Shower remodel

Since we moved here about a year and a half ago, the upstairs showers have slowly been driving me nuts.  The grout is old and crumbling out and there are long cracks running along the walls where I imagine the cement board joints are.

I have wanted to redo them for a long time but I lacked any experience.  I luckily recruited my Mom to help me with the two showers and I think the end result looks fantastic!

Here is the original bathroom, right before the demolition began.

I took this picture of the plumbing hoping that if I had to get behind the wall at a later date, I could reference this picture and eliminate any excess work.

We went all the way down to the studs on two walls.  The two pieces of horizontal wood supports would help with positioning some built in niches.

Here we have the cement board up and we have installed the two niches.

I was very nervous about any moisture getting back behind the walls so I added an additional level of water resistant barrier between the tile and cement board.  Here we have the tile nearly half way done...it took us a lot of work to get to this point.

Here we have the tile completed, including mosaic tiles inside the niches.  All we have left to do is grout and install the fixtures!

Here is the finished project.  We took the tile all the way to the ceiling and updated the fixtures from chrome to antique bronze.

Water closet shelving

I had originally planned on installing a standard cabinet over the toilet in our master water closet, since there is not any other storage solution in there.  Since we eventually plan to redo our master bathroom and would be getting all new cabinetry, I decided to hold off on that idea for a while, so that everything would match.

  However, I've recently saw floating shelves in a diy magazine that were put up in a living room.  That got me thinking that maybe I could put something together now and solve my problem.

The plans I came across in my magazine used a standard wood box, attached to the wall using a cleat.  The box was made out of plywood and covered with a veneer.  Since I've never worked with a veneer, I thought I would modify the plans, eliminate the plywood and stain the wood used.

Since I changed the plans, I didn't want a plain board on the front with its edges exposed.  That lead me to run a bevel on the length of the shelf, which is much easier said that done without a table saw.  In this picture, you can see the rear support section of the self where it will attach to the cleat on the wall.

I didnt really have any idea how high to put the self up initially, so I did held it in place while my daughter took pictures until I found an ideal setup.

Here is a picture of the dry fit before staining the shelves.

Here is a picture of the cleat system I used to secure the shelves to the wall.

I love the way dark walnut stain looks, so that was an easy decision.  I used two coats of stain and two coats of poly for a nice clean finish.

Here is a picture of the first shelf going up.

Here is a picture of the finished project.

Valentines flower box

I've had several broken down pallets in my garage for about a year.  I could never decide on what to make them into until a recent trip to the local tool store.  As valentines day was quickly approaching and the daffodil bulbs I planted in the winter had yet to come up, I grabbed a few varieties at the local shop.

Random pieces of pallets waiting to be made useful...

very basic frame, put together with a nail gun.

  Since some of the boards were rather uneven, I decided to add a plastic liner so that the soil wouldn't come out around the edges.

First planter done with and shown off with my assistant.

The finished project, ready for Valentines day.

All in all, a faily quick and easy project.  It took less than two hours with my assistant helping along the way.  I suppose I could have done it faster alone, but that's all part of the fun!

Miter Saw Table

I had been toying around with the idea of a permanent table for my miter saw, especially after doing several projects on the garage floor.  After looking a various designs online, I wanted to build something with future expansion potential.  Eventually plan to get a router table and table saw and with that in mind I created the following table setup to house both of these units on each end, while still providing a large flat working surface.

I started with the base.  This picture shows frame upside down.

Starting to come together.  The idea here is to eventually put a table saw on the left, a miter saw in the middle and a router table on the right hand side.

This is the back of the unit.  I decided to keep the back support elevated at the end.  The idea here is that if I ever removed the miter saw, I would be able to put a piece of plywood in the center section and it would have built in support.  It also helps to collect some of the saw dust.

Here is the finished table.  It has plenty of space to store tools below.  There are 8 caster wheels below, with locks on all four corners.  I can easily roll this out of the garage and into the driveway by myself if the weather is nice.

Lilly turns 2!!!

We had a great time celebrating Lilly's second birthday with some of her cousins and her grandparents.  We went to a local farm/petting zoo to celebrate.

Feeding a pig

In this picture, Erin was reminiscing about her favorite roadside M&M's from her childhood.

Lilly's first Pony ride

She looks like she knew what she was doing!

Notice the hand providing some encouragement to get it all out...

Somebody looks a little embarrassed!

Kids love frosting!

And more frosting

Happy Birthday Lilly!

BUGS!

So, I've been reminded (more than once) that I need to update more frequently.  I think we should all come to the realization that I am not going to do this on a regular basis.  However, its only been like 16 or 17 months so cut me some slack...

Grasshoppers are not scary.

Neither are scorpions (or square pants as Luke call them)

For some reason I cannot get this picture to rotate after uploading.  The look on Luke's face is priceless.  Even though he is excited to see the bugs every time we go, he is still terrified of them.

I think this mantis is about to prey on Luke

Grandpa, we found your underwear!

Thanks for including me in a shot Mom...next time I'll Photoshop some more hair on my head.

 

To anyone viewing this, you can thank Doug and Frankie for their guilt trips.

More Lilly pictures

We had the hospital photographer come in and take some pictures before we left on Sunday.  Here are some of the highlights.

 

She did very well holding still for the pictures.

 

She really does calm down around Kathryn.

 

Daddy would have shaved if he knew his face would be in the pictures...

 

She looks so small in my hands.