Tuesday, February 18, 2020

when it rains, it pours


The row of blue tile went up yesterday. First the first row of the pencil tile and then the blue tile. I had pre-marked the miter for the corner pieces of the pencil tile which was great except I had marked the wrong side resulting in a miter that didn't work. Fortunately Rocky wanted to check in situ before proceeding and we discovered my error. So, I marked the tile, he cut it and set it in place. This was as far as he wanted to go until the adhesive had set. The next row is pencil and then 6" of wall tile. Crucial where the collar for the shower rod falls. We checked the measurement today, fingers crossed. We could increase the 6" to 7" but I'd rather not.

Yesterday was the first day I got a glimpse of my design, what I came up with with the things available I liked best. Rocky had the first row of pencil tile up and two 12" sections of the blue tile and I chuckled. That sounds like somebody who's happy with what they see says Rocky. And yes I was happy with what I saw. Seeing the samples, seeing the drawing, visualizing it in my head is all well and good but the moment of truth is when it all starts to come together in real life, seeing that your idea and the solutions to problems actually work.



But of course something had to balance that out and last night when the kids came to take showers, Sarah reported that the the water never did get hot and Mike had to take a quick cold shower. Checked the hot water heater and the pilot was out and would not relight. This hot water heater is only 3 1/2 years old (and still under warranty) so when Rocky showed up this morning he pulled out the burner/pilot/clicker thing and discovered that the burner was completely covered in soot, cleaned that up and vacuumed everything up, checked the gas supply, and still the the pilot wouldn't work. More investigating and blah blah blah everyone says if we have to replace that part we might as well just replace the whole water heater, that's how expensive the part is. So we finally called the expensive plumber who sold us the water heater and installed it and the guy looked at the part, thinks he can fix it, disconnected it and took it with him. We should find out in the morning if he could. If not then it's wrangling with the manufacturer to honor the warranty.

And because that's not headache enough, the kitchen sink is stopped up and the 8' snake did not clear the problem so tomorrow we try with a longer snake. In the meantime I'm heating water with which to wash dishes in a basin so I can throw the dirty water out in the yard (same for rinsing) and I took a shower at my neighbor's house (Marc just suffered through a cold water shower).

Sigh.

Tomorrow is the last watercolor class so Rocky won't be back til Friday to finish up the tile (he's using today and tomorrow to finish up one of his other jobs while we get the water heater and sink straightened out).

But, once the tile is done the rest should go pretty quickly.




11 comments:

  1. On the cheerful side, that tiling is starting to look lovely. Let's hope for hot water to go with it.

    My tenant texted me early yesterday to report no running water. Turned out to be a major main break close by. So I didn't have to fix it, the water company did. Eventually. I did offer the option of showering at my house if no water soon. You did likewise! It's Shower at a Friend's House Day.

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  2. The tiling is looking good. We had to replace our water heater when we got the bathroom redone too. We opted for a Point of Use water heating system. The water doesn't sit in a tank and keep reheating the water gets heated when you turn on the water. It's much better on our gas bill too.

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  3. Nice tile work, Ellen. Good luck with the project. You're almost there.

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  4. The bathroom looks very nice. Sorry that other things didn’t go as well. Hopefully you will have a warm shower very soon.

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  5. Phew! It's always Murphy's Law, isn't it? If something can go wrong, it will.
    But yes, the tile is looking gorgeous. And I do love that tub. I'm so glad you saved it.

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  6. Jeez. Talk about challenges. May things only get better from now on.

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  7. The tile is looking great! And good grief - I hope today's a MUCH better day!

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  8. It's ALWAYS something with a remodel. Hope the water heater is fixed quickly and your drain runs free like the rivers. Drainage is an unappreciated thing until it doesn't.

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  9. Oh, man. That IS a lot to deal with. The shower looks great, though! The manufacturer certainly ought to cover that water heater. It may be a pain in the neck to deal with, but you shouldn't have to pay for it.

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  10. I've always thought in the hierarchy of crises, loss of electricity ranked higher than loss of the water heater, mostly because if there's electricity (or propane, etc) you always can heat water. Of course, when I used to go up to the cabin in the hill country, that was standard operating procedure. There wasn't any electricity, running water, etc. there. I'd heat water on the propane stove, and use one of those big green garden sprayers as an outdoor shower. It was great, really, except sometimes in winter.

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  11. I sure hope water heaters and drains are quickly resolved, because, you sure have a great eye for what looks pleasant, and the sooner you get to use it, the better.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.