Adventures in Remuddling

Tig had some help today blocking up the floors of the first unit bathroom. The carpenter that our GC consultant recommended was very skilled. He was able to make straight cuts with a circular saw (no guide necessary). He was also adept at using a reciprocating saw with a fair amount of precision. The result, we have a level subfloor for the bathroom, with reinforced joists below.

Speaking of floors, I am very excited to see the second unit floors being refinished.

Continue reading “Bathroom Unit #1 subfloor in” »

It was a very busy week. Too busy to update the blog. So here’s a recap of the past week.

Serena’s parents were in town from Saturday through Thursday.

I don’t remember much of Monday. Mostly the plumber was working (mmm, new PVC pipe), and we were preparing the 2nd unit’s floors (masonite on top of red rosin paper).

Continue reading “Week 3″ »

The past few days were mostly myself and the plumber. Both the building and plumbing rough inspection got signed off this week.

Now it’s all me. Tasks for the next few days include preparing to cover up the walls with drywall and cement board. I need to re-align the radiator pipes before I lay down my walls and floors. The exterior walls need to be insulated and then a vapor barrier needs to be installed over the insulation. So lots to do.

I might also start on the kitchen too.

Drywall is now on both bathroom ceilings! Tig’s parents came for Memorial Day weekend and we had a barn-raising day. Or in this case, a ceiling raising day. While Tig measured, Dad cut the drywall.

Then, Tig and Dad pulled the drywall up to the ceiling. Mom and I come in with propping tools (our arms are too short to hold up drywall) and support the sheet while Tig screws it in.

Continue reading “Ceiling is in” »

It may be hard to believe, but sometimes I’m really anal and exacting.

So…

Continue reading “Ceiling Drywall …” »

For Unit 1 Bathroom, I decided to take the existing medicine cabinet in Unit 2 (that’s our friend Carl singing while taking the picture)

For the past few weekends, I’ve been sanding off the awful gold paint and green blotches off the medicine cabinet with a wire brush and sandpaper.

Continue reading “Medicine Cabinet Makeover” »

I’m actually getting excited, because I can picture the finished bathroom in my head.

Yesterday all the walls in bath 1 were put up. Which is not an easy task for 1 person. Just think about lifting 4′ x 8′ sheet of wall, fitting it through a door, then into a 5′ x 8′ room, then propping it up.

Continue reading “Getting Ready to Tile” »

On Saturday, we did a dry run of the first floor bathroom, just to see if everything would come together as we imagined. Seeing the sink, medicine cabinet and light together was encouraging. The toilet will go to the left of the sink.

Continue reading “Tiling has begun” »

Tiling is definitely a much slower job than expected. Maybe we should be using the large 12″ x 12″ tile. It probably would not look as good, but would be much faster.

Our wall tile size is 3″ x 6″, and it’s staggered between rows. For some reason, people call this “subway” tile.

Continue reading “Tiling Day 2″ »

Enquiring minds probably want to know why we are attempting this task, and why we’re so slow at it . So why not pay someone to take care of this tedious task? Because:

1. We plan on tiling our own bathroom (2nd floor unit) with subway tile and wanted to test out our design plan
2. It is a skill that we would like to learn. Although economists argue the merit of specialization and relative competitive advantage, we think having a broad array of skills makes for a happy and productive life. Specialization is for insects.

Continue reading “Why tile? Why so slow?” »