Warning: Potential stress vent below
We hired a designer to project manage our bathroom renos, since we wanted a break from renovating ourselves. I guess you could say I was our project manager for the kitchen/main floor reno. I just didn't know it. She's doing a great job, but here are a few things I have learned about using a designer:
1. I think trades see that you have used a designer, and jack up their prices because they think you can afford the big bucks. I actually thought we might save some money by going with her, since she gets discounts. Yeah...that was delusional.
2. You still have to approve everything, and it's still stressful. Especially if you are a control freak like me who hates feeling out of the loop.
3. It takes longer. You can't just do it, like you do when you are DIY. It feels like there are a zillion extra steps to everything.
I am hoping, now that work is supposed to start this week, that it is easy. I hope I don't have to deal with the problems (oh yes, there will be problems) and that she will take all that off my shoulders. After all, that IS what she is there for.
Perhaps I am just too involved, I'm going to try and take a step back and let her handle it.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Geologists are not good at math
That is a pretty general statement, but if you ask a geologist, most of the time it's true. I am a prime example it.
We are having our fireplace, backspash and back landing tiled. I measured everything, and triple checked my measurements. I ordered the tile, and everything was great, or so I thought. The tiler started working, and low and behold I needed an extra box of the fireplace tile. So, I ordered an extra box. While I was at it, I remeasured the back landing, and decided to order an extra box of that tile too. (Trying to be proactive).
That extra tile came in, and the tiler continued working away. Today, I find out we need another box of each one! Now, I admit, my math is bad, but wow...I must have been way off. I even factored in 10% for waste. I guess I chose the right profession if I'm this bad at math. I should have gotten my dad (an engineer) to confirm my measurements!
So, the moral of the story is, the tiling is not done yet. I'll post pictures as soon as it is!
(On a side note, I think tilers must be bad at math too. The one that did our first bathroom tile quote must have miscalculated by a few decimal places. I hope it was a mistake!)
We are having our fireplace, backspash and back landing tiled. I measured everything, and triple checked my measurements. I ordered the tile, and everything was great, or so I thought. The tiler started working, and low and behold I needed an extra box of the fireplace tile. So, I ordered an extra box. While I was at it, I remeasured the back landing, and decided to order an extra box of that tile too. (Trying to be proactive).
That extra tile came in, and the tiler continued working away. Today, I find out we need another box of each one! Now, I admit, my math is bad, but wow...I must have been way off. I even factored in 10% for waste. I guess I chose the right profession if I'm this bad at math. I should have gotten my dad (an engineer) to confirm my measurements!
So, the moral of the story is, the tiling is not done yet. I'll post pictures as soon as it is!
(On a side note, I think tilers must be bad at math too. The one that did our first bathroom tile quote must have miscalculated by a few decimal places. I hope it was a mistake!)
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Cory, Jason, Jason, Cory, Greg
Talk about confusion, it seems every guy we are working with on the house is Greg, Cory or Jason.
The bathroom cabinet guy is Jason, the owner of the tile company is Corrie. Corrie happens to have a worker named Jason who is installing the backspash at our house right now (yay). The guy who is doing our glass is Cory, he is also the captain of Brent's ex-hockey team. Brent couldn't get on that team this year, but he was able to get on another team, thanks to a different friend named Cory. The plumber is Greg, who went to highschool with Brent. However, he doesn't do ductwork, so we had to hire another plumber to vent our stove, his name was Greg too.
PHEW.
The bathroom cabinet guy is Jason, the owner of the tile company is Corrie. Corrie happens to have a worker named Jason who is installing the backspash at our house right now (yay). The guy who is doing our glass is Cory, he is also the captain of Brent's ex-hockey team. Brent couldn't get on that team this year, but he was able to get on another team, thanks to a different friend named Cory. The plumber is Greg, who went to highschool with Brent. However, he doesn't do ductwork, so we had to hire another plumber to vent our stove, his name was Greg too.
PHEW.
Bathroom Color Schemes
Here are the samples for the bathrooms. They are going to be so nice!
Main Bath:
-Background tile is for the floor and tub surround
- From left to right, limestone for countertop, mosaic tile for backspash and wall detail, cabinet color sample and paint color.
Ensuite Bath:
- Background tile is for walls, floor and most of shower surround
- left to right: cabinet stain color, mosaic tile for shower base and bench and vanity backsplash, paint color
The grey on the left, is the concrete color for the countertop. It's on a fireplace in the showroom:
Main Bath:
-Background tile is for the floor and tub surround
- From left to right, limestone for countertop, mosaic tile for backspash and wall detail, cabinet color sample and paint color.
Ensuite Bath:
- Background tile is for walls, floor and most of shower surround
- left to right: cabinet stain color, mosaic tile for shower base and bench and vanity backsplash, paint color
The grey on the left, is the concrete color for the countertop. It's on a fireplace in the showroom:
Saturday, September 8, 2007
bathroom shopping
First a quick and happy update about the kitchen. The installers are coming to finish the job on Monday. FINALLY!!!
Ok, onto the bathroom news...
I met Melinda (the interior designer in charge of our bathroom reno) at the bathroom fixture store today. We picked out everything. It was so fun. We continued to demo the bathrooms tonight, and got most of the work done. I think all that is left to go is the tub in the ensuite.
Warning, photo overload!!
Main Bathroom Stuff
Undermount sink that will be going in a limestone countertop:
Sink Faucet:
Tub Faucet, it's a jet tub, I just have to choose how many jets I want still:
Ensuite Bathroom Stuff
Sink, will be going on a concrete countertop:
Sink Faucet:
The tub in the ensuite is being removed, and we are replacing it with a shower only, that will fill the entire footprint of the old tub. There will be a bench on one side of the shower, and this shower system on the other side:
It has 4 body sprays, and the shower head can spray like a rain shower head (my favorite) or strong direct spray (brent's favorite):
Here's Brent working on removing the old drywall. This view is inside the main bath, looking directly through to the ensuite, where he is:
As usual, Winston supervised and Paul hid under the bed because of the loud noise:
Ok, onto the bathroom news...
I met Melinda (the interior designer in charge of our bathroom reno) at the bathroom fixture store today. We picked out everything. It was so fun. We continued to demo the bathrooms tonight, and got most of the work done. I think all that is left to go is the tub in the ensuite.
Warning, photo overload!!
Main Bathroom Stuff
Undermount sink that will be going in a limestone countertop:
Sink Faucet:
Tub Faucet, it's a jet tub, I just have to choose how many jets I want still:
Ensuite Bathroom Stuff
Sink, will be going on a concrete countertop:
Sink Faucet:
The tub in the ensuite is being removed, and we are replacing it with a shower only, that will fill the entire footprint of the old tub. There will be a bench on one side of the shower, and this shower system on the other side:
It has 4 body sprays, and the shower head can spray like a rain shower head (my favorite) or strong direct spray (brent's favorite):
Here's Brent working on removing the old drywall. This view is inside the main bath, looking directly through to the ensuite, where he is:
As usual, Winston supervised and Paul hid under the bed because of the loud noise:
Girl power
We had 2 new additions to our girls night last night. Kristina and Dionne came over with their little girls, Lily and Samantha. Here they are chillin on the couch.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Prune Yogourt
I reached for a yogourt this morning, and the only flavor left was prune. I didn't even know they made prune yogourt. Actually they snuck it in in a multi pack with the good flavors like Peach and Strawberry. How cruel!
We heard some news about our MIA contractor from my co-worker who was having him reno a few bathrooms. Turns out the contractor had some personal problems to deal with. I guess he is going to be returning to work on the bathrooms. We on the other hand have not heard from him. I mailed him a letter last week asking him to respond by Sept 10th. If we don't hear from him, I'll assume he's not coming back. I wonder if that means we get to keep his fancy miter saw and air compressor that is in our garage?
The bathrooms should get started the first week of October. Brent and I have to demo them this weekend (including all drywall and the ceiling!) They are mostly gutted already so it should be a quick job. The goal is to have them done by Christmas.
Fantasy Football season starts tonight. It's my 3rd year playing and I don't have that great of a track record. I'm learning a lot though, and it's pretty fun. Here's hoping for a great season. Go PULVERIZERS GO!!
We heard some news about our MIA contractor from my co-worker who was having him reno a few bathrooms. Turns out the contractor had some personal problems to deal with. I guess he is going to be returning to work on the bathrooms. We on the other hand have not heard from him. I mailed him a letter last week asking him to respond by Sept 10th. If we don't hear from him, I'll assume he's not coming back. I wonder if that means we get to keep his fancy miter saw and air compressor that is in our garage?
The bathrooms should get started the first week of October. Brent and I have to demo them this weekend (including all drywall and the ceiling!) They are mostly gutted already so it should be a quick job. The goal is to have them done by Christmas.
Fantasy Football season starts tonight. It's my 3rd year playing and I don't have that great of a track record. I'm learning a lot though, and it's pretty fun. Here's hoping for a great season. Go PULVERIZERS GO!!