Goop, Press, and Place

Looks like a large spider web, doesn't it?

We took the base back out because we had to add adhesive to the bottom of the base before we permanently placed it. That dark stuff is the construction adhesive. Once that was applied, we flipped the base back over and put in place. If you install a shower base, don't be surprised if you have to use shims to make sure it is placed perfectly.

Set, Measure, Place

Yup. That's the shower base. I tell you, this shower has required so much work and it's still not all in. I sure do hope it's worth it!

Here we have temporarily placed the base on the plywood base we installed (and in which we cut the hole).

Next we leveled the base. Once we felt we had it leveled we also needed to make sure the water would drain down the drain as it was supposed to. Hence, the picture of Dave dumping water in the base. NOTE: remember to either have someone hold a bucket below or make sure there is a bucket below to catch the water. Everything with our shower base seemed to be

set properly.

Then we had to remove it.

Shower Power

In September Dave and I were able to install the shower base in the upstairs bathroom. As usual, we couldn't just put the dang thing in. Nope. We also had to reinforce (box in) the area where the plumbing was going to be (the ceiling of the den). Then we had to cut a round hole for the shower drain and hoped to you know who, that the hole wasn't going to hit the boxed area. Well, we pretty much DID hit the boxed in area but only just. We were luck.

The first picture is looking up at the den ceiling where the hole was being cut. The second picture shows Dave cutting the hole. We hat the Ryobi jigsaw. The blade kept moving. It was my Christmas give to him a couple of years ago and I was jobless. So I went cheaper and now we are paying for it in other ways. He'll get a new one eventually...

Staining

After we sanded the backsplash for the vanity and after I practiced the staining (see the stained sample) I stained the routed piece.

When I stained the sample, I stained the entire piece and then wiped a third of it at 5 minute intervals (5, 10, 15 minutes) to see what the difference was. I have to admit that there appeared to be little difference.

When I stained the backsplash, I left the stain on for 15 minutes then wiped it off. I also purchased a wipe on poly. I don't feel that this particular product gives me the sheen or the surface I am looking for so I will be putting a brush-on poly on it. We also plan to be a couple of coats (or more) of poly on the top of the dresser to help maintain the surface if it gets wet, which it no doubt will.

Dresser/Vanity Part I

Because we haven't completed the vanity project yet, I will need to blog about it in a couple of different parts.

We do want to clean up the dresser but don't plan to refinish it. At least that's the current plan. Dave purchased a wood cleaner from the local home store. I don't recall the exact name of it at this time but it is made by Minwax. I haven't used it yet but when I do, I'll let you know what it is and how it worked.

One of the things that we need on this dresser is a backsplash that can be mounted to the dresser and also the wall. Of course, we want it to match the dresser. So, our first step was to purchase a piece of oak from The Home Depot. We also purchased a golden oak stain (from Minwax) at the same time. The piece of oak we purchased was longer than the dresser so we cut a piece from it. That cut off piece was what I used to practice the stain. If you want to stain something, the longer you leave the stain on without wiping it off, the darker the color will be. I tried to get a match to the dresser.

Before I stained the extra piece of oak, Dave and I cut the oak piece (the longer one) to the appropriate length to span the back of the dresser. We then used the router to rout the piece to give it a little more character. I then used the orbital sander and just hand sanding to get the piece nice and smooth. See the pictures.

Reuse and Redefine

Reusing and redefining has sort of been the mantra of Hardy House as much as possible. In keeping with that, Dave and I purchased an old antique dresser for about $175 at our local antique shop, Brick House Antique Center (see link). We plan to use it as our vanity in the downstairs bathroom at Hardy House.

If you want to make a vanity out of antique dresser, look for a dresser that can be easily modified beneath the top of the dresser. The dresser we bought was pretty simply made. We plan to just shorten the depth of the top drawers. If you can't do that, at least save the drawer fronts to give the appearance there are drawers there. The bottom drawers on our dresser will be used to store towels and toiletries.

Catchin' Up at Hardy House...

A lot has been happening at Hardy House -

It's time to try and catch up, so gather 'round, and take a peek and see what we've been up to.