Progress and problems

Tom and I spent yesterday doing finishing-up projects in the bathroom while our hired help worked upstairs. As long as it took to do things before, it takes even longer now. I can't squeeze places I used to fit into easily, I can't climb up and down into the attic as readily, and bending from the waist causes more than a fair amount of discomfort. Despite that, we got a bit done. We hung 4 pieces of backerboard in the shower:

It's kinda dark in there now.

Now we can cut the greenboard to hang above those pieces and finish the mudding.

Then we had to cut nailer blocks for this outside corner of the shower. We had to rip a 45 degree angle off the corner of a 2x4. Our battery-operated circular required a fresh battery every 6 inches or so. Luckily our hired help had a corded saw that made short work of it, and we were able to install it without issue. That 2x4 nailer was the only reason we had not previously installed greenboard on the tub wall. Now that it's there, we cut and hung a piece to fit:

My pretty faucet is hidden away from the dust for the time being. I think this is also the tub's first appearance without the blue protective film along the edges!

We also installed a piece of drywall on the toilet half-wall and cut out the spaces for shelving and the access panel:


I bought the necessary escutcheon and valve for the toilet supply line, so I can probably install that soon and turn the water back on.

Meanwhile, one story above us...

Walls and slope all insulated.

"Are you done taking pictures for your blog yet?"

The un-insulated spacing is for an access door to storage space behind the knee walls.

There are a couple of issues we're going to have to address in the attic before drywalling can begin up there. I marked on the sole plate where I wanted to put outlets and communication (cable, ethernet, telephone, etc) boxes, but they only paid attention to the outlet marks. We need to take out a few batts of insulation and hang boxes for the missing communications receptacles. Also relating to that, we planned on running all of our communications for the whole house up to the cavity behind the attic knee wall (the left wall in the photo above) for a central hub. They isolated one of the sections we've already run for that (behind the wall on the right side of the above photo), so we'll have to connect those areas somehow. Seeing that this will be probably the next space to be finished, we might have to scrap the attic hub and put it in the basement instead. That would probably be better for protecting the equipment from heat, anyway.

The rafters that form the ceiling of the room also do not have insulation between them. We still have to run the dryer duct up to the roof vent (a 10-minute job if Lowe's would ever restock the materials I need to finish it) and hang and wire the recessed lights for the room. Tom and I will probably at least mark locations for the lights today, if not hang them and start wiring.

The last issue is the location of the second access door. For some reason, Donny thought it should go behind the area cut out for the spiral staircase. The slope of the roofline prevents an access door from swinging into the access area, so it must swing out. However, there will be a railing around the hole for the staircase. You'd barely be able to crack the door open, much less put anything back there or crawl back there yourself. So we'll just take out one batt of insulation and swap places with the space he left open. There's a lot of miscommunication that can happen when you don't have a drafted set of plans for workers to refer to. Until a few weeks ago, that wasn't really an issue because we were doing it all ourselves, and I could accommodate for issues as I went along. Having to coordinate what I'm working on with what they're working on and answering questions and picking up necessary materials and equipment and trying to explain that the junction box has to be accessible is enough to wear a pregnant lady out completely.

To the batroom, Robin

We've shifted our focus for a while from the bedroom to the bathroom. The first step was putting down the underlayment for the tile, sheets of concrete board. That step is almost complete:

The 2x8s on the floor are the approximate locations of the shower wall enclosure. It's about a 4'x6' shower. The hole in the floor near the top of the photo is where the toilet goes. The tub goes under the window on the left.

We still have to finish the seams. It's very similar to finishing drywall seams - it just uses thinset mortar instead of drywall mud.

We've already picked out our tile and the pattern in which it will be laid. It's a porcelain tile, which is a form of ceramic, but it has a bit of a texture on the surface to simulate natural stone. Every tile is textured differently and has a little bit of color variation, too, which enhances the effect. Here's a close-up of the slight pitting effect on the surface:

You can also see the tumbled edge, which furthers its resemblance to natural stone.

We decided that we like this windmill pattern, but I can't decide if I like it square or diagonal.

Square

And in case you don't want to tilt your head at a 45 degree angle:

Diagonal

Tom doesn't care one way or the other. Installing it square would make it easier to include a perimeter border, but I'm not entirely confident the walls are perfectly perpendicular. Diagonal installation is often done in that sort of situation. It's easier for the eye to account for a discrepancy in the walls being a little out of square if the floor is laid diagonally. Lord knows I used that trick in my hand-drafted projects for school - I don't think anything I drew was ever perfectly square.

I'm still not entirely convinced I won't wish we'd used 1" square or hexagonal tiles, but I can't see spending $9-11 more per square foot of the stuff. I keep telling myself it's a whole lot fewer grout lines to have to clean with a toothbrush.

Also, before we lay this tile, I need to decide whether or not I'll splurge on the radiant-heat floors. I can get a system to fit in our bathroom for about $150. I really hate cold tile, especially in the bathroom where I'm likely to be barefoot. But, it's $150 I could save and spend on a lifetime supply of warm, fuzzy bathroom slippers. Thoughts?