Bath

We finished the sink, toilet and tub shorty after finally moving into the house. We have added some minor touches since these pictures, so look for some more in the future.

We completed the window and door trim and the wainscotting.  We modeled the wainscotting design to mimic that of the dining room.  We are very fortunate to have McCoy Millwork here in Portland, from which we bought the cove/crown moulding for the tops of the windows and doors.  While not an exact match for the house’s original moulding, it is very similar and adds a strong dose of authenticity to the appearance of our bathroom (and kitchen, too).  You cannot buy trim like this at Home Depot or Lowe’s.

We  purchased a new Milgard window, because the old one was completely falling apart.  While we try to reuse as much as possible, sometimes it’s just not all that practical.  If the old window had had any aesthetic or vintage value, we would have put more effort into saving it.  Since it was a complete mess, we felt better about installing a new, energy efficient Marvin window.  We used Marvins for all our downstairs replacement windows, since the wood interior trim goes very well with our house.  The no-maintenance aluminum exteriors actually look quite good and will hold up well over time.

We filled up this dumpster with wood to be recycled and another one twice the size with trash.  Julio’s brother Carmen was in town to help, and together the two of them carried over 11,000 lbs. from the back patio and 2nd floor down the twenty steps to the street level.  They both slept very well that night…

It was very encouraging to see these things go in.  It makes you feel like there actually is light at the end of the tunnel.

Chloe approves of the new tile floor!

Hex tile. We wanted an original look to the bathroom, so we decided to spend the extra money on hex tile vs. something more modern.

Stephanie created a design that looked as though it could have been there since 1911. Most people are surprised when we tell them that this floor is brand new. Click to continue »

Backerboard installed over the subfloor and floor patches.

Bathroom wiring completed. Julio is an electrical engineer and has practiced on many project before, so he always feels like the wiring is the easiest part of the job.

Prior to the installation of this vent, the bathroom had only had an electrical wall heater installed in the 60’s.  Before that, there was NO heat at all.

We installed the duct through the floor, then we let our heating contractor run a duct over when he installed the new furnace.

New plumbing ran to the bathroom.  Because of all the problems with the old plumbing, everything feeding into this area had to be replaced at the same time.  It looks easy now that it’s done, but it was a lot of work.

Prior to this house, Julio was convinced that plumbing was an art that he could never get the hang of.  The only previous experience he had was with some minor repairs, and he had to have his dad talk him through soldering the copper pipe.  But, hundreds of joints later, he’s starting to feel like he knows what he’s doing…