The Sink Is Out of the Living Room

Ah yes, that renovation life. The things I have had to do over the years... sink in the living room, doing dishes in the bathtub, living out of one room, step stool as front step for about 3 years, and so on and so forth.

But I'm proud to announce that as of Wednesday night, the bathroom sink is out of the living room and in the bathroom!

So as you might imagine, we completed wall color painting on Monday and Tuesday night. It turned out fabulously!

And now here it is with the sink and vanity lights installed. Mike caulked around the sink and also around the shower, where he hadn't been able to put in drywall mud because of the low clearance.

Last night, Mike put on another layer of caulking, sink and shower. Then, he installed the fan trim and light switch plate. (Although that's temporary. We'll be getting a multi-function switch soon enough.) He also put up the shower enclosure, although did not fully install it. It's really starting to look like a bathroom now! And now that the sink and shower enclosure are out of the living room... that's really starting to look like a living room again.

Next up - sink plumbing, shower enclosure installation, mirror hanging, and trim work. Oh, and I have to find time to paint the door. It's absolutely disgusting.

Is that Peacock on Your Ceiling?

And the answer is - Yes. Yes it is. Two coats, as a matter of fact.

Mike brought home the paint as scheduled on Friday and put on one coat that night and a second one on Sunday morning. I'm looking forward to slappin on some wall color soon - the ceiling looks incredible!

Primed and Ready

We nearly had another moment last night. Yes, Mike purchased roller and brushes yesterday and brought them home as planned. The issue came when we opened up the primer and found it was all dried out!

Hating to wait yet another night, we added water to the can and stirred. And stirred. And stirred some more until it kinda sorta felt like paint again. Then, Mike put it through a paint strainer to remove lumps (he does auto body work too - worked in auto body for years and has all the gear) and we attempted to put it on the wall. Bad idea. It was just like water. Lumpy textured water, despite the straining. No good.

For a few minutes, we thought we were screwed... then located another can of primer in the basement. We opened it up nervously, but this one looked good! No water needed, just a little stirring. Phew! How frustrating would that be to have to wait another night and buy yet another primer?

Painting could finally commence! Mike manned the roller and I manned the brush, cutting in as he hit the walls and ceiling. The bathroom is looking like a real live room at long last!

Wall/Ceiling by the shower

Vanity and window wall

Today I sent Mike to work with my two paint swatches - ceiling in a color called Peacock tail, a beautiful and deep teal, and the light, nearly white wall color with a tinge of mint that I didn't note the name of. (I'm SO excited!)

You Can't Build A Brick House Without Bricks

Turns out, we are fresh out of rollers and brushes. No painting last night. Instead, Mike cleaned up the entire drywall mess - vacuumed the bathroom and the living room, and cleaned up all his tools from inside the bathroom.

We'll be ready to go for tonight!

Me Time

On Monday, Mike sanded the bathroom. On Tuesday, Mike sanded the bathroom again. And now it's time for me... to paint! Yes, I just said paint, or, technically, prime. Tonight I shall be priming! And I couldn't be more ecstatic.

Come to think of it, I hope I have at least one roller and a brush kicking around. I feel like it's been forever since I did any painting and I have no clue what we have in stock anymore.

I already have the colors picked out for Mike to pick up on Friday. A dark teal for the ceiling and a near-white (tinge of mint) for the walls. If I'm painting color by Saturday night, I will be one super psyched lady!

Mike will have to do some caulking around the top of the shower where they just couldn't squeeze any drywall compound in. It's that tight. After the paint is complete, the shower head can be installed along with the glass enclosure. (Which was of course, removed for drywalling.) A little baseboard trim to do, then the vanity can go in and the sink plumbing hooked up. Oh, and of course the lights, recessed trim, fan trim, and mirror can go up too.

Amazing how fast stuff can happen once a stubborn roof leak is fixed!

Meanwhile, before that...

I completely forgot about madness Sunday! Wow. Yes, last Sunday there was actually too much happening. Even for me! Our carpenter was over first thing in the morning to finish up the shingling up on the tippidy top of the house where Mike dared not go, ladder or no. Later on that morning, our chimney sweep (do we not have a friend for everything?) came by to clean our blocked chimney.

I don't think I've even mentioned that in the midst of all the craziness we've been going through, Mike awoke in the middle of one night a few weeks ago to a house filled with smoke! There was no chimney fire, thankfully, but it was definitely plugged up. And there was Mike in the middle of the night with a bunch of box fans, opening up all the windows and airing out the entire house.

It took weeks for the smell to dissipate. The basement still stinks.

So, enter the chimney sweep. After much cleaning, the chimney was clear again. While he was here, the guys checked the stove and tried to run it again. Our sweep confirmed - it does not run hot enough. And he couldn't give us any solutions on what to do. A few things to try perhaps, but we all pretty much agreed that the stove is too old and inefficient.

New wood stove. Add that to the shopping list. Luckily, there appear to be some tax credits available if we were to purchase a new, highly efficient wood stove. Not a bad idea. How much does it cost to fill an oil tank now-a-days? For the price of two fills, I bet we'd have the price of a new stove right there. But we'll have to shop around, see what's what. To the list it goes!

After those two guys finished up, it was yard cleanup time. Mike brought home the blower the night previous, and, after moving a buncha logs out of the back yard, blew the entire thing thoroughly. Looks great! No more sticks, less leaves, and no logs.

I took Zaida in the stroller with a bag (I had the bag, not her) and picked up all the trash I could find. (Being on a relatively busy road plus track pickup Tuesday, we get a fair share of garbage on the lawn.) After Mike was done out back, he and Mikey cleaned up all the construction/shingle debris from just outside the downstairs bathroom. I had no clue it had been such a mess over there! Glad that's taken care of, pre-bday party.

And thus concluded the busiest Sunday ever - I won't even mention the fact that I was pumping out 30 handmade bday invitations and that there was a salamander loose in the kitchen. Just that kindofa day.

Dry Room - Drywall

The shingling did the trick - the bathroom is living high and dry after at least two rain storms. (At long last.) Notice how we waited for a couple rainy days before we re-started the drywall? We were itching to do it, but knew better this time around. Thankfully, there was no need to worry after all.

So last weekend, Mike really set about finishing the job. He hung the remaining drywall, put in the over-the-shower light, and cut a hole for the sink drain plumbing. This week has been all about the taping and mudding. Mike roughed in all the seams and our neighbor will be over tonight for the next step, which is... I dunno. I'm not sure if we're at pea coat stage yet. You'd think I'd know the drill by now.

Before

After

Plus, with our son's 4th birthday just around the corner, we started cleaning up the outside. Mikey and I began over the weekend, picking up sticks around the yard and putting them in the wheel barrow. Last night, Mike brought home a chipper and took care of the big stuff. (No chipper availability over the weekend, those things are renting out like crazy right now!)

This weekend, Mike is hoping to get a blower to really clean things up out there. I put another bug in his bonnet today about ordering more blue stone for our side driveway. We got the stone for it last year... but didn't order quite enough to complete the job. We need just a big more to round the corner near the back garage addition.

And I think that will be more than enough to keep us busy inside and out for the next week or so...