Bathroom Remodel - Vanity and Sink are finally in!

So it's been awhile since I posted any updates to the bathroom. We had many discussions about what kinda of vanity, what kind of top, what kind of sink we wanted. It's amazing how not having a sink while everything else is basically done will do to help you make decisions.

We originally looked at various premade vanities. From free standing to built-ins. The problem was the size of the space for the vanity. We had 42 inches.

We didnt really want to give up counter space and the free-standing vanities, while very nice were both expensive and took away counter space.

The built-in cabinets simply didnt come in 42 inches, standard. Not that we couldn't get one, but we would have had to special order it.

So in the end I built ours out of MDF (medium density fiberboard), wood glue and caulk. I'm really happy with the results, though it was a ton of work. MDF makes a lot of sawdust too. If I ever use it again, it'll be in the Spring/Summer/Fall where I can cut it outside!

The next hurtle was the counter top. What material? I really didnt want to do laminate in the bathroom, just because of the moisture. As is I used PVC trim as much as possible and the MDF was primed and painted carefully to minimize moisture issues. So in my mind laminate was out. Though if push came to shove it might have happened.

I really didn't want to do a tile counter top. We had a tile counter in our kitchen in Nashville, before we remodeled it and it was awful! I'll come back to the whole tile thing in a minute.

So then it was solid surface or stone. Though I like many of the man-made solid surface choices it didn't seem to work with what we were doing stylistically. Plus the price really wasn't so different than stone, for the size we were looking to do. (about 8 sq ft)

So we checked into getting a remnant of granite from a local stone vendor. We went and looked at all the different selections and were pretty happy with the two options we choice (though one really didnt work under our bathroom lighting). We were given a rough quote of about $75 per sq ft, which seemed on the high side for a remnant. The guy we talked to said it might be cheaper but we'd have to work with a particular guy who was on vacation. Hey it was the week of Christmas, we were understanding. We we never did hear back from them. Even today they have never tried to contact us.

So this last weekend we were browsing Home Depot or Lowes and we come across their basic black granite tiles. They were 12x12 and only $5 each. I knew I had some Hardiebacker and thin-set at home still. We found matching bull-nose, so...

Despite my earlier hesitation with tile, we went with tile, but it's granite at least. We picked up a really strong epoxy grout too. One of my major concerns was the grout. Most grouts are porous, even after you seal them. Or if something thin got dropped on the grout line would it gouge. This epoxy grout eliminated all those worries. It's seriously strong once it sets and sticks really well.

Some of the wainscoting was delayed because of the counter top choice. I didn't want to put in any of the trim around the vanity area in case we had to maneuver a big slab into place. So once we finally got the counter done we were able to move forward with that.

More glass mosaic tiling and grouting and siliconing to make sure everything is just so, before maneuvering the sink and faucet into place.

We had many sink discussions as well. Early on we settled on a vessel of some kind, rather than a more typical 'sunken' sink or under-mount. That was an important decision as it set the height of the vanity top, especially important since I was building it.

We looked at the standard bowl types, and some nice rectangular ones that sat on top of the counter. I really liked those, but they used up far too much counter space and what about cleaning behind them?

The bowls were nice and really not that expensive (unless you went will more exotic materials). Since we had a black/white/gray theme going we pretty much knew it would be one of those colors. As we went with black granite for the counter top, black was out. The mosaic tile has a nice white glass, so we looked at a frosted bowl. When we were looking at a slab of granite we considered a clear glass bowl to show off the stone. Since we didn't do the slab the clear didn't make much sense any more. Finally we saw a nice mix of the rectangular sinks I liked from before with the advantages of the bowl. It was white porcelain and about $100 cheaper than the frosted glass. While at the time I think the choice was a bit, 'it works, lets get it and get this done.' I really think it worked out perfect. I really like how it looks.

So while we have a little more decorative touches to make to the bathroom, it's functionally complete at this point and man that takes a load off. It's been a long hard road!

Bathroom Remodel - Toilet!

No picture but the toilet is in! Before we could install it we had to get the wainscoting primed and painted and all seams sealed up. All that is done and the toilet is working perfectly. We bought a dual flush one. If you are unsure what that is, the flush mechanism lets more or less water out of the tank depending on the 'waste' you are flushing. I really wanted this for the guest bath since I work from home and thus use the bathroom more than someone who isn't at home all day (plus I drink a lot of water).

We also got the shower all sealed up and we got to use it for the first time this morning. Everything worked great. Though I had a hard time not noticing flaws in my tile job. It's not bad, just one the drawbacks of doing work yourself, thus knowing where issues exist, and being a perfectionist.

I had a bit of a problem installing the shower rod. It's a fixed rod instead of one of those spring loaded ones. The problem was that it came with drywall anchors, cheap ones at that. They didn't work on the tile, so I had to run to ACE hardware and buy some anchors that'd work. They did and while I wouldn't try to do chin-ups on it, it's good and secure.

Things are starting to get there now. We still need to texture and paint the ceiling. We also need to do some more painting in general in the room. Then it's just down to the vanity. We have a plan for it now.

Bathroom Remodel - Bathroom Tile

Long weekend working on the bathroom. My fingers are literally worn to bleeding. Here is the results though. Still more to do but getting there!

Bathroom Remodel - Tile!

Well it's been awhile since any major progress has occurred. Mostly because of vacation and football (Go Big Red!).

This week we got back on task. I got the floor prepped and the Hardiebacker down. We then got the floor tile in and grouted.

Today we got some trim down for the wainscoting. We had to do this so we had the nice clean, and straight edge to start tiling from. Plus once we get the main wall prepped and painted I can get the toilet in! The trim is actually PVC, so we don't have to worry about moisture.

Tonight we started tiling the back wall of the tub. We put up all the pieces we could without cutting. These early nights are killing productivity. Of course watching the Huskers play for a few hours didn't help either. Oh and that orange is the Kerdi. We put that up this week too. No water is getting through to our walls!

How one drunk can ruin it for everyone

Saturday, October 16th was a tough day for Nebraska fans, especially those of us in the middle of section 40 at rows 73, 74 and 75. We had to put up with an ass who dares call himself a fan but made himself an idiot the entire game.

I wrote the UNL Police asking if they could direct me to where I could report the drunk, after the game. Their response was,

"We can keep an eye on it next game and see if the officer notices anything. Also did you try Texting? Sometimes the cell service is bad but I did notice the texting working. I will need the section, seat, row to help us and we will add it to our briefing before the next game. "

I suppose I can't really expect anything more, unless perhaps more people complain about the guy. Also, as the Omaha World Herald mentioned last week, mobile services, (voice, data, text) are all pretty much dead for most people. Sprint service is worthless.

Here is the letter I sent to the University of Nebraska Police after emailing them asking where to report a complaint:

Unfortunately Sprint's service is completely down every game for me. In hindsight I should have just gone and found an officer to have this guy taken care of. The seats this guy has are in Sec 40, Row 74, seats 13 & 14.

His Pepsi, in an open cup, was clearly spiked with bourbon. It was especially noticeable after he spilled it on me and two kids in front of me. It was also dumped into the shoe of the guy in row 73, seat 13. I can't imagine how frustrating it must have been to have a wet foot the entire game. He confronted the drunk but when it was clear that it would have only escalated he backed down so as to not create a scene.

While I certainly understand swearing occasionally during a game, especially at a bad play, this guy was swearing constantly, but worse, not just at the game but at fans, of Texas AND Nebraska. He was berating fans who started to leave early. Then when others behind us, perhaps even some of those who were leaving told him to sit down and shut up, it only made him escalate his verbal assault on them.

I think, aside from my own embarrassment from sitting next to him the entire game was the fact that there was a 6-8 year old boy sitting in front of me who had to hear all of this garbage for the entire game. You could see on his face how uncomfortable he was.

Long story short, he was disrespectful, unsportsmanlike, vulgar, and drunk. If he is like this at the Missouri game you can be sure you all will be alerted right away. I'm not about to let this fool ruin another game for our section. He was an embarrassment to Nebraska.

The reality is that I should have taken care of the drunk early on in the game. Like myself probably everyone around him was thinking someone else would do it. Instead we had to put up with his BS for the entire game. Well save about 5-10 minutes after half time. Everyone was hoping he had just left. It was a nice 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately he came back.

The thing is, every other game he's been sober, or at least not stupid drunk, and had his wife/girlfriend with him. Maybe she keeps him in check. Who knows. This time he had with him what looked to be his dad. His dad, while not as bad, certainly made no efforts to stop his embarrassing behavior either.

Well like I said in my email to the campus police. If he's like that again, he's gone. I'm not putting up with that again.

Bathroom Remodel - More Drywall

I still don't like doing drywall mudding but the results are looking good. There are a few small areas that I'm going to have to correct, but over all I'm pretty happy with the results.

We desided that we are going to add a knock down texture to the ceiling. We scraped all the terrible 'popcorn' off, but it being perfectly smooth is unlikely so a light texture just makes good sense. It'll hide the little issues.

We've also reconsidered doing wainscoting. We were considering it originally then decided not to do it. Now we are going to do it again. Of course that could change again before we are done.

I think we are about ready to get the backer board on the floor and get the Kerdi on the shower walls. That means tile shouldn't be too much further out.

Bathroom Remodel - Drywall and Ducting

Did some sanding and mudding on the dry wall this weekend. Dust dust dust every where. I hate drywall work. I really do.

I also got the duct work moved. That was a bigger pain than expected, but it works and it's good.