Vacation from "working on the house" never really happens. Sure, we went to Arizona for a week, but that was to allow time for the limestone cleaner to dry. We sealed, and sealed again, and grouted, and then cleaned. All these steps take TIME to dry. Once we got back, it was time to seal everything, including the grout of course, once or twice, or in the case of really paranoid types, three times. You can bet we did 3 coats. We think it's well-sealed now. Water actually beads on it.
How do I know this? Well, I official declare this "Year of the Home Spa" which is now semi-functional. New Year's Eve, after some much less fun sanding of drywall paste, a trip to the Ace Hardward, and the final installation of the shower fixtures (hurrah!), we took a shower! I mean, these things need to be tested. I was nervous. We turned on 1 fixture. Water came out in a pleasant fashion. We switched on the second - two shower heads for two people - and a similarly pleasant stream of water shot forth onto the shower floor. Soon it was getting a little steamy.
But then we had to try out the body jets. Those made me the most nervous. 4 jets on 1 lever... the levers have a maximum flow count and I thought maybe 4 would be too many - ideally they're made for 1, maybe 2. Dave turned the lever, nothing happened but a strange sound... a pause... breath held... and then... water shooting out of all 4 jets across the entire shower (about 4 feet) and across the tub (another 3 feet) and in some cases hitting the opposite wall! Holy cow! They jets work! Woo-hoo!!
We let things run for a bit to flush out and then noticed with dismay that the jets were cold. Real cold. Panic. What could be wrong? Did we hook them up incorrectly? Was something wrong in the wall? Would we need to tear into the wall? Slight dread crept into our excitement.
Maybe there was just too much demand for hot water - our water heater is an on-demand type and has a maximum volume output. We switched off the other shower heads and tested to see if the jets got hotter. The did not. Errr.
Dave finally played with the temperature knob on the valve. It got hotter! Hurrah, things were not unhooked, nor were they hooked up backwards, the set temp was just off. I went in search of the instructions. After a few adjustments, we got the valves set to a pleasant temperature. Ahhh...
All that was left then was to enjoy it a bit...
You can see we have his & hers shower heads, shower nooks, and body jets. Quite nice.
After an unusually long shower (did you notice the speakers? we also hooked up the speakers so had music to shower by), we went out to celebrate NYE at a local watering hole.
And now, to start 2009, we just need to seal everything up to make sure its water-tight. Thus, silicon sealant is the name of the game. We found some called "bone" which matches the limestone perfectly.
There is still a small bit of trim work to do in the "wet area" of the new bathroom, but after the sealing is done, it will be pretty much complete. Oh, and the shower floor. That could take a bit...
But next it's onto finishing up the drywall around the peek-a-boo window and around the pocket door on the water closet. When those are done, we can get to installing the sink and toilet. Very exciting times.
How do I know this? Well, I official declare this "Year of the Home Spa" which is now semi-functional. New Year's Eve, after some much less fun sanding of drywall paste, a trip to the Ace Hardward, and the final installation of the shower fixtures (hurrah!), we took a shower! I mean, these things need to be tested. I was nervous. We turned on 1 fixture. Water came out in a pleasant fashion. We switched on the second - two shower heads for two people - and a similarly pleasant stream of water shot forth onto the shower floor. Soon it was getting a little steamy.
But then we had to try out the body jets. Those made me the most nervous. 4 jets on 1 lever... the levers have a maximum flow count and I thought maybe 4 would be too many - ideally they're made for 1, maybe 2. Dave turned the lever, nothing happened but a strange sound... a pause... breath held... and then... water shooting out of all 4 jets across the entire shower (about 4 feet) and across the tub (another 3 feet) and in some cases hitting the opposite wall! Holy cow! They jets work! Woo-hoo!!
We let things run for a bit to flush out and then noticed with dismay that the jets were cold. Real cold. Panic. What could be wrong? Did we hook them up incorrectly? Was something wrong in the wall? Would we need to tear into the wall? Slight dread crept into our excitement.
Maybe there was just too much demand for hot water - our water heater is an on-demand type and has a maximum volume output. We switched off the other shower heads and tested to see if the jets got hotter. The did not. Errr.
Dave finally played with the temperature knob on the valve. It got hotter! Hurrah, things were not unhooked, nor were they hooked up backwards, the set temp was just off. I went in search of the instructions. After a few adjustments, we got the valves set to a pleasant temperature. Ahhh...
All that was left then was to enjoy it a bit...
You can see we have his & hers shower heads, shower nooks, and body jets. Quite nice.
After an unusually long shower (did you notice the speakers? we also hooked up the speakers so had music to shower by), we went out to celebrate NYE at a local watering hole.
And now, to start 2009, we just need to seal everything up to make sure its water-tight. Thus, silicon sealant is the name of the game. We found some called "bone" which matches the limestone perfectly.
There is still a small bit of trim work to do in the "wet area" of the new bathroom, but after the sealing is done, it will be pretty much complete. Oh, and the shower floor. That could take a bit...
But next it's onto finishing up the drywall around the peek-a-boo window and around the pocket door on the water closet. When those are done, we can get to installing the sink and toilet. Very exciting times.
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