C.J. Cherryh's Blog, page 127
February 12, 2012
The bath is finished!
It's glorious. Jane's going to take a break, then put up pix of before, during, and after. You'll be favorably impressed, I hope.
We have only a couple of things yet to do, one of which is install the new tub handles when they arrive; and the other of which is to put the molding on the edge of the countertop, and the very short baseboard around the edge of the floor. We're waiting on that until warmer weather, when we can clean up the garage and deploy the miter saw that will let us do those precise corners. It's, meanwhile, beautiful even without those details.
February 11, 2012
Jane fell off the ladder…
Now has a toothache. She was on the small stepladder in the bathtub when she caught her heel—we are both getting way too tired…
On the good news front, the mural is now grouted and curing, and Jane has put up towel racks. We are just about to the final stage.
Losing glasses…
…happens to me about twice a week. They need a beeper in the rim. I swear I'd pay extra. I am farsighted and consequently have to take of f my glasses to deal with anything beyond arm's length. This means I often take them off and lay them down to do a job…and then because I then can't see anything that's as close as arm's length, searching for them is an exercise in frustration. I frequently find them, drop them, and step on them as I try to locate them. Costco has straightened these poor frames at least 3 times last year; I've straightened them under the hot water tap more than once. I stepped on them two days ago. I've dropped them out of the little sidepocket in the Forester onto the pavement several times last year. I've sat on them more than once. They're about eight years old, if you can imagine the damage these poor things have taken. Now I'm typing with a pair of over-the-counters that don't correct astigmatism, which is the main problem I have at short range.
It's just a pain.
Yesterday I was so frazzled I baked a loaf of bread with no yeast—but fortunately realized it as it had just started to bake—because if it actually bakes, getting it out of the baking pan without hurting the pan is not easy: think of a very large thick stale bagel. Today I got it right. Got to check the kitchen counter there to see if that job is where I took off my glasses.
February 10, 2012
We think…think…we have the drain solved.
Three plumbers over 4 years have said they couldn't do it. WE think we've done it. It took some creative work and in one case manufacturing (via silicone glue and nested pipes) our own adapter, but we have gotten the 'irreplaceable' vertically joined elbow (a 3 way with a right angle) out of the works (reminds me of Jordin Kare's filk about the engineer who designed a part that couldn't even be cast…)—and routed the tub drain in a gentle horizontal U back to the vertical wastewater (overflow drain) pipe and on to the iron pipe that connects to the main drain. This gets that right-angle turn in the no-longer-manufactured miracle-connector out of the picture and should give us a trouble free (and highly replaceable) connection.
This all started two days ago when poor Jane went to take a relaxing bath, tried to open the drain, and the overflow plate/drain control fell off in her hand leaving a honking great hole in the tub.
It looks so civilized now. If this pipe route works, we'll have done what several plumbers refused to tackle.
February 9, 2012
The army mule—revived. You may have to suffer through the commercial, but…
this is worth it.
link in first comment.
February 7, 2012
The cabinets are up, the lights are up…
Our first foray into LED bulbs proved too dim: we went CFL…and hope to learn the equivalencies of these newfangled lighting devices.
WE have yet to grout the mural—we want a darker grout and have not yet gotten to Lowe's, so we have not gotten the extenders we need for the plumbing of the sink and faucet, either, so the sink waits.
We have yet to install the decorative part of the shower curtain: we need, of all things, a pipe cutter to get the curtain rod the length we need. We have yet to put up the towel rods. But by golly, we got those mirrored triple-door cabinets up, and that expanse of mirror makes the bathroom brighter and makes it appear larger: no more cubbyhole.
February 4, 2012
Grout. Lotsa grout.
We got it. We have scrubbed, grouted, scrubbed, cleaned, washed, and we believe we have it properly done. Looking very good in there.
Now we need: a towel rack, 2 lights, 2 cabinets (36″, glass); the tp holder, the tub fittings, the hole for the vessel sink and faucet drilled, the sink and faucet installed, drawers put back, and the shower curtains up. Then we're pretty well done. We're thinking of hiring the guys for the cabinets. Jane and I are tired and sore, and those cabinets are heavy. We know HOW to do it, but are not sure we want to heft them up there. (Attach level board to wall exactly just so, heft cabinets onto board and screw through back top rail to attach same to studs. It requires getting them up there and one person holding same steady while partner drills holes and attaches screws inside cabinet. And we'd just as soon not, at this point. We're getting tired enough to make mistakes.
February 1, 2012
The bathroom has tile…
It's not grouted yet, but it's up. We haven't done the counter yet, but it's getting there.
January 31, 2012
The bathroom has sheetrock!
The only glitch was that I bought inside corner metal sheetrock trim and I needed an outie—but the job was excellent: Jane produced diagrams they could follow, with measurements, and we are well on our way to having tile tomorrow.
January 30, 2012
Hallelujah!
…the 8 pieces of tile strip we needed—came in.
Jane pitches a good fit. The person who did it admitted the mistake, the tile made it on Monday after a Friday order, which they assured us was absolutely impossible, and we have our tile in time for the tile guy, who arrives tomorrow! The salesperson was oh, so nice, and so fast to wait on me—she left another customer to do so—and wanted me and that little bundle of tile out of the shop in a hurry, I'm sure.
Jane got the floor down yesterday. Today Jane has painted the bathroom and ceiling. This afternoon we will hoist out the old bathroom sink and faucets—and loosen the countertop so we can simply lift it tomorrow and carry it to the garage. It is a particularly vile green laminate that is meant to resemble a woven fabric, edged in 1950′s malt-shop silver edging. We will be so glad to see that go.
Shu has spent the day lurking in the bathroom cabinet. We don't know why. Evidently he feels that it is the site of great unrest and he is trying to settle it.
