Showers of praise

So, the shower has been a small source of problem since pretty much day 1.  I knew exactly what I wanted, and the boys thought that was too difficult and stubbornly refused to do what the shower needed.  Which was 1. Construct a custom shower pan (you know, layers of concrete, rubber membrane, more concrete, all sloped in to drain properly) 2. Build a bench so I can shave my legs (and give me a place to use the 4 foot x 1 foot x 1 inch thick piece of travertine I have been dragging around for a few years now) 3. Tile everything.  The walls, the floor, the bench.

They said no.  So I priced a custom cultured marble floor 5 foot x 5 foot, was about $750.  Not bad, but then I thought it wouldn't match, SO the boys built a shower pan for me!  We ripped down the green board the dry wallers put up, replaced it with concrete backer board, and then sealed the seams and screw holes.  And then the fun began!

Here is my brother-in-law, beginning the wall where the faucets will be. 

He began by screwing a board into the wall, and starting with whole tiles set on a diagonal.  This was in case the floor was not perfectly level.  If it wasn't and we started at the bottom, it could have made the whole shower crooked.  So you pick a point towards the bottom, (where a whole tile or most of a whole tile should fit) and work up.  After it dried, we removed the board and placed the lower ones.  Those had to be propped up by spacers.

After a few rows of diagonal tiles, I used three rows of brick pattern, honed marble.  I bought them on Ebay and they rock!  After that, we switched to the offset brick tiles up top.  After that, we used what was left of the marble to wrap around the sides and top of the walls.  This gives it a more finished look (plus, I had extra!)

Here is the [mostly] finished shower:  

We still need to cut out two tiles that will have the shower heads sticking out (one shower head is regular and the second one is a hand-held).  We also need to wrap the bench in something.  We couldn't decide between small [wall] tile – set on a diagonal or set square, large floor tile (20x20 rather than 13x13), or (what we picked) running the shower floor tile up the bench.

Here is the floor:

It is tumbled marble, and luckily, matches the travertine bench and travertine-look tile perfectly!  

Note: Some of these pictures don't do the tile justice.  Some photos have an orangish tint.  The last photo and the close-up of the tile are accurate representations of color.

Starting to look like home

I haven't posted an exterior photo in a while, because not much has happened, until recently.  We have a garage door!  You can't see from here, but it's the Carriage House style-without any windows.  And, we got the yard leveled, ready for our driveway.  Unfortunately, the lot isn't exactly ready for a driveway.  We need to have our grinder pump installed before they pour the sidewalk (since they will be bringing in heavy machinery through that area, it could get cracked -like the last one).  BUT they can't find where our sewer line is.  That cute little post that marks where it is?  Yeah, it's in that pile of garbage at the bottom of the photo. Oops!  So as soon as they find the line, they will install the grinder pump, followed by the driveway, followed by sod.

Inside, things are coming along too.  This is the hallway that leads from the garage to the master bedroom.  1. We have working lights!  2. All the trim is done.  3. All the doors are painted. 4. The floor is down (we will just go back right before we move in and grout it.)

It's so great to have everything coming together.  Our deadline to move in is April 11.  We will make it.  Even if I have to sleep on the carpet!  

Tile

We bought our tile at National Home Center, special order for $1.99/sq. ft.  This is the Mirador (style) Mohawk (brand) Brown Pearl (color).  The floors have 20 inch x 20 inch tiles and the shower (not shown because it's not done!) will have matching 13 inch x 13 inch tiles.

This is the hallway from the master to the garage.  We (by we, I mean my husband and his brother) laid the tile on a diagonal.  I think it gives it a really grand look (but, it also created more waste than if we had just laid it straight).  

I was on a business trip when this floor went down, so I was a bit nervous... But they did a great job.  And the next day, I got my hands dirty and laid the tile in the laundry room.  I might have had to crawl out the window. (I know you are supposed to start in the back corner and work your way out, but the hallway leads straight into laundry room, so I had to pick up the pattern there.  And I would have posted a pic, but we ran out of tile.  And had to order more.  I picked that up today (along with a 50 gallon Marathon water heater), so we will finish sometime this week.

The same tiles are in the master bathroom, but to change it up a bit, we (again husband and brother) laid it on a brick pattern. The shower will be on a diagonal, so we thought it would be overwhelming and maybe odd looking to have everything diagonal in the room.

Lights

Just a quick update, we had a productive weekend.  Photos now, updated explanation later!

Update:  

This is the ceiling fan in the living room, we have the same one in the master bedroom as well.  I love this one because it's the only one that I could find with the dark wood blades (to match the bamboo floors) and the blades are encased in this cool metal thing that spins. That makes no sense.  I will post a close up pic later.

This is the chandelier for the dining room.  Can you believe we found it on sale at National Home Center for only $100?
This little guy is hanging over the space where our pool table will eventually sit.  Until now, it's just a hazard for Brad to walk into.
This is the slate floor in the spare bathroom.  I laid it myself and Brad made all the cuts!
Brad was a tiny bit perturbed when I had loads of this stuff delivered.  Rosettes, base caps and tons of fluted molding!  Until we started hanging it.  Talk about cheating! No mitered cuts!

The master bath continues

The master bath has become a source of, um, problem.  Specifically, the shower.  

We originally planned to have a shower pan built at House of Marble.  For a 5 foot by 5 foot custom cultured marble pan they estimated a cost of $700.  Which I guess isn't bad.  But then we got to talking.  During my brief tenure with a company that dealt with travertine, marble and such, I acquired a piece of travertine.  It's four feet long, a foot deep and about an inch thick.  It would make an AWESOME shower bench.  But then we began questioning how the bench would work in regards to the pan.  Since it's solid travertine, the

 piece is not light.  There is no way to 'hang' it off the wall, it would definitely need to sit on something sturdy.  I suggested cinder blocks.  (And, after doing some research, I found that is in fact 

an acceptable foundation for a bench.  BUT that is because we have a slab foundation.  You might want to consider another option if you are dealing with a second story or if you have a crawl space.)

So, now we think that we may need to build a custom shower pan where the bench base would actually sit inside the pan and then it would all be tiled together.  It will have a much more custom look and be a bit more cohesive than the pre built pan.

The design for the shower will use a 13x13 tile set on a diagonal. 

This will go from the floor up to about the 5 foot mark.  There, we will use a small brick tile that I found on Ebay.  The store is Oracle Tile, (here is their Ebay store) they have great prices, and despite having to pay shipping charges from California, it was still cheaper than similar products at Lowe's/Home Depot and they have a great variety.  If you are looking for tile, these guys are a must.  I bought six sheets of the brick pattern and one sheet of a matching 1 by 1.  I'm going to use these as accents throughout.  

And above that will be the same 13x13 squared off and we will take the tile up to the bottom of the window which is around 7 1/2 feet.

If we can make the bench work, it take up the four feet and the last foot will be a higher shelf for shampoo.  If the bench will not work, then we will go with the cultured marble pan and a corner shelf.

I will eventually add a sketch of the shower design.