Bathroom Remodel: Part 3 - Finishing the bathroom

This is part 3 of our Bathroom Remodel. Click here for part 1 and here for part 2.

At the end of my last post, I had just finished laying my penny floor and discussed my supply list for doing it. I am going to pick right back up where I left off... Sealing the floor!

This is a freshly sealed floor. It has been sprayed thoroughly
and wipedwith a terry cloth bar towel to remove the extra sealant
from the pennies. I have no intention of slipping on slick pennies
as I step out of my claw foot tub!

After the floor had dried, I started cutting my baseboard.
Yes, I used pine. Why didn't I use the prefab stuff from HD?
Because I have this unique, beautiful hand cut 5 and 1/2" baseboard
in my hallway that I intend to duplicate throughout the house.
We love it. So I cut the top of 6" boards at a 45 and
then sliced another 1/4" off to create a shelf for
my paneling to sit on.

Then I started adding paneling. Why didn't I place my
paneling and then add baseboard. Money! A full 4X8 sheet of
wainscoting could be cut into 2 pieces that were theheight I needed
with an unusable scrap left over ORI could cut it into 3 equal pieces,
no scrap, and choose to set it on top of the baseboard and the rail above,
not over, the paneling. It made sense to me to use every bit I could.
Also, I marked out all my studs where my chair rail would sit,
so I could see them while installing the panels.

A better view of the project.

Lamp stand bought at flea market this summer. Pure brass.
$20. Awesome.
Brass switch plates - 3 years ago at yard sale for $2 for the bundle.

You can't see it, but you should realize that NO house is square,
certainly not mine, so my panels gapped in the corners.
Nothing wood filler wouldn't fix :)

Brass floor grate. What do you think of brass and copper together?

Ah, the fun part! I got to measure out my plumbing stub locations
for the tub and sink and use a hole saw to cut out their places.
I'm glad I did it right! That could have been an expensive mistake.
You can also see below that base board trim that there is a relatively
large gap below it. This would be the problem I was referring to in
my last post. Either we needed more subfloor or more shims
before pouring leveling compound

A terrible corner! SO glad this is in the corner behind the sink!
I had to cut some biscuits from extra chair rail to fill that gap.
Wood filler, paint. Nearly invisible.

So this is my hand routed chair rail.
Again, I am matching existing molding in our dining room
and hallway. The man who did all that work was an 
AMAZING carpenter, so buying this prefab just wasn't
going to happen. AND molding and trim are CRAZY expensive!
Plain old wood is in my budget.
Bonus: I got to use the router more and worked it like a boss.

In this picture I am about to place my last piece of chair rail molding.
It's mid afternoon and I am determined to be finished today!
I finished filling nail holes, gaps and seams with wood putty and
was frustrated because I really thought I would be done...

And then Niki came to by!
I was so tired, but having a friend come to help made it enjoyable.
She is always there to help me just when I can't take much more!
Thanks Niki!

So it's painted. Roll on one coat, brush the second.
Finished by 6pm? Sounds right.

The next day? I applied a second coat of grout sealer before the tub and
toilet went in again.
Isn't it pretty? Too bad I have to put things over my floor...

But I'm done! That means it's tub time!
And that means I get my kitchen back!

I made a template for our tub on cardboard.
 The tub has to have the feet removed, anchor them to the floor
(we used carriage bolts because we have an open ceiling in the basement,
but toggle bolts would work), then place the tub back on.
Which means that where it's installed is where it stays!
So the tub is in the room, but not hooked up at this point.
This is a couple of days before Thanksgiving.
Mr. Ireland did get the toilet and sink put in on that Wednesday,
which was nice for us to have 2 bathrooms over the holiday.

In my next post you will see the bathroom as it is today. We are not totally finished, but it is livable. Which is kind of the point. If you haven't noticed, we aren't going for a decorator-finished house here. We want the house to be a reflection of the people living in it. Quirky, a little off maybe, but you know - fun. Ha! We like to complete our projects to about 95% and then say " 's enough, lets move on". (We're not really trying to do that, but it seems to be our thing)

This bathroom represents a milestone for us. With this room "completed", we are down to just a handful of projects to complete inside the house. Namely, the kitchen remodel, the dining room ceiling, and master bedroom flooring  scratch that, I did that in December! Next post ;)  We do want to replace windows, but that will probably be one of our only projects that we hire out.

It's been almost 5 years! Being this close to DONE has me beginning to focus on the smaller details - painting the stairs and stairwell, trimming out rooms, hanging pictures, changing light fixtures... I honestly believed we would never get to those fluffy details! The end is in sight! I have hopes of being able to work on other projects in the not so distant future - sewing, painting, and so many other hobbies that we just haven't had time or energy for because of the remodel. Mostly, I'm looking forward to a clean, de-cluttered house because I will finally be able to PUT THE TOOLS AWAY!

Hey, I can dream, can't I?