what a grind

today's task was to put a second coat of "stucco" on the walls, install the cement backer board, and perhaps start tiling.

i had to shave 1/2" off the bottom of one board and lacked the tools, so i got a 4-1/2" right angle grinder and a 4" diamond masonry blade...no problem, since the spindle diameters are the same, right? wrong - made a second trip to the depot to find a washer or a different blade, but it turns out that this particular grinder (ryobi ag451k) won't tighten down past ~3/16" thickness, and all of the cutoff blades are 1/8" thick. must return it now...

time wasted: 1.5 hours

i ended up just nibbling that 5' x 1/2" piece off with pliers.

almost ready for tile

slow day...got going late, around noon, bought our field tiles for the tub surround and ordered three cool 12" X 12" mosaic tiles as accents for the surround. applied the stucco finish to the drywall that will remain exposed. i was going to install the cement board, but found that our circular saw doesn't accept the standard 4" masonry cutter i was going to use on the cement board...guess we'll add a right angle grinder to our tool cache tomorrow for this task.

oh yeah, ate at moe's again

slow start

went to bed last night with the intentions of starting early on the bathroom...hah! we rolled out of bed at 10:00, had some coffee, went to moe's, then started working. so what? that's the beauty of having two bathrooms. finished hanging the drywall, and taped/mudded the seams. ready for cement board installation now!

Herlong Mansion

went to Micanopy today with Jules to check out the Herlong Mansion as a possible site to have our wedding. looks quite nice! makes me want to build a home like it...just as soon as i find that $250K i misplaced the other day. after that, we started on the bathroom again. got the ceiling drywall and half of the walls hung today.

coming along

due to prior engagements, we got going around 4pm or so Saturday. managed to install the new R-13 insulation, hang a rafter to support the new ceiling, and put up the vapor barrier for the tub surround. i used adhesive caulk instead of the recommended roofing tar to secure the vapor barrier to the tub flange, so we'll see soon if it dries properly...

smoke and mirrors

so...this whole web log thing is going to take any perceived magnificence out of our renovation work, as you go from seeing just "before" and "after" to hearing me whine about every step of the project and expose how little we accomplish each day!

having said that, we managed to install the barrier between the units and seal it all off with expanding foam. (pictures in the downstairs bath gallery) pretty cool stuff, that foam is! we're very pleased that the bathroom only smells of lumber now. i also put in new studs and cross members to support the drywall/cement board around the tub, and a cross member to anchor the pedestal sink. the whining part: we didn't get going until noon today, it took till 7pm, and we still didn't get any drywall up!

getting started

recap of today...
<fantasy_land>
get to home depot early (9ish), load up on drywall and cement board, install the Stink Barrier^TM and put the drywall up in the bathroom, maybe even the cement board. (for those of you that can't read my mind, the Stink Barrier keeps the offensive stench from the sludge beneath the adjoining unit's tub from invading our airspace - i guess it's good news that it's not actually our unit that smells?!)
</fantasy_land>

<reality>
got to home depot around noon, spent 3.5 (!) hours getting everything...hey, at least we have the materials now! we'll just put the actual labor off until Sunday. photos to follow soon...
</reality>