One Step Closer

We are one step closer to finishing our bathroom.  The men came back today and installed the granite counter top and bathroom sink.  We searched for something else and finally decided that this countertop was the best we could do while trying to coordinate with the floor and still stay within our budget.

With the counter in place, Rick starts to install
the faucets and drain.

The faucets were in an awkward position.

Rick had to go through a few contortions to get the faucets set and hooked up.  This countertop was the first granite that we have ever purchased, however, where the holes for the faucets actually were drilled in the correct place.

Rick's face, and the mirror, reflect his delight
in getting this chore finished.

So for the first time since early October, we actually have a working faucet and sink in the main bathroom.  I did not realize how much I missed the simple act of washing in the same room in which I used the toilet.

Having a counter top and working sink is a great gift
for Christmas!

Our next step is the shower walls, but they will have to wait until we return from our Christmas celebration.

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to all who read this.  May you all have a blessed new year.

Completed Roof

The crews from Arry's Roofing Services arrived at 7:15 this morning.  Since the shingles had been delivered just as they were leaving yesterday, everything was in place waiting for them on the roof.  By 10:10 today, the roof -- complete with new soil stack covers, new mast covers (all of which were painted to match the roof), and a new solar attic fan -- was installed and ready to serve us for the next 25 years.

The photographer's drone hovers above the house which is
prepped and ready to receive shingles.

Each crew member had his own area in which to work.

Six men were on the roof at one time, so they made short work of laying down the courses of shingles.

This worker fits the shingles around the plumbing
stack for the laundry room area.

Each man had his own section to complete.  They gave special attention to the valleys between the roof lines and to the areas around the pipes.

The solar-powered attic fan will keep the attic nice and cool,
and it will cost us nothing to run.

We opted for a solar-powered attic fan to evacuate hot air from the main attic of the house.  It will automatically turn on when the temperature in the attic reaches 86 degrees.

The crews did an incredible job of cleaning up after themselves.  The yard looked as if no one had ever been here.  They respected our property and took very good care of the yard, gardens, walkways, and driveway.

The root of this problem had to go!

As we were sitting in the patio this afternoon, we noticed a root that seemed to be heading under the patio slab.  I dug around it a little and pulled it up.  Wow!  It went much further than I thought it would.  No problem.  It now rests in our garbage can.

We are pleased with the job Arry's Roofing did in putting a new roof on the house.

The finished house looks good.  The light brown roof has shades of yellow in it which complements the house, and the darker color will not show staining from the trees as quickly as a lighter color would do.  We are happy the job is complete with no problems.  Gladys got her hair redone, and she looks rather nice.

It's a Roof!

We awoke early again this morning, and this time we were rewarded with a crew of five roofers on top of our house by 7:30 a.m.  These men are remarkable.  They obviously have worked as a coordinated team for a while because each man knew exactly what his responsibilities were, without direction, and all of the members worked very hard.

The workers pried the shingles loose, and then
they piled them neatly into bundles.

By 9:00, the entire roof was free of shingles.  The two crew members working on the flat Florida room roof found a surprise: a second layer of roofing under the first layer.

Two men worked all day stripping the old
roof off and installing the new roof on
the Florida room.

By 9:50, the paper was gone and one of the workers was throwing all of the debris into a huge truck.

A worker pries off the last of the old tar paper on the roof.

The pile of debris is what was left of the roof.

Meanwhile, by 10:00, the two workers on the Florida room had the new roof panels cut and put down.  The debris was all on the truck, and they were sweeping up the remnants on the old roofing materials.

New insulated, tapered panels are pushed
onto the roof for installation on the Florida room.

We had a few weak places that needed new boards.  The first was on the ridge of the roof over our bedroom.  We had noticed that it leaked only once, when Tropical Storm Debbie dumped 14 inches of rain on us all in one day.  However, the boards showed a slow leak in that area, so they cut out and patched the roof there.  We also had small patches by the front porch on the bedroom wall, by the kitchen, and by the Florida room where the roof met the main roof.  In that case, the sheathing underneath actually was cut short so it did not reach the drip edge.

This picture shows the corner board that was
cut short and did not reach the drip edge.
Why this area leaked was obvious.

We had a new experience today when a photographer for the roofing company showed up with a drone.  We have some fantastic aerial shots that he shared with us.  I won't publish any of them yet since I have not downloaded them all.

A hole in the roof shows an area that needed a new board.

By noon, the new Storm Guard stick-on underlayment was going down.  The Florida room men continued to work on the weatherproof membrane that they were installing and sealing.

By 2:30 the first layer of the job was complete. The Florida roof workers were sealing the edges of the new insulated panels. The roof is now waterproof, and the shingles and roof vents and fan will be installed tomorrow.

A worker peels out the paper which exposes the sticky part of
the underlayment for the shingles.  This membrane is better
than the old tar paper that roofers previously used.

As the workers were getting ready to leave, the shingles showed up on a huge crane truck.  I was able to shoot some fantastic video of the truck in action.  I am sure that Owen will love it when we get back to Wisconsin.

Shingles come on a big truck.

The house is ready for shingles tomorrow.

The foreman said that they will probably have the shingles installed by 10:30 tomorrow morning.  We are impressed with the coordination and professionalism of the crews.  Finally, something in this remodel is going right.

Fighting to the Finish

By now I had hoped to post pictures of our beautiful new bathroom counter top and sink, but for whatever reason, this bathroom is fighting us to the finish.  Or maybe it is fighting not to get finished.

The counter top installers came on Friday.  They had done an excellent job of mounting (gluing) the undermount sink to the countertop, and the holes all were drilled in the right place.  They put the counter top on the vanity, and it fit beautifully.  I took one look at it, and my heart sank.

Next to the sink, I saw three quarter-sized round spots that looked as if someone had dropped oil on the countertop.  Those spots were not there when Rick and I, along with Leanna from the stone counter top company, looked at the slab at their shop.  The colors are perfect.  The veining was pretty; we would have told Leanna to avoid those spots had we seen them in the stone at the time. The counter top was great in the house, but those spots were jarring to the eye.

I asked if they could wipe the spots out.  One of the men tried; then he said that the spots were a natural part of the stone and would not come out.  Rick knew that if we kept the stone, I would forever be trying to wipe those spots away, so we rejected the granite.  We told them to take it out and to take it back to their shop.  They called the shop, and the owner said that they would have one of their men look at the slab this morning. I am heartsick.

We may have to buy a new sink if they cannot release the old one from this slab of granite.  We may have to pay for a new slab of granite since we rejected the old one.  This set-back not only costs us time, it also may cost us up to $1000 more.  I just want to cry.

The new white quartz windowsill fits well and looks great.

The sill will be easy to dust and keep clean.

The only good thing about Friday is that we did get the windowsill installed.  We chose a white quartz stone to match the window and to match the other white tile windowsills in the rest of the house. The installer asked me three times if I was sure that I wanted the windowsill before he would install it.  I finally had to drag him into other rooms to show him that all of the rest of the windowsills in the house were white, too. We are pleased with how the windowsill looks.

So now we wait.  We are without a counter top and sink once again until we can talk to the stone company to see what we can do. We cannot go to the stone company today to pick out a new piece of granite since we are waiting right now for the roofing company to come and to put a new roof onto the house.  They are late, so that is making me a bit nervous, too.

The bougainvillea have reacted well to the plant food.

So on to positive things in a very negative week.  At least nature is starting to cooperate with us.  We finally received rain this week, although probably still not enough to change our dry brown grass to green.  However, with attention and watering, my fertilized bougainvillea have produced some beautiful color just in time for Christmas.

The bougainvillea climb the trellis to fill in the gap in our fence.

When Rick retired from teaching, his teaching friends in the FACE program made him a garden stepping stone with a glass mosaic palm tree.  We have stored it for the past five years because we did not have the right place to put it.  Yesterday I finally sealed the concrete and set it up in the corner garden.  Now at least something is making me smile.

The stepping stone adds a bit of color to the garden.

Palm trees are our theme for this house.

We took a long walk yesterday on the Dunedin causeway.  While the weather was mild with a wonderful breeze, dark clouds threatened (but ultimately never delivered) some rain.  The walk was still peaceful and beautiful, and after this week, that is just what I needed.

The light was fantastic to watch while we walked.

P.S. The roofing company just called.  someone should have called us on Friday -- but didn't.  They will not be here to start our roofing job until tomorrow.

Lazy Days

I have to admit that NOT having to get up in the morning and think about working on the bathroom is a welcome relief.  So why haven't I posted the completed pictures?  Sadly, the room is not completed yet!

When we brought the Swanstone home, we were excited that we had all of the pieces to finish the room.  We had painted two coats of (smelly!) primer on the walls, just as the Swanstone people told us to do.  However, before we tried to glue the Swanstone to the walls, Rick decided to double-check with the Benjamin Moore paint company to be sure we had used the correct primer.

Yup, the primer we used was fine, but the Moore folks did some research and told us that the primer was not a strong or hard enough surface to which we could glue 60 pound panels of solid surface material.  Their advice was to add two coats of topcoat paint, and then to let it cure for 28 days before we tried to glue anything to the walls.  Sigh.  OK.

So yesterday we bought paint and Rick added a morning and a late afternoon coat of topcoat paint to the walls.  Now, once again, all we can do is to sit and watch the paint dry.  Although the waiting is driving Rick nuts, he will just have to adjust his time schedule.  I am not going to glue panels to the walls only to have them slide or fall off because we did not have the patience to wait for the paint to dry.  We'll finish the job after Christmas.  No one will be here for the holidays, so having an incomplete bathroom is no big deal.

The good news is that we will have the countertop and sink installed on Friday, so except for the tub, we will have a fully functioning bathroom again.  I can plug in my electric toothbrush,  I can have a countertop on which to rest my hair dryer when I dry my hair, and (most importantly), we will have a functioning sink again.  Hooray!

In our newly freed time, we have been busy cleaning the house, running some errands, and remembering how to relax.

A nocturnal visitor is digging up the yard.

One place we visited was the University of Florida Extension office at the Florida Botanical gardens. We went there because something has been digging holes around the back of the house and along parts of our fence.  We know that cats are invading the dirt patch in the front yard, but that will end as soon as we put down pavers after the holidays.  The backyard, though, is a different story.

The man at the extension desk said that the holes were not dug by ants or other insects, were not typical of a dog or cat, and were not tunnels normally left by moles, voles, or snakes.  Great.  That is all good news.  Since the holes were dug by something that is nocturnal, he figured, as we had guessed, that we probably have a neighborhood armadillo that is digging for grubs in our yard.  Well THAT is certainly something we did not have to worry about in Wisconsin! Uck. To that end, we went out and purchased some chicken wire that we are going to stake around the prime digging areas in an effort to prevent him from ruining our yard.  We have not staked it yet since we finally got rain yesterday, and the places where he digs are quite muddy.  That will be a job for tomorrow.

An egret wades in the water of St. Joseph Sound.

This morning we drove down to Edgewater Park in Clearwater, parked the car, and took a long walk along St. Joseph's Sound.  The temperature was in the low 70s, and the sun was shining brightly.  A light wind was coming from the north, so it was a perfect walking day.  Along the way we enjoyed views of Clearwater Beach across the Sound, and we paused to watch an egret hunt along the shoreline.

Off shore, a darker patch of water indicated a school of mullets were swimming north parallel to the shoreline.  They were constantly jumping out of the water, sometimes two or three at a time.  As a sea bird soared above them, they became even more agitated.  I thought that the turbulent water betraying where the fish were swimming was interesting.  We knew the fish were there, and apparently so did the birds.

The World of Cats is complete!

When I came home, I finished the puzzle that Chris had lent me.  This one was fun with all of the colors but a little challenging because of the irregular puzzle pieces.  I am glad to have my desktop back, though, as I might do some sewing before we leave for Wisconsin.

We have many hobbies to keep us busy.  In addition to biking -- which we have not done much of yet -- and walking, we also have reading, weaving, sewing, and basket-making to keep us occupied.  I would rather do any one of those than to have to get up each morning and go to work.

The inside of Gladys is almost finished, and that will give us time to pursue other interests.

Christmas Parade -- With Boats!

Last night we went down to the Marina to watch the annual boat parade.  In previous years we have watched from various viewpoints along the shore because we wanted to avoid the crowds, but this year we were brave enough to get down to the docks... and that was fine, too.

This blown-up image shows how
some mariners decorate their sail boats.

The parade was supposed to start about 7:00 p.m., but since it gets dark at around 5:30 these days, the parade was OVER by 7:00!  I feel sorry for those families that came down to the docks at that late hour because they missed the whole thing.

This boat, with the live band, also had
a blown-up Santa bear in the front.

I used my iPhone as a camera, so some of the long-distance photos are not very clear.  I wish that Rick had brought along his "real" Nikon; we would have gotten much better pictures.  The weather was great (low 70's) with a clear sky, so watching the boats was a very comfortable experience.

A Florida Christmas tree on one boat was
made totally out of metal and lights.

Reindeer "antlers" adorn the top of this boat.

One of the boats had a live band on it.  We had met the captain earlier in the day.  He said that he has a live band each year, but this might be his last year participating in the parade.  He is 66, and he has been doing this for the past six years.  I imagine that hiring the band is not inexpensive!

Although hard to see behind other docked boats, this boat had
a huge fishing reel with a gift "caught" at the end.

Some boats just had lots of lights while others decked themselves out as sleighs, Christmas trees, or floating workshops.  My favorite this year was the outrigger that had a huge fishing line with a wrapped present dangling from the end.


We did not stay around for Santa to arrive by boat (yes, this IS Florida) or for the lighting of the town Christmas tree -- made of a metal structure, garland, and lights since the live trees dry out too quickly in Florida unless they are planted in the ground.  We were home by 7:45 p.m.

The evening was a fun escape for a while, yet with warm weather and the trees in full bloom, this just does not seem like four weeks from Christmas.

Bathroom Blues...Literally

We have been on hiatus from our bathroom remodel lately due both to the holiday break and to our lack of materials.  That changed earlier this week when the Swanstone arrived.

Rick and I had gone on a short vacation to Orlando, not to visit Disney, but rather to pick up a saw blade for the Festool saw which was not available in Clearwater, and to do a little shopping at the outlet malls.

The result was a saw blade in the car, a few other purchases at the mall, and a much lighter wallet.  The spending never ends.

The big box holds the main wall pieces while the
smaller box contains the trim pieces.  An alcove
rests in yet a third box.

We were gone Monday and Tuesday.  When we arrived home, Rick called Lowe's to see when our Swanstone would be delivered.  We learned that the Swanstone tub surround had arrived at the local Lowe's on Monday.  We received no notice of delivery, but it was there.  I wonder how long they would have held it there if we had not checked for it.

A very nice man helped Rick load it into the back of the truck.  The main box is 5 x 5 feet and 150 pounds.  We were happy to see that the walls were surrounded by a wooden frame and packed between styrofoam padding.  The walls appear to be in good shape, so we should have a quality product to install.  Steve came over to help Rick unload it into the garage where it will rest until after we return from Wisconsin in the new year.

The added layer of cement board sucked in the
white primer paint.

Why the wait?  Well, when we really looked at the walls, we discovered that the bathtub was not installed squarely in the alcove.  The right-hand front corner protrudes more than the right-hand back corner, so to make the Swanstone fit properly on the tub, we had to add another 1/4 inch cement board to the back and right-hand wall.

The reflection in the mirror shows the two
"new" walls primed and waiting to dry.

New cement board mean new primer.  Rick put two coats on yesterday.  He then called the paint company to ask how long we must let the primer "cure" before we can glue up the Swanstone.  The bad news: 28 days. OK, there goes our plans to have the bathroom complete before the holidays.

We also installed a wooden "frame" onto which we will attach the trim pieces for the surround.  Today Rick painted those frames blue since the front edge will show at the front of the tub.  The primer and painting is complete.  I wish that the rest of the tub walls were also.

I really am beginning to hate that room.  We both just want it finished.  The new countertop and windowsill will be installed next Friday.  Then we just have to put in the walls, but it looks now that the walls will not be up until early 2017.  What choice do we have?  We just literally must sit and watch the paint dry.

Day 30 - 31: Bathroom Remodel-- Almost Finished!

Rick worked throughout the day yesterday in an attempt to finish the walls around the tub enough to get ready for primer and paint.  We won't be able to finish the tub area, but we can at least get the room "company ready" for when my sister and brother-in-law come for a visit.

The pictures tell the story of two coats of primer, then two coats of paint.  He also patched a little place near the curved lip of the tub where the Swanstone may not cover.

The drywall above the tub area and the backer-
board walls are covered with two coats of primer.
The primer will help seal the backer board for the
Swanstone.

The mirror shows Rick "in the tub" painting
the drywall above the tub area.

No countertop or sink installed yet, but the rest of the room
is ready for visitors.

The shower curtain adds a little life to the room.

The countertop is ordered; it will be available in a couple of weeks.  The same is true for the Swanstone.  It is ordered and projected to be here in about the same time frame.  Now we pray that everything will come in on time and without damage.

Today Rick finished all of the painting and we installed the molding around the closet door.  We cannot install all of the molding around the main door until we get the granite countertop installed.  It is much easier to cut the molding around the granite than to try to shape the granite around the molding.

A few minutes ago we re-hung the shower curtain.  We are finished with the bathroom... for now.  Once the final pieces arrive, we will be able to finish the molding and baseboard.  Then we can spend some time finding the perfect accessories to decorate the room and to make it complete.

With relatives in town, we look forward to a great Thanksgiving week.  Happy Thanksgiving to all who are reading this blog.

Day 29: Bathroom Remodel

Lindsay yelled at us yesterday, telling us that we had to do more than just work on the house.  I guess if one reads this blog, it seems that is all we do.  While that is pretty much true, we DO get out occasionally to church, to the grocery store, to the drug store, to the Big Box stores, and even, occasionally, to cool places like the library or the park.  (I admit, though, we have yet to get out the bikes!)

Yesterday we actually went to the Library.  I was looking for Ordinary Grace by William Kent Kreuger, the book that my book club in Green Bay just finished.  Although I found many books by that author, the Library did not own Ordinary Grace.   When I came home, I checked the Kindle Lending Library.  No luck borrowing the book either.  I could buy it for almost $12.00, but I was too cheap to do that.  I remembered, though, that Tom Lowe was supposed to have a new book out, so I checked Kindle for that.  Luck at last!  I ordered A Murder of Crows, and it only cost me $4.99. This book (#8) is the latest in the Sean O'Brien series.  You can borrow my Kindle, Steve, to read it when I am finished.

This morning started with Rick running to the store to buy an oversized corner that will wrap the shimmed out wall at the tub's head.  I stayed home to do the normal Friday chores of changing linens, scrubbing bathrooms, and washing clothes.

A new corner starts to blend the shimmed wall with
the wall next to the closet.

When Rick returned, we sanded the plaster from yesterday and he installed the corner.  It will need some building up, but at least the tub no longer has a gap between it and the wall.  Plaster is a marvelous thing!  How we are going to install the Swanstone and have that corner look right is another story.  That will take some planning yet.

If anyone wants to come and sand tomorrow,
you are very welcome to do so.

We took a break at lunchtime.  We bought sandwiches at Publix and packed a picnic.  Then we drove down to the Marina, found some free parking spaces, and had a lovely lunch.  From there, we walked to a couple of shops looking for accessories for the new bathroom.  Although we did not find anything, we know that this weekend the city is sponsoring a huge art fair.  Perhaps we will find something unique there.  (See, Lindsay, we do get out of the house for some fun things once in a while!)

The weather was beautiful for a picnic lunch.
The weather forecast for today was for
"abundant sunshine" according to the Weather Channel.

This afternoon Rick added a second coat of plaster to the corner.  We are trying to get the room in presentable shape before our company arrives for Thanksgiving.  The room will not be complete, but it will be close.

I have started to clean the house.  With plaster dust everywhere, this will be an on-going task.  Today I tackled the blinds in the master bathroom and in the Florida room.  I have three finished in the Florida room, and three to go.  I had to pause and wash out the blind-cleaning tool, it was so dusty.  That just tells me that my efforts are worth the results.

Each day we get a little closer to having this room finished.  Thank heavens this is the last room in the house!  I don't think I could tolerate much more remodeling, and I am sure that Rick feels the same way.

Day 28: The Bathroom Remodel Continues...

I'm tired tonight, so at last I will keep the narrative on this brief.

Rick did a great job with the cut-outs in the
backer board. The spout for the shower head
will come through the upper drywall area.

We started the day adding the backer board and the drywall to the end wall of the tub.  Then Rick spent some time mixing up a little mud to put the corners IN the corners and at the juncture between the walls and the ceiling.

The corners where walls meet ceilings are the worst!
They are a pain to get smooth yet defined.

Alfonso came from the granite company mid-morning to measure for the granite vanity top.  He also measured the windowsill so we can add quartz.

We traveled to the granite company after he left because we had to choose the quartz for the windowsill.  I wanted to keep it mostly white to blend with the window and to match the rest of the white-with-grey-speckles tile windowsills in the rest of the house.  We chose Glacier White because it was not too thick and was the right color. We both hope it works all right.

We will return to the granite company on November 28 when they pull the slab from which we will cut the vanity top.  We want to position the cut to get the best piece of granite for the room since we will be looking at it for the rest of our lives.

Tomorrow will bring about a second coat of mud on the walls, and perhaps we can install some of the baseboard and molding that I painted today.

Day 27: Bathroom Remodel

Today we set the house on fire...

The first order of the day was to order out the Swanstone.  If you have been following this blog, you know that Rick tried to order it yesterday at Home Depot.  We cancelled that order and received confirmation of the cancellation, so Rick felt comfortable ordering the Swanstone today through Lowe's.  We would love to just order it direct, but doing so will cost us way too much in shipping costs.  By going through Lowe's, the shipping is free. The Swanstone should be delivered sometime in early December.

Rick got grumpy, so I took the car and went to the drug store to pick up my prescription.  By buying so many expensive drugs (which are free now that we have met the yearly deductible), we earned $10.00 of CVS cash.  We have earned cash often but rarely take advantage of it; however, this time I did.  Our church is collecting food for an area food pantry, so I spent the $10.00 buying basic foods: peanut butter, soup, pasta,  and mac and cheese.  It took me very little time, and the food will go to help others.  Win/win.

The wall before Rick added the shower.  Those
two water pipes were the last to be connected,
and the only way we could do that was by soldering
within the confines of the wall.

Rick put together the shower today.  He soldered more joints than I want to count, but that was needed to get all of the pipes to go where they belonged.  We welded most of them together on a table outside; then we had to come into the house to attach it to the water lines.

The shower valve had to be braced since it is
so heavy.  Once positioned, though, this shower
is not going anywhere!

Positioning it took a little time, but eventually it was hanging where it needed to be.  So picture this: the last two connections need to be made while the shower pipes are hanging between to studs in the wall.  I tried to hold a wet shield up to protect the wall, but in the end the wall got a little scorched and the "shield" I was holding totally ignited.  Thankfully, it was a very small fire, but it certainly did not smell good.  We were lucky that the weather was great today, so we could open the windows.  And yes, we know that we could have purchased a heat shield at the store which would have prevented this problem, but in the end the plumbing is up and the house did not burn down.

We tested the shower and nothing leaked, so tomorrow we can put up the backer board and finish that wall.  Then we just have to prime everything and eventually paint the drywall on top.

I painted the first coat on the molding and baseboard that we purchased a few days ago.  Within the next few days, we can put these pieces together.  Then we just wait for the Swanstone to finish that room.

Yum!  Oatmeal raisin cookies.

As a change of pace, once we cleaned up all of the building materials, I got out the mixing bowl and made a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies.  I love these cookies and the recipe I received from Mom.  The recipe is typed but has Mom's handwritten notes.  Behind "1 cup margarine" Mom wrote for me when I was a new bride, "2 sticks softened."  After "1 cup raisins," Mom wrote, "I heap it up.  I like lots of raisins." I smile each time I read that. I know that the recipe is automatically doubled.  My Dad loved cookies so much that Mom quickly learned that a single batch of cookies would not last very long.  To save herself time and effort, Mom always baked a double batch.  So I baked five dozen oatmeal raisin cookies today, and unlike our earlier antics, I did not burn anything!