We're back to a 2 BR 2BA condo now, after the long awaited renovation!
We started talking about renovating the master bathroom at Paws Awhile in January. The contractor I was planning to use said he couldn't start until February. In February when I still hadn't heard from him, I called again and he said, maybe March. In April, when I still hadn't heard from him, I called Herb, the same contractor I had used for the kitchen/living room. Herb said he could start May 18th. (I should have called Herb to begin with since I know he does good work and he is dependable, but I really liked my friend's shower so I thought I would try her contractor).
As soon as Herb committed to a start date, I started tearing out whatever I could that would still leave the bathroom functional. I scraped the popcorn off of the ceiling and removed the baseboard molding. I also removed part of the half-wall that was supporting the sink.
We came and went several times during the months that followed, having to live with the ugly exposed edge of the linoleum, marred ceiling and exposed wood.
I was so excited when Herb sent me a text to confirm our May 18 start date!!! Lucy and I flew to Jacksonville Sunday morning to make sure we were there to meet Herb Monday morning. Since I had an entire day at the condo to myself, I decided to start the tear-out. I got the toilet, vanity & linoleum up without any problem.
I decided to leave the tub tear-out to Herb and his team. I should have also left the clean up for them because when I carried the old lumber (with rusty nails sticking out) to the dumpster, I managed to snag my arm with a rusty nail. I probably could have used a couple of stitches, but I was channeling my father who used to say, "Aw, it ain't nuthin' but a scratch" when he would have a gushing bleeding gash. I put a band-aid on it and finished the job.
Monday morning, Herb showed up bright and early. We reviewed the plans for the new shower, flooring, pocket door and fixtures. He had two helpers, John & Barney, with him. John cut up the fiberglass tub to remove it while Barney did some sheet rock repair.
Barney also uncovered the wall next to the existing swinging door and exposed the area where an old pocket door used to be! This would make it easier to install a new pocket door since some of the framework was still in place.
Tuesday, Herb came to do the plumbing while John & Barney continued to do sheet rock repair & install the new door. Herb had to turn off the water to the units above ours while he installed the valves for the new shower. The lady upstairs was not too happy about that!
Wednesday, while I drove to Jacksonville to pick up the tile, Herb & Barney worked on framing in the new shower, getting the new pocket door installed and finishing the sheetrock repair. I decided to go to Costco as long as I would be in Jacksonville. My route to both places took me all the way around the perimeter of Jacksonville.
When I got back, the guys had made some progress so I was starting to see what the finished product would look like.
Meanwhile, I picked out a
new shower door. A sliding door will work best for our small space. We just have to wait for it to be delivered to the Yulee Lowe's store.
Herb is very concerned that I will be disappointed in the amount of shelf space that will be available, but I think any shelf space is better than no shelf space! My new shelves will be just over 8 inches wide, but deep and tall!
Thursday, while John & Barney were downstairs working on building the shelving unit, I heard dripping in the bathroom. It turned out to be a toilet leak from the upstairs condo. Thank goodness we discovered it before the tiling started!
The shelving unit to the right of the shower had to be built in 2 pieces so it would slide in past the toilet plumbing. Barney got the bottom half in without any problem. Herb and John worked on getting the shower pan ready. I had to run an errand and when I got back and opened the door, the condo was filled with smoke! Herb's drill motor had burned up while trying to stir the mortar for the shower pan!
Friday, Tony and Lola drove down from Atlanta. They got here in time to have dinner at the Surf. Herb's accomplishment for the day was to finish tiling the floor of the shower.
Saturday, Herb built the seat and started tiling the wall. He got the nook finished for the shampoo and soap.
Sunday, the resident manager at the Sand Dollar Villas asked us to try to be quiet, so Herb couldn't run the tile saw. We used the day to have him move the outlet, run the cable through the wall and mount the TV. Now we can get rid of that ugly TV stand!
We also had him add an outlet to the closet so we could keep our rechargeable vacuum cleaner plugged it and out of sight! In a condo that is less than 800 square feet, it is essential to take advantage of every square inch!
Monday & Tuesday, more shower tiling was completed. We were starting to get frustrated with how long the project was taking, but we really liked the way the accent tile turned out!
We had taken the ferry over to have lunch at
Safe Harbor in Mayport and then stopped for drinks at Singleton's Seafood Shack. When we got home, Herb told me that he was short one bull-nose tile so I had to turn around and drive an hour back to Floor & Decor in Jacksonville to get more tile. While I was waiting for my tile order, I looked at facebook and saw that I had a message from my old Delta classmate (and roommate). She was in Fernandina Beach!!! I had not seen her in over 20 years so I hurried back to the island, picked Tony up & met her and her husband at Brett's Waterway Cafe for drinks. We had a great time catching up!
Wednesday, Herb had an emergency job somewhere else so he sent John over to do some sanding & get the backer-board installed on the bathroom floor.
Once the sanding was done and the dust was no longer flying around, I got out the paint and did a little refreshing of the bi-fold closet doors. They had probably been white at one time, but over the years, had yellowed. I HATE painting, and bi-fold doors are the WORST!!!
Thursday morning during our sunrise walk on the beach with Lucy and all of her friends I found a big shark's tooth fossil!
Later, while Tony was kicking my butt in bocce ball on the beach, Herb was busy tiling the bathroom floor. I LOVE my tile! It looks like the sandy beach!
Friday was Grout Day! Herb brought Jo Ann to do the grouting and some of the finishing work.
Jo Ann ran out of grout about halfway through the job. I didn't want to make the 2 hour round trip to Floor and Decor to get more of the matching grout so I thought I could get some at Lowe's or Home Depot to match. We needed Unsanded Grout because of the small grout lines. Lowe's didn't have anything in the right color, but they had some "mix-it-yourself" colors. We bought the base, 2 colors to mix and a bottle of additive. Then we went to Home Depot & bought the closest color we could find. When we got back, Herb mixed up the Lowe's alternative and decided that neither it, nor the Home Depot grout were a close enough match so it was off to Floor & Decor for me. I loaded up all of the extra tile to return as well. When I got to Floor & Decor, wouldn't you know that they didn't have the same grout brand anymore. Thankfully, they had a chart showing which of the new brand matched the old brand so I was able to get a close enough match.
JoAnn stayed late and finished grouting while I went to the Surf for a final dinner with some of our friends who were heading home the next day.
When I got home, I was very pleased with the beautiful matching grout!
Saturday, Tony and Lola left at 6:30AM to drive home. Lucy was SO sad! JoAnn painted the bathroom while Herb put a new exhaust fan in the guest bathroom. It is so wonderfully quiet now, it no longer sounds like a jet plane taking off! Once JoAnn finished the painting, she left and Herb got back to work in the new bathroom. He put in a new exhaust fan, outlet and light switch and then got to work installing the new shower door! He broke a drill bit trying to drill through the porcelain tile but finally got through. The instructions for the door were subject to some interpretation so we put our heads together on a couple of steps. He finished the door except for the trim & it looks great. The only problem is that the header for the door obscures the decorative tile from certain angles (like the one I took this picture from.
Sunday, Herb and John moved the vanity in. It looks really BIG in the small space. I almost reconsidered my selection, but decided since it is free standing, if I change my mind later, I can always use this one in the guest bath. Herb worked on the plumbing & a few other details. I thought he might finish the job, but when he left, there was still a good bit to do (like install the toilet)!
Monday, I decided that we were close enough to finished that I could go home to Smyrna. I had been at the condo now for more than 2 weeks! Herb thought he could finish the project but he got called away to another job so I had to leave it incomplete. :( I put together a couple of panoramas so you could get an idea of what it looks like. The perspective is a little off, but you can get the idea!
There were a few things I didn't think through completely, the main one being that there is absolutely NO wall space for towel racks. I'll have to figure something out about that, but overall, I am very pleased!
I'm finally back home in Smyrna, catching up on all of the things that need to be done here. It's a bit overwhelming trying to keep 2 households running! While I was gone, trees grew up in front of our DirecTV satellite dish so chopping down trees was PRIORITY ONE!!!
Of course, now I have the Monty Python song running through my head, "I cut down trees, I wear high heels, suspenders and a bra..."
Until next time...
