The House Renovation Saga

Who said that the lead-up to Christmas is usually quieter? I've been busy at work helping out with proposals writing. On the home renovations front, things have all been happening!

Our mixer taps arrived on Wednesday. We've installed it and tested it. It works beautifully! I was initially concerned about the possibility of water spilling over the round glass plate but even at full blast of the tap, this didn't happen.

Once the mixer tap was in and tested, Alastair siliconed the edges of the vanity unit. It's was a nice neat job!

On top of that, we also installed the toilet roll holder and towel holders. We had fun doing mini usability tests for both fittings, making sure that we can reach both items comfortably (also keeping in mind, future users of these fittings). We ended up relocating the towel holder to the same wall as the toilet fitting. The original spot for the towel holder would have resulted in a very cramp spot if you needed to stand in front of the sink (which you'll need to do on a daily basis).

It's all looking very good and coming together nicely. Our next biggest thing is the installation of the shower screen, which I have some slight trepidation about. We're going to have a go at it tomorrow before our friend's Christmas get together. I hope it all goes well as I want this completed before we fly back to Perth!

Things left to do:

• Install drainage for vanity
• Silicon vanity edges
• Buy taps
• Install shower screen
• Do a overall clean of everything
• Reinstall downlight over sink
• Paint architraves (nearly completed - need to redo a small section of the door)
• Install dynabolts for toilet
• Install waterfall mixer taps

mood: busy

We're starting to push it for time. We're flying out to Perth next week and was hoping to get the ensuite completed before we left. I'm not sure whether we're going to make it. The biggest thing holding us up at the moment is the tap mixer. We've purchased two waterfall tap mixers in two separate ebay auctions, which we're waiting to arrive. They're similar to the ones pictured below.

Waterfall mixer tap

Waterfall mixer tap with running water

The problem is that we can't put in the shower screen until the tap mixers go in as we need the space to maneuver around the ensuite. The shower screen is going to be the last thing to install.

Things left to do in the ensuite:

• Install drainage for vanity
• Silicon vanity edges
• Buy taps
• Install shower screen
• Do a overall clean of everything
• Reinstall downlight over sink
• Paint architraves (nearly completed - need to redo a small section of the door)
• Install waterfall mixer taps

I've been away a few days this past week. While I was away, hubby was busily installing lovely new taps for the shower and finished installing the shower head. He also did the first coat of paint for the ensuite. I did the second today while he and the air con guy were installing the aircond into the living areas.

Unfortunately we can't finish the vanity unit as we're waiting upon a new mixer set to arrive!

This past weekend has seen us do more work on the ensuite. I regrouted one of the walls and Alastair repainted the ensuite ceiling.

We finally moved the toilet from the carport to the front yard so I could wash it down with the pressure water. You can see Alastair in the above shot about to lift the toilet that I had just cleaned. We installed the toilet, most of the vanity and the shower head.

Nearly completed ensuite

Things left to do for the ensuite:

• Install drainage for vanity (Alastair is currently working on this as I write this entry)
• Silicon vanity edges
• Buy taps
• Install shower screen
• Do a overall clean of everything
• Reinstall downlight over sink