One Room Challenge: Master Bath Week 5

When we left our fearless DIYers last week, they had tiled part of one wall of the shower.  With only two weeks and most of a bathroom renovation to go, the odds of finishing on time were stacked against them.  Instead of  In addition to cowering in a corner and thinking about throwing in the towel, they pressed on for one last blitz toward the finish line. 

Who knew writing in third person could be so exhausting?  Anyway, Patrick took the day off on Thursday so we could finish tiling the shower walls while our girls were both in school.  After eleven hours and forty minutes, the last tile was set.  Also, the Texans won.  It was a good day.

 On Saturday, one day before our scheduled Christmas card photo session, we grouted the shower and turned our fingernails black.  We also installed the black travertine slabs on the niche, curb, and half wall, and discovered termites in our kitchen ceiling.  It was a less good day.

 On Monday, we had an exterminator come out to tell us the termite situation wasn't as bad as we feared (we can treat it for less than $1000 and there's no structural damage yet because we caught them early) and started installing the bathroom floors.

One of the benefits of the floors we selected is that we can install them seamlessly throughout the house, meaning no awkward thresholds.  One of the downsides is that no transitions means a lot of complicated cuts.  Getting our floors started required a lot of finesse thanks to the way they stopped in our bedroom.

Once Patrick got that first row down, the floors flew down.  His little "helper" loved watching him make the cuts.  She also helped to hammer them into place with the rubber mallet.

We have to replace the toilet flange before we can finish laying the last few rows of flooring.  Our biggest tasks this week are plumbing, electrical, and drywall repair.  We also need to install baseboards, a toilet, hang lights and mirrors, build and install a sliding door, paint, and style everything.  Predictably, I'm also tacking on little extra projects to do in my "spare time".

I have to admit that I'm feeling more optimistic than is reasonable given the amount of work we have to do.  I've always been that girl who waits until the last minute to start her class project, and the ensuing chaos is usually where my more creative ideas flourish.  The truth is, I'm not even done procrastinating yet; we're taking the day off for Halloween!

 To see what the other ORC participants are up to, click here!

Thanks for following along!
-Kelli