Malleation Monday

malleation ~ hammering; a hammer-mark or dent

I think I’m going to have to create a page dedicated to the bathroom renovation, like I did to the book nook. Although I think out of necessity the work will be going much quicker on the bathroom than it did on the nook. At least I hope that’s the case. ;-)

When last I wrote, the hubby had started removing the bathroom tiles, carefully in case we wanted to reuse them. Notice the use of the past tense. To be perfectly honest, the original tile did not go with the colours of the porcelain fixtures, and painting it would have been more trouble than it was worth. So after a long search, we found the perfect tile online ... or so we thought.

The tile we saw on the Home Depot website was a blue/grey with rust coloured swirls through it. It looked nicer than it sounds. Having a son-in-law that works at Home Depot comes in handy at times. We had him check to see if they had enough of the tile in stock - they only had eight boxes instead of the nine we needed, but it would be no problem ordering in more. Then he mentioned there was another tile - same brand but a little more brown in it.

I am so glad curiosity got the better of us and we went to have a look! The original tile we’d picked out was nothing like the colours online - the blue online was gunmetal grey in person and the rust was brown. So disappointing! And to make matters worse, there was no consistency to the colours. A few of the tiles were the swirled pattern, most were a solid gunmetal with just a hint of other colour.

The tiles the son-in-law mentioned were better, but still not great. However, on the way out of that aisle I noticed a completely different tile - it still had some greys in it, but more browns and beiges, and the tiles were more consistent in appearance. And it was cheaper. We now have a stack of it in the music room at home.

Next up was the toilet. Hubby tried to order it online, but the website told him he could only buy it in-store - the problem being it appeared every store in the province had them except ours. So he printed off the specifications and gave them to the son-in-law to see if/when they’d be getting more in.

Turns out they did have one after all, only it wasn’t showing up in their inventory so they weren’t sure how to sell us something that didn’t exist. In the end, they gave it to us for half price. Score!

This weekend it was sinks and taps. Who knew it could be such a hard decision? Since this isn’t our primary bathroom, we decided on a vessel sink, which is one of the sinks that sits on top of a stand or counter. The one we both liked was a glass sink that’s kind of amber and brown from Home Depot.

A vessel sink also meant a stand to put it on. So darn! I had to go looking in some of my favourite thrift stores to see if I could find anything suitable. I didn’t find a suitable table, but one of the stores was having a dollar sale on clothing so I didn’t come home empty handed. ;-)

The hubby and I discussed it while sitting out on the deck, and being the handy sort of guy he is, he’s going to build a stand. Of course we’ll have to get the sink first, so he knows how big the stand needs to be, but the stand should be easy enough. But it’ll have to wait until he finishes the toy box (that looks like a treasure chest) that he’s building the grandbaby.

Next on the renovation list was a set of taps for the sink. Once again, not as easy a task as it sounds. There are a lot of taps to choose from. On a whim I checked the Lowe’s website and found a very reasonably priced set in a dark bronze colour. Only one problem. Our town doesn’t have a Lowe’s.

However, I just happened to have plans to go Toronto with a friend on Sunday, and we were going to have to pass several Lowe’s stores on the way. And in fact, there was a Lowe’s in the mall where she stopped for Starbucks. Looks like we’re all set for the bathroom.

In the words of Hannibal Smith, I love it when a plan comes together!

Moonraker Monday

moonraker ~ topmost sail of a ship, above the skyscraper

For those of you who are living under a rock, or just aren’t into music, the weekend was a sad day, here in Canada. It marked the final concert of the iconic band The Tragically Hip.

Last December, lead singer Gord Downie was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer and given one year to live. Rather than spend what little time he has left feeling sorry for himself, he and the band decided to do what they do best - play music. They embarked on one last tour, starting out on the west coast and ended up where they started, in Kingston.

Everybody has a Tragically Hip story to tell. My husband’s band played in the same venue as they did (different rooms) when they were first starting out. Gord shopped in the same grocery store as my daughter, when she was living in Kingston attending Queens University. The PlanetD best explains what the concert means HERE

The insane heat we’ve been experiencing has finally let up. In fact, as I sit here typing I don’t even have the air conditioner on. It’s a wonderful feeling - and so quiet too. You don’t realize the sounds you’re missing when the a/c is running, like the coyotes catching their dinner. ;-)

Have you ever been in a situation where someone’s generosity actually costs you instead? Sit back and I’ll tell you a story.

Once upon a time my in-laws got one of those spa tubs - a regular sized tub only with jets in it. The thing I always liked about it was the depth of it. I used to love taking a nice, long, leisurely bath, complete with bubbles and a book. Maybe even a glass of wine. However, our upstairs tub is so shallow it’s hardly worth your while, and the main floor bathroom tub has a serious problem with the enamel.

I was a little late with starting to take pictures, and this one is after hubby started to remove the tile from the walls around the tub.

The spa tub was still pretty new when my mother-in-law hurt her foot, making it impossible for her to step into a tub. They replaced the tub with one of those walk in types, and offered us the spa tub. It seemed like a good idea at the time, however ...

It was not so simple a matter as removing one tub and replacing it with another. The whole bathroom is in pretty bad shape. The tiles were falling off the walls into the tub and the plumbing needs work. In other words, the whole thing needed to be renovated.

This shows you how tiny the bathroom is to begin with:

If you’re wondering about the pink paper in the sink, it says: Please do not turn on taps, the pipes are not attached. Well, you can turn them on and get water, but there’s no pipe to drain it away so you’ll end up with wet feet.

The only problem with the tub was the colour. It’s an off white/almond shade, almost impossible to match for the toilet and sink. Hubby managed to find a toilet that colour, but no sink. So we’re getting rid of the cabinet and going with a pedestal sink in a complimentary colour instead.

The next problem was the tile around the tub and halfway up the walls in the rest of the room. It was white with a line of a medium shade of brown running through it. It goes perfectly with the white porcelain, not so much with an off white. Here’s a picture where you can better see what the current tile looks like.

So a goodly amount of time this weekend was spent looking at bathroom tile. Home Despot Depot had a very poor selection, and we started talking about painting over the existing tile. It’s a little pricy, but so is buying all new tile. But when we got home I checked online and we found the perfect tile - and it’s almost within our budget.

The hubby’s on holidays next week and at the top of his to-do list is the bathroom. He’s hired a plumber to replace some pipe and hook-up the new (to us) tub, but the rest he’s hoping to be able to do himself.

Let’s recap - we need new tile, new flooring, new sink, new toilet, -- all for the sake of a free tub.

Now we just need weather cool enough to make me want to use it. LOL