My BFF-Cynthia, needed a new bathroom and she had a week of vacation with which to reinvent her commode.
After volunteering to help her far in advance, I then learned that one side of my family would be leaving town just as another would be coming in at this same time. Simultaneously, I contracted bronchitis from an unnamed source.
I didn’t get to help as much as I would have liked to. But, at least I was able to help a bit. We painted, installed hexagon tile-with the help of Biceps and removed excess grout together.
Cynthia hired a plumber install the toilet and a new vanity-I wasn’t about to try and tackle plumbing after my debacle with one of my rent houses. I flooded the second story with my awesome plumbing skillz.
This is what her bathroom looked like before it was torn apart and renewed. Fine, but a bit boring.
My sweet brother, Pat, donated his time and removed the old toilet and vanity.
I removed and numbered all of the baseboards and light switch plates. We taped off the tiling and any other surface that needed to be protected with painter’s tape.
We knew we would get messy. Mostly on purpose.
Cynthia chose a beautiful limey green color for the walls, with accents of grays and whites. I tackled the cutting in and she had fun rolling the walls. And my pants.
Next, there were some floor leveling issues that needed to be addressed where a few loose tiles had been removed. So, I addressed them and asked, “Why aren’t you level, you stupid floor?”.
There was no response.
I grabbed my drill, a bag of dry mastic and got to work. Leveling a floor is a lot like icing a cake-except with dusty mastic, a drill, stinky clothes and severely dry hands afterwards.
We then paused for a moment and had some refreshments. This is what I live for when remodeling…
After our refreshments, we got back to work and scuffed up the linoleum floor with a sanding block, which helps the mastic stick to the flooring, holding the tile in place.
About halfway through the process of laying the tile, a frantic call was made to Biceps-who came right over.
That’s a good man.
We had little spare tile to work with, the mastic was drying too quickly, the tile saw blade was dulling, the angles needing to be cut were giving me a mathematical headache and…I was getting grouchy.
Pictured here is all that was leftover of the tile. Talk about cutting it close-literally. Hah.
After the tile was laid; my backs, knees and fingers breathed a sigh of relief.
We were a little delirious by the end of the night, as can be seen here. Nothing like photographing stinky remodelers at the end of the work day and then posting it online for the world to see.
I like to keep it real. Real-real.
The next day, Cynthia’s sweet mother came to her rescue, cleaning out excess mastic from between the tiles-with a toothpick. This is one devoted momma.
The two of them decided to tackle grouting together.
It did not go as planned.
Bicep’s and I were called and headed over to lend a hand. We found two tuckered out hard working women who desperately needed a break. The grout they had applied was a little too thick and was drying-quickly.
We used everything we had on hand to scrape off the excess grout-sponges, a grill brush, toothbrushes. It was a tense couple of hours until all of the grout was off. Although, Cynthia’s mother was just as happy as if she were picnicking in the park.
I could learn a lot from this woman.
After the grout incident, Cynthia was able to install her brand new toilet and vanity.
And here she is. So pretty.
I will post some pictures with the accessories Cynthia chose soon. Stay tuned.
