The Beginning

Today was the end of day one...and I managed to not need a nap after all our running around - more on that in a minute.

It was discovered by our GC that the tub we'd ordered wanted, and would need yesterday for the beginning of Project New Loo almost immediately (see Demo began at oh-eight-thirty today) was on back-order. This discovery was made when the person at the plumbing shop called our GC on Saturday afternoon at 4pm to advise that there was another similar one in stock and would we want it.

Back up to indicate that the original tub we'd salivated over was a Japanese style soaker tub which would fit into the footprint of our existing tub's (60x30) but be about 21 inches deep on the interior for bathing depth. This tub would have cost near $1800 USD and wouldn't have been able to have been shipped up here from the manufacturer, so we were on a quest, nay, a Quest to seek out the tub of our dreams. Alas, that tub was in another castle. So. We went to the supplier to pick out all of our bathroom finery - fixtures, et al - and thought we were ready to go. Until our GC starts to get all our ducks in a row for this week for Demo and rebuild, to discover that, alas, the tub was oversold. {insert pithy IKEA reference here}


The demo crew arrived with a skip and several nice young men with Good Strong Backs to rip out our loo as was, and we met with the GC to finalize the contract. We then needed to go back out to the supplier to see if the suggested tub was suitable, and off we went, not nearly caffeinated enough but such as it is. After much dithering and waiting and some worry on my part, I pointed out a tub which appeared to be similar dimensions; the ones that our salesperson was looking at all fell short either on bathing depth (17.5 will not suffice when 21 was planned) or on availability (2-3 week lead time is not satisfactory when demo has begun that morning). The tub I chose (that apparently had been mentioned and for whatever reason not leapt upon) was measured by hubby sitting in it and then insisting I sit in it, since I'd be doing more of the sit-down bathing. We compared and contrasted their other offering similarly and found it lacking, were taken to see another completely unsuitable version in the showroom in the rear of the shop and then put the one I chose on hold, feeling confused about the measurements on the spec sheet, but gratified that the 'sit-in test' seemed to meet our needs.

Grabbing a bite on the way home to meet with our cabinet-maker and our GC, and glad for the rescheduled meeting of 90 minutes later,  we felt pretty good so far, even with this hiccup.
Hoping no serious (read: expensive) surprises were awaiting us, we headed home.

Meeting went well, but ran long; we met with the lead hand of the crew on the job, the plumber who'd actually done work on this same home for a previous owner, the cabinet-maker and our GC and firmed up all the cabinet-related questions/design issues, etc. for Part Two:  Project Gimme A Bigger Kitchen, Willya?

Sometimes I'm amazed at all the decisions both big and small that go into a renovation project, and that it is both fun and hard work and the things you'd never imagined you'd have to decide on, like did the shower want to have a 16-inch arm or a 20-inch arm?

All in all, I think we came out of Day One pretty unscathed, but in need of more naps; hubby lay down with the unperturbable Old Lady cat, Kya, and grabbed a quick nap while my weariness hit me later on and I sat here, head-nodding in my chair.
I suspect now that the cats have mostly recovered from the day, too (spent in hiding under our bed) we have also and will begin anew tomorrow with the hunt for a toilet more suitable than our original choice. More on that tomorrow...