Old, New, and Improved

We've had a few gapping heating vent holes in our new floors for weeks now... It just didn't seem right to put the old scratched and rusty grates back in.  So, we got to work and refinished them!  We even found an old sturdy metal grate at the re-building center to replace the single broken one.  We no longer have to worry about potentially falling through the floor... which actually happened the other night as Ryan walked out of the bathroom, stepped into the intake vent hole and almost fell through the duct into the basement.  With some type of freakish move he ended up propelling himself mid-air out of the hole and into the hallway.  He has a nasty elbow bruise and a bloody shin to prove it.... and subsequently had to pound the duct work back into shape. 

Happiness

The other week we finally installed the shower/tub fixtures!  It was tricky.  The new plumbing needed some tweaking to match the antique parts.  We needed to do a little re-grouting on the floor tile.  We needed to remember why there were waxed strings at every piping connection instead of washers.  We needed to mount the shower ring in very tight bathroom square footage wall space.  And, we needed to shim the legs so it wouldn't wobble.  
Ryan did it all and it's amazing.  My initial shouts of laughter and joy could apparently be heard from the backyard.  The daily evening baths and morning showers feel like a wonderful luxury.  We are very clean people right now. 

Tub time!

We got her down the driveway, in the door, around the corner and put the legs on!
Next step... connect all the fixtures. 
(Way easier said than done.)

Moving on up...

With the closet completely refinished it's time to move in! 

More tiles!

Here we are pretending to be tiling experts and here's our step by step guide to tiling a bathroom wall.

Top to bottom, left to right:

Purchase tile, layout tile and cut to fit, start at the bottom, work up and don't forget about the spacers and applying the right amount of adhesive. Then add grout.  In our case add way too much grout and rub like crazy subsequently taking off way too much grout.  Apply more grout and repeat process.  Finally, stop being perfectionists and touch up the paint job.

Free piles in Portland

...can result in a nice new desk!
Thank you neighbors for randomly putting things you'd like to give away out on the curb.

Happy New Year!

Upon our return to reality... and our completely unfinished house... we moved into our lovely friend's Jason and Samantha's place over New Year's so we could complete the bathroom floor tile project.  After hours of very very very frustrating tile layout and spacing, we finally figured it out.  whew.

 Finished product:

Not house related at all...

This post has nothing to do with our house remodel. It is simply a photo tribute to a fantastic holiday vacation with the Schoonover family in Kauai.  Is is too late to consider relocating?  Shave ice, boogie boarding, water, waves, sunsets and sunshine = perfect combination.

Christmas in Kenton

A belated Merry Christmas from the house around the corner. This was clearly worth an extra drive around the block every now and then.... 

Ryan and the birthday floor

Ryan spent his birthday laying down our bathroom subfloor. We rounded off the evening with drinks and a steak dinner at Laurelhurst Market.  The floor looks great and the restaurant was amazing. Happy Birthday Ryan, well done!