$50 solution*

*Plus NY state tax
OK, Hands up. How many of you thought we'd spring for ceramic tile in the powder room? And hardwood flooring? Anyone for bamboo? Anyone?
Yep, you don't know us at all.
The problem is dependency. I would have loved to have spent $300 on slate-look porcelain tiles but that would have led to the whole "but the powder room and kitchen floor have different height/ different colour" discussion/argument.
Let me walk you through it: Eventually - schedule 2008, now possibly 2009, more realistically 2010, we will remodel the kitchen. The kitchen floor has a sub-floor of marine ply-wood that makes it higher than the the dining part of the kitchen and the powder room. If we replace the nasty carpet we have to ensure the two heights are the same when we remodel the kitchen, otherwise someone will not be happy. Plus, if we lay ceramic tile today, will the same tile be available in 2009 or 2010? Unlikely. Doing one project properly depends on another project.
So to avoid a costly "That looks like s**t mistake", we are making the best of it and going with a temporary or "band aid"* solution. That would be the cheapest fix we could find. And the winner is? Carpet. A remnant at $49. Who would have thought I would contemplate carpet in a bathroom?
I hate it, but I am going to have to live with it - hopefully only in the short term.

*The carpet remnant is beige and it looks like elastoplast/bandaid, too.

Reptiles in the bathroom

I'm still looking for something to trigger that "eureka" moment for the master bath re-design. Somehow I don't think this is it.



Monty from the Jungle range by Ceramica Cielo in python finish. Monty the Python. Get it?
Scared of snakes? There's a crocodile collection called - wait for it...
All together now: Dundee

It's p p p PINK!

Ha! After getting rid of the 1968 pink and avocado green vanity in the girls' bath, I now discover that pink is in again. At least that's what Trendir tells me.


Here, in all its lipstick pink glory is the Trend Vanity from Novello. Does anyone else think it is the ugliest vanity ever? I can't imagine anyone installing one in their bath, but if they did I'm pretty sure that it would be ripped out by the next owner. Unless the next owner was Barbie.
Although it would go with the huge sectional in our living room, this is certainly not a trend I'm going to follow.

It had to happen

Really it was only a matter of time before the toilet in the master bath executed its revenge. Probably because I called it "flimsy" in a previous post. Although it could simply have been jealous that the other toilets have either been replaced this year or were given a serious overhaul in 2006.
The saga went something like this.... I went to bed one night and when I got up 8 hours later I realised the loo was still flushing. I took the lid off, jiggled the float and it stopped and then I flushed it again for good measure. That seemed to have cured it so I didn't give it another thought until....... a week or so later I used the toilet, left the bathroom, went out for the day and returned that evening to find the thing STILL FLUSHING. Once again I applied the temporary "massaging the float" fix and it stopped. But rather than chance it going off again, I started running to the other side of the house every time nature called and this rapidly got old. I mentioned it a couple of times to Steven but he didn't give a high priority on the to do list. Until Sunday morning that is, when running down the corridor in the dark to get to another WC, I collided with the dog and tripped over a cat. That's when he reckoned five minutes spent with his hand in freezing water was going to be easier than listening to me curse under my breath all day. And five minutes was all it took him to tighten the nut with a pair of pliers. Problem solved.
And while he was there he fixed the wobbly toilet seat that he failed to fix twice before. My hero.

My hit tail

Floor tile
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Browsing a very useful web marketing tool the other day I was interested in seeing how people get to my blog, and more especially what they are looking for.
It seems that they overwhelmingly want to know about two things: Toto Nexus toilets and Porcelanosa Ferroker tiles.
Although they'll find photos and brief descriptions on the blog I've never given product reviews. Until now.
Firstly, I absolutely love the three Toto Nexus toilets we put in this year. I will take a detour in this house so I can use them rather than the flimsy Kohler we have in the master bath, or even the 38 year old solid as can be one-piece American Standard in the powder room that used to be my WC of choice.
Because it is a couple of inches higher than standard US toilets, I find the Nexus just more comfortable. And their elongated shape makes cleaning the outside a simple task. As for the inside, a wider trap means no clogs and the flush is well, really reassuring.
Of course I bought them for their sleek design, and being slimmer makes them less intrusive in the bathroom. Or it should, but every time I see the maple wood toilet seats, I stop and think to myself: Man that's a good-looking toilet. The only regret is that I bought one with the basic plastic softclose seat. It saved a whopping $100, but it's not nearly so handsome, nor as comfortable as the other two. I will remember this when we do the master bath makeover and I think we'll go for the new Eco version then.
The Ferroker Copper tile, which we used on the boys' bath floor has even more people googling it, and I'm not surprised. It is a thing of beauty. I worried it would be too dark, that it would be too heavy to install, that the large tiles would look weird in such a small space and mostly that they would crack if I stood on them in the wrong place. I could have saved myself a lot of sleepless nights because they have been a joy. They anchor the room, they were challenging but not really difficult to install, they actually make the room look larger than before and they seem to be steady on the mud base. The most lovely thing about them, apart from the amazing coppery tone, is that they feel warm underfoot. All the other tiled rooms in the house are definitely chilly in the morning but these never do, in fact they feel cozy, almost soft. Is that psychological or does Porcelanosa have a secret heat retaining porcelain process I don't know about?
Whatever it is I'd recommend them to any remodeler, and for designer tiles they were less expensive than we'd thought (although still more than the original budget allowed!).

Finally paid for the bathrooms.

I finally got the bill from the plumber last week. That is the bill for all the work on the three bathrooms, one of which was finished in April, one in May and one on June 22. How many contractors would do that amount of work, including purchasing special order toilets and not even ask for a deposit? And the bill was very fair for all the hours they were here and the anal retentive pickiness we put them through. I showed them the master bath plan last time they were here and they seemed to be looking forward to it. I'll but up with the moaning about my European fixtures to get service this great again.


I also chose and ordered a toilet roll holder and towel bar for the downstairs bath yesterday, which'll mean the work has truly come to a close. Considering we started on November 23, that's not a moment too soon.

Never miss another call

Although Steven has issued a "the well is dry" notice which effectively precludes any more demolition or construction before January 2008, I am still hunting around for inspiration for the master bathroom renovation. After all, looking costs nothing, right?
While researching bathrooms on HGTV.com I came across this gem:
"Phones in the toilet area are part of the expanding communication technology for baths".
Lovely. Just what you need when you were hoping for a quiet, private moment. If you look at the picture that accompanies this piece of puffery, you can see how well that communication technology blends with this year's decor. Also, not at all unsanitary, is it?

Finishing Touches but no Fireworks

Smith and Noble 2" wood blind - dark wenge
Originally uploaded by modernemama

As the skies got darker on Independence Day we decided no one was going to get into the pool and we should just get on with a few chores instead. Verity and Steve put up the Smith and Noble 2" wood blind in the downstairs bath. The dark wenge has turned out to be an almost prefect match for the vanity and this bathroom looks totally remodeled now. It lacks only a toilet roll holder to be completely finished.
The rain held off until lunchtime so we managed to get a fair amount of weeding done, too. One brave guest did venture into the pool but it was too cold for anyone else. I barbecued at 5 pm but we ate indoors, and just as we sat down the thunderstorms started. It looks like it has set in for the evening so I guess we won't be walking down to the beach to see the fireworks across the Sound.

Downstairs bathroom done

downstairs bathroom
Originally uploaded by modernemama

We're all plumbed in and good to go, only three weeks after the final deadline but importantly two days before the visitors arrive. It's a temporary makeover but it's a big improvement over the 60s suite that was there before.
I do wonder, though, how long it will be before vessel sinks and pillar faucets are considered passé?

Quick bathroom makeover

new vanity, backsplash
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Well not really quick, but at least not the six months the other two baths took. We got back from Tennessee to find the tiler had been as good as his word and he'd tiled grouted the backsplash for the new floating vanity.
This is a temporary fix, I'm still sold on the beadboard paneling idea for this room when we completely remodel it in a few years' time. Or maybe glass subway tiles, if they've come up with a better solution to fixing them to the walls by then.
With the mosaic backsplash in place, we noticed one thing immediately about the bathroom wall. If you get up close you can see how the wall is off by about .5" under the window, luckily by placing the vessel sink on the countertop the eye gets distracted and it's no longer obvious. However, when we looked closely above the window to the ceiling, we could see that the wall slopes badly to the left (more like 1"). This wasn't noticeable when the old roller blind was up, so I hope when we put up the new wood blind we'll camouflage this problem as well.

Downstairs Bathroom

The vanity is in, the ceiling has been patched, the old blind is gone. These are the positive things. Yippee.
On the less positive side, the shower has yet to be caulked, the new wood blind won't be here for "two weeks" and the tiling has hit a bit of a snageroo.
Although the tile showroom assured us we could build up the specially modified thinset to make it flush with the existing tiles, they didn't tell us it would take a few attempts, many hours to allow the thinset to set up and the patience of several saints to arrange the glass mosaic, watch it slide off, catch it, wash the thinset off, re-attach it, watch it slide off again and repeat these steps until you just want to rip off all the tiles and replace them with beadboard that you just staple to the walls.
The handy tiler guy says we are not defeated yet and he will attempt to fix it while we are vacationing in Tennessee. If he's successful he'll then grout it and finish the caulking. He didn't say what would happen if he wasn't........

We are buying up all the caulk in Huntington

Well, on Saturday we found out why the foyer ceiling has water damage. Steven managed to clean out all the old grout and there was an inch gap between the tiles and the bath tub. Even worse, as far as we could see that there was no backer board behind the tiles. I guess it must end somewhere up that last course of tiles but WTH were the tilers thinking?
Steven was just working out how best to caulk this again so we can use the tub for the next few months when we got a call from our handyman to say he could start back on Tuesday and finish up all those jobs he had to leave when he damaged his knee. We were so thankful to get this call, but I'm not sure the handyman felt the same when we regaled him with the list of extra things that had gone wrong while he was away and now needed to be fixed.
He was pretty appalled at the mess they'd made of the tiling, especially as the actual tiles are in good condition and were obviously expensive. He had two thoughts - a border of tile edging around the tub or ripping the whole lot out and doing the job properly. We are obviously going with option 2 but not until after the house-guests leave, so for now he is building up the caulk, one layer each day until we are leak free.

Exposed plumbing - a trendy new look?

We are now a week passed the "absolutely has to be finished by" deadline and we still have this charming hole in the laundry room and its mate, the lovely new wastepipe in the downstairs bathroom.



Still no word from our lovely handyman on his poor knee so no chance of repairs to the drywall, or tiles for that matter but apparently we will have an installed vanity in the bathroom by Tuesday morning. Then, if I'm smartish, we may get the bathroom plumbed before we leave for a week of music and mayhem in Tennessee at the end of next week.
May. Might. With a lot of luck.

Cleaning and waiting

White Rhododendron
Originally uploaded by modernemama

We now have a moss-free brick path and patio at the rear of the house.The magic algae removing formula was: a bucket of extremely hot water, Palmolive dishwashing soap and baking soda mixed with a healthy dose of Clorox Garden bleach. Pour it on, let it sit, scrub it in, then keep adding more hot water and scrubbing until the red brick emerges. Finish off by hosing it down with cold. It would be easier to cut back all the greenery but not half as pretty so we'll be going through this performance again when it gets humid.
If you look out from the downstairs bath window towards the newly clean brick path this is what you see, a 6' rhododendron that starts to blossom with the palest pink buds and opens to this bright white. Gorgeous.
If only the bathroom were that pretty. It's past Memorial Day and we still have no floating vanity, no sink, no faucet and no tiles. I did get the maple toilet seat for the new Toto but obviously we don't have the Toto yet either. Hey ho.

Good news, bad news, and a mystery.

The good news is that it rained really badly this morning so the handyman couldn't work on his other, outside, job. Actually, that's probably not such good news for his other client but great news for me because last night he phoned to say I would have to wait for another 10 days to get the hardware installed and this morning he decided he's rather be dry working on my baths.
He installed the Motiv towel bar, robe hook and toilet roll holder in the boys' bath. That means we can officially call that bathroom the winner in the first to be finished stakes as the girls' bath still needs a piece of trim and he didn't have the correct saw to do that today.
Then he filled a hole in the back door lintel that had rotted away and patched the ceiling in the downstairs bath. It was when he moved on to patch the wall in the laundry room that we realised we had a problem. The wall was more than stained, it was damp if not actually wet. After staring at it for a while and running upstairs to see if we could see a cause we decided the best option was to cut a hole and try and discover the source. I was imagining water pouring through the walls when he opened it but behind was bone dry. Huh.
There is a wastepipe there but it doesn't appear to be damaged: it's not green or damp, there are no beads of humidity anywhere but the sheetrock had just about dissolved and was definitely goopy to the touch. So we are leaving the nice hole in the wall until he can get back to us again (the week before Memorial Day, he promises) and I'll run the toilets, showers, baths and sinks upstairs to see if anything causes a leak. Otherwise when he shows up next time, he'll put in a piece of sheetrock and we'll pretend the whole thing never happened.

Girls' Bath done, tick

new vanity in use
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

One more thing ticked off the "To Do" list. The Kohler Stillness faucet was installed this morning. I cannot tell you how much this faucet sucks in comparison to the Grohe Tenso in the boys' bath.
First there's the weight issue. You pick up the Grohe and it weighs a ton, it feels substantial. The Kohler feels lightweight, like it would buckle if you squeezed the faucet really hard. Then there's the finish. We went with the Kohler because we needed a brushed nickel finish to match the other fixtures (lights, hardware) in this bath. But the finish feels cheap, I think it'll chip if I breathe too heavily on it. The Grohe is smooth and I'm sure will resist every bang and knock for years to come.
Then there's the design issue. The Tenso is simplicity itself: push back, turn, push forward - each movement is straightforward , smooth and seamless. The Stillness faucet is rough, hard-edged and the pop-up drain is resting on the spout so it is impossible for anyone with limited mobility (or small children) to pull up the rod that controls the drain cover. I'm sure it will scratch the back of the spout too, but you won't be able to see that.
If we had purchased these faucets in chrome, they would have been the same price, but the quality? World's apart. That said, the Stillness is a pretty faucet and, as I knew I would, I made the plumber happy by choosing Kohler. After all that's what he has in his house.

Vanity countertop #2

The furniture maker had pre-selected another quartz sample for me, it's pretty close to the Caesarstone Copper Canyon: Camarthen Brown by Cambria but they don't have any in stock and it might take three weeks to get a piece unless they can find an offcut from somewhere. Choice #3 would be Silestone Mahogany, which is a little too terracotta or Kona Beige, which would mean going in a totally different direction. I've ordered the Cambria and asked them to rush it. Fingers crossed.
And on another tack, the landscaper informs me I have a break on the sprinkler line just where he's planting. That's the sprinkler line the guys fixed two weeks ago. It seems like everything that could go wrong is going wrong this week. I don't think I'm going to answer the phone or pick up anymore emails today because I can't cope with any more bad news at the moment.

New border and shower base

new border

We weren't the only ones working hard this weekend. The landscaper came with vibernum, hostas and day lilies to beautify the entrance to the cul-de-sac. Then he edged the bed with 2' rocks and mulched the yard thoroughly, it already looks great and it smells wonderful. I love the smell of mulch. It's a huge improvement on the overgrown ivy bed that was here before.

old border
I did some spring pruning of the deadwood on the hydrangeas, and moved 10 buckets of river rock to make a dry river bed in the dell, while Steven pumped out the water on the pool cover ready to open it this week. We also got the teak base for the boys' bath .

Where were we?

downstarirs bath plumbing
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

This has been a really busy weekend house-wise. We got back lunchtime Friday and spent the afternoon cleaning up cat poop, I have never seen so much shit in my life - and it was all confined to the master bathroom. Poop in the bath, in the shower, all around the loo. Horrible. There was also sick in the living room but that was minor. And evidence that the cat sitter had cleaned up in the kitchen. I don't know what went on while we were away, they were fine before we left and have been fine since we got back. I can only think they were locked in and got scared. They are used to running in and out of the house all day. I won't leave them again, they can suck it up and join the dogs in kennels.
Steven got rid of his frustration on the remains of the old vanity unit, it's amazing that what is essentially sawdust can stand up to nearly forty years of wear and tear and still put up a good fight but the sledgehammer won in the end.
After that, and a trip to t-mobile to get the replacement phone, we pretty much succumbed to jet-lag.

One last chore before vacation time

old floating vanity
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

Time is going to be short when we get back from vacation so we decided at 7 pm last night to take out the floating vanity. It should have been easy because the water lines weren't corroded, but the P-trap was shut fast and we didn't have a 2" wrench. A quick trip to Home Depot and $10 later we had the p-trap undone. Unfortunately, the faux marble countertop was so heavy, and we didn't want to damage the tiles taking it off, that we couldn't shift it in one piece. A couple of bangs with Big Bessie the sledgehammer and the top was in three smaller pieces and on its way to the garbage.
We knocked off only three tiny triangular pieces of tiles and they came off intact so we can thinset them back on when we get back from our holiday.
Then we realised that our decent flat-bladed screwdriver was missing and the other ones were to big or to small to unscrew the vanity from the wall. Hey, ho, back to Home Depot we go.