unflooring the floor

so as you read in my previous post about the check valve, we finally figured out the problem with my plumbing! however, in order to do this we had to pull up my hardwood floors. and because they were installed tongue & groove, we had to remove entire strips of them (and hope not to break too many since we were having absolutely no luck finding matching hardwood -- originally i bought them from building materials outlet). such a hassle.

dad came up with the brilliant idea of labeling each plank as we took it out, so that it would be easier to put them all back in again.

we had to literally remove half of my floor. see all those rows with boards removed? yep, we had to take out those entire rows.

and then of course we had to put it all back in. we repainted with more killz odor hiding paint, wait for it to dry, then re-measure, re-snap the chalk lines, lay the mat, re-snap the chalk lines on the mat, lay the hardwood and secure it in. it took a few days.

thank goodness we labeled all the planks, made it go much much faster. my dad is a genius :)

a vanity once and for all

once upon a time a young girl and her father drove out to building materials outlet in eagan to pick out a sink top and unfinished vanity cabinet.

days turned to months as the girl waited for her new vanity, the last of the original cat-scented items in her home. but first her father had to rebuild the cabinet to fit between her shower and closet. plus, she had to buy the hardware: faucet, door handles, hinges from menards...

then one day, over a year later, her father showed up at her door with the newly remodeled vanity. painted a simple white, sink off to the side, and fitted with blackened bronzed hardware. a drastically new look, but the girl loves it.

 on a side note: i also bought matching hardware (the black with bronzed edges) for all my interior door handles, plus other bathroom items such as a toilet paper holder and towel rack.

vanity in the making

remember back to last november when me and dad stopped over at building materials outlet over in eagan? well, we picked up a vanity base and sink top. the only problem was, the two pieces were different sizes. what does that mean? not much to me, but for dad it meant a lot more work: removing the doors, cutting it down, reassembling it in its new size with new hardware, and painting it.

unfortunately my vanity wasn't at the top of dad's priority list, and the two pieces got stashed away at the other house (aka: crappy house, for those who know what i'm talking about). but a few weeks ago as i walked into the garage at my parent's house, what did i see? my vanity! dad had finished the main construction!

now i just need to get over to menards or home depot to find some cabinet hardware and a faucet and we should be good to go at getting it installed at my place.

sink + vanity = happy girl

most of you probably know that there was a crazy cat lady living here before me...which meant that the place had a somewhat distinct odor, if you know what i mean. luckily we've already replaced nearly everything reminiscent of her (floors, walls, ceilings, closets...) but there is just one thing left. my bathroom vanity.

so tonight me and dad drove over to building materials outlet and picked out a 48" vanity and a 43" sink top. wait. 48" and 43"? that doesn't sound right. well, that's because i have only 42" to work with between the wall and the shower. and apparently 42" is not standard (unless you want a really short vanity...) it's either 36" or 48". im sure i just lost everyone there.

anyways, after exhausting all ideas of what we could possibly do (like buying a 36" and a 12" tall cabinet and putting them side-by-side) we finally decided on buying the bigger one. now dad will have to cut it down, make two new -- slightly larger -- doors, and reassemble the whole piece.

have faith, it will all come together somehow. my dad is nothing less than amazing. and plus, then i can actually use my vanity for storage. what a novel idea!