Bathroom Phase 1: Day Two

 I'll preface this by saying that all I have are the end of day photos. I didn't take a single other photo during the work :(

Day 2 was a wash in terms of work-for-my-actual-job, unfortunately, but was successful in many other respects, so I'll take it! Tom came back up around 1pm to help with the final surround piece and the actual attaching of the plumbing and faucets. Getting the PEX clamped took all of five minutes, now that we had the right tool! (And while Tom did that, I took a crow-bar to the rest of the carpet tack outside the laundry space, and a square drill to the board that used to hold the bifold doors in place).

Then Tom and I puzzled over this conundrum: our drilled holes in the surround were the perfect sizes for the plumbing parts that needed to stick out, but the surround needs to be 'dropped' down into it's interconnecting pieces on the sides. So the 2x4 that the rough-in valve gets screwed onto couldn't be attached to the studs when we were putting the surround up. We pre-drilled holes into the bottom of the 2/x4, attached the valve, and then let it rest between the studs. It had enough friction to stay about where it needed to be, height wise, but not so much that we couldn't make things clear for the surround to be set in. 

We got the surround ready to go in, and then just. . . couldn't get it in. The space is not actually square, but it's super super close, which actually makes it more frustrating. The surround would get wedged about a half inch above where it's final resting spot should be. We tried over and over to get it to drop in, but finally got out another piece of 2x4 and a rubber mallet and Tom just banged it into place. We could tell that everything was aligned, it was just getting stuck between the back surround and the studs, so we felt pretty good about that solution. We finally got the surround in and then made the (obvious) mistake of saying, "well it should be easy from here on out!"

It was not. 

Which is surprising, because all that was left was installing the faucets and handles! But we had tested the handle the night before and a piece had gotten jammed in and then I forgot that it was missing and . . . well, after a half hour of Tom on the floor of the bedroom, head in the access panel space and me in the tub with this handle just spinning and spinning, we finally realized what was going on. Once Tom got the piece removed and correctly placed, things went much more smoothly! I installed the tub faucet and the tubing for the shower head. We flushed the lines, and then I put the shower head on and boom! It looked so good!

The final project for the day was to install a new bathroom fan. The old one was both disgustingly dirty AND really loud. And this uninstall and install went smoothly and well, except for the moment when a screw that was literally about 1/4 inch long got dropped onto the floor, which was still covered in boxes and paper and drywall dust. Anyway, we found the screw and I CANNOT get over how much quieter the fan is. The fan box claims "2 Sones!" which the internet says is about 38 decibels, or the sound of a "calm office." I wish I had some way to find out what the original fan's sound rating was!

And okay, technically this is Days 2 and 3, only because I had to wash the floor before I could caulk the toilet (I can't caulk the surround until we've shimmed the tub up about 1/4 inch). Caulking is terrible and hard and I hate it. But the curse of this project totally struck, because I forgot to poke out the foil at the applicator end, and accidentally pushed too hard with the caulking gun and busted through the back/bottom of the caulk container. Not my best moment ever. But I did get the toilet base caulked, so I guess I win?

But you guys. Even though it still needs drywall patching, it looks SO GOOD. (And it's a lovely shower to use!) I got the shower curtain up again and it's all just so good. I love the black hardware on the white. I love having an actual lie-down bathtub and an actual shower head. I love having a fan that I'm actually willing to use. Here it is:

I feel like getting this much done just really makes me want to get everything else in the bathroom project finished! Phase 1 won't actually be complete until the drywall is repaired and the access panel is not just a hole in the drywall in my room, but the worst part is over (I totally just jinxed myself, didn't I). Phase 2 is the vanity project - the sink arrived yesterday and I don't know that cool is ever a word I would have used to describe a sink before, but y'all this sink is cool. But it has to wait until I have a few days over 50 so I can finish painting the vanity. Phase 3 is painting the bathroom. Phase 4 is the mirror and lights. Though things don't have to happen in numerical order. But for the moment: I am totally basking in my (our) success!!