Here we are, week 3, half way through the challenge! I'm not going to lie, that makes me a little nervous. We made a lot of progress this week and had an interesting set back. We accomplished most of our list but it still feels like we have a LONG way to go.
Let's look at where we were last Wednesday morning versus this morning.
Most of the work has fallen on my Dad who has been here everyday to mud, sand, repeat. We are so grateful for his help. Everyone is asking if he is a Contractor. He is not, he was an Investment Banker/Portfolio Manager. He's retired now and this is our 8 billionth project together. I owe pretty much all of my DIY skills to him, we've been teaming up since I was little.
We also trimmed in the transom window with sheet rock and a nice clean edging. (We still need to add the glass.) When that whole process is finished I will save it to my Instagram highlights.
The biggest change is the floors! We poured self-leveling concrete floors and then sealed them with a satin finish natural look sealer. I recorded the whole step by step process and saved it to my Instagram highlights so you can refer back to them anytime. We chose concrete for a few reasons- we love the natural element they add to the space, they are super easy to clean and we just prefer the velvety smooth finish to the feel of tile. There is some speculation as to whether concrete will crack when poured on a second floor subfloor. You should absolutely check with a contractor to see if it is possible in your space. The product we used is Akona Self-Leveling Floor Underlayment and is made specifically to bond with subfloor. We poured ours at a 1/2" thickness and we are pretty confident that the product will hold up. It was our number one floor choice so we decided to take a chance on it! In my opinion little cracks will just add to the patina, like a nice broken in leather. If it cracks bad enough that it starts chipping we can always lay tile over it in the future. Its a chance we are willing to take.
The floor is level and perfectly smooth but has so much movement. I created all of that movement using a hand trowel- you can see how I did it in my Instagram highlights. Here is a close up...
Now on to the other side of the room. I didn't bother to take a before photo because we hadn't made much progress yet. Yesterday I spent some time with our Plumber deciding where we wanted all of the plumbing for the shower trim. We had him place the shower head higher (6.6) to accommodate my husband who is 6.'3". We figured out the distance between the faucet to the handle (12"), the handle to the diverter (12"), and we placed the handheld shower according to where my youngest daughter could reach.
Here comes the set back- our Plumber accidentally put his knee through the front of our new tub while he was setting it. It was a mistake, something that has never happened to him before and he feels absolutely awful about it. It's not the quality of the tub either; in fact I have already ordered the same tub because we like it so much. It was truly just a random accident.
TIP~ If we had originally gone with a tub from Fergusons who my Plumber recommended (where we purchased all of our bathroom trim) our tub would have been replaced without charge by our Plumber. That is how his insurance works. Because we worked with someone off of his recommendation the replacement tub cost is our problem. If you are planning a bathroom remodel make sure you ask your Plumber about this! It never even occurred to me that our tub could be broken.
Our tub, vanity, vanity top and sinks are all sponsored by Signature Hardware who have been absolutely wonderful to work with. Remember this is tub number 2 because I ordered a tub with the wrong drain the first time around. Signature Hardware immediately returned the first tub and had a new one here pronto. They also saw my Instagram story about the broken tub yesterday and emailed me about their policy where they replace an item for 50% of the original purchase price if you damage it before install. If we were in a different situation I would have done that but being we were under a time constraint it wasn't an option. We need the tile done by this weekend to stay on schedule which means the tub needs to go in in the next few days.
The new tub comes this afternoon-luckily our local Fergusons found us the same tub. The plumber comes later today to set the tub so we are only a day or so off of schedule.
TIP~ This was a good lesson. If you are planning a remodel like this be prepared for some set backs. Have patience with your crew and yourself and make sure you have a little room in the budget for any problems that could arise.
Now for some good news...
My friend Becca at Jean Palmer Home came through with the perfect vintage rug for this space! Vintage rugs come in all different (usually odd) sizes so this was no easy feat. She was searching her own resources, online and local shops to find this beauty! It's going to be the perfect addition to the room. Now that we have the rug nailed down we can start picking out art and accessories. If you are looking for the perfect rug for your space DM Becca @jeanpalmerhome. She will find you what you need because she is the the very best!
Last weeks mood board versus this weeks mood board. What a difference the perfect rug makes!
This week is going to be a doozy!! I think it's going to be the week we make the most visible progress.
WEEK 3 TO DO LIST~
•last coat of mud on shower side
•lightly texture new ceiling drywall to match old ceiling drywall
•install glass in transom window
•plumber set tub
•build shower niche
•cement board shower/tub area
•waterproof cement board
•tile and grout
•seal vanity
•add vanity hardware
•prime & paint
•install lighting
•choose artwork & accessories
Hopefully the bad luck is behind us. See you next week-until then tune in to our Instagram stories to keep up to date with day to day progress. Check out Week 1 & Week 2 if you missed anything.
Check out what the other 19 designers have been up to this week...
Room for Tuesday | SG Style | Undecorated Home | Veronica Solomon | Media BH&G | TM by ORC
XO, Meg