Noo Loo - parts 3 & 4

Dear B-Reader,

Let the games begin! Totally vibing Olympics right now...love it! A bathroom remodel is a total team sport...akin to gymnastics, Go, USA Women! I can totally see the gold/granite. :)

Public Relations and Sport Sensei Béla Károlyi played by Dad
Team USA Coach John Geddert played by Jeff
Team USA Coordinator Márta Károlyi played by Chalkaholic
Fierce Five played by Plumbers-Tile Masons-Stone Masons-Carpenters-Drywall Installers

12. A week ago, Sunday, in anticipation of drywall to begin the following day, Dad and Jeff added insulation to the existing exterior wall of the bathroom (wall with window). It has been cold, London-like balmy cold, in our bathrooms, and now we know why. The exterior walls had zero, I mean - stepping with no grace, spinning like a whirling dervish, and taking a falling hop  on the balance beam dismount - score of zero insulation. Not anymore! We are doing a routine with 16.5 degree of difficulty and scoring 16.5, yo!
13. Monday and Wednesday, drywall process began. We originally demo-ed only half of the existing drywall, hoping to preserve some of the original and simply mud over the top, refinish, and paint. However, the master drywall smiths let us know that as drywall ages, it becomes brittle, and the installation of new fixtures such as A/C vents, recessed lighting, etc., would break the old drywall and require replacement in the near future. Therefore, we opted to demo all of the existing drywall and install new, glorious drywall. The "tape and float" process smells like teenager sports socks. Gross
14. Friday, drywall completed. One small snag...they originally drywalled over the cool outlet for the hair tool caddy. Chalkaholic's documentary-style photography to the rescue...drywall installer used the photo as a map to the location of the outlet and simply cut it out of the drywall. Tile masons installed their version of water-resistant drywall, Perma-something, in the shower area and built up the shower bench. They Perma-something was "taped and floated" using a deathly-looking and -odoriferous red substance...reminded me of what blood would appear to be in a person exposed to toxic levels of radiation (I think my summer reading of The Hunger Games series is warping my imagination). All work completed just in time for the 2012 London-to-Houston Opening Ceremony Party at Chalkley Stadium.
15. Saturday and Sunday, clean, clean, clean, rest, rest, rest.
16. Monday, tile was laid on shower walls-ceiling-floor. Floor of the remainder of bathroom was mudded to prep for the tile to be laid the following day.
17. Tuesday, tile was laid on mudded floor. All tile was grouted a beautiful, khaki color. Granite was laid atop the shower threshold and the shower bench for a completed, hotel-quality look. Actually, saw this look in London's The Ruben's at the Palace boutique hotel this past spring.
18. Today, Wednesday, was quite an ordeal. HVAC is a topic for a whole, separate blog entry...let's just say that I have met with the inspector now three times and a different member of the installation team for a total of five times. I feel like we are trapped on the uneven bars without a spotter...but plenty of chalk dust surrounding us. Back to topic, cabinets were delivered and half-way installed (guess why...A/C...how did you know???). Granite stone mason came out to measure the vanity top so that the granite is sized perfectly to match the glorious, espresso vanity cabinet. Ah, so dreamy. Thanks to Dad and Jeff for being go-betweens and refocusing me to keep my eye on the prize.

And, your favorite part of the games, the pics of the events:

Insulation installation.

Drywall covering the whole between the two bathrooms (where the hall bathroom's original linen closet was taken over in order to enlarge the master bathroom shower).

 Drywall installation at exterior wall (where window was and where vanity will be).

 Drywall installation around shower (not IN shower, as drywall must remain dry).

 Perma-something installation and shower bench...welcome to my haunted house.

 Tile and granite on shower and bench.

Another view of shower tile and granite.

 Complete view of shower.

Vanity cabinet installation. The open space on the left is where the cool hair tool caddy will reside...being built as I type...



Cheerio,
Chalkaholic