Our Bathroom Remodel

[Michael]

Day One-ish: Saturday, April 1, 2006. (Yes, I put the year. Probably a suitable frame of measurement).

So we managed to get a contractor (the husband of a co-worker of mine) to come and give us an estimate on renovating our ugly old bathroom. Basically, we wanted to replace the tub, toilet, sink, floor, walls, light... well, basically we wanted the whole thing redone.

After waiting around all day for him to come, his smelly partner takes a bunch of measurements, they leave and we wait a couple days for the estimate.

$9800.00 not including fixtures.

So... we decide this is a project that we can do ourselves.

This is how our room started. You'll notice demolition has already begun on our ceiling thanks to a leak from the apartment above some years ago. We took the insurance money... I think we used it to go to Disneyworld!

You'll also notice our tile selection in the lower left corner. It only took WEEKS to choose. We happened to be in Home Depot and found an amazing deal on beautiful marble tile. It was priced at roughly $1.50 a square foot. Unfortunately, it was a poopy brown color that was a little blah, so we opted instead for the not-cheap marble. It is a much darker brown that will compliment our light brown ceramic tile for the walls that are made to look like natural stone. Of course, when we get home we realize our walls are already this color. We're not big on change.



The other view of our bathroom. Note the gigantic mirror which I like because it reflects the light. Bye mirror.

Also, you'll note a masterpiece by Tum on the wall... next to our crooked light switch.



This is the last time we'll see our old bathroom.

Good riddance. And God help us.
_________________
You don't think I'm going to fall for that old trick?

[Michael]

Day Two through something or other. We'll just call it Day Seven: Friday, April 7, 2006.

We buy a bunch of crap for the bathroom. New faucet, shower, concrete board that weighs a ton (guess who got to lug those up two flights of stairs...) and a bunch of hardware. Cost: just under a zillion dollars.

But now comes the fun part. Demolition.

Tum generally doesn't work on Fridays, so he started ripping off the tile around the tub.

I wish I knew who owned the place before us. They need to be killed.

You'll notice that everything in this place is half-assed. That includes the walls. Under the tile is a layer of drywall (yes, drywall. Genius to save money by putting this mold-prone board in the shower area). Under that, (in blue) is a layer of plaster over wooden slats.



Here's a picture of me pulling down more plaster. It never ends! Sitting on the tub, I'm ankle deep in debris. Tum likes to embarrass me and took this picture with my butt crack showing (not really, just my underwear), but thanks to a few hours with photoshop, i've managed to magically edit that out. I suppose if you look close enough you could still see my fashion faux pas, but I'm guessing most people won't even notice. Man I'm good! Shoulda been a graphic designer like Tum.


_________________
You don't think I'm going to fall for that old trick?

[Michael]

Day Eight: Saturday, April 8, 2006.

I spent the morning ripping up the floor tile. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture. Once that was done, I ripped up the next layer of floor tile. **** those half-assed former owners.

Later, we decide to visit our friendly neighborhood Lowes to buy a new bathtub. I swear to God, as we reach the aisle, a couple guys looking suave and cool in their construction hard hats take the bathtub we want. We were ten seconds too late!

But I really wanted that particular tub because it was extra deep so the associate tells us that another store across town has one in stock. Yay!

Oh wait! i forgot. The tub we decided on was a concession. Originally, we decided to buy a cast iron tub. They're more solid, better looking, etc. They also weigh about 300 lbs. So the plasticy steel tub at a quarter of the weight suddenly looked much more appealing.

Anyway, we trek over to the other side of town and buy this new tub. Will it fit in our SUV-wanna-be? Will it? Won't it? It's a gamble...



It DOES! Barely. We tie it down, drive it home, lug it up two flights of stairs to the third floor and open it to see our beautiful new tub. I'm all excited. In the four years I've lived here, I've never once taken a sit-down bath. Not in our scummy tub. But this... this was going to change everything!

Imagine our surprise when we cut open the bands that seal the box to find... a USED tub! That's right. Not only is there hardened foam insulation stuck to the side and the label is ripped half off, but there is a hole right in the bottom of the tub!

Of course Lowe's is already closed. It seems like forever until the morning. We lug the thing back downstairs, load it back in the car, and haul it back over to Lowes. Thank goodness we had just bought it the night before. Otherwise, i don't think they would have let us return it! It was sealed when we bought it. They had to know it was broken and repackaged it hoping someone would buy it and wait too long for their return excuse to be believable. "Um, hi... we want to return this broken tub. But it was that way when we bought it..."

We still wanted the tub, though and waited - I'm not kidding - 50 minutes to be helped because the one we needed was up on a shelf.

Just a note to the guy who thinks it's okay to monopolize the only associate assigned to that area while you design your whole kitchen at the spur of the moment... you're an ***!!!! Do some homework BEFORE you go to the store.

Anyway, we went out for lunch at the Target snackateria and came back a little while later. Finally, our tub was down. We bought it, opened it to make sure it was intact, then lugged it home.

Thanks Lowe's for making us waste a whole day because of your crappy customer service.
_________________
You don't think I'm going to fall for that old trick?

[Michael]

Day Eleven and Twelve: Tuesday, April 11 and Wednesday, April 12

So I email Lowe's telling them how much I hate them and that I hope their store burns down - well, those weren't my exact words, but that's how I felt. I get a form-ish letter in return telling me that store management will contact me within 24 hours. I won't be waiting by the telephone.

So Tum calls me - he's working in Ohio this week. Or Atlanta... Or Nevada... I never listen. Anyway, he rides my case because I'm workin on my Clue site and watching Lost instead of workin on the bathroom... so I tear down some of the boards on the wall down to the brick.



You'll notice the sink has also been removed. We have to use the Kitchen sink for teeth brushing and whatnot. Afterall, this is our only bathroom.

So we make it a little livable. Our bathmat makes its nightly return. As does the plastic around the tub in order to prevent a Niagra Falls experience for the guy downstairs.



Ahhh, home sweet home.

That's it for now. More later.
_________________
You don't think I'm going to fall for that old trick?

[Michael]

Day Thirteen: Thursday, April 13, 2006.

Well, it's been 28 hours since my email from Lowe's telling me I'd be contacted within 24 hours and I'm still waiting. Are they trying to drive me to Home Depot? Do they not want my thousands of bathroom remodeling dollars? (Really, I'm just hoping for an "I'm Sorry - Here's a $25 gift card".)

On a brighter note, tonight I'm going to participate in a focus group for a toner purchasing rewards program (buying office supplies is my exciting day job for which I've spent many years and many more thousands of dollars in college.) They're paying $150 cash for an hour and a half. It's like getting a free toilet! Can life get any better than this??
_________________
You don't think I'm going to fall for that old trick?

[CluedoKid]

I get annoyed when my regular bathroom surroundings get disrupted.
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It's exhausting being this juicy.

[cluegirl104]

i got p*ssed when our tiolet seat broke! i would die if i had to go through all that!! i don't know if it sounds weird but don't mess with my bathroom!!
_________________
Oh Gravity, thou art a heartless b!tch

[Michael]

Day Fifteen (through the early morning of Day Sixteen): Saturday, April 15, 2006

BUSY BUSY DAY!

It started off at IKEA where we were looking for some medicine cabinetry that we can sink into the wall. As usual, we couldn't decide on anything so instead took advantage of the 99 cent breakfast. Of course, with all the add-ons and whatnot it was really a $3/pp breakfast... those **** IKEAns really know how to lure you in with what looks like a good price. Next thing you know you have to buy doors, handles, legs, a clue...

Anyway, at home we took out our frustrations by ripping down the giant mirror. I tried doing it myself. Thank God Tum was around. It weighs a ton and a half and came down still connected to the drywall! I can't stand the thought of throwing anything away, but Tum won't let me keep it because it has scratches on it. I guess I don't feel bad. When we were at Lowe's I saw that the same mirror would only be $40. I assumed that it would take a second mortgage to buy such a large mirror. i was wrong. I was also wrong on how much light it reflected. There wasn't that much of a lighting difference without it.



Next came the ceiling. We (Tum) thought we should just put a new ceiling over the existing one, but I thought it would be easier to start with a fresh slate. It looks like the stupid previous owner had some water damage to the ceiling and just added a new one below it. Guess what. It's not level. Everything in that **** room is crooked. But it should be easy enough to level out before we hang a new one. The good news is that it will now be much easier to put in recessed lighting which we've always wanted.



Pulling down the ceiling was hard even for me at 6 foot 4 so we decided to head to Lowe's to buy a step ladder. By the way, the manager of the Lowe's where we had the tub ordeal called us and left a message for us to give him a call. Yeah right, like I'm really going to call the manager of a store that blatantly tried to rip me off. Anyway, guess what happened at Lowe's this time. We open a recessed lighting box, and the lamp inside wasn't the one on the box. It was probably purchased and the old one returned. I'm sure this is a scam the store likes to pull - reselling crap people have returned rather than taking a loss.

So we went to Home Depot where I bought a toilet and sink with the focus group money that was burning a whole in my pocket. Oh, how weird it feels buying a toilet. We never did get the step ladder.

Back at home we tore down the rest of the drywall and plaster in the room. All that is left are the studs and slats.

The idoits before just plastered over half the door frame. Now that the plaster is gone, we can actually see it. But not for long. It's getting replaced soon too.

Oh, and this was great. Our lightswitch (pictured below on the left) has always been oddly too far over and it was one of the major things on my list to fix. It looks like the moronic previous owners had a lightswitch in a more normal spot next to the door, but plastered right over it when they remodeled the room (must have been centuries ago). Oh how I hate them. Why couldn't they do ANYTHING right?



And so ends most of the major demolition. It's almost time to start rebuilding! I'm hoping all manage to keep all of my fingers intact.
_________________
You don't think I'm going to fall for that old trick?

[cluegirl104]

sounds like you are enjoying yourself!

just think..soon you will have your manly throne room!
_________________
Oh Gravity, thou art a heartless b!tch

[Depboy]

You live in an apartment, but are able to do things like this to it? Is it like a condo type thing where you actually own it and not rent?

[Michael]

It's a condo - not a rental.
_________________
You don't think I'm going to fall for that old trick?

[cluegirl104]

i am just thinking back to last summer when we built a new back porch-what a pain in the *ss!!!
_________________
Oh Gravity, thou art a heartless b!tch

[Michael]

Day Sixteen: Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006

Okay, it's Easter, so the morning was spent eating breakfast out (not Ikea Snackateria!) and flying kites in the park.

Then it was down to business... I need to get into the home improvement store business cause they make LOADS of money. Who knew plumbing supplies were so pricey! We've decided to mount the shower head from the ceiling and put a wand attachment on the wall. Of course, that means more parts... The ceiling mount to convert our already purchased faucet/shower was easy and relatively inexpensive. Finding a wand mounting that looks decent is **** near impossible. We're still looking for that, but we've got a bit of time left.

Speaking of time... we like to waste it! Well, sort of. We decided to install a dimmer switch in the bathroom so that when nature calls at 2 in the morning, the lights won't be so intense. But I got distracted by the one shown below which I ended up buying for the bedroom. It is so cool. It dims on and off in any amount of time you choose from 3 seconds to 60. And you can set "preferences" for a specific lighting effect. And if that's not all... Yes... it comes with a remote control (shown perched on top in the photo)! So if you're laying in bed reading or whatnot and decide that you're tired, you don't even have to get out of bed to turn out the lights! How cool is that?! We're going to install another remote dimmer in the living room as well. The one we bought for the bath, though, is the same sans the remote control.



On a less exciting note, we tore down the window frame so we can re-align it with the thinner wall. We'll probably tackle the ceiling boards next.


_________________
You don't think I'm going to fall for that old trick?

[CluedoKid]

I'm assuming you have somewhere else to go when you get that call of nature, or are you really using that Hellhole for bathroom needs?
_________________
It's exhausting being this juicy.

[Michael]

Nope. This is it. We clean it out every night, so it's not too bad. The tub and toilet are all connected and we use the kitchen for a sink. Now, next week, we plan to change out the plumbing and if we *beep* that up... well then we're screwed!

A mini-update:

The (lower) ceiling beams have now been ripped out. I had to fight Tum tooth and nail to do it, but I think it's best. It was slightly crooked and I was concerned that the plaster behind them needed to be removed so it wouldn't crumble and cause us problems later. I also wanted to push it up a little, but I only went up about an inch. Anyway, Tum wanted to kill me, but I yanked it all down (easier said than done!). We've started putting it back up correctly, but ran out of screws so it'll have to wait. We're done for tonight.

It was exciting actually starting construction!
_________________
You don't think I'm going to fall for that old trick?

[CluedoKid]

[cluegirl104]

and some rope maybe-it is always useful!!
_________________
Oh Gravity, thou art a heartless b!tch

[Michael]

Day Seventeen: Monday, April 17, 2006

Budgets, like rules, are made to be broken! Today, we decided to buy an underfloor heating system to keep the marble nice and toasty on the cold winter nights - or at least keep us from freezing to death because of the lost insulation the plaster/drywall combination provided before we ripped it all out.

I also had a fun experience at Home Depot. "Hi, I need a *beep* (no not that kind) that looks like this, but I don't know what it is or what it's for. Can you help me?"

I should never be sent to get things...
_________________
You don't think I'm going to fall for that old trick?

[CluedoKid]

Oh the things Home Depot can't help you with. Canadian Tire is worse! Those guys don't know what the heck they are doing. after all it's minimum wage.
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It's exhausting being this juicy.

[ClueBoy12]