Waterworks details

Today, Shawn from Richard's Plumbing spent the day in the new house hooking up the sinks and taps. He 's a great guy who pays attention to the little details, like how the pipes under the sink are tucked close to the wall in order to not take up valuable storage space. The taps we chose are simple, yet elegant and single handle design for ease of use.

The big sink is in the mudroom bathroom. It's the extra deep sink that will get heavy duty use including washing our small dogs. The spray head also is attached to a hose that pulls out for spraying. I still have to do the tile back splash around this area.

The main bathroom features a six foot long tub that is extra deep. It will be a great place to soak. The taps are the same simple, elegant style.

The ensuite shower is a pure delight. It features three separately controlled shower heads. I gave it a spin tonight and this is a shower where one gets wet all over at the same time. Measuring four feet wide by eight feet long and with a nine foot ceiling this shower feels nice and roomy too. :)

I'm loving this house already!

-grampa dan

Floor progress

Today I mamaged to finish tiling the last of the closets, the stair risers and the floor of the mudroom bathroom. That finishes the small floor areas of the house. This means the pace of tiling will pick up from here.

The LED lights under the handrails light up the stairs perfectly by themselves (without shining in our eyes) and will serve as a night light when we have company.

The trim in Phoebe's playroom is now finished and ready for final paint. The adjustable shelves are ready for paint as well. 

With the upstairs bathroom tile in place I can now finish the laminated floor in the upstairs area. Once that is done I'll be tiling the large areas of the downstairs. It is all coming together quickly now. Stay tuned for more progress...

-grampa dan

Splish splash.

The new house is a careful balance between practicality and fun. In the bathroom and ensuite we considered many options for the surrounds. Janis isn't fond of the maintenance tile would involve. The high cost of a one piece solid surface defeated that option. In the end we opted for a 100% acrylic splash with as few seams as possible. It's plain but the easiest to maintain. We'll keep the fancy for other parts of the rooms. The bath splash crew was in the house the last few days installing the massive sheets of acrylic. One of the installers will be back tomorrow to finish.

The ensuite the shower is eight feet long and four feet wide. The floor is sloped gently to the drain in the middle and there will be no shower door. The reason is simple. Like the rest of our house these areas are designed to be wheelchair friendly. I put in plenty of sturdy backing in both the tub and ensuite shower areas in case we need grab bars in the future as well. The truth is that Janis and I aren't getting younger. While we may never have the need for wheelchairs we don't want such a need to force us from our home in future years. It will never be easier than now to plan for such an eventuality.

On Monday the plumbers arrive for the final install of the toilets and taps. Everything is coming together.

Soon...

-grampa dan