Getting it done!

We've been busy the last couple of weeks. Let's see...

Doug took the sagging, unclosing (is that a word???) shed door off and replaced the hings and latch. It works SO much better now! 

He also removed a couple of fair-sized branches from the maple tree in front so we can fly the flag on our wonderful flagpole. If you look closely, you'll see that he used the pull saw he made for a youth conference years ago. It's really sharp! I'll have to add a picture of the flag flying.

The plumber installed the sink, toilet, and shower kit for us. In the photo below it seems like they are super-crowded next to each other but in real life, they're not so bad.

Joe kindly came and filled in the gaps in the drywall they had cut to install the shower. 

He came back three times to spread his "mud" on it to smooth out the connecting edges.

In the meantime, Doug and I worked on the little door for the water shut-off valve access. Check that off the list!

  

We had the glass company stop by last week to look at the shower stall and give us a quote for glass door for it. Still waiting for the quote. While they were here, Doug asked him to look at our front and back doors and requested a quote for replacing those as well. After the guy left, Doug decided we might as well go ahead and remove the old beat-up screen doors and get rid of them while the City of Orem still had their clean-up bins available at the park this week. 

Now you see it, and now you don't. I will NOT miss the slamming back door every time we go in or out. It had an old-school spring on it that reminded me of slamming screen doors from my childhood and it's time to move on to the year 2020. 

 

Then it was time to finish tiling the bathroom floor. Here you can see the stick-on tiles all in place except the exciting final one.

And voila, the finished product after putting the grout in-between the tiles.

Now comes the cool part: ME using Nate's big miter saw! I cut the bathroom's inside door trim with a handsaw and miter box and decided that was just foolishness when we had this other one on the premises. Of course I knew nothing about how to run it, so watched a couple of YouTube videos and Doug showed me everything he knew about it. This thing is amazing and just what I needed!

I used it to cut the 2 1/2" trim pieces that you see Doug glued around the outside of the shower kit as well as the baseboards that I'll nail gun into place once the shower trim is really done. It still needs sanding (arrgghhh - that job will NEVER end!), painting (that one EITHER!), and caulking. 

At this point, I'm getting very excited to see that finishing up that last room is actually going to become a reality! Which doesn't mean we're done as we still have a pretty long list, but if I can just be done with sanding and painting for a while, I'll be delighted!

Shelter-in-place and work

Last Friday we laid half of the tile floor. First photo below is just tile with spacers still in place. I debated about how to handle the edge piece because the plywood was about 1/2" short of the wood under the carpet. I was concerned about the sloppy water that goes with the grouting process getting on the carpet if I grouted that edge. So I decided to shove the tiles tight against the wood under the carpet thus leaving only the seams to grout.

I started measuring from the center of the room, as you're supposed to do, and looks like it will be just right to clear the toilet base and still leave plenty of margin for them to install the shower. I think I made the right choice on the carpet edge as it looks great and there was minimal sponging to remove grout water from the carpet.

Doug won the victory over the bush roots as well, thanks to an arsenal of tools and a lot of elbow grease. Now we start to think about what to do with that space as well as the planter boxes and other areas in the front yard.

No April Fools around here!

We had some plumbing progress this last week. They came and cut a hole in my office wall and extended the house shut-off valve to there. Now if we need to turn off the water for ANY reason, we won't have to got down into the crawl space and across the multitude of rocks to the far end of the house Yay!

Doug ordered a little door for it online and we'll close it up. The plumber was surprised when he sawed into the wall and found that the 2x4s had been installed sideways as that meant there was no way for the pieces to fit totally inside the wall. We'll have to figure that one out when the door comes. He also discovered that our water pressure was super-high and added a pressure regulator to the unit, which will also be a great addition.

The plumber cut out the drywall in the back bathroom to accommodate the shower kit that will attach directly to the studs (as with our bathtub). 

They also cut out the drywall where the sink and toilet will be plumbed in. Oops, I did a bunch of unneeded patching and sanding of the areas that were sawed out. Oh well, I guess I just love to maximize the plaster dust in the house.

You may have noticed the patch near the back corner that Doug made. It's covering part of the original toilet hole where the wood was rotting. It wasn't as bad as the other bathroom was, but still needed a little help. The new hole you see here will be the shower drain. 

Bless his soul, Joe kindly came over last Saturday to cut the plywood floor and drywall pipe holes for us. 

 A perfect fit. Such a fine young fellow! 

He added a strip along the edge of the floor to complete that and then fit the drywall with holes. 

On Monday I patched the seams with drywall tape and plaster. 

I finished the sanding/patching/sanding process and painted with primer. As with the other bathroom, I painted the whole room, including the ceiling, first with primer, then with two coats of the semi-gloss Seriously Sand color. 

I shined up the mirror and put the little light fixture back up. That's the only light fixture that remains from the original house. We think it's kind of cute and seems to give off sufficient light. 

That done, I cleaned up the floor and then filled in the screw holes and seams with leveling compound. We'll let it dry overnight and tomorrow: Let the wild rumpus start as we work on TILING THE FLOOR. Once done, that can sit undisturbed until the plumber returns on the 14th to install the fixtures. 

While I worked on the bathroom, Doug was outside trimming down the bush in the north corner in preparation for removing the roots as well. Neither of us cared for the appearance of the bush and didn't know what it was - seemed like a weed - so it's out of here. He also removed a stump from the south end of the backyard.

And now, for the best news of all: The flag is up! Doug sawed off a limb so it could fly free and we're good to go. We may have to trim some more once the leaves appear, but that's ok. Add one more item to Doug's daily routine of good things to do.