Laundry Room Looking Back Towards the Rear Door

It is official, we actually have a laundry “room”! When I say “room” I mean wide corridor, but it is by far the closest thing we have ever had to actual functioning laundry room, so I am going to do a happy dance now. I’ve already done 1 load of laundry and after I put it in the washer I stood there staring at the bathroom for a few minutes. There is still lots to do, including more painting (the ceiling and soffit), shelving to the right of the washer and dryer and more storage but it totally functional and even has new stainless steel hoses to minimize the chance of a leak. I am pretty pleased with the faux slate floor. I had to reinstall several pieces in the bathroom and crank on the laundry area. At least I had practice before I started the second round, so it went quicker. If anyone is using the self adhesive tiles, I do recommend additional adhesive, especially in a concrete installation like ours.

Cute New Ironing Board Cover

I ordered this ironing board cover on Etsy. I loved the bright colors and retro pattern.  I have an idea for a location, but haven’t fully decided yet.

Bathroom w/ new mirror installed

The bathroom also now is sporting a new mirror, a toilet seat and PVC base trim. I still need to install the towel rack, toilet paper holder and hooks. I also need to decide on shelving for above the toilet.

Salvaged Wood Shelf from West Elm, $59-99

Metal Shelf Bracket from VanDykes, $17.99 per pair

I love this Salvaged Wood Shelf from West Elm, but I don’t love the price, especially since I would need 3 or 4. They are even pictured on a plank wall. I found similar metal brackets at VanDykes, but they are on back order until at least next month. So I will have to see if I am up for waiting it out.

In the meantime my contractors will be back on Monday to finish studding and drywalling the work room, so we have lots of clean up to do, and we need to temporarily move a bunch of stuff to around to get it done. I think we are going to hold off on the carpet until that work is done, between the storage and the drywall dust. But the good news is that they will be done with almost everything by next week, so we can actually finally get things finished down there.

* To see all of the posts about our basement click here.

Main Spaces w/ Safe moved to the side & ceiling in place

We are in the final push to get the main part of the basement complete! My contractors are mostly done and it is up to us to get somethings finished before they come back. I was down there installing more tile and grout earlier today. If all goes well my contractor is going to stop by tomorrow and put on washer and dryer into place (which is why I am busting my you know what to get it finished). Then he can start to install the baseboard in the bathroom and laundry area. We also have some more painting to do (mostly the ceiling) before we can put the carpet tile in. At least the carpet should be fairly straight forward. Unfortunately after we get this area  finished, we will have to temporarily use it as a dumping ground for the workroom, so that they can drywall that space.  Phew, and I said we were in the final push! I guess the final push may last for a little while.

Victorian Safe &Â Pantry Storage

One area I haven’t talked a lot about is our pantry area. This will house an under counter fridge and freezer, as well as our antique Victorian safe. Our contractors were great and managed to move it a few feet to its new location (it weighs about 1000 lbs). Part of the new wood counter will sit on it. This should leave another 14″ or so for storage underneath. I’m not sure what we will put there yet. Above the counter we will either put shelves, wine storage or upper cabinets. We have several of our old upper cabinets that have been waiting to be reused. Unfortunately they are a little musty smelling and need some paint. I may try and use a couple of them mixed with open storage. I imagine lots of containers holding excess pantry items (with pretty labels). I also have been mulling around a couple of ideas for a backsplash (which is why there is plywood instead of beadboard on the wall).

New Stair Paneling

My contractors also finished up the wood beadboard at the stairs. I think it looks awesome (especially considering that they had to attach it on either side without puncturing the insulation behind it). It still needs to be whitewashed but it is really nice to come down the tight stairs and have this on the wall. In the past the parged foundation wall was visible here.  Another great thing about this area is that we have a light right at the bottom of the stairs, so no (okay less) tripping while carrying stuff up and down the stairs.

Faux Slate Vinyl Floor Progress from early this morning

I’ve been busy since this photo was taken but you can get a general idea of how the laundry area flooring is coming along. It is funny how big the space feels without the washer and dryer in it. Time to get back to work! Hopefully I will have more to show soon.

Basket for Holding Toiletries

I did also manage to pick up this adorable bread basket at Target today for $9.99. It is a beautiful coral color and I think it will look nice with my vase and be good for holding miscellaneous toiletries or towels. I am still going back and forth on the shelving in the space, so stay tuned.

* To see all of the posts about our basement click here.

Welcome to Our Basement: Crazy Stairs w/ new beadboard wall

It has been a frustrating couple of days here. I was hoping to give you a good tour of the progress today but we had a water leak on the solder joint for the hot water line to the sink yesterday morning. It ended up leaking overnight and we had a good bit of water on my brand new floor and into the newly drying leveling compound at the washer and dryer area.

Wet Floor!

The good news is that once we discovered it, my contractors came right over and dried it out and fixed the leak (which oddly took 48 hours to show up). The bad news is that several of the vinyl tiles needed to come up and we need some more leveling compound in the bathroom before we can reinstall the tile. It also slowed everything down A LOT.

New Toilet & Old Sink Installed w/ Loose Vinyl Tile Removed

One of the strangest things about the moisture is that the leveling compound bubbled up in one place about 1/2″ and was totally hollow underneath.

The good news is that this means all of the plumbing is in (which is awesome!). We reused our old sink from the upstairs bathroom. It is a really heavy cast iron model, probably from the 1920s. It had been sitting up on our 3rd floor for the last 9+ years, so it is great to see it back in use. The toilet is a dual flush (American Standard H2Option Siphonic) and is nice and petite. The smaller water tank allows for the toilet to sit closer to the wall by a couple of inches, which makes a big difference in a small bathroom. I used this same toilet on Sarah’s Bathroom and she is very happy with it.

The Shower w/ Moen Multi-Function Handshower on Sliding Rail

The Multi-Function Handshower on a sliding rail has also been installed and looks great (don’t have a shower curtain yet so I haven’t personally tested it out). The set is made up on 4 different parts. A Moen 4 Function Handshower, Single Handled Kingsley Lever, Posi-Temp Pressure Balanced Valve and a Drop El to connect the handshower to the wall.

We are still on track to install the rest of the vinyl tile on Sunday. We were hoping to get a start tonight but the leveling compound will most likely still be damp. I guess we may get started with the rough layout without actually adhering them. And it looks like I will be installing the grout on Monday night again, so we can get the washer and dryer back in place on Tuesday. I can’t even say how excited I am to get the washer and dryer back in place with the new floor. That will definitely make my day! I am also thinking that I need to get a water sensor for the washer and dryer area to alert me if there is ever a leak. They also make a model that connects to shut off valve.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

* To see all of the posts about our basement click here.

Faux Slate Vinyl Tile with Grout

Last night I managed to slog through and install the grout in my faux slate vinyl flooring (TrafficMaster Ceramica Resilient Vinyl Tile in Coastal Gray). I think it looks fairly convincing and it was certainly less expensive and thinner than using real slate. Plus I don’t have to worry about sealing it.

Pre-Mixed Grout in Delorean Gray

I used the recommended premixed grout in Delorean Gray. I can’t say I am a big fan, but they do not recommend the typical dry grout that you mix with water. I found the grout to not be as sticky as I would like and yet at the same time it really stuck to my hands.

Grout Stuck to My Hand

Anyway, it was not particularly difficult, just messy. I stepped in joints several times while I was cleaning the joints with a sponge and it got on my feet and pants leg. Yuck! I assume that they recommend this product because it is suppose to be more flexible. Fingers crossed it will hold up. I will also be putting in some grout sealer after I get the laundry area finished to help the grout lines stay clean. So stay tuned to see how it holds up!

Laundry Area w/ new lights & Faux Slate Floor Beyond

My contractors have been busy in the laundry area. We now have lights! I can’t say how excited I am about the concept of actually being able to see my laundry! The ceiling is moving along and part of the wall that hides the hot water heater is in! The radiator pipes will be staying (painted white eventually). I will also be adding shelves to the right of the dryer. I am not sure what to do with the visible side of the dryer.  It isn’t the most beautiful thing. Anyone have an ideas? Maybe some kind of fabric.

Ceiling in Main Room w/ LED Recessed Lights

They are finally done with the drop beadboard ceiling in the main room! It looks great. It still needs a couple of coats of paint to finish it off, but it really helps finish off the space. The brick wall in the picture is on a 45 degree angle and is for the fireplace in the kitchen above.  We will be mounting a TV on it (there is an outlet in the ceiling for us).

My contractors have been cranking away here in the bathroom today and we already have a working sink and shower (although the final brackets still need to go in). If all goes well we will have a toilet in by the end of the day. YEAH!

Still on the to do list is the beadboard ceiling in the second space (aka the future pantry), floor leveling and miscellaneous trim.

* To see all of the posts about our basement click here.

Faux Slate Floor w/ Space for Grout

It was a long slog this weekend in the basement (especially with such lovely weather outside). I am now the queen of faux slate flooring. We ran into some issues with the floor, so I didn’t get quite as far as I would have liked. The good news is that the floor is down (at least in the bathroom). The bad news is that I still need to grout (that is for tonight). Mr. S. also got most of the whitewashing done in the main space.

Installing the “Luxury” Vinyl Tile:
(TrafficMaster Ceramica Resilient Vinyl in Coastal Gray @ Home Depot)

Staggered 12x12 Tile Layout

Step 1: Sketch out a rough layout on paper. In my case I used AutoCAD. The tiles are listed as being 12×12, but in actuality they are 11 3/4 x 11 3/4 (to allow for a 1/4 grout joint). We decided to go with a staggered pattern, which I think helps make it look more modern. I also used this when estimating how much to order.

Step 2: Acclimate the tile (ours have been sitting in the basement for the last month). If I had this to do over again I would have pulled the tiles out of the boxes and had them sit out where it was a little warmer.

Floor after Leveling

Step 3: Prep the floor. This includes leveling (our contractor used a self leveling product and ground down the high spots with an old school stone). Once the floor was level we used a floor prep product for concrete flooring (recommended by the manufacturer). This makes the floor slightly sticky and ideal for making the tile stick (or at least it is suppose to).

Getting Started with the Layout

Step 4: Do a rough layout with the actual tiles. I also doubled checked my original sketch. Of course the walls were off by about an inch, so I adjusted accordingly. I also wanted to make sure that we ended at a full tile where the laundry area meets the main space, so I carefully measured back from there. That left me with a row of 8 1/4″ tiles on the back wall. We were lucky that all of the walls were perpendicular (I checked and rechecked) so I could cut the tiles all the same depth for the back wall and work out from there.

Tools that I used: a good Utility Knife w/ LOTS of blades, Needle Nose Vise Grips, Pencil & Square

Step 5: Cutting the tile! The tile is nice and thin and cuts quite easily (yeah!). For the straight cuts you just score it with the utility knife a few times and then you can snap it with your hands. For more complex cuts I scored the shape and carefully pulled down with the need nose vise grips right next to the cut (on the bad side). This worked quite well, although sometimes took several turns to get all of the unused portion off. One of the keys to a good cut is a sharp blade! So, remember to change them frequently!

Step 6: Installing the tile! I had 1/8 spacers on hand from the shower so I put two together to get the 1/4″ spacing that I needed. After getting the tile lined up I carefully removed the backing of the tile and placed it down. I then double checked the spacing on all sides, then pushed it down into place. Then I stepped on it and used a rolling pin at the joints. Easy right? Well, okay this is where things started to go badly! Quickly I noticed that the tiles weren’t sticking as well as I would have liked. So then I started warming the tiles up by holding them up to the heater in the ceiling, hoping that would help. It did help but I was still noticing than some of them were not adhering as well as I would like!

Vinyl Tile Adhesive

Luxury Vinyl Tile Adhesive

Step 6A (Plan B): I ran to the store and picked up vinyl adhesive (which I have used before). According to my tile’s warranty I have now voided it! I had read the reviews of the tile and more than one person had used the vinyl adhesive without problem (to ensure good adhesion). So I pulled up all of the loose tile and troweled on the adhesive.

*Of course now I realize that there is a special adhesive for “Luxury” vinyl tile. Oops, I guess I used the wrong one (I don’t think I saw two options in the store).

Step 7: Wait for the adhesive to become tacky (this took about an hour).

Step 8: Apply the tiles.

Jamb Saw

Step 9: Cutting around door trim. So while I was picking up the adhesive I had also realized that the door trim went all the way to the floor, so I couldn’t get the tile underneath. I have seen contractors undercut the jamb before, but I have never done it, but it means I much more professional look so I though I should try and do this.  I was pleased to find this Irwin Jamb Saw for $10.98.  And it worked just as promised. Yeah! I just placed a scrap tile at the location and cut against the jamb.

Step 10: Wait for the adhesive to dry!

Step 11: Install the Faux Grout: Stay tuned!

Close Up of Ceramica Tile. Cut edge on left and Finished edge on right. The finished edge curves down slightly.

* To see all of the posts about our basement click here.

Shower all Grouted!

So we got our hands a little dirty this weekend and grouted the shower! My hands are now totally dry and cracked to prove I have had a busy weekend. I have grouted before although this was my first time grouting with gray grout and on multiple surfaces. I was a little rusty and a few of the joints aren’t perfect, but overall I am very happy with the results. I am in love with the gray grout with the stone stripes! The gray grout really brought out their color of the marble.  This ended up taking up a good bit of time this weekend, but I am very relieved to have this part of the bathroom finished. It still needs a little bit of caulk around the bottom and side seams, but we are otherwise ready for final plumbing (not counting the floor in the bathroom).

The Making of a Shower!

Close up of Tile

I will spare you all the ins and outs of grouting, since it has been documented many times by professionals but time wise I ended up spending about 3 hours getting excess thin set mortar out of the joints. I haven’t had to do this step before but I think because the mortar ended up being thicker than normal to accommodate the stone accent tile, we ended up with a good bit that had to be taken out. After some trial and error, I ended up using a combination of a utility knife, screwdriver and wooden bbq skewer. Then after cleaning everything off again with a sponge I spent about 6 hours grouting and cleaning up (in 2 sessions). I am sure if you are a professional you could do it in about half that time, but alas I am not! I even had a little “helper” for part of the clean up.

Main Room partially whitewashed!

We also did some more whitewashing and Drew cleaned out one of the windows (which has had dead ivy in between the storm and window for longer than I would care to mention).

Was anyone else productive this weekend?

* To see all of the posts about our basement click here.