Bathroom Remodel 2010 Edition
Mar. 29th, 2010 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grrgoylWe finally have a new bathroom! Well, mostly new. The almond (or bone, or biscuit some stores call it) tub and toilet remain, but they match the tile behind the tub so that's another major undertaking.
This year we focused on the little sink area which is sort of separate from the toilet/tub area (used to have a door between them, but we removed it since we're an old married couple which means we don't need any privacy).
Plenty of pics behind the cut, but first the tale of getting the job done.
I had my fears about it being too expensive (those tax refunds sure have a way of evaporating into thin air once they're deposited, don't they?), particularly after wishfully browsing the sink selection on Lowe's website. Not only did they seem pricey, but enough choices to make your head spin. Colors, styles, positions (sit on top of or hang below the counter), etc.
Of course the big job was going to be replacing the vanity top. We had decided to keep the old vanity, partly because it didn't look nearly as hideous, mostly because replacing it with a sleeker, svelter model would necessitate retiling the floor to cover the huge gaps to either side.
At least, I thought replacing the top would be a big job until just for ha-ha's Tery and I decided to check out the vanity section of Lowe's. Unbeknownst to us (and possibly many of you), you can buy a vanity top that ALREADY HAS A SINK BUILT IN. Much cheaper than we expected, around $130 for the whole deal. Which meant really all we needed to pick out was a new faucet (plus a mirror and light, which weren't as intimidating).
We ran home and measured our vanity, sure it would be some bizarre size that's been discontinued since it was built 30 years ago, but to our surprise it came in at 49 inches, a size Lowe's actually stocked.
Now it was just a matter of finding someone to do our dirty work for us. We certainly didn't want to pay a plumber and an electrician separately. I found Chris the $49 (an hour) handyman on the Better Business Bureau's site and booked him for the gig.
He showed up and looked it over, thought it all looked pretty standard and said all we had to do was set a date and then go shopping.
We ran back to Lowe's that afternoon, grabbed the 49-inch top we liked, (last one on the shelf. Fate!) picked out a mirror and a light. This was the fun part. How I'd love a $5000 budget to re-do, well, anything really.
Getting the top home was a bit tricky. Turns out the back seat of my Honda isn't 49 inches long, not with the doors shut anyway. Tery, who didn't have to drive, proposed a hare-brained scheme of jutting it out and tying one of the doors closed with twine. She's also the one who happily straps our Christmas trees to my roof with only about three passes of twine, leaving me the harrowing task of driving while it slides alarmingly backwards and forwards whenever I take a corner.
I thought a much better idea was to lower the front seat and angle it through the middle of the car; it fit perfectly that way, unfortunately not leaving a lot of room for Tery to sit, but she adapted a lot easier than the slab of "cultured marble."
Thus we got it home, where it became a repository for cats and dirty clothes until Chris came to install it.
Chris was a shortish man, prematurely balding, with a kind face. Best of all, no radical plans to overthrow the government like Rick the Fridge Repairman (or at least, he didn't share them with me if he had). It never occurred to me he might be gay until I noticed he was playing the pronoun game, with lots of talk about "my partner" and the two English bulldogs that were "his babies." This doesn't always mean anything, of course, except sometimes it does.
Before he did anything he wanted to open up the top to make sure it would fit. I insisted we had measured carefully but he knew more about it than us. He tore through the box, rendering it useless, and we maneuvered it in together. Sure enough, it turned out to be about a quarter inch too long. We should have known it wouldn't be that easy.
That was disheartening in the extreme, because we both really, really hated the old counter. I suggested maybe he could at least install the new light while he was there. He said there was a 1-hour minimum for the visit so I might as well use him.
It was while he was working on that when we got to chatting and he realized we owned rather than rented. Knowing this, he suggested just notching into the drywall a bit to make the counter fit. Desperate for a new bathroom, and even more desperate not to have to drag the thing back to Lowe's for a custom-made item, we eagerly agreed.
Good thing, too -- in the space of time it took to discuss this, the ferrets had discovered the open box and made short work of the styrofoam packing blocks that would have been needed for the return trip. Styrofoam is like crack to a ferret. Sweet, easily torn to bits crack.
So I left him to it. Approximately 2-1/2 hours later he was done with everything (he had estimated 3, so I thought we'd be saving money; I hadn't counted on paying for his materials plus a $15 "travel charge," which seems a tad underhanded considering it wasn't like he could do the work at his house).
Except it wasn't quite the finished product we had dreamed of. Obviously we had to paint a bit after taking down the ginormous mirror and light fixture. We hadn't counted on the huge gash in our wall where he'd "notched in" (I'm imagining selling this place to someone who will hate our choice in vanity tops, and tear it out only to discover all the damage we're covering up and saying, "DAMN IT ALL TO HELL"). Plus I thought I'd go insane imagining the light was crooked until I took a level to it and proved that it was -- fortunately it was easy enough to straighten, but jeez. Bargain handyman sure cuts corners.
So a few coats of paint, some side splashes and Tery's magic touch with a tub of spackle later, and we're extremely pleased with it. Check it out, won't you? All pics thoughtfully resized:
BEFORE:
Logan thoughtfully offered to help model the hideousness
Ugh. Notice the vintage 70's wave logo
Hooray for Hollywood!
Logan hates the mirror as much as we do
I included this one so you could take note of the rusty spill hole at the back of the sink we tried covering with some sticky foam stuff, unsuccessfully. Also so you could see how goofy Tery is
This is the state Chris the Handyman left it in
Structural damage, barely noticeable
AFTER:
The new light, after being straightened out to save all our sanity
Ahhh, much better, despite also being a Delta (I hadn't noticed until taking these pics)
For the record, this is the old bottom we decided we could still live with
Prettiness
As long as I'm showing you around, I want you to see the whole room. It's the Pooh Room (get it?)
Pooh dollies
Pooh shower curtain. We're dead serious about this
Oh, there's more
This is actually the "notched in" side. Tery is a magic witch
I only just recently found these adorable switchplate covers online. They make me smile every day
This year we focused on the little sink area which is sort of separate from the toilet/tub area (used to have a door between them, but we removed it since we're an old married couple which means we don't need any privacy).
Plenty of pics behind the cut, but first the tale of getting the job done.
I had my fears about it being too expensive (those tax refunds sure have a way of evaporating into thin air once they're deposited, don't they?), particularly after wishfully browsing the sink selection on Lowe's website. Not only did they seem pricey, but enough choices to make your head spin. Colors, styles, positions (sit on top of or hang below the counter), etc.
Of course the big job was going to be replacing the vanity top. We had decided to keep the old vanity, partly because it didn't look nearly as hideous, mostly because replacing it with a sleeker, svelter model would necessitate retiling the floor to cover the huge gaps to either side.
At least, I thought replacing the top would be a big job until just for ha-ha's Tery and I decided to check out the vanity section of Lowe's. Unbeknownst to us (and possibly many of you), you can buy a vanity top that ALREADY HAS A SINK BUILT IN. Much cheaper than we expected, around $130 for the whole deal. Which meant really all we needed to pick out was a new faucet (plus a mirror and light, which weren't as intimidating).
We ran home and measured our vanity, sure it would be some bizarre size that's been discontinued since it was built 30 years ago, but to our surprise it came in at 49 inches, a size Lowe's actually stocked.
Now it was just a matter of finding someone to do our dirty work for us. We certainly didn't want to pay a plumber and an electrician separately. I found Chris the $49 (an hour) handyman on the Better Business Bureau's site and booked him for the gig.
He showed up and looked it over, thought it all looked pretty standard and said all we had to do was set a date and then go shopping.
We ran back to Lowe's that afternoon, grabbed the 49-inch top we liked, (last one on the shelf. Fate!) picked out a mirror and a light. This was the fun part. How I'd love a $5000 budget to re-do, well, anything really.
Getting the top home was a bit tricky. Turns out the back seat of my Honda isn't 49 inches long, not with the doors shut anyway. Tery, who didn't have to drive, proposed a hare-brained scheme of jutting it out and tying one of the doors closed with twine. She's also the one who happily straps our Christmas trees to my roof with only about three passes of twine, leaving me the harrowing task of driving while it slides alarmingly backwards and forwards whenever I take a corner.
I thought a much better idea was to lower the front seat and angle it through the middle of the car; it fit perfectly that way, unfortunately not leaving a lot of room for Tery to sit, but she adapted a lot easier than the slab of "cultured marble."
Thus we got it home, where it became a repository for cats and dirty clothes until Chris came to install it.
Chris was a shortish man, prematurely balding, with a kind face. Best of all, no radical plans to overthrow the government like Rick the Fridge Repairman (or at least, he didn't share them with me if he had). It never occurred to me he might be gay until I noticed he was playing the pronoun game, with lots of talk about "my partner" and the two English bulldogs that were "his babies." This doesn't always mean anything, of course, except sometimes it does.
Before he did anything he wanted to open up the top to make sure it would fit. I insisted we had measured carefully but he knew more about it than us. He tore through the box, rendering it useless, and we maneuvered it in together. Sure enough, it turned out to be about a quarter inch too long. We should have known it wouldn't be that easy.
That was disheartening in the extreme, because we both really, really hated the old counter. I suggested maybe he could at least install the new light while he was there. He said there was a 1-hour minimum for the visit so I might as well use him.
It was while he was working on that when we got to chatting and he realized we owned rather than rented. Knowing this, he suggested just notching into the drywall a bit to make the counter fit. Desperate for a new bathroom, and even more desperate not to have to drag the thing back to Lowe's for a custom-made item, we eagerly agreed.
Good thing, too -- in the space of time it took to discuss this, the ferrets had discovered the open box and made short work of the styrofoam packing blocks that would have been needed for the return trip. Styrofoam is like crack to a ferret. Sweet, easily torn to bits crack.
So I left him to it. Approximately 2-1/2 hours later he was done with everything (he had estimated 3, so I thought we'd be saving money; I hadn't counted on paying for his materials plus a $15 "travel charge," which seems a tad underhanded considering it wasn't like he could do the work at his house).
Except it wasn't quite the finished product we had dreamed of. Obviously we had to paint a bit after taking down the ginormous mirror and light fixture. We hadn't counted on the huge gash in our wall where he'd "notched in" (I'm imagining selling this place to someone who will hate our choice in vanity tops, and tear it out only to discover all the damage we're covering up and saying, "DAMN IT ALL TO HELL"). Plus I thought I'd go insane imagining the light was crooked until I took a level to it and proved that it was -- fortunately it was easy enough to straighten, but jeez. Bargain handyman sure cuts corners.
So a few coats of paint, some side splashes and Tery's magic touch with a tub of spackle later, and we're extremely pleased with it. Check it out, won't you? All pics thoughtfully resized:
BEFORE:
Logan thoughtfully offered to help model the hideousness
Ugh. Notice the vintage 70's wave logo
Hooray for Hollywood!
Logan hates the mirror as much as we do
I included this one so you could take note of the rusty spill hole at the back of the sink we tried covering with some sticky foam stuff, unsuccessfully. Also so you could see how goofy Tery is
This is the state Chris the Handyman left it in
Structural damage, barely noticeable
AFTER:
The new light, after being straightened out to save all our sanity
Ahhh, much better, despite also being a Delta (I hadn't noticed until taking these pics)
For the record, this is the old bottom we decided we could still live with
Prettiness
As long as I'm showing you around, I want you to see the whole room. It's the Pooh Room (get it?)
Pooh dollies
Pooh shower curtain. We're dead serious about this
Oh, there's more
This is actually the "notched in" side. Tery is a magic witch
I only just recently found these adorable switchplate covers online. They make me smile every day
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 03:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 03:48 am (UTC)JK
Date: 2010-03-30 03:59 am (UTC)JK AGAIN. The sink and the lights make the room look so much brighter and bigger! And I swear that mirror reminds me of something a princess would have. A very purple princess. I'm proud of you guys for getting all of the patchwork and painting done yourself - you can't tell at all that it's covering a wall crater.
Tery, btw, is a freaking maniac in that picture.
Did you know that they make large Pooh wall decals? You could make a mural around the mirror - maybe work Christopher Robin in. If you're ok with him watching you pee.
Re: JK
Date: 2010-03-30 03:50 pm (UTC)I know! I'm amazed this tiny light that's half the size actually provides more light. Probably the older bulbs weren't as efficient. That's an Eeyore purple on the walls. Eeyore always gets pride of place since he's my animal spirit guide. I knew Tery would be able to fix all that, which is why I didn't sweat it too badly. She got to learn all kinds of useful things growing up with two brothers and a very DIY dad.
She IS. But Loges absolutely adores her.
I did not know that. I think we've got plenty of Pooh going on, we don't want to look like FREAKS.
Re: JK
Date: 2010-03-30 03:53 pm (UTC)I had actually fallen in love with a mirror online, a round one, really showy. It was on a 6-week back-order, which turned out to be a blessing since a week later Tery finally admitted she really wasn't that thrilled with it (damn it woman, just tell me what you think the FIRST time).
So on the same site I found a simpler one we both liked, but fretted over it matching all the other hardware (different finish). I had that ordered for about a day when Tery admitted she really wanted something plain and simple from Lowe's, which is how we ended up with this one. So the light has to be the funky focus point rather than the mirror, which would have made more sense to me. But the Lowe's one was $30 cheaper, which makes momma happy.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 05:03 am (UTC)And I guess some professions just lend themselves to understatement, where 'notch' means 'giant hole in your wall.' Kind of gives you an appreciation for police and their no-nonsense, "I'm going to give you a ticket."
no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 03:58 pm (UTC)It's true. Although honestly, knowing nothing about carpentry or the thickness of walls, I half expected to end up with the edge of it poking through into the bedroom. Now THAT would have been something to post about.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 06:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 03:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 03:21 pm (UTC)It looks really good! I think you made the right choice in keeping the vanity. Have you thought about replacing the drawer pulls with a brushed silver to match?
no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 04:06 pm (UTC)Thanks : ) I'd love to replace the pulls, but Tery likes the current ones (they're twig-shaped, keeping with the whole Pooh theme). It would be easy enough to do if we change our minds later. A remodeling job I can handle!
no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 04:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 03:31 pm (UTC)So, on an unrelated note, I have an update for you on that thing I told you about a month ago or so, with my...curiosities about the same sex thing. LoL. I would've written about this in my own journal, but I obviously can't, for a variety of reasons. But this past weekend, my friend that I mentioned came down for my birthday party, and I wound up kissing a girl for the first time. We both had a little bit of alcohol in us to loosen us up, but I wasn't really nervous. And it wasn't really any different from kissing a guy, although her lips were very soft due to the liberal use of Chapstick. I didn't sit there thinking, "I'm kissing a girl," but, "I'm kissing a person." It wasn't a big deal at all--it just felt completely natural, and I enjoyed it. :D
no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 04:22 pm (UTC)Oh yeah. Glad to hear it : ) That's odd though that you didn't think it was much different from kissing a guy. I used to think boys kissed fine until I kissed a girl for the first time. She was better, mainly because she didn't try to swallow my whole mandible.
I'm so happy for you! Everyone should try kissing a girl once, male and female. Do you feel the urge to try more? No pressure or anything ; )
no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 04:28 pm (UTC)I think I do feel the urge to try more, because here's the thing. That night, we did sleep in my bed (but we didn't do anything). Maybe it's cause we watched But I'm a Cheerleader (even though we'd both seen it before), I don't know...but while we laid there, I was stroking her cheek and stuff. Just cause that is another difference I noticed--her face is softer than a guy's, and I found that intriguing.
The next day, though, before she left, we kissed some more (now fully sober). She initiated it this time (I had initiated the night before). I was actually kneeling on my bed and she was standing in front of me. I started to pull her down a bit on top of me, in fact. I don't know what came over me, but I think I was turned on. LoL. So I am curious to try a little bit more--slightly anxious because I have no idea what to do, but wanting to just try it out. I still don't really have any desire to touch a vagina other than my own, but kissing is very sensual and I was surprised (pleasantly so) to feel that same tingliness that I feel when I'm with a guy. I actually react to her in the same way that I react to a guy, it seems, and I am okay with that. So we'll just have to see what happens. :)
no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 05:01 pm (UTC)I'll bet your girl won't have a problem with your reluctance to touch hers, since she knows you're a "virgin" about it. I say just go with what feels good. I eagerly await seeing what happens, ladykiller : )