The Bathroom Finale!

July 6, 2008
I walked into the bathroom first thing this morning and was amazed at the beautiful colors as the sunlight shone through the stained glass window. Wow! It is gorgeous!

There is not much left to do. Once hubby got home from work he hung the crystal candle chandelier over the tub with the vintage light cover which hides the hook. We hung several pictures including the beautiful picture of the hand holding the roses that my neighbor gave me. The rose potpourri given by my dear friend as a birthday gift is scenting the entire bathroom. It was getting late so I decided to call it a night.

July 7, 2008
I was up early this morning and began cleaning the bathroom for the final inspection. The building inspector showed up around 10:30 AM, inspected everything and passed it which can mean only one thing…

drum roll please…

THE BATHROOM IS FINISHED!!!

In a mere ten months we have finally finished!!! I can’t believe it! Even as I type this I still can’t fathom the fact that the bathroom is actually complete!
After the inspector left I continued decorating. The china cabinet now houses towels, painted porcelain, and other useful trinkets. After moving a few more things around the décor was finally complete. Once everything was in its place I put the glass globes on the light fixtures making the bathroom look even more beautiful.

And so here ends the bathtub diaries. This project has brought many laughs, a few arguments, some bribery, an occasional threat, a few injuries, and a bus license for me. I have enjoyed sharing this experience with everyone. I would like to thank all of the people that have made this project bearable as well as beautiful. As much as I will miss writing these diaries I must bid all adieu as I have a date with an old claw foot tub and some bubble bath.

Happy soaking!

God Bless!

*********************

Before and After pictures will be posted soon so stop back by:).

Getting closer...

July 3, 2008
I spent two weeks in Atlanta and therefore the updates on the bathroom are extensive. Of course, one of the first places I like to visit once I get to Atlanta is the antique mall. I got my Chai tea from the restaurant next to the antique mall and then mom and I went antiquing. The antique store owner (also a real estate agent) was kind enough to take mom and me to see a gorgeous Victorian house a block away from the store that is currently on the market. The owner was at home and was very gracious about letting us look at the house. The antique store owner introduced mom and me. As soon as he told the homeowner where I was from she immediately asked- ‘Are you the one with the bathtub?’ I was shocked! Who would have thought that a total stranger would know me because of these diaries! She has now been added to the bathtub diary email list. Apparently my antiques store friends have been sharing this story with their friends too.

While I was gone hubby worked hard at installing the quarter round to the baseboards and completing the wainscoting. My plan was to arrive home last Sunday but hubby asked that I stay another day so he could get more of the bathroom completed. He had called me the Friday before to tell me that he was going to COMPLETE the bathroom before I arrived home a week later. I told him to wait because I knew he needed my help to install the pillars. He was quite insistent stating that he was going to complete this project and followed with the statement that he was not going to do another home improvement project for at least two years. This made me laugh. Two years before he does another home improvement project? I think not! He is not doing anymore home improvement projects of this magnitude! I will hire someone next time!!! Anyway, when I arrived home he had installed the pillars (with Gary’s help) and they look grand!

Now to answer the question that is probably running through your head right now-Is the bathroom finished?

You have been reading the bathroom diaries for ten months now!
What on earth made you think that this time the project would be complete?
Everything on the inside was in fact completed; however, the siding on the outside center wall had yet to be hung.
And so the diaries continue…


Hubby sustained one injury while I was gone. While painting one of the pillars he burned his arm on the wall sconce light bulb. Not only did he do it once but twice. Ironically his burn was not as severe as mine.
One other incident occurred while I was gone. Apparently hubby forgot about the open views of the bathroom windows since the curtains have yet to be hung. One afternoon he walked into the bathroom before realizing that everyone could see him. Oh, did I mention that he was naked at the time? Yup, anyone who happened to be walking by got a surprise show. Needless to say he is being a bit more careful now.

While in Atlanta I purchased a few more things for the bathroom. I found a lovely Victorian style tissue cover as well as a hairspray holder, covered box (for cotton balls), and a small glass container for Q-tips.

Yesterday I did the paint touch-ups to the pillars and the walls in the bathroom. When hubby got home from work he finished installing the siding on the outside center wall. We have only to hang mirrors, artwork, arrange furniture, hang curtains, and get the final inspection. Hmmm, it didn’t seem like much more needed to be done until I typed it all out.

July 4, 2008
Let the fun begin! All of the structural work and painting is complete! Now it is time to decorate. WooHoo!!! We hung the mirror over the sink. Then we moved the china cabinet in and placed it on the wall behind the door. In addition, we added the small shelving unit that we had in the old bathroom. It provides great storage without taking up much space. Due to the extraordinary amount of time that has elapsed since the start of this project I have made several purchases for the bathroom without knowing if the items would work or not. I actually have two options for a towel rack. You may remember that I purchased a beautiful scrolly, fru-fru iron towel rack in May from an antique mall in Lawrenceville. During my most recent trip to Atlanta I found a lovely antique architectural piece that once probably graced the top of a dresser. Someone added very ornate hooks to it making it into a wall mounted rack for clothes or towels. It was marked down to $30. My intention was to use this piece behind the bathroom door to hang my pajamas and robes. However, the china cabinet is now located behind the door making this idea obsolete. So now this piece is also being considered for the towel rack. It seemed like a simple decision. Unfortunately both pieces looked great. Hubby was not much help stating that the choice depended upon what would be hanging on the neighboring walls. Hmmm. It was late so we decided to sleep on it until tomorrow.

July 5, 2008
Yay! Another decorating day! Now I know that you are on the edge of your seat wondering which towel rack we chose!
So here it is…

I’m still not sure.

Since I was still unable to choose a towel rack we did the only thing that we could do-we hung everything on the neighboring walls and then made the decision. The small antique corner medicine cabinet ($95-Lilburn) went on the only available corner in the bathroom. After that we hung an antique shelving piece on the wall across from the tub. Next the infamous stained glass window went into the lower portion of the center window (it fit the window niche nicely). A piece of antique lace and a small valance covered the upper portion of the center window. The curtain rods were very inexpensive white wood rods from a national hardware chain. This allowed us to custom fit the rods to each window. Curtain panels to match the valance were hung on the two side windows providing privacy at night and light during the day when they are opened (or to block hubby from any further exhibitionist shows). I put an antique red velvet chair under the corner medicine cabinet ($40 from an antique fair in Atlanta). Back in May during one of my visits to the antique mall I found an antique linen towel edged with crocheted lace and embroidered with the initial ‘P’ ($26). We added a small towel rack to the bottom of the medicine cabinet using the leftover wood dowels from the curtain rods. We had finally finished decorating most of the tub area of the bathroom.
Now back to the towel rack decision.

And the winner is…

the antique architectural piece with the hooks!

We hung a beautiful framed print above it that mom purchased in Williamsburg, Virginia a few years ago. I began moving some of my things in and then went to bed. Decorating is exhausting!

Tile scraping continues...

June 16, 2008
I can hardly move today. After spending 3 hours on the floor scraping tile every muscle and joint is sore! But there are still several tiles to go. I managed to scrape two more tiles but that was all-I am still too sore.

June 17, 2008
I tackled the rest of the tile today! It took a couple more hours but I managed to get all of the grout removed from the intricate design! WooHoo! The only thing left for me to do is to apply one more coat of paint to the wainscoting and the red walls. I suppose I should mention that I have a very steady hand when painting and therefore I do not tape off the trim work when I paint. Hubby was very helpful and taped off all of the trim in the main section of the bathroom in an effort to help me out (this was several weeks ago when we were painting the moldings). After painting the new section of the bathroom I moved the ladder into the old main section. I pulled off the first section of blue painter’s tape. It came off pretty easily. So did all of the paint below it! And some of the drywall too! I thought that the whole point of using painter’s tape was that it DOES NOT stick to the paint. Apparently not! This was the case with all of the tape removal-or should I say tape and PAINT removal! Not only did I have to repaint the red paint around the moldings but also the gold paint on the ceiling. When hubby got home from work he came back to the bathroom where I was still painting. I showed him where the tape pulled the paint off of the walls. His response was ‘I was afraid that would happen.’ Hmmm…my next thought was -do I throw something at him now or do I wait until after I ask the meaning of his comment? I decided to wait. ‘What do you mean?’ I asked. His response ‘I think that was two day painter’s tape.’ In other words, we should have taken it down after a few days instead of a few WEEKS! At this point I am beginning to adjust to such little setbacks so instead of throwing something at him I just resumed painting. A couple of hours later the painting was complete.

I was just reading the updates to hubby regarding the tile scraping episode. He wanted to know why I did not write about his efforts in this area. So to be fair, hubby did spend a few hours last week with the grout dissolving stuff scraping and brushing the tiles. However, he was not as successful as I was. There, now he can feel better-I mentioned his contribution, albeit a minor one, but I mentioned it nonetheless.
Beep, Beep, Beep goes the bus!

Full steam ahead...

June 8, 2008
After church hubby and I started working on the bathroom. I continued painting while hubby worked on the box supports for the antique pillars. He did a wonderful job of designing them with a bit of storage included in the design. It took several hours of cutting and constructing and then hubby came in for a fitting. (Now mind you, it was quite a daunting task getting to the pillars which were located in the library, aka the black hole, amongst a sea of bathroom stuff. I removed everything from the library to the small opening on the living room floor and then was able to locate and bring out the pillars and caps). I carried the pillars and caps to the bathroom and hubby placed all the pieces together and determined that the box size was correct. He handed me the pillar to lean back against the wall.

And that’s when it happened.

You know one of those slow motion moments when you want to move quickly but all you can do is stand back and watch the impending disaster that follows. Somehow during the passing of the pillar we did not make contact it was just millimeters out of my reach. I yelled for hubby to catch it but it was too late. CRASH!!!!! The pillar fell against the toilet smashing the toilet tank lid. Porcelain bits went flying everywhere! As the pillar lay against the toilet tank with porcelain shrapnel all over the floor I did the only thing that I could do…

I busted out laughing!

Hubby was not as amused. I told him not to worry that I was sure we could find a replacement. He replied with a ‘probably not’ since it was a fairly old toilet and that most of the toilets today are much larger (this is why we kept the original-because it was small and fit in the space). Hmmm, I hadn’t thought about that. All of a sudden it wasn’t quite as funny but then a new thought occurred to me! A most enjoyable thought! Now we could buy the expensive toilet that matches the pedestal sink! Hubby was not amused.
A little while later hubby went to the hardware store to get some decorative trim for the pillar support boxes and primer for the pillars while I continued to paint (have you ever noticed that the more you paint the more there is to paint)? Once he arrived home he applied the decorative trim to the boxes. Now they just have to be painted.

I sustained yet another injury when cleaning up the mess on the platform area of the bathroom. When removing the tile cutter a shard of glass cut my thumb. I cleaned and bandaged it immediately and all looks as if it will be fine.

June 9, 2008
There may be hope for the toilet! Our dear friends have replaced their toilets and they still have the old ones. These are older, small toilets so she is going to bring in one of the tank lids tomorrow for us to try on our toilet. Toilet trading, it’s a good thing.

June 10, 2008
Hubby finished the grout while I primed the decorative boxes for the pillars and patched some nail holes.

June 11, 2008
The toilet lid given to us is too small for the toilet tank. Hubby went out and bought a new tank with a lid for the toilet.

· New toilet tank and lid $50

June 14, 2008
St. Pauly came over today to replace the sink drain and to install the new toilet tank. We officially have a working bathroom but I refuse to use it until it is finished!

June 15, 2008
I am not sure if you remember (since it has been so long ago) that we purchased a raised decorative tile for the platform step. Hubby installed it a few weeks ago including the grouting. This is the first time that hubby has worked with tile that has a raised design on it and it was a learning experience. Did you know that when grout dries on a raised design tile that it is nearly impossible to remove? Yup, all of the grout formed a cement-like substance that fills in all of the intricate crevices of the design. Not a problem-surely there is some sort of grout removal product that will make the grout dissolve without damaging the surface of the tile. Sure enough there is! Unfortunately it doesn’t really dissolve the grout away-so we discovered after following the directions, and the grout remained. There was only one solution-scrape it off. Now I know what archeologists go through on digs! I had a small screwdriver which I used to carefully chisel away the grout after spraying the tiles with the grout removal stuff. I spent almost 3 hours working on this and was able to clean a little more than half of the tiles. I feel like a contortionist after being curled up and bent around in order to maneuver the screwdriver into all of the intricate nooks and crannies of the tile design.

It sure would be nice to soak in a tub right about now!

Still working hard...

June 1, 2008
It is now June, nine months since we began the bathroom project. The sad part is that we are still not close to being finished. Let’s see what still remains to be done; tile, wood work, siding, painting, and fixture installation. So basically it comes down to this: had I conceived and given birth I could have done it in less time than it has taken to construct this bathroom. Oh everyone likes to say-‘we’re almost finished’-but I have heard that for months now and am beginning to disregard all such statements. So for grins and giggles let’s see what else can be done in less than nine months: construction of a house, the making of a brand new car, a decision in congress, repainting an entire house both inside and out, landscaping a yard with irrigation and well, in the case of our good friends-a new front porch which was completely constructed, very well I might add, in ONE day, building the Panama Canal, taking a cruise around the world, the removal of yard sale signs after the yard sale is over (ok, well maybe that takes longer than nine months but you get the idea).
I know, I know, beep, beep, beep goes the bus!

June 5, 2008
Hubby worked for several hours this evening cutting, laying, and grouting tile.

June 6, 2008
Pauly and a friend came over this afternoon to install the pedestal sink and toilet. Although everything generally went well there was some problem with the drain mechanism so Pauly will have to come back out to replace it (you didn’t think everything would just work the first time did you?). The sink and the toilet, with its new toilet seat, look beautiful! Pauly told us to keep an eye, or should I say ‘an ear’, on the toilet in case it starts to run too often being that the rubber parts inside are a bit worn after having sat outside FOR SO MANY MONTHS in the weather awaiting installation.

Wooooooosh goes the bus!

At about 10:00 PM I got my second wind and decided to do some painting in the bathroom. I painted until 12:00 and then called it quits for the night but not without incurring an injury. Yes, I have now joined the injured ranks of those who have blundered before me. I have a dime sized burn on my right arm where my arm accidentally touched the light bulb as I was on the ladder painting.

June 7, 2008
This morning hubby and I went to the paint store to purchase another gallon of Sierra Redwood paint for the walls. After that we went to the hardware store to pick up a few more necessary supplies. Upon returning home hubby finished most of the woodwork as well as cutting and laying the remainder of the tile.
Last week was my birthday and many of my friends and family made contributions to the infamous bathroom project. Mom gave me an antique Victorian candelabra with dangling crystals which is absolutely gorgeous! Dad and Ann contributed an exquisite piece of artwork depicting plump, jolly flying pigs frolicking in the air with a red chicken. I framed the print in a heavily ornate Victorian style frame. Dad told me the picture was to remind me not to take the bathroom project too seriously (yeah right, when pigs fly…). My dear friend gave me some rose potpourri to scent the bathroom (it really does smell like a rose garden)! Of course, all of these things are stored in various places throughout the house until the bathroom is complete (living room floor, dining room buffet, kitchen table…).
Hubby worked late into Saturday night on the tile. However, a very disturbing sound came from the bathroom-a loud thump and then some irritated yells. I could only assume that something had happened with the bucket of tile cement and I was too afraid to go near the bathroom for fear that it may have been something too disastrous to handle. After some time of hearing slopping sounds followed by the flushing of the toilet I determined that the coast was finally clear. I entered the bathroom with a peace offering of beer to sooth what could only be a very tired and frustrated hubby. Much to my surprise the bathroom was clean and everything was under control. Hubby accepted the beer and told me that he had knocked the bucket of cement over and that it had splattered all over the wall. He did a great job of cleaning it up because there was no sign of it anywhere although I did have to question the flushing sounds that emanated from the bathroom. Being that there was no sign of spilled cement I can only imagine where he disposed of it. I wonder if hubby realizes that flushing cement down the toilet could possibly clog the pipes. I guess we will know the answer to that in a few years.

Moving right along...

May 15, 2008
Hubby came home from work and began working on the tile for the platform area of the bathroom. He installed the decorative tile on the platform step and it looks great! (No, I haven’t forgotten about the bluff thing-I probably won’t actually have an answer to that until the end of the weekend).
My friend, next door, gave me a beautiful antique print of a woman’s hand holding two long-stem red roses for the bathroom. It was an ad for a Corset Company in 1909. It is absolutely gorgeous and will look great in the bathroom!

· Gift from a wonderful friend- priceless.

May 17, 2008
Hubby called Pauly first thing Saturday morning to ask about hot water heaters as we will need a larger one in order to fill the tub. Pauly’s response was that hubby shouldn’t be worried about the hot water heater but should be concentrating on the tile! (This is why Pauly is the assistant project manager-he keeps everybody on task)! Anyway, hubby continued to work on the tile today. After much deliberation and discussion we have decided to use white grout instead of black grout. Even my friend sided for the white grout.

May 18, 2008
Ah yes, the day that everybody has been waiting for-would the bathroom be finished and would I, in fact, hire someone to finish it since it is quite evident that it is not complete!

Drum roll please…

The bathroom is not finished and I am not hiring anyone to finish it. Now before you go on saying that I was the one bluffing I have some clarification of the situation to share. I am currently house sitting for some friends downtown who happen to have a HUGE sauna tub. I have been soaking in it over the weekend and loving every minute! Because I am being pacified in this manner I was willing to allow for one more week of work on the bathroom. After all, I am not at home this week so to what purpose would it serve to have the bathroom complete when I am not even there? Hubby spent a good portion of the day working on the tile (or so I am told-I wasn’t there to confirm). Pauly has already stated that he will be helping hubby next weekend to finish the project! This should be very interesting indeed.

May 22, 2008
Well I have been house sitting for some friends this week so I have not been home to see the progress each day but hubby has kept me well informed. He worked on the tile Tuesday night and last night and has now completed the tile on the platform section, including the grout, and has been gluing the tile in the main section of the bathroom. He said that the white grout looks great!
In the meantime, I have spent nearly every night soaking in the huge sauna tub at my friends’ house. This has helped to appease me greatly and actually has bestowed some empathy within me for hubby's situation. Despite this compassion that I am feeling, as project manager I cannot allow my personal feelings to influence my primary goal which is to get the bathroom completed this year!

May 24, 2008
Hubby has completed the tile work on the platform and continues to work on the tile in the main section of the bathroom. He also began the wainscoting today. It looks great. Pauly came over and helped hubby with the woodwork as well as some of the plumbing work. Hubby sustained a pretty good injury when he stabbed his hand with a razor cutter. He went next door and our neighbor patched him up and recommended stitches but of course hubby refused.

May 25, 2008
Well today was a banner day for the bathroom! For the first time in seven months our living room is bathtub free! Can you believe it? Pauly brought a friend with him to help and they carried the tub to the bathroom leaving a huge empty space on the living room floor. We were all very excited, except for Kramer who is quite confused and disappointed that his toy box is gone. Not only was the tub removed from the living room to the bathroom but it is now hooked up and in running order! I know, pretty amazing isn’t it? (I can hear everyone as they read this saying ‘Oh my gosh, I never thought it would actually happen!). Needless to say the tub is beautiful in the bathroom.
Hubby and Pauly did some more of the wood work on the wainscoting.

May 26, 2008
Kramer continues to be depressed over the loss of his toy box tub. It is truly pathetic, he keeps lying in the area of the living room where the tub used to sit with a look of confusion and despair on his little kitty face.
Hubby sealed the tile grout on the platform.

May 27, 2008
Hubby worked again today on the wood work. He has installed more of the wainscoting and the center window sill. Now the center window is permanent and will no longer be used for passage from outside (the guys have been removing it and using it like a door during this whole process).

May 28, 2008
Hubby worked for some time in the bathroom last night. He finished cutting the tiles and has glued most of them down. He also grouted a few sections of the tile that had already been glued.

May 29, 2008
Hubby worked all evening on the tile flooring. He was able to get most of the tile glued and much of it grouted. It looks great!

May 31, 2008
I painted part of the baseboard trim and the walls. I also worked on getting the dried grout cleaned off of the decorative tiles.

Battle of Wits

May 3, 2008
My electrician came by today and removed the old bathroom light fixture (he also worked on our crooked hall lights and the living room ceiling fan with the spinning light fixture).
St. Pauly arrived to help hubby with the wood work. They spent the day installing the chair railing and moldings around the walls and ceiling. When I arrived home later that evening hubby was painting the newly installed wood work. I took over the painting from there and managed to finish the wood work in the old part of the bathroom. It looks great!
Another benefit of all this work is that the lumber is gone from the living room and kitchen floors-woohoo!!! Now you only have to walk around the tub and the china cabinet to get to the kitchen!

May 5, 2008
A lot was accomplished today. Hubby put down the rest of the cement board on the platform. After that he and I laid out the tiles on the platform to determine design and placement. We decided on using the small octagonal white tile with the 4x4 black square tiles bordering it under the tub. For the rest of the platform we will use the 8x8 black tiles for the border with the 8x8 white tiles on point for the rest. He will cut the 8x8 black tiles in half to border the step up to the platform.
I applied a second coat of white paint to the chair rail and moldings while hubby began installing the tile on the platform. He finished the white octagonal tile under the tub area.

May 6, 2008
Hubby worked on the tile again this evening. He installed the remainder of the white octagonal tile and the 4x4 black tile border around it. It looks great!

May 7, 2008
Ok, maybe I’m getting a bit optimistic here but I placed an order today for a bath pillow, drain stopper, and a bath topper. After all, one cannot soak in a tub with a mere 18 inches of water (thus the reason behind all of the insanity to install a claw foot tub-not to mention the fact that it just looks good)! Anyway, all of these things which make soaking in the tub more enjoyable should be here in time for me to actually soak in the tub.

· Bath pillow, drain stopper, bath topper plus shipping- $31

May 12, 2008
Well, my optimism seems to have been a bit premature. I was out of town last weekend and hubby worked diligently on the tile for the bathroom. He spent all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday cutting all of the intricate pieces for the platform area in the bathroom and gluing the border pieces down.
According to hubby the bathroom cannot possibly meet the finish date of this weekend (May 18th) because he still has tiles to cut and then he has to glue them to the floor which needs to set for a day. Then he has to do the grout which has to set for two days before it can be walked upon. What I would like to know is this-what kind of magic grout are they using on all of the HGTV shows that allows them to be able to completely renovate a room in two days including tile!!! I am beginning to believe that all of those shows are time elapsed!
While in Atlanta this weekend I purchased a beautiful iron towel rack that will look lovely in the ‘maybe-it-will-be-finished-this-year bathroom’.

· Ornate towel rack-$25


Hubby is trying to call my bluff about bringing in a contractor if the bathroom is not finished this weekend. Hmmm, this could be a very interesting battle of wits! Tune in tomorrow to see who is really bluffing!

May 13, 2008
No work on the bathroom today. The debate over who is bluffing is still in the works-neither of us have backed down as of yet!

May 14, 2008
Hubby worked on the tile for the bathroom floor for the platform section (cutting the tiles).

Framing and moldings

April 27, 2008
Gary showed up after church and helped hubby with the moldings. He finished some of the caulking on the roof while hubby finished constructing the window sills. Hubby cut and installed the fluted trim and rosettes around the door. There was one small setback when hubby was hanging the trim work around the door- he accidentally nailed the door shut. Luckily it was only one nail so it was a quick fix. I patched, sanded, and painted while they worked on moldings. Unfortunately, the decorative molding proved to be more difficult to hang than anticipated. The molding itself was made at a different angle than most moldings which meant that the miter cuts had to be done differently. It didn’t take them long to find a solution and in a short period of time the molding was hung. Gary left once the molding job was complete. Hubby cut and installed the fluted trim and rosettes around the two smaller windows and then installed the window sills. I filled the nail holes and did some more painting. Aside from hubby nailing the bathroom door shut and the odd miter angles for the molding the day progressed rather well.

April 28, 2008
I did some painting and sanding this evening. I filled the nail holes on the window sills and sanded the holes that I filled yesterday on the trim work. Then I painted the window trim and the moldings in the old section of the bathroom. I must say that the carved decorative molding is beautiful but it is a bear to paint. It’s hard to get the paint into all of the carved lines. It was well worth it though!

One more addition, or should I say correction? Hubby read the bathtub diary updates last night and informed me that he DID NOT nail the door shut on Sunday but in fact the nail did it. He explained that the nail just went through the wood its own way and nailed the door shut. I just wanted to make that correction so that it was clear to everyone that hubby didn’t nail the door shut-the nail did it.

April 29, 2008
I arrived home today to find hubby caulking the rest of the moldings in the bathroom. Later I heard him grumbling. A short time after that he came into the kitchen with the fan vent cover which he had accidentally stepped on and broken (it was drying on the floor after being painted a few days ago). He calmly found the superglue and began gluing each of the little vent pieces back on.

April 30, 2008
Hubby finished caulking the moldings. I painted the moldings in the new section of the bathroom and put a second coat on all of the window and door trims and the moldings in the old section of the bathroom.

May 1, 2008
The switch plates and outlet covers arrived today-they are beautiful and will look great in the bathroom.
Hubby started working on the back board for the tile flooring on the platform. He finished about 2/3 of it.

May 2, 2008
My electrician came out to finish the electrical work and hang the light fixtures. This helped to clear a path in the Abyss so now hubby can get to his clothes easier (the boxes of light fixtures were stored in the spare bedroom). The lights look beautiful! He (electrician) also installed the switch plates, outlet covers, and the medallion for the center chandelier.

Decisions and changes...

April 25, 2008
I went back to the paint store today and purchased a gallon of the Ceremonial Gold paint to finish the ceiling.

· One gallon of paint-$20

Once I got home I finished painting the ceiling and added a second coat to the walls and ceiling. It looks great but I am so sore!!! I could really use a soak in a tub!!!

April 26, 2008
Let the games, or should I say the arguments, begin!
Hubby and I went to choose moldings and bead boarding for the bathroom. Yesterday he brought home some sample pieces of molding for me to consider. He had purchased the moldings for the floor boards at our local hardware store, which, by the way, the floorboard moldings are now being stored in the hallway making access to the Abyss and the Black Hole difficult. Much to his surprise, and mine, I chose the plainer of the two moldings. Once we got to the national hardware chain store we chose bead boarding (the planks were a bit wider than the regular bead boarding) and then went to look at the moldings before loading the bead board supplies. We chose the traditional fluted trim work and rosettes for the door and windows. We looked at the wide plain moldings, like the sample I had chosen earlier, and all seemed to be decided upon when I spotted it-the most beautiful, elaborate moldings I had ever seen. It was heavily carved with lots of scrolly, fru-fru designs made out of that poly stuff. Oooh, it was pretty. Even hubby liked it! We both liked it, it was beautiful, and I wanted it! Decision made!

Then hubby saw the price-it was double what the plain molding cost.

All of a sudden he doubted my choice. He was worried that I had liked something so plain earlier and now wanted something so completely opposite (what is that old saying-a woman has the right to change her mind?). Anyway, I assured him this was the one I wanted. It was irrelevant to me that it was twice the price-it was gorgeous! I hadn’t skimped yet-why start now? Hubby continued trying to find a gentle way out.

Since I was convinced this was the one I wanted he tried another approach. It would be difficult to work with-trying to match the intricate patterns when mitering it. I told him I had the utmost confidence in his abilities.

Then he tried another approach, the poly stuff would probably melt with the heat of the saw which would ruin the design. Nope, that one didn’t work either-everyone else uses a saw for it so we could too!

Then he tried another one- it doesn’t really go well with the fluted door trim. That got my attention. I looked for another door trim but found none that I liked as well as the fluted trim. He finally wore me down and I conceded to the original plain but wide moldings.

But wait, there’s more.

I couldn’t give up that easily so I looked at the decorative wood moldings again. I found a beauty-it wasn’t as fancy as the poly stuff but it was very elegant. Hubby agreed that it was nice. He couldn’t argue over matching the pattern (it was easy to match because it wasn’t as intricate) and it was made of wood so there were no worries about it melting when being cut. Of course, it was more expensive (not much) than the poly stuff but all arguments were done. This time he conceded to the expensive, yet lovely, wood moldings. After a 30 minute discussion we now had to get back to the bead boarding. In the meantime, hubby had picked up one of the pamphlets on moldings which showed some beautiful wainscoting.

You know what is coming next don’t you?

Yup, we changed our minds about the bead boarding and decided on wainscoting instead. Now we had to choose all of the wood for the chair railings and wainscoting. In addition, we decided to add a picture molding to the ceiling. Another 30 minutes of decision making and finally we had loaded our cart. Hubby also chose a plank of wood to make the window sills. He showed me what he was going to do which included routing the edges. I asked him why he didn’t just buy the plank of wood with the edge already routed so that he could save time (he wants to save money-I want to save time). He said that only one edge was routed and he would still have to rout the other two edges so he might as well buy the regular plank of wood. We had a few more items to pick up and after an hour and a half (and a few more arguments) we were on our way home with a truckload of moldings and other supplies for the bathroom.

· Moldings, white paint, supplies-$557

We arrived home and I had errands to run. Hubby unloaded all of the wood into the house filling what little space we had left (the living room and kitchen floors are now covered in stacks of wood too so that you have to weave your way around to get from the living room to the kitchen). I returned home about two hours later to find Gary finishing up the roof. Hubby was standing outside of the bathroom so I figured he was taking a break from all of his hard work. I looked into the bathroom expecting to see moldings up but much to my surprise I looked into the bathroom to see the same thing I saw when I left earlier. I asked hubby what he had done. He responded that he had sanded the putty where he had patched nail holes on the back wall. What else have you done? I asked. He avoided the answer saying that he was going to return to the hardware store to get something for the window sills. I asked him if he could just wait until tomorrow to go and work on the moldings instead. No, he said he needed to do the window sills first. So I went inside to do a few things, crawling over the moldings in the hallway, weaving my way around the tub, china cabinet, and moldings in the living room making my way to the kitchen. When I went back out to the bathroom (crawling over moldings and weaving my way around bathroom fixtures and a china cabinet) Gary was now standing with hubby staring at the bathroom. ‘What are you waiting for?’ I asked. Keep in mind it has been more than two hours since we returned home from the hardware store and he has managed to sand the patched holes on the back wall. As project manager I made an executive decision and told him to stop standing around and get to the hardware store so he could get back and do some work! Finally, hubby left to exchange some wood. When he arrived home he had a new wood board for the window sills. Surprisingly it was the one I had suggested he buy earlier with the routed edge.
Gary finished the roof and left. Hubby and I worked until 8:30. I finished painting the patched and newly sanded back wall and then I painted the lower half of the walls a white semi-gloss for the wainscoting. Hubby worked on the window sill construction.
Injuries for the day included Gary cutting himself with a piece of roofing metal while hubby had some minor cuts.

I am just plain sore!

Paint and Dust!

April 19, 2008
St. Pauly to the rescue again! Pauly hooked us up with Mr. J, a coworker of his who used to do drywall years ago. Mr. J arrived Saturday morning and worked hard all day plastering the drywall. Hubby put up the remaining pieces of drywall and then helped with some of the plastering. The bathroom actually looked like a room by the end of the day! WooHoo!

April 20, 2008
Mr. J showed up again this morning to do the second phase of plastering which he completed. He will return this week to sand the walls and then I can begin painting!
Once I get the walls painted we can begin the finish work (tiling, bead boarding, moldings, lights, etc) and the installation of the tub, sink, and toilet. After all, having a tub, sink, and china cabinet in the living room for several months and the toilet in the side yard I believe it is time for the bathroom fixtures to actually be IN the bathroom. Fortunately my assistant project manager, St. Pauly, will work hard to get the finishing work done. I believe that hubby will help him to accomplish this although there is no doubt in my mind that I will have to manage this portion of the project very carefully. This is the ‘almost finished’ mode that tends to make people slow down a bit. Granted, if we slowed this project down any further it would go backwards.

Anyone seen the keys to that bus I’ve been driving?

April 21, 2008
Hubby is going to call Mr. J today to confirm a date for the sanding of the drywall. I now need to decide on the paint color for the bathroom walls which has wavered from burgundy to gold to burgundy and now back to gold. Whether I stencil the walls to look like wallpaper remains to be seen but is a possibility.
On a sweeter note, hubby had installed the fan vent in the tub area a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately he installed it where I was going to hang the candle chandelier. He offered to redo the installation (drywall the hole, cut another hole in the ceiling, rewiring, etc.) but I told him ‘no’ that I could work around it. I did not want anymore time spent on something so trivial. The following day (this was Sunday, April 13th) Darryl moved the fan vent so that the chandelier could hang where I had originally planned. I know, right now everyone is going ‘awwwww’ but don’t think for one minute that this act of kindness is going to extend the deadline or that I will cut him any slack! This bathroom project is on a roll and we are not stopping until it is finished!!! (I can feel the sympathy leaning towards hubby over his mean and spiteful wife. If this should happen please go back and re-read the previous pages of this diary to put this project back into perspective)!

April 22, 2008
Mr. J came out yesterday and finished the drywall! WooHoo!!! I am now choosing paint colors for the walls and the ceiling.
I ordered the covers for the light switches and outlets. I had looked at several home improvement stores but didn’t like what they had. I searched online and found several that I liked, some of which were quite expensive, but believe it or not I ordered the inexpensive ones. They are very pretty and I believe they will look good in the bathroom.
· Drywall job-$500
· Switch/outlet covers $32.20

April 24, 2008
I went to the paint store today to buy paint and supplies. I bought Ceremonial Gold paint for the ceiling and Sierra Redwood for the walls. I guess you are wondering about the change in paint colors. I asked my good friend for her opinion about the paint swatches I had chosen and after discussing it with her I realized that the walls would be better in the burgundy with the gold for the ceilings. The woman at the paint store said that one quart would cover about 125 square feet which should be enough for the ceiling. So I bought a gallon for the walls and a quart for the ceiling.

· Paint and supplies-$60

When I arrived home hubby offered to help with the preparation of the walls as well as the painting. This could only mean one thing-arguments. I have a tendency to cut corners while he has a tendency to add them. The arguments started almost immediately as I wanted to go into the bathroom through the door-he wanted to remove the window and go in that way.

Stop laughing!

There was plastic covering the door between the bedroom and bathroom from the drywall sanding earlier in the week so that the dust wouldn’t get into the bedroom. That was all done now so there was no reason to leave it up-so I took it down and entered the bathroom through the door while hubby went through the window. He reiterated that I should have left the plastic up-I ignored him.
In this one particular case…he was right.

Stop laughing!

I thought wiping down the walls would be a minor task; however, it was a horrible mess! The dust on the floors was pretty thick so we decided to vacuum it out with the shop vac. Well that made the entire room nothing more than a huge dust cloud! (This is why hubby wanted to come in through the window and leave the plastic over the door to the bedroom-I removed the plastic covering over the door to go that way thinking that there would not be much dust but there was a lot of dust)!

Stop laughing!

Anyway, hubby had to wear a mask to vacuum the room (I drank wine while watching the huge dust cloud stream from the bathroom window-I couldn’t stay in the bedroom as the dust was billowing under the bathroom door and covering the bedroom in a cloud of dust because I had removed the plastic covering). After vacuuming he wiped down the walls and we began painting. Hubby painted the ceiling in the gold color. After that was done (well not done-I have to go back for more paint-the quart wasn’t enough to cover it) we started on the walls with the burgundy color. It is gorgeous (this was one of the few things that we agreed on during the painting process)! After the first coat was applied we cleaned up and called it a night.