Happy Easter from me and Osker!

This is the warm wire kit to heat the bathroom floor under the tile. You stick the strap down along the edges, then run the wire back and forth.  It comes with a thermostat and an alarm for install in case you cut the wire while tiling!

Finished tiling the floor today!  

 The shower tile is not finished, but under control.  A few more tiles to cut, then it has to be grouted.  That's a shelf taped up in the corner!  Hope it holds!














The now infamous kitchen, wall-mount faucet is re-plumbed, ready for cabinets and countertop.  Dad tries to make Mom's dreams come true, but not without a bit of swearing!  It was challenging to get it at the right height, depth, and width.

 

When there is digging going on, me, Osker and Zambie are there to help!  We love it when Mom works outside instead of in the house; she throws the ball for us!  She's working on getting rid of sod under trees that are hard to mow under and is sculpting an area for a garden bench.

We passed the shower pan inspection!  The inspector was the structural guy, not the plumbing guy.  He had never seen the Laticrete shower pans before so Mom had to explain the rationale.   Then she jumped right into tiling.  The subway tiles are a bit above her capability level, but it's coming out OK.  Very messy, slow going.

When she opens the back door to go cut a tile there is a puppy with a toy and his pet chicken waiting for her!

 The dog shower pan was mortared into place this week!  The drain is installed and leak tested!  We built a pony wall to take up some space on the left side.  The tub will be tiled on 3 sides eventually.  It's a preformed janitorial mop sink.

How do you think they'll get us in there??!!!

The guest bath shower walls had Kerdi membrane installed this week.  It was sort of like wall papering except you use thin set mortar to stick it on the wall.  It's a water and vapor barrier.  Ready to tile!

We relocated another daytime skunk this past week!  We had a false sense of confidence from the first successful skunk relocation.  This one let loose in the plastic bag.  Even though it was all contained, we learned a lot about skunk spray aerosols and how "sticky" they are!  Our friend John from Seattle was visiting.  As soon as Dad caught the skunk he and John put it in the bus and drove it to it's new home.  When they returned, Mom made them strip down, shower, and washed their clothes!  Needless to say no one wants to ride in the bus right now...

The garage doors were installed this week!!  The man-door is being painted the same color.

The edges of the shower pans were sealed with Hydroban.  It's easy to paint on and seals up the little cracks.  It doesn't smell and it washes off the brush with water!

Picked up the tiles for this shower, but still need the shower pan inspection.





Sadly we lost Wonkette last week.  She must have gotten into something.  It happened suddenly.  With only one chicken left we thought we should get Zambit some company so we got 2 chicks!

We watched the Westminster dog show with Mom. She likes the idea of the Working Dog group.  She thinks we should pull a cart of firewood.  We reminded her that we're both Sporting Dogs, and one of our favorite things to do is chase birds!!  Imagine our joy when she put a box on the floor with 2 little birds we can watch!!

Finally installed the 2 Laticrete preformed shower pans!  They're made of styrofoam with a waterproof coating and drain embedded. They're set in a mortar bed.  We had to remove the drains that the plumber had installed.   Next will be a waterproof coating around the edges.

Mom was busy cleaning up the mortar, going in and out of the house with the door open.  Osker had been going in and out too; he likes to keep an eye on her!  All of a sudden Mom looked up to find Osker standing in front of her dripping wet mud.  Apparently he ran down the hallway looking for her before he found her in the bathroom.  There was a trail of muddy water on all the "protective" paper lining the floors.  There was muddy water splashed on the walls.  There was muddy water on the wood floor.  He must have sat in a mud puddle.

We're using beadboard for the backsplash in the kitchen.  One wall of the kitchen needed full sheets to go behind a glass door cabinet, bread table, and bookshelf.  Mom cut out the outlet holes and installed the sheets without screwing it up!!!  They're nailed, glued, and painted (same color as the rest of the house...).  Finally picked cabinet stain color.

Dad worked hard on the range hood vent opening and connection.  Beams and joists are in the way of an easy connection. We're having a sheet metal vent transition special-made so it will be properly centered.

Still in various stages of varnish on windows, doors and door jambs.  Dad made Mom a pair of 36" horses for finish work so it's not so hard on her back.

Went off on a little tangent today!   The stick on the pine tree is the bottom of an antenna for a radio in the house.  That's right!!  That's how far away we had to go to put the antenna for reception.  You would not believe how long it took to find that spot! There is a wire running the whole way!  Country living!!  It will be nice to have some tunes to work by!