Master Bathroom

Master bathroom. I like it a lot.

The sconces are vintage from France (via Ebay). The chrome plates on the back (back plates?) are a duller finish than the fixture because the original slim boxes that came with the sconces would not cover the giant holes in the mirror. I am happy that the lights are installed and I figure future generations might come up with a prettier solution. A problem for another day. (No one is gonna notice.)

The vanity pulls are from Dayvan in Toronto. I insisted on this style. Everyday, I lay down with my youngest son at nap time until he falls asleep...one day, I heard my contractor on his cell talking to the cabinet maker about pulls. I was in a bit of a dream state when I heard this....you know, when you aren't fully conscious and snuggled into a warm bundle of little boy. Well, I ran out all bushy eyed and yelled: "STOP! NO HANDLES! NO HOLES! DON'T MAKE ANY HOLES!" How the hell does anyone renovate a house when they go to a real job*? Anyways, I think these pulls are 80's? (Yes, I'm making that up)... I don't know where I saw them before, or where the idea came from (online, of course). If it's not a thing, I would like to make it a thing. The handles were in the $5-$8 range, with contractor discount.
 
The hooks are from Restoration Hardware. No towel bar. I hate sharing towels. His and her hooks. Solved.

We need a shower curtain. The shower bar is one of those adjustable/tension bars, so it can be moved a smidgen higher. I need to get the height straight before curtains.

The wall between the vanity/toilet and the three way mirrors make my life. Who doesn't want to see the back of their head sometimes (all the time? never enough mirrors!!)




*This brings up the topic of how contractors decide when to make the call themselves, and when to ask the client. Whatever logic they use is beyond me. Also, when you 've waited months for something, and then they need a decision within 24hrs - that gets me too. Ahhh good old renos...definitely worth the trouble. 

Move in ready

The contractors left for summer break! Coming back in September.

They worked two weeks past their original end date to make the new master move in ready before they left. When they come back in September, they will take care of everything still outstanding (rads, lighting, some door knobs, millwork in old hallway, paint touch ups, tile back splash in master, etc...)

The walls and trim are Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace. The floors are quarter sawn red oak to match the existing house. Faucets are Riobel.

I am VERY happy with the room. I want to move the furniture in right now! I will start with the nightstands...

ps. the boys bathroom mirror went back to the shop for a minor adjustment. It should be installed tomorrow morning, and then no more workmen in the house until September!

Near the end of construction

This is the last week of the reno, more or less. The contractor leaves Saturday and returns in September.

The master suite will be complete. The hardwood gets installed tomorrow, as does the bathroom vanity. The marble tile will be grouted today.

Lets talk about the bathroom a little bit!

- We put up a wall between the vanity and the toilet, for privacy, also, I saw this bathroom by Thom Filicia that I adored and I wanted to copy.

- They trimmed the mirrors out in simple shaker panel. A last minute change. I wanted to trim them in marble, but the contractor thought it might be too clunky chunky. They are both good looks. From this angle it would have worked, but looking the other way, at the door, you would have run into problems with the light switches and the door casements. Plus a lot of grout lines.

- The marble is calm, sedate. The best marble the contractor has worked with in thirty years! He speaks in superlatives, we get along.
 

Trim work complete

Doors, casings, and all trim work was finished today. The electricians are done. Plumbers come back tomorrow to install the tub faucet (centered on the six foot tub), then the tiling in the boys bathroom can be finished. There is marble in the master bathroom!

Tomorrow they are going to build the shelving system inside the master closets. The glass guy is coming to measure for the bathroom mirrors (I am also setting mirrors inside the master closet doors again). The contractor wants to take away all the garbage and make space for the aluminim guys. That crew will be here Wednesday/Thursday to do the soffit, facia and eaves. (I picked the colour, pretty close match, cross your fingers)

The contractor is leaving next week for the summer, coming back sometime in September. He is confident we will be done in a week. I don't know about this. That's not a lot of time.  

The vanity in the master bathroom is coming soon. I am bracing myself for disappointment. They couldn't give me the wood doors I was requesting. Why? Because I am vague as hell and don't really know what I am talking about. I sent him several sample photos of wood I adored, but none of said wood happened to be on cabinetry. Plus we aren't spending a million dollars, and he would rather not get into exotic veneers. I ended up okaying bookended maple doors today.  I have no idea what stain colour. I gave them this olive wood container I love the tone of and they are going for that...but it had many tones in it. I asked for photos...you know? Can you send me a photo of this thing being built? Can I go see it? ...Nope. I guess I have to trust them and be prepared for something average. The plus side is that it is a custom floating vanity with lots of storage. Even if it's ugly (it wont be ugly), at this point I am still spoiled. Really, it will be fine. Worse worse case I throw up and cry a bit before I fall in love with the drawer space and forget that anything else mattered. It's odd to invest so much emotion into a stupid built in (very un-buddha, but I don't have to tell you)...we all do it, don't we?    

The floors are supposed to be a perfect match. They will arrive tomorrow or Thursday and get installed early next week.

Bathroom tile, mirrors, fixtures, painting, flooring, exterior. I think that's it.

ps. I still do not have light fixtures for the boys bathroom. I need two sconces and a ceiling light.
pps. little feet again...have to run!

Primed

The drywall went up this week.

The next step is trim, baseboards, door casements, etc. Then tiles and hardwood. The exterior will get painted, soffits, facia and eaves troughs installed.  
 
The guys will be working through the long weekend to keep things going.

A few more weeks! That's it!

Painting the Stucco

We went with a stock colour for the stucco. It was a bit lighter than the old addition, but really hard to see much of a difference, and they told me that it would darken over time.

I tried to like it.

I tried to be chill.

I'm not that person*.

So we are painting it, painting everything!...and soon. I set out for Benjamin Moore yesterday afternoon dragging my two boys in the wagon (one fell asleep, the other took truck photos). I bought some sample pots. Put the colours up, watched them dry and we had a clear winner. 

Benjamin Moore River Gorge Grey.

I painted several large areas to test it (you can see them above). It is darker than what we had. I don't dare go darker than this, because the windows will start to look wrong.

*It's too white, too yellow, too pink, and just not working...if the entire addition was all the same colour, I could deal, but because only the top is off, it just looks wrong.

Stupid Friday the 13th messing with my reno

Today things went wrong, but everything can be fixed.

First up: The old plumbing stack had large holes in it. Golf ball sized holes. Sewage was venting into our walls!! It's already been replaced but they had to hack into my pretty powder room to do so. This will cost us around $500.

Second: The joists in the bathroom floor were chopped and compromised by the previous owners in order to run plumbing or something. I don't know what those monkeys previous owners did. This is a problem. They will fix it.

Third: Only the bathroom window was delivered today, and it had clear glass, not frosted. Who puts clear glass in the shower? I requested frosted. OBVIOUSLY.

Fourth: The plumbing for the shower in the new bathroom has been run on the left side of the window. See the clear tubes in between the joists in the last photo above?? That means when I take a bath, my head will be resting NEXT TO THE TOILET. This is a problem. I realize the wall on the right is an exterior wall - it's part of the cantilever...I emailed to find out if they can change it.

Drywall and insulation have been delivered. The windows go in on Monday (The large window has been framed out). Stucco starts Monday, electrical next week and plumbing will get wrapped up and then the walls will be sealed up. Within two weeks the place will be mudded.

ps. I am worried about the location of my chandelier. It will be centered north and south, but not sure where it should go between the windows and the closets. My gut says it should be centered over the bed, and I think the bed will be closer to the window than the closets (because doors open)...I have to measure this up tonight and give an exact number of inches I think.

New Ceiling / Ceiling Reveal

Look at that ceiling! Look at it! I am soo excited! It's magnificent! The plan, and this is exactly the way I put it to the contractor in technical terms, "The plan is to walk in and go WOW!"...and they pulled it off! Let me tell you! WOW!   

Shingles are on - we can't see a single shingle from the ground, no matter how far you step back from the house. I guess it didn't matter if they matched or not!!

Framing is pretty much complete. The ensuite ceiling was raised today. The step up (entire new addition is a full step higher than rest of the house) made that room a bit low, until the contractor took advantage of the vaulted ceiling joists and gave us another 5 inches (I didn't even notice, they just went for it, that's what they do!)

Next week: Windows (hoping), stucco at the end of the week (more scaffolding coming in), then soffit, facia, eaves troughs will fly...then electrical.

We have to draw up our electrical plan...all the nitty gritty and wishes. The contractor will take care of the obvious stuff, but do I want a switch to turn on the bedside lamps? Where, exactly, will the chandelier hang?  Where can I hide the hideous toothbrush and shaver chargers? How many sconces and where? Pot lights? Dimmers? Timers? etc...  any suggestions on things you would do, have done, or wish you did, please leave me a comment and let me know!!!

ps. can you believe it???

Roof is on

 

 

 

Framing pretty much done. Roof is ready for shingles. The roofing company is going to try to squeeze us in on Thursday. The window guy hasn't given us a date. The stucco guy is ready when we are ready. Once the exterior is complete, the electrician will be next.

ps. The new roof was built right over the old roof - the pitch on the new roof is steeper. However, the soffits, facia and eaves troughs are all at the same level. From the ground, you can not see any difference in height, it is too high up.
pps. the shingles on our old roof are no longer in production so we can't get an exact match. Total bummer but what can you do!

Just how big is 13'4" anyways?

I was checking out the new master bedroom dimensions (13'4" x 15'5") vs. the old room (15'6"x 12'3")...

Here's where 13'4 ends (top photo).

Makes sense, 15'6 - 13'4 = 2'2" , the room will be 2 feet shorter in length. The windows in the existing master are in an alcove/bay that is 1'5" deep, so the rooms should feel pretty close in size.

The room will be 15'5" - 12' 3" = 3'3" deeper. Making the distance between the dresser and the bed 3 feet wider. 

More or less the same square footage, but I am counting on it feeling larger


ps. It looks pretty boring in the above photos...time for new bedding!