Are we there yet?

Usually its these kiddos asking that question.  Its their cuteness that saves them after they have asked around 20 times.

Lately I've been the one asking that question.  Over.  And over again.  Does fixing up a home ever feel like and endless and intimidating vast of foreverness to anyone else?  I've learned to just be happy enjoying what we have finished.  I  know you all are feeling me on this right?  Anyway I'm going to show you all the project that we are working on now and (collective crossing of everyone's fingers) hopefully I can show you the finished project sometime next week.  Its the downstairs bathroom y'all.  Here is what it looked like when we bought the home.  

Anyone ever heard of the kitchen work triangle?  We were once the proud owners of a very small non-functional bathroom work triangle.  You know, the kind where you can shower, relieve yourself and wash your hands all at the same time.  Yes I just said that.  Apart from the fact that you couldn't even open the glass door to the shower all the way and the toilet continually flooding and the shower pan leaking and mold growing up the outer concrete wall because of it, it most definitely was not functional.  So we did what any person would do.  We tore it all out.  Best. Feeling. Ever.  

We actually tore the entire basement apart along with it, but that's a story for another day.  We also decided to move the bathroom about 3 feet to "hide" most of the duct work that lowers the ceiling by a good 10 inches in some parts of the basement.  We cut down on cost by doing all of the demo which included jackhammering out the concrete where the sewage drain pipe was and trenching through the basement to relocate several drains.  That was quite a project but saved us 1500 big American bucks.  Totally worth it.  We did hire a plumber to lay the new pipe but we then re-poured the concrete ourselves.  We also hired someone to hang our sheet rock, mud and tape since at the time I was about 6 months pregnant with little girl and tough guy was finishing his last semester in Nursing school.  After getting to that point the bathroom sat there unfinished.  For two years.  This is what it looked like.  (Sorry for the lousy lighting.  There currently is none in this room and there is no natural light either.)

  

The new shower.  

This is where the sink and vanity will be.

Location for the toilet

As you can see there is bead board paneling that needs to be installed along with pretty much everything else.  We decided to start with the shower.  Because we have had multiple flooding issues in the basement in the past we knew that we wanted to hire someone to install our shower.  In the interest of keeping costs down we found a contractor who was willing to take a part of the payment in cash and the remainder of the payment in the form of a wedding cake for his upcoming nuptials.  Bartering is the way to go folks.  If you have a skill you can trade with people, do it!  He is almost finished with the install and so far we are loving it.  Here's the progression.

Installation of shower liner and cement board

Tile going up!

Almost there!

Now all that is left is that top row of tile, the ceiling, the shower pan, tile on the pan and grouting.  We are seeing the light people!  After the shower is complete the bead board will be installed and painted, the flooring will go in, the vanity, toilet, light fixtures and lastly some shelving for storage.  We couldn't be more excited to be a two toilet, two shower home.  No more fighting over who gets to use the toilet first and second.  Now we'll be clamoring for third and fourth.
In regards to the tile we've chosen.  We really wanted to do something upscale but as with everything in this house, our decisions are based on the fact that one day this will be a rental home.   We want things to be nice but by no means is this our dream home so going "all out" is not an option for us.  We decided to go with a stone look that is ever so popular but to punch it up a bit by using a smaller 6"x6" tile to give more texture and interest (as opposed to large 12"-18" tiles that everyone uses) as well as adding the accent strip of that glass/stone mosaic.  I think it makes all the difference.
Well as I said hopefully next week I will have more to show you but what do you think so far?

Over and out.