About Arielle

Author Archive | Arielle

A few more finishing touches

By on August 16, 2012

We finally overcame our shower door dilemma! Andrew cut the new wall jambs that we ordered and put everything back together. It was pretty simple this time since we’d already done all the prep work. Once it was all back together, all that was left for it to be usable was caulking.

When caulking a wet area like a bathtub, you have to use a caulk that’s mold and mildew resistant. There probably are some mold/mildew resistant latex caulks, but even still silicone has some other redeeming qualities. It doesn’t shrink or crack like latex and will stay flexible longer. It’s more work up front, but definitely the better option for a bathtub. We used a white latex caulk for the baseboards and trim, though, because it’s so much easier to work with and to clean up. (Latex is water clean-up, but silicone requires mineral spirits).

Unfortunately, our only tube of white silicone caulk had been opened before and the caulk dried in the tip (the plastic caps they come with do not keep air out). We had to cut the tip even more to remove the dried caulk, so the bead was much bigger than we really needed. Even though I wasted a lot of caulk wiping away the huge bead, it’s still cheaper than buying a new tube! I squeezed a bead of caulk along the edge, working in sections of a couple feet at a time.

Since the tip was so big, I used my finger to push the caulk into the joint as I smoothed the bead. Then I wiped away the extra caulk with a rag dampened with mineral spirits. I read later that smoothing the caulk with mineral spirits might actually change the chemical makeup of the caulk and cause it not to cure up as well. I couldn’t find very much information about this, though, and lots of other sites recommended doing this. So I might have screwed this up majorly, or it could be no big deal. I’m guessing over time we’ll find out! As far as appearances go, though, I think it looks pretty awesome!

Since we had a bead of caulk under the horizontal piece along the tub (you can see that process here), I didn’t caulk the front edge of that. If it ever does leak it’s an easy fix. If it’s not needed, though, I thought it would look better without. I also didn’t caulk the inside of the bottom piece because as water splashes into the jambs or along the bottom piece, it needs a way out. It will naturally flow down the jamb and under the bottom piece, so it needs to be open so the water can run back into the tub and the area stays dry and mildew-free.

I decided to go with the white caulk instead of clear because the clear always ends up looking more foggy than clear. Since the tile is white, I figured the white caulk would just blend in and actually appear less noticeable than the clear foggy caulking. And I think I was right.

So now hopefully the shower doors are up to stay! And in 12 or 24 hours (can’t remember what the tube said) the caulk will be dry and the shower can be used! Just in time for my family visiting this weekend. :)

We’ve also done a couple other finishing touches in the bathroom. We finally got around to installing the switch plate and outlet covers.  But first let’s just look back at where we started and see how far we’ve come. Here’s what we were working with:

Yikes! A few weeks after starting our reno, I saw these same switch plates on an episode of House Hunters, but the lady loved them! One man’s junk…or maybe she just had bad taste. Or maybe I have bad taste?! And in process:

Scary, right? But now, we have this.

These are Allen + Roth from Lowe’s. We liked the simplicity of the design and chose brushed nickel to match the other finishes. We also bought a brushed nickel shower caddy from Target. 

I don’t love these, but our tub was designed to be as big as possible while still fitting in a standard space, so that means no space around the outside. We probably won’t store much in the caddy, but we want guests to have somewhere to put bottles without constantly having them fall off the edges of the tub.

While at Target I snatched up these cute washcloths. They were 8 for $5! Pretty cheap if you ask me. We hadn’t bought matching washcloths with our plush, pricey towels because, well, they were expensive! And we don’t want to have to stress if they get dirty.

Half are plain and half have this fun, zig-zaggy pattern.

Now that we’re finally getting these finishing touches done, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Our 1 year anniversary of being in our house is August 19 (Sunday), so our goal is to be done by then. Since my family will be here over the weekend, though, we don’t have much time! But in the words of the always-inspiring Bob the Builder: Can we fix it? Yes, we can!

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

A shower door do-over

By on August 13, 2012

We are getting soooo close to the end of our bathroom remodel. About time, right? Well, since we made a stupid mistake when we installed our shower doors, our timeline got extended by about a month. Here’s  a recap. There’s a lip on our tub that isn’t flush with the tile. The wall jamb for the side of the shower doors needs to be cut to go around the lip so the jamb can be flush with the tile. Like this:

But see how the two different sides are not equal depths?

Yeah, well we cut into the deeper side thinking that way we’d have plenty of room to make the necessary cuts so they fit around the tub.

But then the bumpers filled up pretty much all that space…

We had to hang the doors slightly off level, which the kit allows for by providing 3 different levels of holes for each piece of hardware at the top of the doors. We had to do this so the glass would hit both the top and bottom bumper when each door was on its respective side. But say the doors ended up on the opposite sides since guests won’t know which side they “should” be on. Then the doors would close at the bottom, but not at the top (even when they were on the correct sides, the doors didn’t sit very deeply inside the jamb.)  See the gap?

If someone got all splishy splashy in the bath, water could come right out into the bathroom, onto to the walls, etc. And it wasn’t just like this on the far end. We had the same problem near the shower head. If the deeper side of the wall jambs were facing out, though, even with the doors hanging slightly crooked, we think they would sit inside the metal frame, keeping water where it belongs.

So, we ordered new wall jambs for $20 a pop, making our total cost of these doors over $400 (once I actually get a chance to live with them for a while I’ll let you know whether it was worth it). But, of course, the model we needed was on backorder. Cause why wouldn’t it be? It wasn’t even supposed to be available again until today. But guess what we got in the mail about a week ago??

And guess who is so excited because now he gets to cut new wall jambs? Well, no one really. But I did get him to pretend.

Now we have no shower doors in our bathroom once again, but (dare I say it?) soon we’ll have shower doors that actually function properly!

I wonder if it will be bittersweet when this project is over? Probably…no. Besides, will it ever really be “done”? Also no.

See our finally installed shower doors and the caulking process here!

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Oh how the tables have turned

By on August 11, 2012

Into something cute! Yesterday I sold two of these light blue glazed end tables, and before I could actually write a post about them.

I bought these two tables on Craigslist about a month ago, and they were definitely in need of some love.

I sanded the top of each table with the orbital sander and fine grit sandpaper and lightly hand-sanded the rest just to remove any glossiness. Once the tables were primed (using Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 primer), I sprayed them with Valspar Ultra Sparkling Lake in a semi-gloss.

Since these tables have so many ornate details, I really wanted to glaze them to make the details pop. Glazing is really very simple, but it does require that you purchase a glazing product specifically for the task. I experimented on old baseboard using both water and oil-based stains and paints, and they just don’t work the same way. The stains stain and the paint sticks…go figure.

The glaze dries very slowly and wipes off really easily (though if you’re glazing a piece that was painted with a flat paint you might need a wet rag to wipe the glaze off.) For now I’m using Valspar Clear Mixing Glaze that I bought at Lowe’s. That small container was almost $20, though, so next time I’m going to look at Home Depot and see if there’s something cheaper. On the bright side, it takes hardly any to glaze an entire piece of furniture.

All you need is some type of glaze, latex paint, a brush to apply the glaze, and rags. LOTS of rags.

I mixed two paint colors I had on hand to make a darker color, and added 1 part paint to about 5 parts mixing glaze (total I think I only used a couple tablespoons of glaze and even less paint.)

I lightly coated the end of the brush with glaze and painted it in all the cracks.

I also painted it on the flat areas so that the entire table would have a consistent color.

Then I wiped it off with a cotton cloth. I use old t-shirts cause they’re cheap and smooth so they don’t wipe the glaze out of the cracks.

The package of glaze said not to wipe any glazed areas for 28 days to allow the glaze to cure. I’m not sure if that’s really necessary, because the next day it seemed pretty dry and wouldn’t come off with a slightly damp rag. But just to be safe, I sprayed both tables with a coat of Minwax Clear Gloss Polycrylic, and now it’s definitely not going anywhere.

I just love this light blue color! But luckily it doesn’t really go in any room in our house (except the master bedroom, which with it’s icey blue walls wouldn’t be too welcoming of light blue furniture) so I’m free to sell all light blue furniture. After this project, I’m really excited to try other glazing projects!

 

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

A bamboo mirror upgrade

By on August 8, 2012

I found this bamboo mirror at a flea market for around $6. Mirrors are a weakness of mine, and I knew I could make this one a lot cuter than it is in it’s bare form. Although I must say cleaning the crayon off the mirror worked wonders in itself.

First, I figured I needed to do something about these gaps that were all the way around the outside. A lot of them were wider than this part, and paint wouldn’t really fill them all that well.

So I filled all the edges with Elmer’s Pro Bond wood putty and sanded it smooth.

Then I scuff sanded the raised bamboo part of the frame to make sure the spray paint would adhere. After covering the mirror, I sprayed it with a glossy white spray paint. It probably took 4 coats to make sure all of the lattice part of the frame was completely covered.

Using my new favorite teeny tiny foam roller I carefully rolled grey paint onto the raised areas of the frame and painted the inside edge of the frame with a paintbrush.

After 2 coats of grey paint, I finished it with a spray coat of Minwax Clear Gloss Polycrylic to make sure the paint wouldn’t flake off of the slick bamboo.

Now it’s super glossy and the paint certainly isn’t going anywhere.

I think it gives off a chevron-y vibe…a subtle nod to chevron, if you will. Definitely an improvement from the brown bamboo before, which in my opinion looked very “furniture store” (probably cause that’s where it came from). I love how just a little bit of paint can totally transform something and make it so unique. :)

Read full story · Comments { 0 }