New Blog

I want to start a new blog. I need to start fresh and I want the focus to be on my home renovations. I want something so my family and friends can follow my progress. My new blog needs a name... and a new address!

The End

I put the finishing touches on the bathroom today. Julie came over this afternoon to help me re-hang the door. That was really the only part of the entire renovation I needed help with. Here are the before and after photos.

BEFORE

AFTER

Nearing the End

I've made a good bit of progress with the bathroom. The crown moulding is up and all the touch ups have been made.

I added moulding around the mirror. It's amazing the difference it made.

I started tiling the floor on Monday night (mistake #1). I finished laying the tile around 10:30 (fully knowing I had to work the next morning). I was in PAIN when I tried to go to bed that night. Note to self: I'm getting too old to be kneeling in the bathtub in order to lay the tile. I have a few touchups to make but I hope to get the grout on my early next week. For my first time, I think I did a decent job.

Brook Trout

I finally started painting the bathroom today. All I had time for was cutting in. I still need to do the trim along the ceiling but I didn't have time today. Here are a few updated pictures. Sorry for the mess. This is a work in progress...

Sometimes You Just Have to be Innovative!

I've been working on my bathroom floor for close to a week (on and off) now. It was getting frustrating and tedious. I've been scraping and scraping and scraping for days. I had gotten to the point where I was attempting to scrape off the adhesive but I was getting up more concrete chips than anything else. Today I decided I would scrub instead of scrape.... and it worked. It took me about 5 hours of intense, frustration relieving scrubbing but I was able to get the floor clean.

Bathroom Renovation: Day 2

I had a great day driving all over town (prior to the storm) looking for tile. I finally found what I wanted, took the plunge, and made the purchase. I am now the proud owner of 25 sq ft of hexagon tile sheets.

I spent a good part of the afternoon/evening trying to remove the adhesive left behind after I removed the linoleum. I used some pretty gnarly chemical adhesive remover that got about 50% of it up. I'm going with some non-toxic route the next go round. Hopefully I can have all the adhesive gone by the end of the week so I can get started on laying the tile.

Bathroom Renovation, Stage One: Demolition

So I've finally decided to start blogging again. I guess I finally feel as if I have something to chronicle.... my bathroom renovation. I'm starting small... space and budget! I'm not changing everything, but I am changing the walls, the floors, and the fixtures (I don't DO brass). This is the hall bathroom, but it is a full bath. Today was demolition day. I ripped up the linoleum on the floor as well as the base boards and the toilet. I feel rather accomplished for my first day and I found a great outlet for relieving stress. I also found some really disgusting stuff underneath the toilet. Do you know what happens to a wax ring over time? The pictures don't even do it justice!

These are the befores! Not very exciting. Functional... that's about it!

This is the after.

Let the games begin!