bathroom renovation: We painted, we tiled, we conquered

[katekat]

Sunday was spent trying to get proper fixtures for our bathtub (an adventure that sounds quite easy but in the end turned out to be incredibly difficult) and trying to cut tile. 

See, the fixtures we bought were brushed steel.  So we needed brushed steel connectors (called es-somethings... Neil knows, I keep forgetting) to connect them to the pipes.  And you'd think that it would be a simple matter of finding brushed steel versions of our old fixtures.  Well, after Neil hit 7 hardware and plumbing stores, we finally figured out we needed to have new pipe connectors in order to be able to use the hardware that we'd bought.  Then, after he brought them home, Neil spent about ... oh, 6 hours trying to get them on the tub!  There was trouble with the screws, with the balance of the handles, with the spacers.  Finally and at last, we were done!

Then we were introduced to the joys of tile cutting.  Well, we managed to cut two tiles, and then our tile cutter broke.  And, once we put it back together, it broke again.  And again.  And again.  Until we finally gave up and ran out to Home Depot to get a tile saw.  Then everything went just a little bit faster.  Everything's better when you have a saw!

So, in case you're curious, here are the newest pictures....

Pretty new fixtures!


new paint!  although it looks less orange than this picture.  Really.


the pretty new floor that I laid myself!  Yep, that's right, I'm better at laying tile than Neil.  (don't tell anybody, ok?)  once again, these pictures are way orange compared to what it really looks like.  Gotta love that nighttime lighting...

Comments

[elizabuffy.livejournal.com]

Wow! That was quick! You guys to good work! And I'm impressed about the tile: that's hard stuff!

The new fixtures are very pretty.

~e!

[katekat]

thanks sweetest!! it's finally coming together! and *bows* thank you for the tile compliments! I will refrain from pointing out all of the hinky parts (if you ever visit again i will give you the opportunity to inspect them closely)

Pretty!

[murielle.livejournal.com]

Love the hardware! It reminds me of my childhood when all the fixtures looked like that. And the colour is so much warmer than plain white. Looks like you guys have been really busy.

Thanks for posting the pictures. You know I've been waiting for this. ;-))

Re: Pretty!

[katekat]

Thank you lady! Isn't it funny that now the hardware everyone had is the premium kind?

About the color, we were definitely hoping to warm it up - so glad you thing so too!! I think it'll be really lovely in the mornings - bright and sunny.

and my pleasure! Thanks for looking through them! Next comes toilet and sink and trim, and then we'll be done...

Re: Pretty!

[murielle.livejournal.com]

And you're going to show us the finished bathroom? Right? You wouldn't torture those of us who redecorate vicariously through you, would you?

Seriously, I'm really looking forward to seeing the final pictures.

Re: Pretty!

[katekat]

Of course I'll post them!! Don't you worry! There'll probably be a posting with WAY too many corner shots in an attempt to get the whole room preserved for posterity.

Thank you for all the encouragement, though! it's great to know that i'm not posting these and bugging you with them :D

Re: Pretty!

[murielle.livejournal.com]

It's such a treat! I really enjoy the spirit of sharing--wonderful!

[crayonbreakygal.livejournal.com]

Cool. Plumbing does suck the big one.

Tile cutters don't work. We bought a tile saw too. Makes your life so much easier. Good job with the tile. Some people are just better at laying tile because they can do it in a straight line. That would not be me.

[katekat]

You're *so* right about the tile cutters. They're a total rip off. Sigh.

And thanks for the tile compliments! I'm trying to restrain myself from pointing out that I totally didn't make 'em straight lines either (it's just an illusion of the picture, promise) but Neil seems to think I did ok, too, so I'll just say thanks, again. *grin*

WOOOOO

[(Anonymous)]

Hey toots, it's Maija. Love the Bathroom!

[missus-grace.livejournal.com]

The paint job looks great, and so does the tile
*is exhausted just looking at it*

[katekat]

thank you lady! believe it or not, the paint was the easiest part of the whole thing! tiling was ok, once we got everything cut. not that I want to do it again anytime soon though. Thank goodness it's a small space!

[mishloran.livejournal.com]

Lookin' good darlink!

Tile cutters are fun, but an annoyance also. Mum and I found that tiles generally seem to break in their presence. We borrowed a friends' one when we redid the tiling in the kitchen!

[katekat]

OOO! You retiled your kitchen! I'm so envious! Neil doesn't like tile countertops so if we ever redo the kitchen we would just do the floor (something I would love to do someday, but it's not going to happen anytime soon).

And broken tiles just SUCK, don't they? Thank goodness we weren't doing that big of a space and so didn't need to cut too many, otherwise I would probably be shaking my fist at tile and tile cutters for long ages.

[mishloran.livejournal.com]

Well, not the counter tops, but we have, uh... splashback bits I guess ,which we retiled. Mum wouldn't let me do much of the work, though. She is DIY Girl in the house, and also I think she was worried 'cause we only had a few tiles so if it went wrong we'd have to go find more really fast or something. Plus they were biddy, expensive tiles?

I think bathrooming is SUPER above kitchen backsplash level of tile hardness. We have lino on the kitchen floor. It is kinda icky, but what can you do? At points Mum wants to put down a parquet type thing, you can get click-together-tile-pieces made of special kitchen floor stuff. I dunno what it is, but it is EXPENSIVE. So it is a bit of a pipe dream.