REMODELING REDUX

I've been taking a lot of flak from my blog fans about lack of new material, blah, blah, blah. Since everyone is probably on the edge of their seats, waiting for news about THE remodel, I will fill you in....with the rest of the story. The new cabinets, the granite counter and the new tub were all installed by the end of the first week. The past three weeks have centered around the need to get the tile set (tub surround and floor) so that the plumber could return to install the hardware (shower, sink & toilet). I remind you that our deadline was May 30 due to the arrival of friends from NZ. There was the delay in the arrival of some of the tile, broken trucks, bad backs, short work days and long lunch breaks. However, the last of the tile was installed on the 29th, the plumber returned to install the fixtures...but... All went well until the installation of "The Toilet" began. Not any old toilet but a water saving, two-volume flushing, sleek and beautiful Toto Supreme. They are used all over Asia and New Zealand. The installation took three hours and the plumber said that if we installed another, there would be additional charges for time and aggravation. Toto...this isn't Kansas anymore and I will never hear Dorothy call her dog and have quite the same pictures dancing through my head. The installation was further extended by attempts to adjust the Toto in order to successfully flush one very small toilet paper section using the "#1 flush". Needless to say, there is a larger flush whose name shall I shall leave to your imagination. We had seen a demonstration of a similarly engineered toilet, flush 12 tennis balls and a small stuffed bear in less than a second. Ours was struggling with a much smaller challenge.
The morning of the 30th saw yours truly, installing the new shower doors until about noon. Drilling through tile (six holes) is not for the faint hearted or weak. Every muscle in my body came into play, leaning on the drill and trying to will the drill bit through the tiles. The last step was calking around the doors and then having to wait 24 hours to let it properly cure. So Sunday morning our guests could finally use the shower, the Toto seems to be functioning and behaving properly and all is well. Well, almost. In a week, we begin work on the other bath. A new adventure to look forward to, but as they say, "no pain, no gain". Films at eleven.

Remodeling

How do these things begin? How do they obtain a life of their own? It usually starts with just some new paint...or a new floor. The new floor is then leads one to look more closely at the adjoining tub. Maybe we should find out what it would cost for a new tub...and maybe a new tub enclosure. Well, since we're going to have a new tub then we certainly need new shower doors and rather than plastic shower enclosure, wouldn't tile look better?...something to compliment the new floor? And since we're ripping up the floor, it's a good time to replace and upgrade the toilet to match the tub. Wait!!! If we are replacing the floor, the tub, the tub surround and the toilet, can we possibly leave the counter and sink in its old and ugly state? Noooooooo ! So now we have moved on to a granite counter..beeeaauuutuiful...with an appropriately new sink and faucet...priced a "moderately" price faucet lately? Ok...where were we? We've replaced almost everything in the bathroom and placed a beautiful new granite counter top on a 20 year old cabinet. Oh the inhumanity!! How can we possibly been so thoughtless? We can't leave that cheap and well worn cabinet to sully the brand spanking and new everything else? Let's review. We've replaced everything in the the guest bath. And it feels so good and looks so good. We've upgraded. Guests can use the bathroom once again without signing a waiver of liability. Now the difficult and challenging part...we have to move beyond the "plan" and begin and acutally begin the remodel. (Donations are gladly received but are not tax deductable). Oh yes, it's May 2 and we have guests coming from New Zealand on May 29th....can anyone recommend a good Port-a-Potty rental service?