CaCa Brown..

I wish I had more pictures of what this bathroom looked like before renovation. It was all brown.. brown bathtub, brown toilet, brown bidet, brown carpeting.. yes wall-to-wall brown carpeting in the bathroom. I call this color Caca Brown, my father calls it Chocolate Brown. Either way, who really wants a brown toilet?


We had to shift all the plumbing under this raised platform 6" to accomodate a new sink in the place of the brown bidet, everything but the tub was changed out. Electrical outlets added, shower added to tub, tiled wall & floor, replaced boards & refinished wood floor.

moving & refinishing the tub, tiling the floor...

tiling the wall..

This is what it looks like now.

Over Counters

Last week the counter top installers at Pyramid granite came by. This was very exciting because once the counter is in we can hook up the appliances and 3rd floor will be done! I am using Carerra Marble -the ubiquitous grey and white kind - in the U.S. standard thickness 1 ¼” .


Marble makes for a rather high maintenance counter-top. Marble is a softer stone, prone to scuffs and chips. Being porous, marble stains and can be etched by acidic substances and foods. So marble must be coated with a sealant periodically.
Granite is the best choice if you are looking for a full stone slab. Granite is extremely hard and impervious to the elements. It doesn’t chip or stain, you can chop on it, lay white-hot pans on it, spatter it with oil and acid, and stomp on it in spikey heals, Granite won’t show the wear and tear. Take a sharp knife and try scratching the surface of a granite counter top with the pointy tip, you will dull your knife before you see a scratch in the granite.


But this is a small kitchen in an old house and granite looks too modern. Marble, the traditional surface for pastry tables, makes everything feel a little older. And a little wear and tear will hopefully accentuate its timelessness. Also the marble I got was half the price of the cheapest granite. I can cover the entire marble countertop with tempered glass as a chopping surface, and the whole affair will still cost less than using granite.

dust everywhere

Today we are sanding the walls of the 3rd floor hall, the biggest wall along the stairs measures 22ft high. Plaster makes lots and lots of very fine dust that gets into absolutely everything. So its looks like its snowing inside. There are two types of plaster wet and dry, and each person will tell you something different about which is better to use. Easy sand is a white powder and you have to mix it. It comes in three grades 20 45 90, they are all supposedly the same consistency and strength these numbers describe the amount of time it takes the plaster to dry.
Also sheetrock and drywall are going up in the basement, its so fun when drywall finally goes up because it makes everything look like its getting done so much quicker. There is a tiny light at the end of the tunnel.