Humble Abode15 Comments

Before we can officially move into the new house, I’ve required a working bath tub.

See, we pulled out the claw foot tub and we’ve replaced it with a five foot jetted tub and shower combo.

Which also required removing the small half wall and building a new floor to ceiling wall.

The plumbing runs through the new wall, and a Hardie Backer surround, tub to ceiling.  Ben taped and filled the seams and we’re waiting for it to dry.

We also gained a little bit of space for the toilet.  A claw foot tub plus a wide half wall in an eight foot square room is a tight fit.  Now a five foot tub with a standard wall gives the cramped toilet space a few more valuable inches.

In other bathroom news, we picked up our shower tile and a remnant for our vanity counter today.  Hopefully Ben can start (and finish) the shower surround tomorrow.  But here’s the counter:

The counter is a 45 inch by 25 inch piece of white quartz.  I love that it is light and will allow me to paint the vanity any color I want.  Ben got it for 60 bucks, which is about $400 cheaper than the quote we got from the other granite supplier in town.  Score!

Even better, this granite place has piles of damaged materials.  Ben saw a few pieces of Carrera marble in the heap, so he asked about it.  The company is trying to get rid of these and the employee said Ben could take anything he wanted, free.

Those babies are sitting in the garage, waiting for Ben to cut them down to fit our end tables.  He sure knows the way to my heart.

In other new house news, I hung a few pictures.  Mostly because I don’t want to look at the epileptic seizure inducing wall paper.  And because I have about 10 boxes of art at my disposal.

We were able to sell the old bathroom vanity on Craigslist, and now we’re trying to pawn this enormous wooden pergola on someone.  No clue of its original purpose, but it’s in our yard and we want it out of there.

We met another neighbor yesterday; Rocky, the rock chuck.

That’s the latest progress.  Bring on the bath tub so we can move our beds over!  Tell me, what kind of counters do you have in your bathroom?  Have you scored any free things lately?