Bathroom Progress is Out of Our Hands at this Point

Well the bathroom has gone as far as we can take it for now.  After we got done grouting, we noticed that the grout had left some haze in our tile.  I took a trip to Home Depot in search of a grout haze cleaner but the salesperson told me that cleaning the tile with the product they carried would require that I wait 10 days before sealing.  He encouraged me to go home and just try scrubbing it down with a sponge.  I tried it, but it only took care of a little bit of the haze.  I then tried a tile and grout cleaner I had purchased for our other bathroom, and it took a little bit off but not enough.  So I decided to go see what Lowes had to offer.  I found a very low VOC grout haze cleaner that did a very good job of taking care of the remaining haze.   After a couple of days, I finally sealed the grout!

I also installed the shower head, tub spout, and handle.  We decided to go with fixtures with a detachable showerhead, so we can give the dogs a bath without having to re-attach the cheesy white sprayer we had been using prior to our remodel.  So we ended up selecting Delta's In2ition Hand Held Shower Head (which we have nicknamed the Alien Head).  Phoenix is certainly due for a bath.

LD and I tackled the baseboards, and after a few mistakes we finally got it right.  Maybe that will inspire us to finally install baseboards in the rest of the house.

I managed to prime and give the windows a coat of paint.  They definitely need a second coat of paint, but I am afraid that it will have to wait until Spring once the temperature goes up again.  We have had some 60 degree days, but unfortunately I have either been working or we have been out of town.

LD and I also installed some shelves we purchased during our last IKEA trip.  I was initially not too thrilled with the look, but they are growing on me.

We also reinstalled our toilet, and the install went way smoother than the first time.  Our first install had been a nightmare, the instructions for attaching the tank to the bowl were really screwed up.  This time around we decided to ignore the instructions, and attach the tank to the bowl based on instructions I saw on the internet.  A few minutes after we had installed it, however, I noticed that there was a small puddle next to the supply valve.  I was afraid that it might mean that the supply valve was faulty, but fortunately it turned out to be just our old supply line.  We purchased a new one, and it took care of the problem.

Other than installing some towel bars, there is nothing much we can do at this point.  We can't do anything until the vanity is done.  But we haven't heard from the cabinet maker since October, and we are getting worried.

So we are stuck.  We can't order our countertop until the vanity gets installed.  For the countertop, we selected recycled glass Eco by Consentino in the white diamond color.  We think it will complement the tile very nicely.

It's Starting to Look Like a Bathroom Again!

Well we have been busy since our last post, and our efforts are starting to pay off.

I did not have any luck finding a seller with a small section of Kerdi locally, but I did find it online by the square foot.  After I placed my order, however, the company told me it was back ordered.  Not knowing how much of a wait that would be, I emailed the company and told them to cancel my order.  I then started searching Craigslist, and found someone in Columbia who happened to be selling a Kerdi drain.  Wishfully thinking, I contacted him and asked if he had any leftover Kerdi fabric that he would sell to me.  Luckily he did, and I picked it up last Saturday.  On Sunday we went to work and finished the last of our Kerdi install.

On Wednesday evening we installed the first two rows of tile.

On Veteran's Day we finished setting the tile, and we grouted today.  In 3 days, we'll be ready to seal!

At first we were planning on painting the bathroom gray, but we could not find the right shade of gray and finally decided that we did not really want to walk into a gray bathroom.  So we picked up a few more paint chips. 

We finally decided on Home Depot's no VOC Freshaire's "Still Moment". 

I have to wait for a warm day to finish priming and painting the windows.  Our next immediate steps are to purchase and install baseboards, and reinstall the toilet.