Bathrooms, bathrooms, bathrooms...

So we are back to work on our own house, finally, and trying to get ready for the influx of family coming at Thanksgiving. The biggest project is to remodel the downstairs bathroom and get it in good working order (it had no sink and only a tub without a shower). When we bought the house you could not even tell this was a bathroom. The junk and trash was piled up so high that it completely covered the tub and the toilet. They could not be seen at all. Thanks to my sister Jenni for cleaning out this room.

So here is what we started with. Note the chocolate brown fixtures (could you miss them?) and the mexican restaurant floor tile.

Little Mama is sniffing through the last bits of trash that we found inside the pedestal of the sink when we tore it out:



Note there is a disposable camera and what appears to be a $2 bill, among other things. This is some of the last of the genuine original garbage.

First step after removing the fixtures was to tear out the floor. This was not easy because the tile was laid on a layer of concrete poured over a metal mesh. Would have been much easier if it were just installed on backerboard. Andy had to pound on it hard enough that we broke some tiles on the kitchen floor. But if that is what it takes, so be it... it had to go.

Next step was to tear out the walls and try to level them both vertically and horizontally for the new drywall. You can see the new shims Andy build on top of the existing studs and the string he is using to make sure the studs are even. If you look closely you can also see that there used to be a door to the left and there was another to the right as well. This bathroom currently sits between our dining room and tv room. The tv room used to be the kitchen and this bathroom was the butler's pantry, with doors connecting to both the kitchen and the dining room.

We almost didn't tear out the back wall because it was pretty level and in pretty good condition. At the last minute, Andy decided to go ahead and do that one too, and we found a nice surprise:

There is a window back there! This is the original back wall of the house but now separates this bathroom from the kitchen, which was added on probably around the 50s. The window is in really good condition and just needs to have a casing added.

Of course it is drywalled in on the other side as well. We plan to frost it or hang stained glass panels on it and then backlight it from behind. We have even wired up a dimmer switch for it. It should be an interesting architectural element.

In the meantime, we sent the tub off to be reglazed and it is now back to a perfect pristine white instead of that horrible chocolate brown. We actually found someone who wanted the chocolate brown toilet and we even gave away the sink pedestal and the damaged tub faucet. Here is the tub, currently sitting in our entry.

The new drywall has now been hung and finished in the bathroom and Andy and I spent part of our weekend putting on two coats of primer and a quart of paint for color testing.

I like this color and I think we will keep it. It is basically the "butter" color from Restoration Hardware. We ordered the tile on Friday and it will be here a week from this Thursday. It is a honey onyx and I think it's beautiful. So in the meantime Andy is going to trim out the window, putting back the casing that is missing. We are also going to have trim work about halfway up the walls and I think he's going to start working on that too. We bought the new toilet and sink this weekend and they are sitting in the entry along with the tub. Things are really moving along.

Outside of bathroom news there is not too much going on. We are in the process of buying another house that we will use as a rental. It has absolutely no curb appeal but has everything else going for it. I think it will be a good long term investment for us and I think when we decide to remodel it and give it some curb appeal it will not be difficult to do. It is close to the Chicamauga house for those of you who know where that was.

We also have the schematic plans for the teardown and rebuild of the second story addition, which contains the upstairs bathrooms. It is currently pending review by the historic commission, but I don't think we'll have any big issues. Once that's done we have to do another set of plans that are actually blueprints and then start talking to builders. No telling when
that will really get going.

Andy has gotten his bartender's license and is working at the Edgefield Grill part time with a view to learning the bar business. He plans to open a bar sometime in the next few years, so this is kind of an exploratory phase for him.

Other than that, life goes on. Dogs are fine, we are fine, everybody is happy. I am REALLY looking forward to having my whole family here to visit for Thanksgiving. I think a good time will be had by all. I have confirmed with the community center that we can borrow a ping pong table for the holiday weekend, so there will be plenty of competition going on on the back deck during Thanksgiving. My sister Susan will be the head chef, so I know the food will be good. Mostly I'll just be glad to have everyone together. My nephews will be greatly missed but I'm sure they will be able to come next time.

That's all for now. More bathroom photos to come.