Tag: Bathroom

House Status and Plumbing Woes

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

We are making progress, abet slowly:

  1. My father-in-law came in this weekend and painted our bathroom and the trim.
  2. I have a new granite vanity top installed – one with the facets centered on the sink.
  3. New reproduction 1920’s glass handles are installed in the vanity.  I is not gud counter.  I bad at numbers.  Didn’t have enough – one short.  Store now sold out.  Amazon to the rescue.
  4. The drywall should completely done and sanded as of today.  The new arches are super sexy!
  5. I modified the kitchen knife rack to fit the new ceramic sharpener.  The original was broken by the asshat moving company and Kyocera doesn’t make that size anymore, so I had to drill out its assigned slot.  The replacement knives (also the movers…) are now in as well.
  6. Primer will go on the fresh walls tonight and tomorrow night.
  7. I have patched the hole in the tub surround and am waiting for the thin-set mortar to dry so that I can lay the tile.
  8. The new fireplace insert is in and fantastic.  I will do the new surround and mantel after the floors are refinished and as I am trimming out the Dining room Ceiling
  9. I met with the garage foundation crew on Monday to go over all the details and they start the ground work today.  I am almost giddy with excitement.
  10. My new dutch doors are ready and I will pick them up Friday
  11. The finish carpentry trim-out starts next Monday.
  12.  I learned yesterday afternoon that no plumbing permit was pulled and that we might have to demo the concrete in the basement – the new concrete – and the newly laid supply line so that the county inspector can view the pipes.  I am super unhappy and will update as I know more.
  13. We are now 4 weeks without a shower or bathroom sinks at the house. I have been a decent human being and fairly understanding up to this point with our plumbing company (big company, one of the oldest in Seattle). I am afraid that they have mistaken nice for weak and unwilling to have a confrontation.  That was a miscalculation.  Please refer to the Capone quote concerning kindness…
  14. My wife is still medium chipper and hasn’t threatened to leave me yet over the lack of a shower or all the dust, so that is something.
  15. The lavender out front is in bloom and the bees are back, so not all is lost.

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House Remodel Status – 4/12/16

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Things are moving along with the house and garage, abet very slowly.

  1. I cut the dying vine maple out of the back yard.  Its loss made both my wife and I sad – we loved that tree.  Part of it I saved for fire wood and part I gave to a local bowl turned I know so he could make beautiful stuff out of the sections that were free of rot.
  2. The new 1″ water supply line is in.
  3. Our basement slab was cut for the new basement bathroom and drains
  4. Concrete floor re-poured.
  5. I have demo’ed part of the basement ceiling, the front bedroom closet and a huge spot in the dining room for the plumbing company to run PexA supply lines and vent pipe.
  6. Plumbing rough-in is going on today and we may have a functioning toilet and kitchen sink by 5:00pm tonight – maybe…
  7. We haven’t had water for a week and have been staying in an air B&B, which has gotten old and expensive.
  8. Basement bathroom framing is going in tomorrow.
  9. The new 1st floor bathroom vanity is done and in place, but the holes in the granite top for one of the facets are cut wrong – it has made me a little crazy…
  10. I have cleared all the stuff out of the way in the back yard and am ready for dumpster deliveries.  I am taking the old garage out this coming weekend.
  11. The attic is ready for new floor joists, but still waiting on the engineer’s report to decide what is going in and options for the space.  We had wanted a Master Suite up there, but are not sure if it can be done at this point.
  12. Our fireplace insert goes in tomorrow and the new fireplace tools are already there.
  13. The three windows for the garage and two for the house are on order and should be here next week.  I just have to find a place to store them.

Some pictures of the current status and the latest progress:

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I haven’t had a day off in about three weeks – working my day job, making calls to contractors and supply companies at lunch and on the way to work/home, and working at the house at night and on weekends.  I have to work all this week getting ready for the garage demo and all weekend tearing it down.  It is all starting to take it toll on me.  I’ll get an evening off from remodel this week to attend my new advanced throwing (pottery) class, and will have a two evenings off next week while the drywall goes in, but will be back at it painting the entire weekend of the 23rd and every evening the rest of the week after.

My wife said a little something a few days ago that resonates: “Life is a journey an not the destination, but remodeling is all about the destination.  The journey sucks!” I swear if I had to make this decision again, I would have sold the house and bought a McMansion in Maple Valley or an updated mid-century rambler Bellevue and just moved right in in.  I have remodeled many homes in the past, but this one and the size/scope are both out of hand and way too ambitious for someone who has a day job.  When all is said and done, I do not want to touch a thing in or on the house for YEARS and would like to just enjoy home for a while, sit in the back yard and drink rosé in the summer sun with my wife.