Edges Like Sea Glass

By Leah LaRocco

renovation

Adventures In Bathroom Tiling

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It has been a very busy week for the bathroom.  Rob has done such an incredible job getting all the tile down, so let me tell you what’s been going on.  After he pulled up the subfloor and laid down 1/4 inch Hardie backer as a new subfloor, he started the tiling process with the Snow White subway tiles I got from Home Depot.  They were very reasonably priced and came on a 12″x12″ sheet.

We realized shortly into the process that it would have helped immensely if white mortar had been used instead of gray, but it actually made me realize that I wanted to keep the detail and not use white grout. The second day we grouted and washed…what a process!!! I felt like Jill running up the hill to fetch her pail of water, over and over again.  But it came out so great!  There is a light gray grout in between the white tiles which gives them a subtle definition that looks lovely.

With the floor tile down, we were ready to move onto the tub surround!  I chose a tile called Vineyard Glass by Jeffrey Court, also available online from Home Depot.  I wanted to find glass tile that had blues and greens to create a beachy feel.  What resulted was something Mediterranean that really makes me think of home with the green wine bottles from the different local vineyards.

Here’s what we did.  It was important to tape plastic around the tub so none of the mortar or grout got stuck in the non-slip surface (thank you, Virginia, for that tip).  We used white mortar this time, and didn’t have to worry about cutting any of the tiles. Rob only had to cut one small strip off the end tile for the back wall and the two side walls worked out perfectly as well, thank goodness!

After all the tile was all up, we began the grouting process all over again.  This time using non-sanded grout which Rob compared to cake icing.  It went on very smoothly without the grit of the sand, which worked great for the small tiles.  These glass tiles were rather fragile and some chips were discovered after grouting.  I’m pretty convinced that sanded grout would have destroyed them.

You can see the difference the white grout makes.  I was worried the tile was going to be too dark once a shower curtain was put up, but the white grout lightened it up beautifully and really added some dimension.

Once we got the grout washed off (Jill running up the hill again), it was simply gorgeous.  I could not be happier with the result!

Memorial Day Weekend: Where We Remember Times When We Rented

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The common phrase I heard this past week was, “Welcome to being a homeowner.” Lots of things went wrong and took way longer than they were supposed to take, and I even had the pleasure of running into an ex because the week was just that awesome. But enough about me, let me tell you what is happening with the house.

I got my awesome new Whirlpool fridge from the VIP program that a friend had access to. We plugged it in and it worked for all of 3 minutes before the control panel went dead. The lights still work, the water dispenser thingy works, and yet the fridge does not cool off because the little digitally lit snowflakes melted in the heat. A technician is coming out on Tuesday.
I made an unpleasant discovery in the guest bedroom. It is never wise to leave me alone in a house with a crowbar. There were visible tape lines all around that room and we’ve been thinking we’d need to repair the drywall in there. Well, people, I have an announcement to make, it’s not drywall. It’s paneling…with a couple layers of wallpaper…that were painted over. Son of a biscuit!!! I immediately started tearing the room apart, and in the manner of Ty Pennington, I have made it my “special project.”

 Rob has been working so hard on the bathroom.  The Hardie board backer is going up for the tub surround.  This will provide moisture-proof backing for the glass tile.

I continued tearing the guest room to shreds with the righteous anger and incomprehension of how someone would wallpaper paneling and then PAINT over it!!!  Morons.  Thank goodness there is drywall underneath.  It’s in rough shape, but we can fix it up.  I can’t even describe the smell of that paneling without making you sick.  It smelled a bit like sewage.  As I was tearing everything down, the pile in the dining room grew larger and more overwhelmingly smelly.

Lacey got all dramatic with the explosive remodeling noises happening throughout the house, so she decided to find a quiet corner to chill.
The Hardie backer is up!!!!  How exciting!  Onto the floor!
I made another awesome discovery in the guest bedroom.  In the picture, it just looks like a white square on the wall, however, be not deceived by the innocent white square.  After whoever made this nightmare ran out of paneling on that side of the room, they smeared drywall mud all over the empty portion of wall to make it nice and even.  Needless to say, that part of the wall will need to be replaced. 
My new dining room rug was delivered on Friday.  I ordered it online from the Home Decorators Collection to match the Jacqueline Penney picture I am putting up in there.  After demo-ing the guest bedroom and filling Rob’s truck with the debris, I held my breath, rolled out the new rug, and did a little dance across it.  The color is EXACTLY what I wanted and so much prettier than the picture online.  I could not be more pleased and I think it will look so beautiful in the dining room.  A burst of color that just begs to be dived into!
 HH Gregg is where I purchased my stove, and while I was very pleased with the deal I got, I could not have had a more horrendous customer service experience.  I will never buy anything from that place again.  The salesperson was abrupt and unhelpful, the cashier had no clue what she was doing and took 15 minutes just figuring out the computer while looking like a brick had just hit her in the skull.  The manager was also less than helpful when asked what to do if the item were discovered to be damaged.  His words were to “just bring it on back” like it was an ill fitting pair of shoes or something, as opposed to a hundred pound item.  THEN, as if the attitude weren’t enough, we drove there to pick it up on Saturday (when they told me it would be available) and the delivery truck hadn’t arrived yet and they were not able to tell me when it would get there.  I was livid when we left the store because that one mishap cost us hours of time and frustration in our plans over the next 36 hours.  After much angst, a trip to the dump, and many murderous thoughts later, we got the stove.  However, the sales manager who helped us get it out of the store neglected to tell us we needed to buy a power cord, which would have been much more helpful than the Verizon phone pitch we got while signing the pickup form.  Unless you want to be treated like crap, don’t shop at HH Gregg.  This is not where these appliances will remain…they’re just there until the kitchen gets built…so ok, they’ll be there for a long time, but we won’t think about that right now.
Today, Rob worked wonders on the floor of the bathroom.  I seriously cannot say enough good things about the quality of work he is doing, I am so impressed.  The original sub floor was a nasty conglomeration of particle board and plywood that was water damaged, so he pulled all of that up to reveal the slats on top of the joists.  All of this after removing the original toilet, which was a nasty business, to be sure.
As you can see, some of the boards in this area needed a bit more support, so Rob went under the house and nailed a 2×6 to the parts with holes or shaky boards.
While he was doing all of that and cutting the 1/4″ Hardie board for the sub floor, I decided to tackle the bamboo in the backyard.  While bamboo is a lovely plant, it is very invasive and needs to be controlled.  There is a lovely stand in the corner of my yard that is obscuring two large viburnum bushes that were probably planted years before the bamboo forest began to encroach.  Here is a pic with the evening sun shining through.
My friend, Charlotte, just built a lake house and needs some bamboo for her shower wall.  I cut down quite a few pieces and cleaned the leaves off of them and piled them next to the shed.  Obviously, I will have to get a panda bear.
While I was cutting the trees, I noticed the most glorious beetle!  It was an iridescent red and blue that just shone in the fading light.  I tried to find a picture online and the closest thing I can find was a picture of the larva of the Blue Bug, which eventually grows a hard blue shell after the red disappears. 
I came inside to find the floor all finished and ready for tile!  It’s almost a bathroom again!!!  Rob added silicone around the toilet ring and the tub, so water leaking and damage will no longer be an issue.  What a job well done! 
 We are both exhausted, sore, and beat up.  There were a couple of times this past week when I indulged myself in a meltdown.  I whined pathetically while standing in the middle of my demolished guest room asking Rob, “Did I bite off more than I can chew?”  He answered sympathetically, “Maybe for the first two weeks.”

Birthday Weekend in the New House!

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I am typing this blog with terribly blistered hands that have bled and been scratched and have nasty dirt caked under the fingernails. My back hates me, as do my legs, shoulders, and arms. Advil, here I come! As soon as I made the offer on this house and started going through the process of making it mine, I have been praying that it will be filled with love at all times, and let me tell you, this weekend I totally felt the love. Not only did I get TONS of “welcome to your new home” cards and gifts, but people just kept stopping by. It was AWESOME! Friends and neighbors stopped in to say hello and see the progress. Random people walked off the street, and in spite of my NY self being initially weirded out, it was so nice to meet some of the neighborhood folks. Here is my kitchen counter of love, replete with champagne, wine, cards, and lovely flowers.

Saturday was my birthday, and when I got back to the house, Rob was already hard at work. He asked me to help him get some things out of the shed, and lo and behold, there sat my awesome birthday present!!!

I feel so loved and taken care of by my man. He was concerned I would liken this to being given a frying pan as a present, but I am so thrilled! It’s a Cub Cadet self propelled, badass, grass eating god of the lawn. I can start that thing on the first pull, I am woman, hear me and my lawnmower roar! As I was walking over to the gate to open it and start mowing, I saw a snake and did a funny little screaming dance across the lawn. I hate the slithery little nightmares, but I certainly did not want to kill one on my pretty lawnmower’s maiden voyage. Luckily it was smooth sailing once I got going. It took an hour and a half and the front lawn was like mowing carpet, it was so thick. I’m quite sure the novelty of this will wear off pretty quickly.

Meanwhile, inside, Rob was building out the wall where the tub is going to sit. The studs in there were shaky, so he had to secure them and bring the wall out to cover an oddly placed pipe.

After the lawn was finished, I decided to attack the flower bed lining the front walk. It was planted with ugly red begonia annuals that hadn’t grown a smidge since they were planted. I took off all the mulch, placed my containers to see where I wanted the plants to go and started digging. The soil here has a clay-like texture, so I’m hoping the plants can thrive in it since I didn’t really do any kind of preparation to the soil. Here is the before and after.

Plants include Stargazer lilies, dad’s very own hybridized daylilies of his own creation, fall Seedum, and Wormwood. I had all of these in pots and planters on my apartment porch, so I am thrilled they now have a home of their own. The gorgeous purple Clematis has been a resident for quite some time and can show them the ropes. Today in the heat, some of the plants were wilting, which really freaked me out, but I think they’re in shock, just like me, from all the transition.

That night we went to the Holland House in East Nashville for birthday dinner. I had a drink which was most appropriately named the Corpse Reviver. Needless to say, this little corpse felt very revived after a meal of spring hen and divine chocolate cake!

Ok, back to the bathroom…Rob took on the plumbing today (Sunday). The previous owners must have been midgets because the shower head was low enough that even I would have to duck to get under it. Rob raised up the plumbing and hooked everything together like a puzzle in preparation for a pretty brushed nickel Moen shower system. We also hauled the tub in there and he sprayed foam around the bottom of it, riveted it to the wall with brass screws, and caulked everything.

Now we’re ready to begin putting up the Hardie Board in preparation for the tile surround!!! Excitement all around! I did more yard work and sprayed 3 gallons of roundup along the fence, under the trees, and along the edges of the beds to prevent grass from growing there. I almost used up my whole bottle of concentrate. Crazy! Also started sawing, hacking, and pruning a lot of dead branches off the yard trees. Am totally wiped out, but so happy to be making progress toward getting the place how I want it.

I’m incredibly thankful for all of my friends who made my birthday so very special and who brought lots of love into my new home this weekend!!!

Week #1: Bathroom Demo!

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Hi there,

So, it is Wednesday of week #1 in the house. It is looking rough in there, let me tell you. There is a tub in my living room, metal shelving lying all over the dining room, and a British cat teapot peeking out from one of the kitchen cabinets.

The bathroom has been torn to bits, here is its previous state of being. It took all of 2 hours. As you can see from the pics, the vanity and medicine cabinet were simply hideous, and that shower…well, it looked like Whitney died in there. Sorry. Inappropriate.

As Rob tore everything out, I carted it out to his truck and filled it up to the brim.

We found a newspaper from 1970 in there. An 8 minute oil change cost $3.95 back then. We also found totally shoddy structure work and even more 60s wallpaper, along with black mold on the underside of the tub.

The closet pic here is the master bedroom closet. I am determined to make it a totally functional space and am trying to figure out the best way to do that. If you have ideas, let me know.

The little paneled room with the outside door is my mudroom/laundry room. After the bathroom is finished, the paneling will be torn down and replaced with white bead board and the drop ceiling will be taken down and replaced with drywall. I’m still deciding on what to do with the floor.

Tonight we tore out the vanity, which required us going under the house to loosen one of the pipes. While we were in the crawl space I found that the previous owners were collectors of those heavy blue glass things that used to go on telephone poles. They’re all dusty, but I’m going to clean them up and they’ll look lovely somewhere in the house. I also found two small old wooden boxes and some ancient old vice that would surely fetch at least $10 on the Antiques Road Show. Back to the vanity…we ended up having to cut the water supply off at the street, loosen some fittings, pull the vanity off, and reattach the fittings. I ended up screaming out the front door to Rob in the street because one of the fittings started spraying water. The neighbors probably think I’m insane.

There was also some lovely black mold under the toilet, so that part of the floor is going to be replaced and Rob said it was a good thing we’re pulling the toilet out now, or that might have had to be done later on.

All in all, a good night. Tomorrow we’re going to buy materials so Rob can build the wall out for the tub and shower. I am so excited! I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s done. And finally, my bed!!!!!! The Erin Cute As A Button bed from World Market. So fun to see it waiting for a mattress and a nap. I hope the cats don’t decide to tear it to bits once they get in there.

Well, that is my update. Much love, and more to come!!!