The bathroom update!

Here's the quick rundown of the progress on the bathroom!

First of all - Darlene is back and I didn't get it finished. Surprised? I didn't think so.

There was one major contributing factor (I'm really not very good with spackle) and a minor contributing factor (I had a "band" commitment this past weekend that I thought had been canceled when I started this project).

At any rate - here's where it's at...

The first task was getting the old drywall out. And all of the old drywall has indeed been ripped out. I gave myself one day for this task - and sure enough, it was completed in one day! So far so good...

Next came an unplanned task. All of the electric code violations have been fixed (yes - all connections need to be made inside a junction box - even for light fixtures! Good thing that a little spark didn't set the insulation on fire... That put me about a half a day behind schedule.

Next came hanging the new drywall. No problem there - except that EVERY SINGLE SHEET had to be cut! Whew - that took some time. The original schedule had me putting the first coat of mud on - but the extra time spent with the electrical kept me from getting it done.

Next came the mud. Those "pros" make it look so easy - just throw it up on the wall and viola! NOT! Of course, I know I'm not a pro - I've done enough drywall work to know that I'm not very good at it. but I REALLY lost a lot of time here. I gave myself two days - and it took four (and I'm going to have to go back and redo some of it).

Next came the primer and paint. No problems here! All done in 2 days...

Then came hanging the new lights and exhaust fan (all with mere hours before Darlene's return) Not much of an issue here - except with the exhaust fan. The way it mounts makes it want to shift while you are putting the screws in. It took a couple of tries to get it right.

Then Darlene came home. She thought it looked nice (she should have seen the mess I had earlier that day! She would have been impressed with the cleanup effort).

Since her return, I've reattached the toilet tank (a note to everyone - any time you empty out the tank, plan on buying ALL new rubber! The old rubber just won't seal again...), reattached the vanity and sink, and caulked the shower so it's a usable bathroom again.

But there's still a ton of piddly stuff remaining. Paint and hang trim. Hang the shower rod, towel rods and ring, hang the toilet paper holder. And that pesky spackle touch-up (I'll be doing that tonight). It should be done by the end of the week as long as we don't take up too much time with bike riding (the Tour de Cure is only 1 week and a half away! Better get those training miles in...)

I'll let you all know how it goes!