I'm happy to report that the tiles are all mortared and grouted, and the baseboards and shoe molding are mitered and (mostly) in place. The man in Flooring at The Home Depot knows me by face now, if not by name. Still, I give a little harrumph when I have to go back to the store because I don't have the right tool or don't have enough materials (shoe molding, for instance.)
The gory details really
are disgusting today! After a nice evening with friends (and too many delicious margaritas) I awoke at 6:30 AM (it's Saturday, folks) and drove to HD yet again for more materials. I painted the kitchen ceiling; measured, mitered, nailed and glued the baseboards and shoe molding; painted the baseboards, moved the washer and dryer back into the laundry room and hooked them back up; unpacked the cabinets that were delivered today (hooray!); and then faced the most vile job of all: the toilet.
Have any of you readers ever moved a toilet before? It's disgusting all the way around. I won't gross you out with the little surprises you find on the underside of the bowl. Or maybe I will. I don't have a maid, and I rarely get to have the 360 degree perspective of a toilet. But I'm solo in a house of boys. I was horrified at residue left there. It looks like Jackson Pollock peed in that bowl for 7 years. (Shudder.) Nuff said about that. Suffice it to say that my younger son has a new weekly chore that he's not too happy about.
Cleaning the toilet is easy. But underneath is a wax ring that you have to replace, and that's the most disgusting thing I've done yet in this remodel. Or maybe in the last ten years. When I asked Trevor (older son) to help me move the toilet back on the bolts, gosh darn it, it suddenly felt 50 pounds heavier, and getting it to land square on the bolts was like--oh, I'm boring you. I'm still glad I did it instead of paying someone else to. But gross.
Your patience has paid off. Here are the newest pics from the last couple of days:
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| Grouting the tiles and making a mess |
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| Trevor "assists" by taking pictures. Cheese! |
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| Laundry room grouted and messy looking, but I like it like this. Looks European... |
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| Finally, the Laundry room is tiled, and the straight lines will go straight through the kitchen. Ignore the ugly door to the garage. It's really scratched and ugly when you get a closer look at it. (Sigh. Another thing to replace.) |
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| The tiled bathroom. I suppose I'll need to put the door frame back on tomorrow. First I'll have to cut off a centimeter or two to clear the tile floor. |
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| My fancy threshold. Smaller cut slate tiles between the porcelain tiles. |
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| And voila! Here are the new folks in town. They are mingling, getting familiar with each other before I do minor surgery in the backsides for plumbing and such. |
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The floor is a touch slanted, so I'll have some shimming here and there to make everything plumb. I'm hoping to get these guys all cut, shimmed, and attached to the wall joists on Sunday. I just haven't decided yet what tool to use to cut holes in the rear for the plumbing and electricity. My hand saw is to big and raggedy. And I just don't have the heart or wallet to buy yet another tool. This will take some thought. I'll sleep on it. I sleep very well these days.
I have a week and a half to get the cabinets secured, and the countertops, the sink, and the stove in place. Then I have to consider decorating the walls with open shelving. Think I can do it?
