A Day in the Basement, Mostly

An Empty Shell of a Bathroom

The bathroom started out as an empty shell this morning, but due to an overwhelming frustration with the study door, it ...

Well, you'll just have to see.

The primary goal for Saturday was getting the rest of the doors up. We'd completed (mostly) the big French door and the suite bedroom and closet doors on Friday night (because we don't really have much else of a life right now) and were hoping to get a few more done, but there was this issue with the vertical hang on the study door (the one leading from the hallway into the study) where it just didn't want to fit right -- like the middle of the frame was bowed out or something -- and after half an hour of struggling with it, I gave up and moved onto something else.

Even after coming up with this nifty door-frame-length-trimming-jig.

My Door-Frame Trimming Jig

So I started working on the bathroom.

Can you imagine the level of frustration that drives a perfectly sane person to go from working on a simple door hanging to a plumbing job?

No, neither than I.

But it happened.

Since Cheryl and Mary were out shopping (preparing for the upcoming festivities), Deb helped move the vanity downstairs, then I managed to get the toilet down there, too. I was so anxious to see how it all worked. If it worked. It wouldn't been surprising if it didn't work -- I am a complete and utter pessimist -- but it did. Well, the faucets didn't get turned on and water didn't flow, but everything actually fit where it was supposed to go. Which is something.

The toilet got installed; the vanity faucet got hooked up. Still need to set up the drain, but it looks cool! Installed the shower valve and shower head.

Then it was time for doors again.

So when Cheryl got home, she helped me install the bathroom door. And while she and Mary were cooking dinner, I went back and beat on the study door until it finally acquiesced. Or at least it managed to close without sticking.

The Recalcitrant Door

After dinner, Cheryl and I headed out to Home Depot and grabbed a whole bunch of odds and ends - curtain rods, towel racks, a mirror, supply line for the toilet, etc. - we'll need to finish things up later this week.

It's starting to look great!

Much better!