Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Backyard: Day 7
The backyard project is coming along!
Monday morning, a whole bunch of lumber was delivered, and the crew started to work on the forms. They also started to set some of the beams in concrete. So far, they have the beams set for the top deck, as well as forms for the two large retaining walls. They also set the posts for the planter in concrete and the built that smaller retaining wall.
Labels: His 'n Her Condos, Remodel
Friday, October 03, 2008
Backyard: Day 4
The trenches were dug for all of the retaining walls, stone/cement seat, and for all of the posts for the deck, stairs, arbor, and planter box. They have also leveled out the ground for most of the tiers.
It amazes me just how much dirt they dug up! The trenches, and especially the holes for the posts are VERY deep! We'll be utilizing the extra dirt in various places, but for now, we're just trying to keep it out of the way.
It's supposed to rain tonight/tomorrow, so the crew covered the large dirt piles with tarp so that it'll be easier to move later.
Labels: His 'n Her Condos, Remodel
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Great Backyard Landscape Project of 2008!
Today is an exciting day here at His 'n Her Condos!
After being in the planning stages for nearly a year, we've officially begun work on our backyard landscaping project!
The crew came in today and removed the remaining deck and railroad ties, then proceeded to dig the trenches for the retaining walls and leveled out the ground in the back section. (we're going to have about 3 main tiers.)
I was going to scan in what we thought would be the final plans and post them on my blog, but alas: we made more (and significant!) changes to the layout this afternoon! Our architects are hoping to have the final, final plans to us by Thursday. I'll have to wait until then to post them!
Oh, almost forgot to mention:
we now have a lovely Port-o-Potty temporarily living in front of our house.
Nothing says, "We're doing a big house project" like a port-o-potty on the sidewalk. ;)
Labels: His 'n Her Condos, Remodel
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Backyard Demo, Take 2
We are finally getting underway on our next home project: The Great Backyard/Landscaping Project of 2008!.
We've been working with our Landscape Design Architects since January. We had the backyard initially cleared of most of the plants and trees in late February, leaving only two trees that we were considering keeping.
Having the yard cleared back then really helped us get a better sense of the space. We found out that the large tree was in pretty bad shape, so we decided to cut it down. The palm tree is actually in great shape, so we decided to incorporate it into the new design.
We took our time, and worked on the design from January through July. We sent the designs out to 3 different contractors and hired a landscape contractor last month.
The job will start off slow: we'll have the yard cleared again today. We'll be keeping the palm tree, and the railroad ties (to make access easier for the time being) then will mark out the yard next week. We've had a lot of rain, and a lot of sunshine since the yard was first cleared in February, so the weeds have really grown and run wild! I expect the dumpster that's been left in front of our house will be filled by the end of the day.
The real work will begin on Monday, September 29th. The target completion date is Friday, November 7th. We'll see how it all goes!
Labels: His 'n Her Condos, Remodel
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Great Backyard Demo of 2008!
...time for another project!
We have a really great, and unusually large backyard by San Francisco standards. The poor garden has been neglected for almost a couple of years now, ever since my gardener was mean to me, and fired me. :)
We stopped regular maintenance after that, as we knew that we eventually wanted to completely redesign the space. We decided to do the bathroom remodel first, then concentrate on the backyard.
We've hired a landscape architect team, who have come to scope out the site, and have presented us with some initial design ideas. They also suggested that we clear the backyard sooner rather than later so that we can all get a better sense of the space.
So, today was "Demo the Backyard Day" at "His 'n "Her Condos".
I hired a hauling company who came in with 9 burly men and one enormous dumpster. They came in at 8:00 this morning, and had finished by 2:00 this afternoon. Pretty amazing stuff.
Along the way, they offered to haul away anything else that we wanted to get rid of. I've been wanted to get rid of a few dozen very large boxes that I've kept in the basement for the past 4 years since the move. What is it about moving that makes you think that you should keep all of the "good" boxes that you may need someday in case you need to move again? Several of these boxes were also the ones that came with every large piece of electronics that we bought or had at the time: CPUs/monitors/printers/scanners/etc., Did I think I'd ever need to return these? Sheesh!
I've realized that they're more of a fired hazard than anything at this point, so I decided to get rid of them all! It was very therapeutic. They've been taking up so much room in the back of the basement, and I was trying to figure out how/when i was going to get rid of them. (A lot of them have Styrofoam peanuts or blocks in them, so I wouldn't be able to recycle those.) So, I rolled up my sleeves and braved the scary dark back section of the basement this morning, and brought them all out to be hauled away!
Anyhow, the hauling team was just amazing, and finished the job in 6 hours.
Here are some before and after photos. What a difference!! :)
We have a really great, and unusually large backyard by San Francisco standards. The poor garden has been neglected for almost a couple of years now, ever since my gardener was mean to me, and fired me. :)
We stopped regular maintenance after that, as we knew that we eventually wanted to completely redesign the space. We decided to do the bathroom remodel first, then concentrate on the backyard.
We've hired a landscape architect team, who have come to scope out the site, and have presented us with some initial design ideas. They also suggested that we clear the backyard sooner rather than later so that we can all get a better sense of the space.
So, today was "Demo the Backyard Day" at "His 'n "Her Condos".
I hired a hauling company who came in with 9 burly men and one enormous dumpster. They came in at 8:00 this morning, and had finished by 2:00 this afternoon. Pretty amazing stuff.
Along the way, they offered to haul away anything else that we wanted to get rid of. I've been wanted to get rid of a few dozen very large boxes that I've kept in the basement for the past 4 years since the move. What is it about moving that makes you think that you should keep all of the "good" boxes that you may need someday in case you need to move again? Several of these boxes were also the ones that came with every large piece of electronics that we bought or had at the time: CPUs/monitors/printers/scanners/etc., Did I think I'd ever need to return these? Sheesh!
I've realized that they're more of a fired hazard than anything at this point, so I decided to get rid of them all! It was very therapeutic. They've been taking up so much room in the back of the basement, and I was trying to figure out how/when i was going to get rid of them. (A lot of them have Styrofoam peanuts or blocks in them, so I wouldn't be able to recycle those.) So, I rolled up my sleeves and braved the scary dark back section of the basement this morning, and brought them all out to be hauled away!
Anyhow, the hauling team was just amazing, and finished the job in 6 hours.
Here are some before and after photos. What a difference!! :)
Labels: His 'n Her Condos, Remodel
Monday, November 12, 2007
Practically Done!
*whew*
The Great Bathroom Remodel of 2007 is (just about) Done!
Friday was a busy day here. The glass guys came in to install the mirror and shower doors. The electricians also came to install the sconces, the ceiling lights, and to connect all of the outlets, switches, and the thermostat for the floor heater.
By the time they left (around 3:00pm) the bathroom was functional and usable for the first time!
Woo Hoo!
We still have a few more things that need to be installed (glass shelves in the niches inside the shower, one long glass shelf under the mirror, and the mirror for the medicine cabinet) and a few adjustments and minor finishes to be done, but for all intents and purposes, the bathroom project is complete!
I cleaned it as best as I could on Friday afternoon, but had to wait until Sunday before I could really clean the shower for use. (had to let the epoxy on the shower door dry fully.) We used the shower for the first time yesterday, and let's just say: the experience was amazing! Best showering-experience ever!
here are the latest (and almost final) photos!
(it's kind of hard to capture a 5' x 10' bathroom with a camera.)
The Great Bathroom Remodel of 2007 is (just about) Done!
Friday was a busy day here. The glass guys came in to install the mirror and shower doors. The electricians also came to install the sconces, the ceiling lights, and to connect all of the outlets, switches, and the thermostat for the floor heater.
By the time they left (around 3:00pm) the bathroom was functional and usable for the first time!
Woo Hoo!
We still have a few more things that need to be installed (glass shelves in the niches inside the shower, one long glass shelf under the mirror, and the mirror for the medicine cabinet) and a few adjustments and minor finishes to be done, but for all intents and purposes, the bathroom project is complete!
I cleaned it as best as I could on Friday afternoon, but had to wait until Sunday before I could really clean the shower for use. (had to let the epoxy on the shower door dry fully.) We used the shower for the first time yesterday, and let's just say: the experience was amazing! Best showering-experience ever!
here are the latest (and almost final) photos!
(it's kind of hard to capture a 5' x 10' bathroom with a camera.)
Labels: Remodel
Friday, November 09, 2007
Dear Restoration Hardware, WTF?!
Okay, this one's a doozy.
Yesterday, we had the plumbers come in to install all of the fixtures into the bathroom: The new Toto Toilet, the sink and the shower fixtures.
Should be no problem, right? I mean, we had ordered all of these products months ago, and had specked out the the entire remodel based off of the dimensions for everything that we had ordered. The fixtures were all delivered and were sitting in the basement for several weeks before being installed.
You can see where this is going, right?
I *knew* that we'd hit a snaffu or two during the process of the remodel. I even figured we'd have *something* go wrong once we installed the fixtures. When we were putting in the electrical, the plumbing and the framing, we kept double-checking to make sure that our measurements were correct for all of the fixtures.
The toilet was installed with no issues - the center of the toilet was exactly 15" from the shower wall, and 15" from where the edge of the sink will be. Great. That's exactly the minimum amount of space that we must have to meet code.
Next: the sink. It's a porcelain sink with two chrome legs, which a towel bar between the legs. (Restoration Hardware stopped selling this product slightly after we bought it, so I can't link to it.) The sink dimensions, according to the website (which I had printed out when we placed our order) is:
Small Console Sink: 23-3/4"W x 17-3/4"D x 33-3/4"H
The sink was shipped in two boxes, but one shipment. One was the sink itself, from Restoration Hardware, the second was the chrome legs, with another companies name on it. Mildly curious, but okay.
So, the plumbers are working on putting everything together. Their building the legs, and installing the faucets, etc., I went into the room just as they were putting the sink on top of the legs, and immediately saw that it was too tall: the back of the sink was covering the electrical outlets that we had planned to be about 2 inches above the sink.
I asked them to stop immediately, told them it was too tall, and asked if the legs were adjustable. It should be noted here that the two plumbers who were here don't speak English, only Chinese. Unfortunately, much to my Grandparent's dismay, I still don't speak Chinese. (D'oh!) Dick was working from home yesterday, so he came in to check out the problem. It turns out that the legs aren't adjustable at all, and that they are full-on 4" too tall! I asked the plumbers who were here if we could call the head plumber, who has been working on the project throughout, and does speak English. We got a hold of him over the phone, I explained the problem to him, and he came right over.
He and Dick thought over the situation for a long time, trying to figure out a solution. The only thing they could come up with was cutting the bottom of each of the chrome legs by 4". This was risky because there was the cutting of the chrome, there was drilling of holes, and also creating a hole with thread so that a tiny screw could be properly screwed into the newly created hole.
Assuming that this all worked, we also had the issue of the sink legs being out of proportion now. There's a towel bar, which would now be 4" too low, which, I'm sorry, is fairly significant.
Anyhow, the cutting and drilling worked: our plumber was a complete rock star.
The sink looks good, the towel bar is low, but manageable.
This is all fine and good, but, come on! You order something based on it's dimensions, and it comes in 4" taller than it should be?! WebTrina was not going to let this one go.
So I called Restoration Hardware, explained my situation, and was immediately passed along to a Supervisor. She was very understanding of my frustration. It was late afternoon, and she and the vendor of the chrome legs were on East Coast time, so she promised to place some calls first thing Friday morning, and for me to call her when I woke up.
I got up and called her at 7:30.
The first thing she said was that she would refund us our $195 in shipping fees. Okay, that's very nice (really) but I still have a bogus sink. She said she hadn't gotten a hold of the vendor yet, but she was still working on it. cool.
Then, she said that she did talk with a Restoration Hardware Product Specialist, and that woman had said that the product legs could be cut 3" without any damage to the product. WTF? That's the solution? I was very careful to make sure that I didn't yell or get upset with the woman who was helping me, because frankly, she was doing a great job, and was only being the messenger at this point. But I did tell her that that sounded outrageous to me: "Yes, we know that the measurements of the product aren't the same as what we had advertised, but all you need to do is cut the legs by 3", and it will be fine." No, no, no!
My representative was very understanding that this was an unacceptable answer (I mean, really...) and promised to get a hold of the vendor to see what they could do.
10 minutes later, she called back. She'd gotten a hold of the vendor and they offered to ship us another set of legs - hopefully with the correct size. This part gets complicated, as it involves the shipping of new legs, old legs, checking to see if the new legs are the right size, and if they aren't sending them back with the corrected specifications, etc., After a lot of negotiating, I get to keep my (cut) legs on my sink, wait until the new legs arrive, see whether or not they are the right size, if they're not, send back the new legs with written specifications, and wait to get yet another set of new legs. If the new set that I get is right, then I just need to install them and send back my old legs. I expect this will be a little complicated, and go around in circles for a bit, but I'll do what I need to do to make this right.
I am utterly impressed with my Restoration Hardware representative who is helping me out. She's really doing a fantastic job of follow-up and problem solving. Once this is all over, I'll be sure to write her a glowing letter. I'm really unimpressed and disappointed in Restoration Hardware that they would actually sell (or used to sell) a product with the incorrect dimension, and expect the customer to fix it on their end. (Cutting the legs could've easily gone wrong, and cost us more time and money.)
Anyhow, I just needed to vent. I knew something was probably going to be wrong with the fixture installation, but I just didn't think that the sink would come in 4" taller than advertised.
Yesterday, we had the plumbers come in to install all of the fixtures into the bathroom: The new Toto Toilet, the sink and the shower fixtures.
Should be no problem, right? I mean, we had ordered all of these products months ago, and had specked out the the entire remodel based off of the dimensions for everything that we had ordered. The fixtures were all delivered and were sitting in the basement for several weeks before being installed.
You can see where this is going, right?
I *knew* that we'd hit a snaffu or two during the process of the remodel. I even figured we'd have *something* go wrong once we installed the fixtures. When we were putting in the electrical, the plumbing and the framing, we kept double-checking to make sure that our measurements were correct for all of the fixtures.
The toilet was installed with no issues - the center of the toilet was exactly 15" from the shower wall, and 15" from where the edge of the sink will be. Great. That's exactly the minimum amount of space that we must have to meet code.
Next: the sink. It's a porcelain sink with two chrome legs, which a towel bar between the legs. (Restoration Hardware stopped selling this product slightly after we bought it, so I can't link to it.) The sink dimensions, according to the website (which I had printed out when we placed our order) is:
Small Console Sink: 23-3/4"W x 17-3/4"D x 33-3/4"H
The sink was shipped in two boxes, but one shipment. One was the sink itself, from Restoration Hardware, the second was the chrome legs, with another companies name on it. Mildly curious, but okay.
So, the plumbers are working on putting everything together. Their building the legs, and installing the faucets, etc., I went into the room just as they were putting the sink on top of the legs, and immediately saw that it was too tall: the back of the sink was covering the electrical outlets that we had planned to be about 2 inches above the sink.
I asked them to stop immediately, told them it was too tall, and asked if the legs were adjustable. It should be noted here that the two plumbers who were here don't speak English, only Chinese. Unfortunately, much to my Grandparent's dismay, I still don't speak Chinese. (D'oh!) Dick was working from home yesterday, so he came in to check out the problem. It turns out that the legs aren't adjustable at all, and that they are full-on 4" too tall! I asked the plumbers who were here if we could call the head plumber, who has been working on the project throughout, and does speak English. We got a hold of him over the phone, I explained the problem to him, and he came right over.
He and Dick thought over the situation for a long time, trying to figure out a solution. The only thing they could come up with was cutting the bottom of each of the chrome legs by 4". This was risky because there was the cutting of the chrome, there was drilling of holes, and also creating a hole with thread so that a tiny screw could be properly screwed into the newly created hole.
Assuming that this all worked, we also had the issue of the sink legs being out of proportion now. There's a towel bar, which would now be 4" too low, which, I'm sorry, is fairly significant.
Anyhow, the cutting and drilling worked: our plumber was a complete rock star.
The sink looks good, the towel bar is low, but manageable.
This is all fine and good, but, come on! You order something based on it's dimensions, and it comes in 4" taller than it should be?! WebTrina was not going to let this one go.
So I called Restoration Hardware, explained my situation, and was immediately passed along to a Supervisor. She was very understanding of my frustration. It was late afternoon, and she and the vendor of the chrome legs were on East Coast time, so she promised to place some calls first thing Friday morning, and for me to call her when I woke up.
I got up and called her at 7:30.
The first thing she said was that she would refund us our $195 in shipping fees. Okay, that's very nice (really) but I still have a bogus sink. She said she hadn't gotten a hold of the vendor yet, but she was still working on it. cool.
Then, she said that she did talk with a Restoration Hardware Product Specialist, and that woman had said that the product legs could be cut 3" without any damage to the product. WTF? That's the solution? I was very careful to make sure that I didn't yell or get upset with the woman who was helping me, because frankly, she was doing a great job, and was only being the messenger at this point. But I did tell her that that sounded outrageous to me: "Yes, we know that the measurements of the product aren't the same as what we had advertised, but all you need to do is cut the legs by 3", and it will be fine." No, no, no!
My representative was very understanding that this was an unacceptable answer (I mean, really...) and promised to get a hold of the vendor to see what they could do.
10 minutes later, she called back. She'd gotten a hold of the vendor and they offered to ship us another set of legs - hopefully with the correct size. This part gets complicated, as it involves the shipping of new legs, old legs, checking to see if the new legs are the right size, and if they aren't sending them back with the corrected specifications, etc., After a lot of negotiating, I get to keep my (cut) legs on my sink, wait until the new legs arrive, see whether or not they are the right size, if they're not, send back the new legs with written specifications, and wait to get yet another set of new legs. If the new set that I get is right, then I just need to install them and send back my old legs. I expect this will be a little complicated, and go around in circles for a bit, but I'll do what I need to do to make this right.
I am utterly impressed with my Restoration Hardware representative who is helping me out. She's really doing a fantastic job of follow-up and problem solving. Once this is all over, I'll be sure to write her a glowing letter. I'm really unimpressed and disappointed in Restoration Hardware that they would actually sell (or used to sell) a product with the incorrect dimension, and expect the customer to fix it on their end. (Cutting the legs could've easily gone wrong, and cost us more time and money.)
Anyhow, I just needed to vent. I knew something was probably going to be wrong with the fixture installation, but I just didn't think that the sink would come in 4" taller than advertised.
Labels: Remodel
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
So Close!
Hey, remember that bathroom remodel? I haven't blogged about it for a while, but it's still going on, and nearly complete!
Here are a bunch of pictures and descriptions to get you up to date.
The painter (yes, singular, because the room is too small for two people at once) has been here since Monday. He's planning to finish today.
The plumber will come tomorrow morning to install the shower fixtures, the sink, and the toilet. The electrician comes in after him to install the sconces, and to hook up all of the outlets and switches, then the glass people come to install mirror and the shower door.
I've arranged for my cleaners to come tomorrow afternoon to help me clean the back of the house. It's all kinds of dusty back there!
This is all great timing. Dick's dad comes this evening to stay with us for 3 weeks. (yay!) We've decided to get a hotel room for him for the first couple of nights, so we'll have time to finish the project before he comes to stay.
Almost there!
Here are a bunch of pictures and descriptions to get you up to date.
The painter (yes, singular, because the room is too small for two people at once) has been here since Monday. He's planning to finish today.
The plumber will come tomorrow morning to install the shower fixtures, the sink, and the toilet. The electrician comes in after him to install the sconces, and to hook up all of the outlets and switches, then the glass people come to install mirror and the shower door.
I've arranged for my cleaners to come tomorrow afternoon to help me clean the back of the house. It's all kinds of dusty back there!
This is all great timing. Dick's dad comes this evening to stay with us for 3 weeks. (yay!) We've decided to get a hotel room for him for the first couple of nights, so we'll have time to finish the project before he comes to stay.
Almost there!
Labels: Remodel
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tile - Day 12
installed, grouted and cleaned. Tomorrow they will apply the sealer.
Labels: Remodel
Monday, October 22, 2007
Tile - Day 10!
Almost there!
Day 10 of tile installation, and we're nearly done! They finished the actual installation today, and will begin the grouting process tomorrow.
Apparently, the tile we chose is not meant for quick installation! :) We've had a team of two guys work full 8 hour days, 6 days a week. They've been working really hard, and have done a bang-up job. The tile is absolutely gorgeous - we're so happy with our choices!
Tomorrow, the glass guy comes to measure for the shower door, and the mirror. After those are installed, the tile guys will be back to put the tile around the mirror.
Here's a photo of what the floor looks like (taken about a week ago - it's been covered with protective paper/cardboard ever since). The floor has a heating mechanism underneath. SO cool! Um, I mean SO HOT!
The target completion date was this Friday, October 26th (which would be 8 weeks), but that's clearly not going to happen. I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be able to have it done (or most of it done) by next Friday, November 2nd. Dick's father is coming to visit us for 3 weeks in November starting on the 7th, and we'd really like to have the construction done and the house back to normal before he arrives.
Day 10 of tile installation, and we're nearly done! They finished the actual installation today, and will begin the grouting process tomorrow.
Apparently, the tile we chose is not meant for quick installation! :) We've had a team of two guys work full 8 hour days, 6 days a week. They've been working really hard, and have done a bang-up job. The tile is absolutely gorgeous - we're so happy with our choices!
Tomorrow, the glass guy comes to measure for the shower door, and the mirror. After those are installed, the tile guys will be back to put the tile around the mirror.
Here's a photo of what the floor looks like (taken about a week ago - it's been covered with protective paper/cardboard ever since). The floor has a heating mechanism underneath. SO cool! Um, I mean SO HOT!
The target completion date was this Friday, October 26th (which would be 8 weeks), but that's clearly not going to happen. I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be able to have it done (or most of it done) by next Friday, November 2nd. Dick's father is coming to visit us for 3 weeks in November starting on the 7th, and we'd really like to have the construction done and the house back to normal before he arrives.
Labels: Remodel
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Tile - day 3
Friday, October 12, 2007
Tile - early stages of day 2
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Tile is being installed!
Lots of progress being made! I'll try to post more photos soon.
Labels: Remodel
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Insulation Installed
Labels: Remodel
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Don't mess with webTrina.
Today I was on a quest.
We have pretty much everything bought for our Bathroom Remodel. Just a couple of little odds and ends left.
One thing we've been looking for is a nice, small soap basket which can also double as a towel bar for my little scrubby towel.
We've been looking for a while, but everything we've found so far have been too large.
This afternoon, I decided to go to a designer bath store here in the city. Our architects had sent us there a few months ago to look for sinks. They have a huge selection - probably one of the best in town...... and I think they know it. I was immediately turned off by the horty-torty attitudes that I experienced with their sales people last time. Basically, the drill is that you can look around the show room, take note of pieces you're interested in, write down the number by the display, make an appointment with one of the sales people, and then they will tell you the price. You aren't allowed to take photos anywhere in the store. I found the whole process rather annoying, and their arrogant sales people even more so.
As it turns out we didn't end up buying our sink from them. We're very limited for space in our bathroom, and were very specific in what we were looking for. It turns out that in their vast inventory, they simply didn't have what we were looking for. Ironically, we ended up finding exactly what we were looking for at Restoration Hardware. Admittedly, that wasn't cheap either, but it was less expensive than the sinks we saw at the store. Plus, we were able to place our order online, and didn't have to deal with any snobby sales associates.
Anyhow, I figured this crazy place would probably have a little soap basket that I was looking for. My previous neighbor who used to live in the downstairs condo had renovated the downstairs bathroom 15 years ago. He left me a file with all of his documentation, and I saw that he had bought most of his accessories from this store-which-shall-not-be-named. He had a long wire basket put in the shower/tub downstairs that we really like. We figured the same company must have made one in a smaller size as well.
So, I went this afternoon. I decided to wipe away all of my preconceived notions of this place, and try it out again. Good news: I did indeed find exactly what I was looking for! I took note of it, went to the receptionist, put in my name, then waited a few minutes for the next available sales person. She was nice enough - nicer than the last woman who helped us there, but there was still some of that "we're better than you" attitude. I actually apologized to her, because I knew this would be such a small purchase. Her response: "Well, yes, we do usually deal with much larger orders than this. After I showed her the product I was interested in, she walked me back to her desk, and she rummaged through some catalogs, found what she needed, (without showing me) took a photocopy of the page, and presented it to me. The photocopy was quite good, because it showed all of the dimensions, then she wrote down the price: $99.00. Yep, $99.00 for a small, 7" long chrome basket.
Okay, whatever. We're putting enough dough into this bathroom remodel. What's another $100? There were actually two styles that I was interested in. I wanted to get Dick's opinion first. I asked the sales associate what their return policy was (I thought perhaps I could buy one today, take it home, see what he thought, and if he didn't like it, I'd just return it.). Their return policy: 50% stocking fee. Ummmm... exsqueeze me?
Needless to say, I didn't buy it. I was planning to come home with my little photocopied paper of measurements, show them to Dick, the two of us could decide tonight, then I could call the dreadful company tomorrow to place my order.
I thanked her again for her time, and acknowledged again that I knew this was a very small order for her. Her reply, "Well, yes, but that's not your fault."
I called Dick when I got home, and he asked if we could just buy it online. This place doesn't have a web site, so I said "no"and that I'd have to call it in tomorrow. What he meant was could we find it online through another company. What a novel thought! I looked at my photocopied sheet of paper, and realized that the oh-so-clever sales associate had copied the catalog just so so that the brand of the product wasn't actually shown.
After calling my Mom, and telling her about my shopping experience, she also suggested that I just look online to find the same one. That's when I realized that the not-so-clever sales associate had included the product reference numbers on my photocopy.
goto: Google.
enter: Wire Basket Small (with the reference number)
Up comes: lots and lots of sites offering the same product for discount prices! (imagine that)
Bonus: no annoyingly snobby sales associates!
So, what did I find?
How about this place, which has it at 40% off, no sales tax, and free shipping?
They have the corner style, too!
I'll show both styles to Dick tonight. We'll decide which one to get, then place the order online.
I imagine that will be very satisfying.
Don't mess with webTrina.
She'll blog about you, and tell the world how mean and snobby you are.
We have pretty much everything bought for our Bathroom Remodel. Just a couple of little odds and ends left.
One thing we've been looking for is a nice, small soap basket which can also double as a towel bar for my little scrubby towel.
We've been looking for a while, but everything we've found so far have been too large.
This afternoon, I decided to go to a designer bath store here in the city. Our architects had sent us there a few months ago to look for sinks. They have a huge selection - probably one of the best in town...... and I think they know it. I was immediately turned off by the horty-torty attitudes that I experienced with their sales people last time. Basically, the drill is that you can look around the show room, take note of pieces you're interested in, write down the number by the display, make an appointment with one of the sales people, and then they will tell you the price. You aren't allowed to take photos anywhere in the store. I found the whole process rather annoying, and their arrogant sales people even more so.
As it turns out we didn't end up buying our sink from them. We're very limited for space in our bathroom, and were very specific in what we were looking for. It turns out that in their vast inventory, they simply didn't have what we were looking for. Ironically, we ended up finding exactly what we were looking for at Restoration Hardware. Admittedly, that wasn't cheap either, but it was less expensive than the sinks we saw at the store. Plus, we were able to place our order online, and didn't have to deal with any snobby sales associates.
Anyhow, I figured this crazy place would probably have a little soap basket that I was looking for. My previous neighbor who used to live in the downstairs condo had renovated the downstairs bathroom 15 years ago. He left me a file with all of his documentation, and I saw that he had bought most of his accessories from this store-which-shall-not-be-named. He had a long wire basket put in the shower/tub downstairs that we really like. We figured the same company must have made one in a smaller size as well.
So, I went this afternoon. I decided to wipe away all of my preconceived notions of this place, and try it out again. Good news: I did indeed find exactly what I was looking for! I took note of it, went to the receptionist, put in my name, then waited a few minutes for the next available sales person. She was nice enough - nicer than the last woman who helped us there, but there was still some of that "we're better than you" attitude. I actually apologized to her, because I knew this would be such a small purchase. Her response: "Well, yes, we do usually deal with much larger orders than this. After I showed her the product I was interested in, she walked me back to her desk, and she rummaged through some catalogs, found what she needed, (without showing me) took a photocopy of the page, and presented it to me. The photocopy was quite good, because it showed all of the dimensions, then she wrote down the price: $99.00. Yep, $99.00 for a small, 7" long chrome basket.
Okay, whatever. We're putting enough dough into this bathroom remodel. What's another $100? There were actually two styles that I was interested in. I wanted to get Dick's opinion first. I asked the sales associate what their return policy was (I thought perhaps I could buy one today, take it home, see what he thought, and if he didn't like it, I'd just return it.). Their return policy: 50% stocking fee. Ummmm... exsqueeze me?
Needless to say, I didn't buy it. I was planning to come home with my little photocopied paper of measurements, show them to Dick, the two of us could decide tonight, then I could call the dreadful company tomorrow to place my order.
I thanked her again for her time, and acknowledged again that I knew this was a very small order for her. Her reply, "Well, yes, but that's not your fault."
I called Dick when I got home, and he asked if we could just buy it online. This place doesn't have a web site, so I said "no"and that I'd have to call it in tomorrow. What he meant was could we find it online through another company. What a novel thought! I looked at my photocopied sheet of paper, and realized that the oh-so-clever sales associate had copied the catalog just so so that the brand of the product wasn't actually shown.
After calling my Mom, and telling her about my shopping experience, she also suggested that I just look online to find the same one. That's when I realized that the not-so-clever sales associate had included the product reference numbers on my photocopy.
goto: Google.
enter: Wire Basket Small (with the reference number)
Up comes: lots and lots of sites offering the same product for discount prices! (imagine that)
Bonus: no annoyingly snobby sales associates!
So, what did I find?
How about this place, which has it at 40% off, no sales tax, and free shipping?
They have the corner style, too!
I'll show both styles to Dick tonight. We'll decide which one to get, then place the order online.
I imagine that will be very satisfying.
Don't mess with webTrina.
She'll blog about you, and tell the world how mean and snobby you are.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Skylight
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Bathroom Remodel Update
The plumbing and electrical work are just about done! Just a couple of small adjustments left. The bathroom has been framed out, and now we wait for the inspection. Dick and I both love seeing the bathroom in it's current state. It's so cool to see all the innards of the room and how it all fits together. We have new copper pipes (replacing the old galvanized ones) and lots and lots of new electrical wiring.
The skylight is supposed to be installed
Our contractor thinks we'll be able to start putting up the drywall by Wednesday!
Labels: Remodel
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Let there by Light
...or, you know.... a skylight
Yesterday, the contractors spent the day building the frame for the new skylight.
We're going to be boarding up the only window in the room, so this will be the new source of natural light.
It's really cool to see this being built. They've been doing a ton of work up in the attic to get it ready.
young, strapping, Irish construction guy not included
Yesterday, the contractors spent the day building the frame for the new skylight.
We're going to be boarding up the only window in the room, so this will be the new source of natural light.
It's really cool to see this being built. They've been doing a ton of work up in the attic to get it ready.
young, strapping, Irish construction guy not included
Labels: Remodel
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Demolition Day!
that was fast!
In the midst of my recovery from my appendectomy, let's not forget that there's a bathroom remodel in progress!
Today was "Tuesday Demolition Day" here at "His 'n Her Condos".
We had a big truck park in front of our house today, ready to collect the discarded remnants of our bathroom.
Here's a picture that I took of it, about half way through demolition.
there goes the bathtub!
It only took the crew about 4 hours (or less) to demo down our little bathroom. Dick and I just went in to check it out:
Our house turns 100 years old next year. Check out that old lathe and plaster!
I love this stuff. There's nothing like seeing an old room down to the studs. It's so cool.
In the midst of my recovery from my appendectomy, let's not forget that there's a bathroom remodel in progress!
Today was "Tuesday Demolition Day" here at "His 'n Her Condos".
We had a big truck park in front of our house today, ready to collect the discarded remnants of our bathroom.
Here's a picture that I took of it, about half way through demolition.
there goes the bathtub!
It only took the crew about 4 hours (or less) to demo down our little bathroom. Dick and I just went in to check it out:
Our house turns 100 years old next year. Check out that old lathe and plaster!
I love this stuff. There's nothing like seeing an old room down to the studs. It's so cool.
Labels: His 'n Her Condos, Remodel
Friday, August 31, 2007
The Big Bathroom Remodel of 2007!
it's been a long time coming!
At last! The time has come!
We're finally remodeling our bathroom!!!
This month marks that 9th year since I've moved into my condo. The bathroom has always been a bit of a sore spot, and something that we've been wanting to update for a long time.
In order to fully appreciate the magnitude of the situation, I present to you:
Diagram A: The Before Pictures
Yes, it's true: not the prettiest bathroom in the world.
It is, in fact, quite ugly.
Let's start with the layout: it's a tiny room. It's just under 5' by 10'. The configuration is quite bad. It works fine for me, but for anyone slightly larger, there's a lot of maneuvering needed to get to the toilet, the sink, or even in the shower.
Next, let's talk about the brown tile. It's brown. And not only that, it turns out it's not actually tile at all! Rather, they are individual thin sheet of metal designed to look like tile. We found this out when we were moving back into the condos 3 years ago. Our plan was to paint the tile over in white to at least brighten up the room until we were able to remodel. The guy who was doing it told us he didn't recommend it for two reasons:
1. the tile wasn't real tile.
2. there was potential water damage underneath said "tile" in the shower.
So we axed that idea, and briefly considered having new tile installed.
The tile guy came over to inspect our bathroom, and suggested that this wasn't a good idea either.
Why?
Because the plumbing job was so bad, that you wouldn't want to put any money into this bathroom unless you're doing a full gut-job.
So, there you go. We didn't have much leeway when we were moving back into the condos, so we decided to put this project off until we had settled in.
In the meantime, I lined the interior of the shower with plastic shower curtains. I did this so that we would not add to any water damage problems under the faux tiles.
Christopher used to refer to this shower as the Alien Autopsy Room. I admit, it is really ugly, and you have to carefully find the openings through the shower curtains in order to get in our out of the shower.
After we moved into the condo downstairs, that became the main shower and bathroom. When Christopher lived with us, he and Dick used the downstairs shower, while I continued to use the upstairs one. Even though it's ugly, and I have to shower in the Alien Autopsy Room, I think I must have some strange, sentimental attachment to it. But, I have to admit, the downstairs bathroom is a much more pleasant experience. One of the previous owners (and a friend of mine) had remodeled it in the mid 90s. He had gutted it, and had it rearranged to a much more usable configuration. Dick and I always knew that we wanted to do something similar to the arrangement upstairs when the time came.
...and now, here we are!
We've been working with an architect/design team for the past 3 months, and have come up with some really nice solutions for our tiny bathroom. We're rearranging the placement of everything to match the downstairs bath, and having a large shower, rather than a bathtub.
Here are some early 3D renderings of what the bathroom will look like. We've made some changes since then (different sink, tile shapes and colors), but the basic design remains the same.
We've hired a contractor, and they are starting today! Today, they are blocking off the work space, and taking out the fixtures. Next Tuesday, they'll start the major demolition.
Our contractor is projecting 6-8 weeks, with a good possibility of it taking less time. Fingers crossed!
At last! The time has come!
We're finally remodeling our bathroom!!!
This month marks that 9th year since I've moved into my condo. The bathroom has always been a bit of a sore spot, and something that we've been wanting to update for a long time.
In order to fully appreciate the magnitude of the situation, I present to you:
Diagram A: The Before Pictures
Yes, it's true: not the prettiest bathroom in the world.
It is, in fact, quite ugly.
Let's start with the layout: it's a tiny room. It's just under 5' by 10'. The configuration is quite bad. It works fine for me, but for anyone slightly larger, there's a lot of maneuvering needed to get to the toilet, the sink, or even in the shower.
Next, let's talk about the brown tile. It's brown. And not only that, it turns out it's not actually tile at all! Rather, they are individual thin sheet of metal designed to look like tile. We found this out when we were moving back into the condos 3 years ago. Our plan was to paint the tile over in white to at least brighten up the room until we were able to remodel. The guy who was doing it told us he didn't recommend it for two reasons:
1. the tile wasn't real tile.
2. there was potential water damage underneath said "tile" in the shower.
So we axed that idea, and briefly considered having new tile installed.
The tile guy came over to inspect our bathroom, and suggested that this wasn't a good idea either.
Why?
Because the plumbing job was so bad, that you wouldn't want to put any money into this bathroom unless you're doing a full gut-job.
So, there you go. We didn't have much leeway when we were moving back into the condos, so we decided to put this project off until we had settled in.
In the meantime, I lined the interior of the shower with plastic shower curtains. I did this so that we would not add to any water damage problems under the faux tiles.
Christopher used to refer to this shower as the Alien Autopsy Room. I admit, it is really ugly, and you have to carefully find the openings through the shower curtains in order to get in our out of the shower.
After we moved into the condo downstairs, that became the main shower and bathroom. When Christopher lived with us, he and Dick used the downstairs shower, while I continued to use the upstairs one. Even though it's ugly, and I have to shower in the Alien Autopsy Room, I think I must have some strange, sentimental attachment to it. But, I have to admit, the downstairs bathroom is a much more pleasant experience. One of the previous owners (and a friend of mine) had remodeled it in the mid 90s. He had gutted it, and had it rearranged to a much more usable configuration. Dick and I always knew that we wanted to do something similar to the arrangement upstairs when the time came.
...and now, here we are!
We've been working with an architect/design team for the past 3 months, and have come up with some really nice solutions for our tiny bathroom. We're rearranging the placement of everything to match the downstairs bath, and having a large shower, rather than a bathtub.
Here are some early 3D renderings of what the bathroom will look like. We've made some changes since then (different sink, tile shapes and colors), but the basic design remains the same.
We've hired a contractor, and they are starting today! Today, they are blocking off the work space, and taking out the fixtures. Next Tuesday, they'll start the major demolition.
Our contractor is projecting 6-8 weeks, with a good possibility of it taking less time. Fingers crossed!
Labels: His 'n Her Condos, home life, Remodel
&
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in anyway --- oh right, I *am* my own employer!
;)
© Copyright 2003-2007, Trina Chow
