1.02.2008

He and the master bathroom aren't getting any younger

My master bathroom has been under construction for a full year now. I know this because I recently baked my husband a football shaped birthday cake:

See, he made the mistake of starting the renovation on his birthday. It's made it easy for everyone he knows to track exactly how long he's been working on it. That would a full year now. Did I mention that?

Back in August when my husband finished the tile work, I joked that we might have a toilet in there by the end of the year. That makes me laugh just thinking about it. Mostly because there’s no toilet in there right now. There is however a lovely shower stall:

No fixtures or shower head of course. Perfection can't be rushed. Besides, if our master bathroom had a functioning shower I wouldn't get the privilege of sharing a shower with 18 miniature rubber ducks that seemed like a funny Christmas present for a new 2 year old.

The shower doors were installed three days before my husband's birthday. The day before his birthday he and his dad installed baseboards:

Then they worked well into the evening on wainscoting:

Me thinks the looming one year anniversary may have inspired him. Unfortunately, a wall problem had to be fixed before the wainscoting could go in. A drywall related wall problem that involved spackle, drying, sanding, painting and fraying every last bit of my husband’s patience. But at least the wainscoting is cut, fitted and waiting in the wings to go in. I look forward to it going in. Not because I care about it getting done quickly but because it’s currently blocking my ability to get dressed:

See the red thing behind the wainscoting boards. That's a dolly. This morning I stepped on the bottom front part of it in the dark on the way to my closet. It whacked me full in the face. And to think I worried about tripping over the giant compressor next to my side of the bed:

Silly me. Almost as silly as standing on the bed to take a photo of wainscoting blocking your closet and getting hit in the head by the ceiling fan. It's hard to believe anything could hurt more than the dolly to the face but you'd be surprised how solid those ceiling fan blades are. I informed the newest 4 year old of my head injury only to have her tell me, "That's what you get for standing on the bed." From the mouths of babes.

13 comments:

sarah said...

rough!! has you seen the movie "money pit" with tom hanks? your fiasco with the dolly, air compressor, ceiling fan, and the remodel in general reminds me of that.

sarah said...

i clicked "publish" too quickly. i meant to also write: that is one of my favorite movies. and it will end. eventually. and well.

Anonymous said...

Next time you all decide to renovate? Get all of yours clothes/pots & pans/beauty supplies/winter coats out and put them in his closet [wink]

kirida said...

I love the football cake. Perfect manfood.

Deb said...

Oh my! I'm sure it's frustrating more than funny most days, but it certainly makes for a good post! Thanks for sharing! I hope the head wounds heal quickly!

T with Honey said...

Your post has inspired me to go home and sign that contract with the remodeling company tonight.

Honey and I are looking at a master bathroom remodel and after getting the quotes he started telling me about his thoughts on how we could do it ourselves for a lot less money. I think the extra money may be worth it just to have a chance of ever seeing the finished product.

Lindy said...

Sheesh. I don't know what to tell you except you except I feel your pain...

Our master bathroom is coming up on a two year anniversary of its state of demolition. In addition, I now have half a remodeled banister (he was feeling bored with the bathroom I guess?) in our entryway which for some reason that I fail to comprehend necessitated the removal of the baseboards in the entryway.

I also have two large gaping holes in the ceiling of my laundry room (exploratory surgery for a pinging sound that he later discovered was the exhaust fan) and a partially installed new exhaust fan which was determined to be the wrong one and may be eventually disconnected for return, but undoubtedly not before the return date on the receipt expires.

I also have two exploratory holes in the family room wall that have been awaiting repairs for over 6 months. And missing trim and baseboards along with an inexplicably small unpainted section near the vanity left over from the master bedroom painting project of 2005.

Just before Thanksgiving, it was decided that the living room needed painting. I didn't get to vote. We are still missing baseboards and trim. Well, that's not fair I guess. The baseboards are there. They are lying along the wall waiting patiently and pathetically for installation.

'We' decided the guest bathroom needed remodeling too. I would eventually like a morning shower to not involve the removal of a shop vac and assorted power tools. But that's just crazy talk.

Yesterday he came home with new doors... supposedly to replace the upstairs ones. Not that they don't need to be replaced, but I've been begging for completion of just one itsy bitsy project to buoy my irrational hopes of eventual restored sanity.

I didn't even have it in me to laugh at the sight of the air compressor and dolly in your bedroom. I can't. The trauma of it hits a little too close to home for me on this one. I offered to write the New Year's resolutions this year... no takers. So shock therapy it is - I haven't yet decided who gets it.

My sincere condolences!

Unknown said...

Well if it's any consolation, the shower stall looks great! :)

Anonymous said...

I think your daughter was channelling her mother.

Lizarita said...

I'm in the kitchen and bath remodeling business. I feel your pain. All of the projects we start for customers end up being WAY more time consuming than we originally plan. But hey! That shower stall looks AWESOME!

Anonymous said...

what did you do to help?

Lindy said...

Anonymous - Hmmm... Grocery shopping, meal planning, cooking, cleaning, dish-washing (although if I recall from a previous post, sometimes she does get some assistance, of sorts, in this department), bill-paying, dog-walking, errand-running, bed-time story reading, ensuring that everyone is fed and at least has access to clean underwear and most likely confiscating assorted power tools from small children on a regular basis. But that would just be a guess at the short list. I wasn't actually there to see it first hand. ; )

Anonymous said...

sarbear - Yes, the air compressor and dolly feel very "Money Pit"-ish. I like that movie too.

ree - Right! He actually had the extra toiletry storage next to his desk for awhile. He didn't seem to care. Although clogging up his closet would really have gotten his attention.

insomnia - The cake was actually pretty good. Although I'm not really into chocolate cake. Not to mention I sort of burned it a little. But he seemed to like it so it's all good.

deb - Thanks!

t with honey - If you've never done remodeling before, I wouldn't try to do a whole bathroom yourself. It's a lot of work! And my husband's very, very, very handy and knows how to do the stuff. The extended schedule of this project has mostly been due to finishing his college degree and a little side business venture he's gotten involved in.

childlife - If I could send my husband to your house to help your husband finish some stuff I would! Seriously! I feel your frustration. The only rule I have is that he finish one before he starts the next.

virginia - I know! I love it! I don't think I've ever showered in such a fancy shower. Which either means I really, really love it or I need to get out more.

psychigeek - She's a sharp kid!

lizarita - I'm kinda sorta in love with it. And I'm definitely learning the "everything takes way longer than you think it will" lesson.

anonymous - Absolutely nothing. Besides the dolly to the face anyway. I have zero remodeling skills. Normally I help paint but it's a small room and there's been really limited painting going on since we're using wainscoting. But I always try to help him if he shows me what he wants me to do. So there.

childlife - Yeah! Everything she said! Because she said it so well! Take that!

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