July 31, 2007: T Minus Zero -- Are We Done?!

Well we leave tomorrow to drive up to the North end of the New Jersy Turnpike to pick up the cousins.

Are we done? Well, there are always some things left to do. We used a pressure-fit shower curtain rod because we still are not sure if we want to go the glass door route or the bowed-out shower curtain route.

I still need to finish hooking up the exhaust vent piping out to the eve. Right now it is just dumping all that moist air right into the attic -- very bad.

We have not sealed the tile yet, and we're still not sure if we like the final color it morphed to. Maybe we will stain it prior to sealing? So in the shower area, we have hung up some thin plastic drop cloths to keep the water off the grout.

We still need to clean grout of out the nooks and crannies on the tile. The back of the door needs to be painted and to have two more towel racks installed.

There is some paint touching up to be done, and we need to repaint the hall entrance where we moved the door over 4.5 ". We need to frame out the new access hole that is in the master bedroom, along with fixing the various cracks, nail pops, and so forth that occured when removing the old tile walls.

And of course, now that the tube leak has been fixed (by removing the old tub and all the old drain) -- we should probably fix the ceiling in the dining room.

I don't know if the official towel color has been chosen yet. I think we are down to two: "vanilla" or "chocolate."

So I guess we are not really done with this project... Should we start Phase II, the master bath before we finish all the items? That will probably start in September, or maybe November.

Or maybe later this winter?

July 29, 2007: Last Chance

The cousins and the camp cook arrive this Wednesday!

Installation of the main lighting fixture, switchplates, wall plates. Took at trip over to The Great Indoors to find just the right knobs for the medicine cabinet and the vanity drawers.


The safety bar (also known as a grab bar) turned out to be quite a challenge. Drilling through the tile took a long time. Well actually the first hole went quickly, but that must have dulled the the special glass/tile bit I had purchased for this occasion because the remaining holes took forever.


Installation required the drilling of six holes through the tile. The bits are about $5.00 each. The 5/8" worked OK, but it turns out I did not need such a big hole, so I got the smaller 1/4", but the head broke off this bit on the second hole. Since we use a "wet saw" to cut the tile, I assumed that misting the bit during driller would keep it cool, but I don't know. Will take it back to Home Depot and see what they say.

July 29, 2007: Install the Vanity & Sink

Installing the vanity and the sink, at last. Of course we needed to check the colors with the muse.

July 28, 2007: Painting Walls & Ceiling

Cousin Camp -- T minus 4 days.

I brought in a cute little painter. We are experimenting with different bulbs -- even some of those nice, low power, high efficiency flourescent units. We are amazed at the effect it has on the tile color.

July 21, 2007: Custom Fabrication Required

I don't know how these things happen. You measure, you measure, you think about it, you make drawings, sketches, you measure again...

There is only one explanation: IDIOT!


I had taken into account the thickness of the Durock and the tile, but somehow I missed taking into account the depth (height) of the shower valve cover and how far it holds the handle out from the wall.

Crisis averted with some custom fabrication to extend the two key pieces and with the use of some longer screws.

July 19, 2007: Plumbing Day

Turn off the water, install the valves. Again, that flame guard material described earlier worked wonders protecting the tile from the torch when sweating up against the tile.




Installed the "pressure flush" toilet tank. No colllege student coming home on summer or spring/fall break will be able to clog this puppy!

July 18: Toilet Base Install

Countdown to Cousin Camp -- T minus 13 days! And Bruce is going to be in Aurora, CO, working all next week.

We got the toilet base installed. Pat was removing all the protective material we had on the tub. The pressure is on!

Semple Family Humor

There is a little funny thing that happens in the Semple house whenever we are building things. Let's take shelves, for example: As soon as I get the first one in place, even if I have five more shelves to install, I no sooner turn around to put in the second shelf when I find that My Assistant has already loaded up the first shelf!

So I'd just finished installing the medicine cabinet FOR THE THIRD TIME -- I bend over to pick up another screw to hold it in place and suddenly, My Assistant had inserted the three shelves and already had stocked them with shampoo, razors, and Q-tips. Incredible!


Well, I guess you had to be there ....

Negative Project Progress #2: Relocating the Medicine Cabinet

So we mounted the medicine cabinet, cut the ogee tile, finished the wallboard -- it looked great, except it was too low.

The mirror is actually about three inches lower than the mounting edge because of the wood boarder around the mirror. That, combined with what appears to be a measuring error, meant that we had to shift it up about five inches. Take it out, recut the hole, fix the wallboard, spackle, sand, paint ...

We are not going in the right direction. Between the extra work involved with the grout, and now this, the workers are getting discouraged and the homeowner is getting impatient. (Wait until she gets the bill for this extra re-work!)

We are cutting into our buffer. I am a little concerned about completing the project on time.

Grouting: Are We Having Fun Yet?

This Week's Hint: Select a tile pattern that does not have any nooks and crannies.

The concept behind grouting is to use the float to force the grout into the seams and then you use the edge of the float to essentially squeegee off the excess from the surface of the tile. This only works if the finished tile surface is relatively flat. If, however, the tile face is uneven, and has ridges and divots as part of the pattern, the grout will get caught and will not be removed by the float. And if you try to wipe the excess grout off of the tiles, you will invitably disturb the grout as it is setting up in the seams.

Usually grouting a tile job is a rewarding experience. This one has not been fun!!!

We Get By With A Little Help From Our Friends

This week's tip: Surround yourselves with the best set of friends you can find.

About a month ago, Bruce and I decided that the thing that would give us the most pleasure by way of a shared birthday celebration would be to round up our pals and head out to Wolf Trap Farm Park for an alfresco dinner and an evening of entertainment. They, in turn, surprised us with a generous gift certificate to Home Depot, "where REAL men shop for REAL things, like TOOLS!" (B. Semple, 1989-present).

Rather than fritter it away on brushed-nickel grab bars for the bathtub or surface sealer for the tiles, we used every penny of it to purchase our third toy--er, tool--for this project, the Dremel 400 Series XPR Rotary Tool With 4 Attachments & 70 Accessories, Model 400-4/70H. It's a beauty! While we can foresee many uses for it, our immediate plan is to use it to help us remove some of the grout that has become lodged in the textured surface of the tile. It comes with scores of attachments ranging from felt wheels to wire brushes to tiny carbide tips that will allow us to, with great precision, remove some of the grout without damaging the tiles.

A big THANK YOU to our pals, and a heartfelt moment to reflect on the great blessing of fellowship.

The Last Tile

Bruce put the last piece of tile in tonight--hooray! Hopefully we can grout the bathroom on Tuesday evening after all the mastic has cured.

He put the ogee pieces in today while I was downtown at the 2007 Annual American Library Association Conference. It's a venerable conference that always draws some big names. This year we will be hearing from young adult author Judy Blume; Senator Bill Bradley; the bard of Lake Woebegone, Garrison Keillor; and the woman who brought the hills alive with the sound of music, Julie Andrews.

Back to the tiling -- I hope you can see the nice ogee pieces, which give the wall some depth. We ordered too many of them but will use them up when we tackle the master bathroom.

Just the Bullnose & Ogee Pieces Left To Go!

We are in the home stretch of the tiling phase of the project. We completed the bottom row all around the room, which required about 47 individual cuts. The designer hand-selected each tile color so that the pattern would follow the master plan.

I hope you can see in the picture the nice mosaic effect the designer created on the back wall of the shower with the 2.5" pieces. The homeowner was pleased with the final result.



So now we just have to do the bullnose pieces around the shower (two vertical runs) and the ogee pieces that top off the wall tile.

The clock is ticking ... Cousin Camp is fast approaching!

Piece by Piece

We are progressing -- but not as fast as anticipated. Sometimes whole weekends go by and we do not make any progress for one reason or another, and so at 9:30 on a Sunday night we start up again and work until 1:00 in the morning. What finally stops us is the concern that we will wake the neighbors with the sound of the tile saw running in the garage, so we go as far as we can without having to cut any pieces.

Today's tip: Use a laser level. In the old days we used to snap a chalk line on the surface, but it would inevitably get covered up by the thinset or start to smear. The laser, however, throws a nice crisp line on top of the surface even when the tile is there so you can go back and tweak pieces that might have shifted a bit as your work progressed. The laser line was not showing up well in the photo with the lights on, so the second shot is the laser with the lights off. Now you can't miss it!

Tiling the Walls

This is the best part of a project cycle -- installing the new stuff and seeing it all start to come together. At long last!


As you can tell from Bruce's come-hither look, it's his favorite part, too.

Wiring, Primer, Dry Fit Tile Floor, and Another Interruption

Whew! What a busy weekend! In spite of Ben's second attempt to waylay us with some sort of physical ailment -- this time is was an abscessed wisdom tooth -- we managed to get a whole lot done (see posting about Ben's mono on Saturday, May 5).

First, Bruce finished up wiring the three room switches as well as the two sets of outlets by the medicine cabinet. He did this between monitoring the satellites and trying to troubleshoot some problem he was having with his ground station something-or-other.

Second, he finished up with spackling and sanding and spackling and sanding the walls, which allowed me to make my second contribution to this project: putting up two coats of primer over the drywall. My first contribution was picking everything out over the three arduous weeks at EXPO, but that really didn't feel like work. Anyway, just two coats on the ceiling and the top half of the walls took 2/3 to 3/4 of the can. I'm pleased to report that it only revealed one place that need additional work; if this gig with IBM ever stops being fun at least he'll have the marketable skill of drywall installation.

Finally, we spent most of Memorial Day laying out the floor tiles. That was important, as they are all different and I wanted to make sure that we could place them in a seemingly random pattern -- no blue next to blue or green next to green. This part of the project allowed us to use two of our new tools, a wet tile saw and an infrared leveler. We were hoping to set the floor in the mastic today, but what with having to mash up Ben's food and monitor his meds we ran out of time. Note that the picture does not do the colors justice -- there are some beautiful blues and greens that came out looking very grey and blah in the picture.




And you know how people who renovate old houses will open up a wall and find some bit of memorabilia or a note? Well, we left one for the next owner in the cavity for the medicine chest.

Wall Installation Underway

Now that the tub is in, the installation of the Durock can proceed. It was time consuming shimming the Durock over the lip of the tub that mounts against the framing. We have calculated the transition point where the tile will end and the wall paint starts.

Next step: I need to install some extensions on the existing toilet and sink water feeds before the next pieces of Durock go up.

Hopefully we can complete this phase in a timely manner. The customer is making noises about a skylight. Inclusion of such an effort in the project now will extend the date significantly even though the customer has a hard deadline the end of July --- something about a cousin camp?

Scope Creep

scope creep: additional work that attaches itself to your project and that will keep you from hitting your time, cost, or quality goals.

I learned this expression in a recent class I took on project management. But are we all about project management, or some arbitrary schedule or budget? Or are we all about quality of the finished project, the quality of the hall bath that will be gracing our home? Think of savings we will realize as we harness the energy of the sun to illuminate and warm the room, thus cutting down on the wear-and-tear caused by excessive humidity. Think of the savings we will realize as we use God-given fresh air to ventilate the room, thus cutting down on olfactory assaults caused by you-know-whating. Imagine, the one windowless room in our house, something that has bothered me since the day we moved in, suddenly awash in sunlight and warm breezes . . .

A naysayer might argue that installing a skylight will add four weeks to the project. To that naysayer I say, Nay! To that naysayer I say, Are you a man, or are you a mouse?! To that naysayer I say, You are married to Pat Semple and not some other lesser being of the female species!

For specs on this particular model, the VELUX 23-5/16 In. x 23-1/2 In. Umber Gray Venting Self Flashed Skylight (Model QVM 150 0075), here's the description from Home Depot's Web site: This comes with tempered, low-E2, argon gas filled, comfort glass. This skylight includes a factory-installed flashing system which is designed for shingle roofs only. ENERGY STAR labeled, this venting skylight contributes to a home's proper moisture balance and comfort level by allowing stale, humid air to be released while helping to draw in fresh, cool air which makes it perfect for rooms like kitchens, bathrooms, and laundries. In out of reach applications, a VELUX telescoping control rod, Type ZCT 300 is available. A smooth-turning crank handle, Type ZZZ 169, is available when installed within reach. It comes with a select wood frame and sash constructed with robust mortise & tenon joints, a stainless steel operator, pre-installed mounting brackets, an insect screen, a gasket system to drain any interior condensation to the outside, a drywall return for a quick and clean interior finish, and protective maintenance free aluminum cladding.

Nice New Shower Valve

Since we had to move every thing over about 12 inches, I replaced the shower valve as well and installed some nice new cutoffs.

And here's a tip -- I saw this "flame guard" at the plumbing store -- it is worth the $10 bucks. It appears to be some heavy foil with some cotton-like material attached to it. It works great -- you can see where I used it and where I did not (I burned the wood a little). The material is amazing -- the side that faces the torch flame is the cotton-like side.

The Tub Is In!!!

The tub is in, and the drain lines up -- thanks to a dry fit exercise we went through.

We did end up doing *both* option #1 and #2: Option #1 was to let the tub settle into a 2" bed (coverd with plastic) of mortar mix -- we used about 50 lbs of an 80-lb. pound bag. Option #2 was to put contruction adhesive on the five footers that support the bottom of the tub.

We did use the slide / rail technique -- we set up two rails over where the tub's footers would go and slid the tub on these rails until it was in position and then pulled the rails out. The mortar gives the tub a nice solid feel when you stand in it, and, as an extra benefit, I am hoping it will help mute the sound of the water hitting it, avoiding the drum effect.

Per a suggestion in one of the books we have been looking at, we hung some plastic on the studs behind the cement board in the shower area. Also of note is the extra mounting area between the studs for one end of a grab bar.

Our next big push is to finish all the walls and get a coat of primer on it prior to tackling the tile.