The Beginning of the End

Could it be that I might actually live to see my master bathroom complete? Badger and company came by today to get the floor prepped for tiling. The first thing they did was rip more ceiling out in the kitchen to shore up the area where the clawfoot tub will be. I'm feeling good about knowing that I won't be relaxing in a nice bubble bath and find myself suddenly in the kitchen...or worse, the basement. :) Having Money Pit flashbacks here.

They also patched the plumber's hack job.


To the right is an example of a recessed area for the shower. We plan to put the basketweave tile at the back of the recessed area with a carerra shelf. To the far right is the hole that was cut today in preparation for my little nook.

Tomorrow, I believe the tiler will be here starting on the curb for the shower as well as putting down the backer board for the floor.

My Marble Made It

The full load of tile has arrived. 90 sq ft of Carrara/Bardiglio basketweave marble. I am getting impatient. Having no money stinks!

Oh well, even if we did have money right now, our contractor is in Haiti helping to build an orphanage. Seriously. The Badgers are probably the best examples of good-deed-doers I know. They make me want to be a better person. They also make me realize I have a long way to go on the charity and love scale. Kind of depressing really.

So anyway, until Badger returns and the IRS gets its butt in gear, we're at a stalemate.

I Shoulda Been A Plumber

The other day we had the plumbers come in to move the tub supply lines from the wall to to the floor, rough in the drain for the tub, and move the toilet a few inches to the right. Three hours and $750 later we now have the lines in the right place and the holes in the floor and walls (and kitchen ceiling) to prove it. I am in the wrong profession.


The kids are already attempting to make claim on this baby. Don't even think about it you little rugrats!

Our tile will be delivered on Wednesday, but after that we probably won't be blogging for at least a couple of weeks. We're wating on our tax refund so we can actually pay for the services we will be requiring. I love getting a tax refund! The only problem is waiting on the IRS to give it to us. IRS!!! (Shaking my proverbial fist.)

Does The Bathtub Have Large Talons?

Got home yesterday and Brian had put the feet on the tub. So yes, the bathtub now has large talons.

Cast Iron Cutie

Got the new clawfoot tub today. A bunch of the guys from work nearly killed themselves helping Brian get the thing upstairs. It has to be close to 400 lbs. I hope that lunch will be enough to pay for the aches and pains they're all sure to have tomorrow morning. But the point is the tub is upstairs in its new home! I had meant to order an acrylic tub to make the move easier, but I was an idiot and ordered a cast iron one instead. I'm just glad I have a big strong husband (and co-workers). I am glad I got this one, though. I love it! It is the perfect size for me to do some mega relaxing in. I am already eyeing a book caddy that will hold my sparkling cider, a candle, and the latest novel I'm enjoying. This will be one of the few times you will see one of the kids in this tub. This baby's mine! He does look cute in it though!


The faucet for the tub also came. I loved the cross handles on both the faucet and the supply lines on this one. You can also see what the feet for the tub look like from this pic. The finish we ordered for everything is a brushed nickel to match the rest of the house. I was really tempted to go with a chrome finish in this room, but my OCD got the best of me.

The next step will be to get the plumbing in the right locations. Then we can tile!

Back In Action

Since Nate was born last March, I haven't had much time or desire to even think about renovations. Part of it was probably also because we ran out of money :). In the last few weeks, though, I've gotten the bug again. I'm tired of having one last unfinished room in the new addition. As you can see, it has already started to become a storage area...That's a problem.


So...here's the next couple of things that need to be done for us to be on our way to our very own en suite bathroom sans ironing board and exercise equipment:
1. Purchase a clawfoot tub -- DONE. It will be delivered on Tuesday.
2. Get the plumbing roughed in for the tub
3. Get the shower pan built
4. Tile the floor and shower

At that point, we will be able to install the wainscoting, paint, and put in all the bath fixtures, but I'm focusing on the first 4 steps right now. As I said, the clawfoot tub (along with the handheld shower faucet and supply lines and drain) is ordered. Check back on Tuesday for more on that.

In preparation for step 4, I ordered one sheet of basketweave carrera/bardiglio marble tile. I've got another sample coming in the mail, but this is definitely the gist of what I want -- a basketweave marble tile that's white with grey dots.

Our goal is to have this room done by July 1. I'm hoping we will have it done long before then. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Open House

We are finally at a point where we can start inviting people over. Skeeter's baby blessing was on Sunday and we decided to have lunch for the family at our house. We scraped off the paint on the inside of the door in preparation for the big event.


Nate was a stylin' little man in his blessing outfit. Daddy gave a wonderful blessing to his favorite little guy at church where we had at least 3 full rows full of family.


After the blessing, we all headed up to our house for some lunch -- all 40+ of us. Thankfully the weather cooperated beautifully. Our house is bigger than it used to be, but it's still not big enough to have a party of that magnitude inside it. It was nice to be able to show off the work that has been done. Lots of people have been watching the blog but had never seen the progress in person. Even Brian's cousin Andie from RI was here and was able to visit the awesome pair of shoes she gave me in their new beautiful home :). And she's right -- I do need a red pair of shoes!
We had lots of fun with our funny family and the food was amazing thanks to my incredible mother. Thanks to my mom for pulling this together and to everyone else for coming and sharing in our special day.


After we partied 'till we couldn't party no more, we spent the evening cuddling together. We even were able to get the kids to settle down in time for us to watch the Lost series finale. What a great day.