Day 6 - Stone Walled

Himself had some concerns about the tight space between the shower and the toilet. But did he voice these concerns to the contractor when the new design was being discussed Friday afternoon?

This morning, Himself happily toodled off to work, and I was left to look for other options with the contractor. The space is tiny. There really aren't a lot of options. The contractor had planned today to demolish the tub and install the new shower base and plumbing. He didn't want to start any work until he had a chance to talk things over with Himself. I knew what I wanted to do. I knew what the outcome would be, but I dutifully sent email and voice mail to Himself at school. Since there was nothing for the contractor to do here, he went home.

When Himself is in school, there isn't any way to contact him, not even in an emergency. So I waited and hoped he'd take a break to read email as he doesn't bother to listen to his phone messages.

The Young One had a physical torture appointment this morning, but they called to reschedule for late morning. We got back at 1pm and Himself had answered my email. I knew what the response would be, and I called the contractor and told him he had a green light for the project with the proposed plans.

The contractor had decided to spend the time building the cabinets that will go along the wall of the sink. Thank Gawd someone knows how to get his ducks reorganized and in a row.

He will spend today and tomorrow constructing the cabinets. He will arrive Thurs. morning to begin work we can actually see. I will have a roll of duct tape handy to squelch any concerns.

I was disappointed early this morning, but am in a better mood this afternoon.

The bathroom is still ugly.

Day 5 - Slow Progress

The rest of the fixtures were delivered first thing in the morning. The contractors arrived mid-morning after a harrowing ride when the brakes gave out through a major interesection. They arrived shaken, but not stirred.

Measurements were taken. Some of the things we asked for had to be re-worked to fit. We had thought of stacking the dryer on top of the washer to gain space. However, we also wanted an emergency shut off, but with the machines stacked, we wouldn't be able to reach it. So the design was reworked. Cabinets will be built above the washer/dryer. The 30" closet has now shrunk to 10", just big enough to hang the vacuum and Floormate.

Most of the work that was done was behind the scenes stuff. Measurements were taken. Marks made on the floor and the walls. The bathroom doesn't look much different from Day 1 and it's still ugly.

Day 4 - Disappointed

To quote Rabbie Burns, The best laid schemes o' mice an' men, Gang aft agley. The bathroom project is no exception. Fixtures were supposed to arrive today. As instructed, I called the plumbing supply at 6:45 am. I was told the dispatcher would be in and would be able to tell me when we could see the truck. No answer and an automated queue hell. The contractor called and I told him I had to wait until the office workers arrived most likely around 8am. Called back and was connected to the dispatcher. He had no record of our order, but he would call me back. Called the contractor to update him. Without the materials, they couldn't begin working.

In the meantime, took the Young One to physical torture. On the way home, returned the medicine cabinet we decided not to keep. Back at home, Himself had not heard from the dispatcher. He went off to run some errands while I called the dispatcher. I was supposed to receive a call back from one of the office clerks. He apologized when I told him no one called. He was waiting for the truck to return and our delivery would be scheduled between 1pm and 4pm.

Good news. Bad news. Good news, we'd be getting the fixtures. Bad news, until the delivery arrived the contractor couldn't work. I called and gave him the update.

At 2pm, the truck arrived! I called the contractor and he said he would be on his way. The driver began removing large boxes from the truck. Himself and I began taking inventory. Only half of the fixtures were on the truck. The contractor wanted to see the sink so he could take accurate measurements as the water lines need to be moved. No sink! No work and another day lost. The contractor stored the fixtures in a large trailer parked in the driveway.

I called back to talk to the dispatcher with whom I am now on a first name basis. Another apology and another promise to call back. The call was returned. Sorry for the mixup. The order was written on another sheet of paper. Hopefully, we will see the truck with the rest of the fixtures except the vanity as that won't be in until the 12th by 10 am tomorrow.

Because I used to dispatch cement deliveries, I have a feeling our delivery was forgotten and never scheduled. The reason half the order was on another sheet, was the shower and toilet were ordered back in January by another plumber that was going to do the job, but could not as the Lambie's husband who was going to do the work got a full time job and had no time except on weekends and I didn't want to wait 6 mos. for the bathroom to be done. Anyway, I think they found the stuff J had ordered loaded it on the truck and hoped for the best.

It's the kind of thing I would have done when a truck was pulled from a bag load to ship a bulk load to a big customer. I'd call the small bag customer and give some sort of excuse. The truck broke down, the palletizer broke and I'd promise him a delivery first thing the next morning.

I always made good on my promise. Hope the plumbing supply does too.

The bathroom is still ugly.

The Eldest and Mr. Pinchy

The Eldest won a raffle at work today. Her prize? A handsome, four pound, lobster named Mr. Pinchy. She invited him for dinner. It was love at first bite.

Days 2 & 3 - Demolition

Not much work done as fixtures will not arrive until Thursday and the holiday today. The contractor and I discussed the custom cabinets he will build. The wall over the sink will be cabinets, a center one with mirror will act as medicine cabinet. Shelves will be wipe down clean and adjustable. He shares my vision for sleek design

On a whim Monday night, Himself and I took a ride to the new Home Depot down the road a piece. Himself wanted sidelighting along side the medicine cabinet, very functional, but as we saw out dated. We found a wall sconce we liked that was glass and very modern in design with a halogen bulb so will be very bright. We found a ceiling light/fan that didn't look like the typical bathroom fan and the demo model fan was very quiet. We also found a medicine cabinet that had a beveled mirror, but have decided it wouldn't fit with the wall of cabinet so will be returned.

The contractor and his dad (his dad is retired but works for his son) left early to go purchase materials they will need for the next step.

The bathroom is still ugly.

Day 1 - Demolition Begins

Demolition day finally arrived! It's exciting and frightening to see how quickly fixtures and tile can be removed! The sink and vanity are gone! The space where the linen closet was will be the new laundry area where the washer and dryer will live.

Since this is the only bathroom in the house, the contractor is going to leave the toilet in place until the very last minute. He's also going to see if he can install the shower base, the new plumbing and rig plastic sheeting so we will have a shower to use. We may only be without a shower for one day. The contractor is very accomodating. I'm keeping my fingers crossed he can manage this.

Because of limited space considerations, we had thought of installing a pocket door. We thought there would be problems with a conventional swing door bumping into the washer/dryer or the cabinets that will be along the wall by the sink. There were also potential problems with moving the furnace emergency switch and the fact that the pocket door wall would need to be a depth of 6". Our wall is only 3 inches and not up to today's code. The contractor took measurements and has figured he can reverse the swing on the door. There will be plenty of clearance and it won't interfere with the washer/dryer or litter box.

Metal

This month's theme, Metal, proved to be a challenge, as I said I haven't felt very creative lately. Came up with the idea of an element from the Periodic Table. Himself is a chemist so there are tons of books and charts laying around with the table on them. I picked Aurum, abbreviated AU, which is Latin for gold. Gold is element 79 with an atomic weight of 196.9. Just in case you need the information to play Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit

I used Dr. PH Martin's 18K gold on purple pastepaper. The gold ink was a little too dark, and I probably should have tried another gold like the Schminke Goldperl. , Brause 2.5 mm. Anyway, it's done.