Grandmaster Bath: It's done-ish

As per usual, the project has wrapped and I'm not getting around to an update until a couple of weeks later.

After my last post, the project commenced for another three weeks. Of course we had a few set backs, initially starting with the sink faucets being plumbed for under the cabinet instead of out of the wall. That was frustrating, especially since the plumbers had been to our house until 2:00 AM so they could finish before leaving on a trip to Hawaii. In order for us to not get too far off schedule, we decided to pick new counter top faucets and roll with it. Disappointing for sure but not the end of the world.

Drywall and ceilings went in and we were still moving on with a good clip.

The tiler came in and really did a beautiful job.

On January 28th (19 days in) our counter top is installed!

Pretty amazing, right!? My heart says "there is light at the end of the tunnel" but my head knows better! Advice to my future-self: temper the excitement, sister, because we still have a looooong way to go. The original timeline has us finishing in four days (Feb. 1st), but this bathroom is nowhere near completion--even if everything goes well.

At this point, I contact Jesus to paint and he's available-yeah! We also decide to do our bedroom. I just can't imagine moving back in while we can see the underside of our roof through the holes in the ceiling. I'll write a separate post on that next.

So, the paint starts and we make the agonizing decision to go bold on the walls. We do Sherwin Williams' Anchor's Aweigh like we did on the kitchen and mud room cabinets downstairs, so the house feels coordinated. Of course, my favorite white, Sherwin Williams' Snowbound, is on the trim.

Speaking of the trim, look at that window trim and baseboard! The baseboard was an addition and the window trim was rebuilt because one-third of the window was hiding behind the old shower. As you can imagine, the navy blue walls took many, many layers to get the saturation we were going for.

Then, the faucets went in and oh my, everything was starting to look so beautiful.

February 3rd is when things started coming off the rails. Of course, when you try to finish the final details you discover the things that weren't initially installed/set correctly.

First, the contractor discovers that the toilet's pipe has been set below floor grade.We now have to wait for the plumber to come back to fix it. The plumber points the finger of blame at the contractor, the contractor points the finger at the plumber and at one point they both blame the tiler for raising the floor too high.  Quiz time:

Who gets to pay for the mistake?
A) The contractor
B) The plumber
C) The tiler
D) The homeowner

If you guessed (D) The homeowner, give yourself an A+! I'm livid and want everyone out of my house, but I also want my bathroom back more.

The electricians come back to install the lights/fan on February 5th (if you're counting, we are now 5 days over). Here comes the second mistake. The light boxes were ONE inch off center from the sink faucets. Not a huge deal, right? Well, the sheetrock around the box was also cut too wide. Even if we were okay with the lights being off-centered, there would be a gap between the light's base and drywall. I tell them to make it right. So, they move the lights to their correct place and now Jesus has to patch and repaint all four layers of blue.

Third, we're not getting any hot water in the house so we can't even take a hot shower in our new bathroom. We call a different plumber that could come out immediately and he informs us our coupler is out. We shower at the gym that night and wait for the part to come in the next day. I have a board meeting the next day, so not stressful at all.

Fifth, no sign of Jesus on this day. No texts, no nothing, so no painting. We later find out the reason and it's not my story to tell. He does end up coming back for two more days to finish the bathroom and bedroom, so I'll leave it at that.

My parents give us a much-needed morale boost by agreeing to take Cinderella and the Baby (who is not a baby anymore) for the weekend while the Handyman and I work to get our house pulled back together.

February 10th, the new plumber arrives to install the new toilet. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll know that this is Plumber #3 to work on our house projects. That night, I came home from work with the girls to see our new toilet and that's when the sixth and final straw broke the camel's back. The plumber removed the cracked toilet and dragged it across our tiles. They're scratched to hell.

Someone put me out of my misery. It felt like we were being punk'd. Where's Ashton Kutcher?

So, there's the story of our done-ish bathroom. Over the finish line this month means:
-toe kick installed
-scratched tile replaced
-toilet paper holder, towel bar and hook installed (they're on back order from Potterybarn
-Find and hang art above the toilet

I will say that the shower is SO amazing and roomy.

The girls LOVE the bathtub for its big, deep basin.

Storage is plentiful in the cupboard and under the sinks.

The toilet is slightly off-centered in its nook due to a heating duct, but it is modern and you don't have to hold the flusher down until everything disappears down the pipe.

The pain of this process is still pretty fresh, but I know it will disappear over time. I just keep reminding myself that it's SO MUCH BETTER than the bathroom we bought. Looking at before and after pics help.

Thanks for being here for part of our journey. :)