So of course Liam woke up at 6am on Saturday with a case of the 24 hour flu - the kind that requires laundry, as well as dry toast and apple juice for a day. The day was off to a slow, if early, start, but all we had planned was plumbing in all the bathroom fixtures - a day should be enough shouldn't it? let's just say by Saturday night we had the tub plumbed in - and now that it's Monday morning, well, we have the tub plumbed in. I think it's that whole 'Don't Fuck It Up' rule that breeds procrastination when there is plumbing to be done. Of all the trades that we have tackled in this reno, plumbing is definately the scariest to take on.
Actually by Saturday night Steve had all the shut-offs installed, as well as the drain, supply lines, faucet and shower heads for the tub installed. In order to reach that point though, he needed to level the tub with shims and then cut all the VERY EXPENSIVE chromed tubing to fit our tub (or maybe it's the cost of our footed tub hardware that breeds procrastination). The biggest stumbling block was the drain since the height of the tub meant that there wasn't exactly enough room for the escutchion that covers the compression fitting on the floor. Hmmmm..... Steve was toying with the idea of grinding that down when I suggested we raise the whole tub - I mean we're shimming two feet anyways, why not shim them all? So Steve made cute little coasters out of old growth fir (the crazy hard stuff from the interior of the house) for all the feet and voila (as Liam says these days) we had a tub hooked up to a drain. Riding the crest of accomplishment, and finding that the rest of the tub plumbing was going quickly and smoothly, we started to fantasize about having a bath after the kids went to sleep. Two problems with this idea; One, Zoe had a two hour nap in the afternoon so she wasn't likely to go to bed anytime before 10:30pm, even though she was up with the rest of us at 6am. And, two, more importantly, it had been a long day already and, even though it was only 8:30pm, reflexes were slowing down. Once we had the plumbing essentially in we grabbed the hardware for the shower curtain ring and started holding up bits to get a feel for the finished product. Unfortunately, one of the chrome pipes slipped and went crashing onto the newly refinished surface of the tub. The surface we have protected so diligently over the past few weeks of contruction. The surface that we had only minutes before uncovered so that we could run water through the newly installed fixtures. The surface that we paid Big Bucks for... The Tub Doctor will be by on Thursday to fix the chip.
It actually took half of Sunday to get the shower ring installed. You see, we have a sloped ceiling now, and the hardware isn't exactly designed for our situation. And then the sink. Don't get me or Steve started on the sink. Let's just say I have to go buy a plumbers tool today so we can install the thing tonight.
So all our Friday night planning is pretty much out the window. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and we will have a bathroom by the end of the week - or before. But right now the priority is getting the hallway prepped for refinishing the floors - long story. This means I have a LOT of cleaning to do upstairs, Steve has a LOT of sanding to do, and the dust barriers are going back up! But after the weekend there will be little keeping us from moving back upstairs. Zoe might even get to sleep in her new bed for her birthday!
