It's Hydrangea time

Look what happens when you actually water your hydrangea bush? You get blooms.

Purdy.

Anyone else notice how much water these suckers require? Not drought tolerant that's for sure...

Master Bath D-Day 3

Now that the master bath has been cleared out, we proceeded to the flooring. You see, it was boring white square ceramic tiles with highlights of hideous shades of orange. I like orange, and have nothing against that color but what were the PO's (previous owners) thinking when they chose to put that in a room that received no sunlight with overhead fluorescent lighting?

And so out it went. For this job, make sure the toilet drain pipe is covered to protect it from debris falling in. Also put up plastic drop cloths to prevent dust and tile chunks from flying into any nearby rooms (we didn't have to do this as we just closed the bathroom door).

What you'll need:

• rubber mallet
• crow bar
  
• hammer or metal mallet (forget what this is technically called)
• grout removal tool
• metal putty knife
  
• floor scraper
• dust pan and broom
• dust mask (I know the bf isn't wearing one in the above pic but apparently he doesn't care about his lungs)
  

I also suggest ear plugs of some sort, this process gets loud.

Take the grout removal tool (which is basically a stack of utility blades with one handle) and run along the ground lines (it will make an awful sound. Like fingernails. Along a chalkboard. A very clean one. Times 10).

Then take the rubber mallet and lightly pound the tiles that you have used the grout removal tool along to loosen it up. Work in sections, like one entire row at a time.

Now take your crowbar and hammer (or metal mallet) and pry off the tiles. They should start to come off. Then use the floor scraper and the tiles should come off in whole pieces (which will make for less dust and way easier clean up).


And if a ton of grout was used, then you've just got to smash the hell out of the tiles. Clean up will suck. But at least you can unleash your aggression on the stupid ugly tiles.

By the end of this, you'll be deaf and your arms will want to fall off (if you are hauling loads of broken tile from the second floor, that is).

Any better tips to this type of demolition? Or tile hauling? Did you actually like the orange tiles? Are you the PO's that picked it out? Care to defend it?

Clean Sweep

We are cleaning up around here. Our house has become a disaster zone. We have a toilet tank in the hallway and unexpectedly had friends come over and they didn't even ask why we had half a toilet outside our bedroom. Or maybe they didn't notice. Either way, it means we are pigs.


So we decided to clean up a bit. Sell some stuff, donate a bunch of stuff, throw away more stuff. Sure we live in the digital age but sometimes you have to toss out that digital stuff as well. Look at that pile of outdated material. My favorite is the one labeled "CD Music" (I'm tempted to write "CD" on the blank one).

Do you keep a drained toilet in your hallway? Does that lead to cleaning out your discs? And then leaving the toilet in your hallway anyway? Please tell me yes...

Socket Away

I stopped by Pepboys for a very specific item. A 10 mm socket for a 3/8" drive. This is what I saw when I went there:

Really? Does this ever happen to you?

Keep at Basil

Why buy basil leaves when you can get the whole plant?

A cheap alternative to floral centerpiece. Fragrant. And think of the possibilities!

I'm going to massacre this guy and make pesto. Mmmmm. Any other suggestions?

Not the Best Medicine

Included in the removal of the vanities, sink, and toilet, I also removed something really minor:

I just unscrewed the 3 screws on the inside of the medicine cabinet:

Which left a nook with unprimed drywall and wood:

I actually really like this open nook much better. Remember when I did this with the kitchen ceiling?

Does your home have those side medicine cabinets? Are you with me on the open storage nook? Do you want my medicine cabinet? Ideas on what to do with it?

Mending Hoses

For over a year now, I've had this awesome kink-free hose. The only problem is that I bought a cheapo nozzle and it calcified onto my rocking hose:

So one day the bf and I got fed up and snipped the damn thing off:

Then we slipped on a hose mender (which can be purchased at any hardware store):

We inserted the male part into the hose and put the loosened collar around the hose:

Then we pulled it up to the end of the hose and tightened it with a screwdriver:

But wait the fun doesn't stop there. To prevent the calcification (is that a word?) from happening again, we also installed hose quick connects (also available at any hardware store). One end goes on the hose and the other goes on the nozzle:

And then I installed my favorite hose nozzle back on:

And then hose away! Whee!

I've learned that not all hoses are created equal. Do yourself a favor and skip the medium duty and go straight to a heavy duty kink-free hose, and it should come with a lifetime warranty (I got mine at Lowe's). You can go cheap with the nozzle if you wish, as it's dropped often and won't matter. But make sure you do not store the hose with the nozzle attached for any long periods of time (especially if you have hard water). The best way to go about the hose situation, is to get a kink-free heavy duty hose, high quality nozzle, quick connects from the faucet to the hose, and from the hose to the nozzle, and a hose caddy.

Any other advice to share? Any hose caddy recommendations?

Master Bath: Floor Plan

Here's a floor plan I created for the current layout of our master bathroom (scale 1 cm = 1 inch):

(Like how I incorporated the ugly oranges and yellows from the old tiles? Details people!)

The new floor plan is ever so slightly changed. We're planning for a 6" wider bath tub, moving the toilet over 6", and a 1" wider sink vanity. We're planning to place a storage shelf or hamper where the old pseudo-built in vanity used to be.

I'm also hoping for lush chocolate brown tile floors. But not a gray bath tub or sink...

Master Bath D-Day 2

Master Bath D-Day 1 is here. Technically it occurred last year so maybe it was more like Day 0.5. But this post is about demolition, so we won't worry about the details ok?

First, we cleared out the bathroom:

Can you believe we stored all that stuff? Are we that high maintenance? I swear I'm not one to use products on my face or in my hair. I just buy things in bulk like toothbrushes and bars of soap.

Then we removed the drawers in the built in sink vanity:

Ready for one of the grossest things you'll ever see on this blog?

Yep, that's about half a decade's worth of hair. Someone ELSE's hair. [Insert shudder here. Repeat.]

Then we unscrewed the pseudo-built in vanity from the wall:

And removed it completely:

Next we removed the sink:

Here's a shot of the under side of the counter top (I think it's original to the house):

Here is after the sink vanity removal:

Then we drained the toilet and removed the tank and eventually the toilet as well (although I only got a shot of the tank removal):



What makes this worse than the kitchen demolition is that it is upstairs. Imagine carrying a toilet downstairs. And a sink with a counter top attached. And the vanity...

Meet: Noe

Meet my new friend, Noelani:

Here are her legs:

I suddenly want fresh baked doughy Pillsbury biscuits...