Saturday

 

We painted doors and trim today. When we get through with this project, we'll replace the hinges and door handles. Fortunately, we only have three interior doors and three pocket doors.

Painter's tape sped up the process.

I'll save painting the back bedroom trim and closet doors for when we replace the baseboards, sometime after the contractors finish the rest of the house.

I sanded these louvered doors to get them ready for painting tomorrow. I'll be replacing the wooden knob with a polished chrome one like the one in the laundry room.

Thanksgiving and Friday

 

Beautiful Thanksgiving day, 76 degrees

We finally got to put a room together. John suggested this layout. I added Pam's chair. I think it works.

Nighttime view

Toby and I share a nook in the sunroom. I can slide his bed around to catch the rays of sun for him. The eat-in at the other end of this room is a work in progress.

Our new computer area. It's perfect. I like being able to see out the windows, and it's close to the bedroom and bathroom through the sliders.

We rented a rug cleaning machine from Ace Friday morning to clean this rug. I think it goes with the new decorative tile in the bathroom.

We will use this rug in the bedroom. The colors are too light to use in the living room where there is much more traffic.

My hooks arrived tonight! Seven of them.

One each for our towels at the end of the vanity. One each for our hand towels on each end of the mirror, near our sinks.

One each for our washcloths in the shower, under the shower shelf. And one for the laundry room sink. They are really small and much less expensive than towel bars. 

Our 4 tab cabinet door pulls arrived, too. They match the door pulls in the kitchen. 

Wednesday (flooring, day 13)

 

At 8:00 this morning, things were swarming. We finished walking Toby and were met with three different crews at our house: mowing; grouter; and construction worker delivering baseboards. Three trucks, one trailer, 5 workers. We managed to clear some space in the garage for the baseboards, which are 16 feet long.

We set up ladders and saw horses for painting. It was a beautiful day to work outside, 75 degrees and sunny.

We picked up these three saw horses from the curb a few days ago. Someone was getting rid of them. We needed them and grabbed them.

Two coats of paint and ready to install

The tile boss removed the rest of their equipment from the garage, leaving just a pallet of tile for the second bathroom and our old toilet if we decide to reuse it. We'll be able to get our car back in the garage once the baseboards are installed. The grouter finished all of the floor tile.

This cement board end will need to be mudded and painted. I made sure it got on someone's to do list since it wasn't clear if it was a construction issue or a tile issue. The construction folks won the job.

I drew in the shower glass and accessories in the picture above. I got to confer with our designer to get her suggestions for the shower shelf and washcloth hooks. She's not in favor of cluttering up the design, but she did like the shelf. She suggested the positioning above with one hole in the grout line and one on the tile. Our construction company will do the installation. She liked the idea of a grouping of three: shelf and two wash cloth hooks, with the hooks below the shelf. The hand shower wand will be located on the left side with a holder also drilled into the tile. It should be high enough that I could use it as my shower. The fixed shower head will be even higher for John. Our shower valve allows both fixtures to be on at the same time at the push of a button.

I'm working on re-installing the threshold to the garage. I investigated how to fix it. It looks fairly simple. After it's grouted, I'll put it back in place. This project was on our checklist for the installers, but sometimes it's simpler to just do it yourself. Besides, it wasn't done correctly in the first place, so it's asking a lot for them to do repairs that go beyond just putting things back the way they were. [Update: While I was painting, the tile boss installed the threshold.]

The tile boss and our designer arrived after lunch to help us select grout for the decorative tile. He had 3 options: charcoal gray, silver with sparkles, and translucent. The choice was easy and we all agreed: charcoal gray. It is about the same color as the black edge in the tile, so the grout disappears. Your eye goes to the colors in the tile. The translucent was supposed to reflect the colors in the tile nearby, but it just looked like clear silicon. And it was very eye catching, but not in a good way.

Still drying, but finished.

Finished

Primary bedroom finished

Bedroom finished

Shower, tub, and vanity area finished

finished

Drying, but finished

Finished (with repaired threshold)

Finished (with a cool sunset lighting effect)

The grouter will come back Monday to grout the decorative wall. Our designer says that they should be able to install the vanity and get the shower glass people out to measure. She also was going to confer with the owner to see if we could start the second bathroom and tack it onto the current project. This would allow us to get to the head of the line and not have to wait 8 months. We're okay either way. There are advantages and disadvantages to keep going. One thing is for sure: the next project will be much less disruptive. 

But I have to say, all the workers have been very thoughtful in how they plan their work around us. They have made sure that we were as comfortable as possible while living in a construction zone.

Tuesday (flooring, day 12)

 

The city continues to grind up storm debris that has been staged at Highlander park.

Some large tree trunks will have to be hauled away as is.

The shredder operates 12 hours a day making mountains of mulch.

Some appliances and other debris remains, but not much.

It was slow going today on the renovation. The grouter arrived around 11:00 a.m. and left around 4:30. He had to move some equipment that the tilers left behind and clean up after them. He finished the sunroom first. It's almost dry in the picture above.

He moved on to the primary bedroom and got about 3/4 of it completed. This room was really dirty from all of the shower and decorative tile work.

Same picture at night after the floor dried.

Completed and dry sunroom.

The grouter removed the drain cover so that he could grout in the bathroom tomorrow. If you look closely, you can see how the bottom of the tray funnels the water to the center of the drain, the lowest point. The cover pops off with a special tool. There is also a strainer at the bottom to catch hair.

Tomorrow, the grouter returns, but he probably won't be able to finish. Our baseboards weren't delivered today, so maybe tomorrow.

Here's what TileBar says about our tile:

ABOUT THE TILEThe Bond Palladium Light Gray 12" x 24" Matte Porcelain tiles introduce a contemporary approach to industrial style design, creating an elegant and urban visual. These large-format porcelain tiles feature a striking metallic sheen and opaque oxidation, presenting an original interpretation of texture and surface. The light gray hue of the Bond Palladium tile further enhances their boldness, embracing an unconventionally warm take on industrial decor.

KEY FEATURES

• Made in Italy
• Large Format, Light Gray Porcelain Tile
• Fusion of Metropolitan and Industrial Style
• Striking Metallic Sheen and Opaque Oxidation
• Made for indoor commercial and residential wall or floor use
• Great for Kitchen, Backsplash, Bathroom Floor & Wall Tile

ABOUT THE COLLECTIONThe Bond Collection combines a modern metallic gleam with the opaque marks of age and oxidation to create this ultimate expression of urban chic. This large-format porcelain is offered in 5 stunning neutral shades, along with a vibrant green and blue colorway respectively that introduce a contemporary, unconventional touch. The hallmark of the collection is the fusion of metropolitan and industrial atmospheres that take on a warm, colorful, and inviting visual. Bond captures the intimate emotion of metal at its most natural and authentic, while refining its industrial edge to become a bold statement of elegance.

Monday (flooring, day 11)

 

Sunroom, no grout

Flows into sunroom from living room

So much better. Grout comes tomorrow 

Evening picture

Possible shower shelf and wash cloth hook locations circled in red. It's best for the hardware to go where there is a joint rather than into the porcelain tile.

The tilers did a terrific job integrating the shower floor into the rest of the bathroom. This one feature took a ton of planning and preparation,

Linear drain

The slope with the schluter and tile installed. Notice that the tiles keep flowing over the break to keep the illusion of a solid piece of tile.

The shower valve appears to be the correct depth.

The window got framed with the floor tile all the way around. They removed the marble at the bottom and replaced it with tile to prevent there being a third kind of tile around the window. Schluter (polished chrome) goes all the way around the window frame to separate the white tile from the decorative tile.

This picture shows the tile and schluter at the edge of the shower wall. The glass shower wall will be mounted near the edge of the tile. The cement board will need to be mudded, textured, and painted to match the wall. Then, the tile boss says, it won't be noticeable. People will be looking at the glass wall, tile, and schluter.

We haven't chosen a grout yet for the decorative wall. A translucent grout has been recommended. It would reflect whatever color is nearby, depending on the angle of perception.

I can't believe the tilers were able to make this shower slope work so well.

Wall close ups

It looks different, depending on the light.

Drawer hardware for vanity, same as kitchen arrived. We ordered three pulls this size and they each arrived separately from different locations. We have four of the smaller size for the doors ordered.

This is our toilet paper holder. It will be installed in the upright position. Our towel hooks and wash cloth hooks are the same design, just much shorter.

Angled bullnose tile at front porch. This gets grouted tomorrow, too.

We have this much tile left over for the back bathroom floor and shower walls. We also have 4 boxes of the decorative tile, about 12 square feet. I'd like to use it but not in a gratuitous way. We'll see what our designer says about that.

Tomorrow the tile grouter comes to grout the floor tile and the portion of the shower with the same tile. I think baseboards will be delivered for painting tomorrow. I hope we'll be meeting with the designer and the tile boss to choose decorative tile grout.