From Hovel to Home

I normally do before and after photos when I finish a room.  But the master bathroom was never a bathroom before.  It was just space that we stole from the end of the bedroom.  So really the best I can do is offer you this as a before picture. Drumroll please... View from the master bedroom Shower Instead of a whirlpool I installed an extra-deep tub. Vanity -  Since Luke is a foot taller than I am I chose a pivoting mirror so it would work for either of us. Tile floor Floor thermostat  This makes three bathrooms I've built in the last year.  It also means I am done with bathrooms, at least until we buy another house.  I would love to take a week off from the house and get rested but there's just no time.  I finished the bathroom last night, this afternoon I'm starting the laundry room; that's all the break I get.

I'm not on vacation any more and I've had the flu so progress on the bathroom has slowed.  On Saturday I spent four hours cleaning the shower tile and prepping for grout.  The mosaic tile looks great, but it has a lot of joints to be cleaned before grouting.  After what seemed like an eternity of cleaning I finally grouted the shower.    I love how the white grout ties the blocky tiles together and really defines the edges of the mosaic tile. I lost several days to the flu but by Thursday I was recovered enough to run the wire to the tile heater.  And on Friday night I tiled the floor. I am hoping to finish the bathroom over the weekend.  If all goes as planned I will be able to post finished pictures next week.  In the mean time, here's how to efficiently store cats using old tile boxes.

In order to keep bathroom progress from stalling I arranged to have six days off over the holiday.  It was wonderfully relaxing and made a huge difference in how the bathroom looks.  First I conscripted Luke to help me install the new bathtub.  Since his alternative was to work on his thesis it was not hard to get him to work for me for a few hours.  We managed to get the tub into the room and turned the proper direction without incident.  In order to keep the bottom of the tub rock solid I poured a bed of mortar that we set it into.  Just a tip for installation - put plastic on the floor before pouring the mortar.  The people that replace the tub in sixty years will thank you. After the tub was in place I put up the rest of the vapor barrier and hung the drywall.  I purchased the mold-resistant drywall from a different source and was glad to see it was lavender instead of smurf blue.  I'm also getting pretty good at hanging drywall by ...