Master Bath updates continue-am I boring you yet??? Hey-I've never had a master bath-humor me!
OK-faucets are in...water from the hot side is hot & the cold side is cold (don't laugh...it's not always been that way in our homes), toilet is installed in the master bath & the water is......Hot!(Please note-I did write toilet) Yep, lines got switched...this lady is not complaining...as long as I remember to flush before I sit I have a toasty warm seat!Once it warms up a bit & Tom gets into the garage, it's back to cold buns, but for now; what the heck??So you heard about the vanity top & the toilet, now let me tell you all about the radiant heat floor in the master bath.....but of course, I need to give you some background...I'm a Seifritz-sorry-it can't be just a short story. Our neighbor Bob (sounds like a reality show doesn't it?), has some pretty cool handy-dandy devices. (Ladies-guy thing) He has a small hand held unit that looks like a stud finder (down ladies, these studs are made of wood), but uses an infared laser, or maybe a heat seeking missile-what do I know; once targeted at a source it determines the core temperature. So after a discussion of cold spots & hot spots over the winter, Bob loaned it to Tom. Tom then proceeded to aim this thing at anything & everything...the wall, the door, the door casing in case there's a draft, the cat, my butt...you get the picture (boys & their toys), but when he aimed it at the floor in the master bath, which I was commenting on was quite warm (commenting- not complaining), he "zapped" it & we found it was 115 degrees!!! No wonder I'm dancing on the floor after a bath! Big difference between toasty toes & hot feet!!! 
Well the vanity counter top for the master bath has arrived!!! YIPPEE-Yeah, Right!If you click on the pics & blow them up, you'll notice the back splash doesn't quite go against the wall all the way......but they'll just caulk it right??? NO!
Notice in the next pic there's no cutout for the existing tile??? Not acceptable, but being the helpful fella Tom is, he helped them carry it back out to the truck so it can go back to the shop.
Now our vanity is back, does it fit???
Is she happy??
It's in & it's beautiful & there's plenty of room for two...good thing!Now on to shopping for the ACCESSORIES....The Fun Stuff!
There was a leak in the upstairs guest bath which ran down into the downstairs guest bath & bedroom. Just so you know, for all of you who are patiently waiting for at least ONE guest room to be done, we did not stage nor doctor these photos.
Needless to say both guest rooms are on a revamped time line. The two upper photos are of the water damage to the casing & oak door in the down stairs guest bed & bath rooms. The casing isn't as critical, since we'll be painting that, but staining the door after the water stains is questionable. The two lower photos are of the upstairs guest bath where Tom once again was cutting holes in the drywall (job security for Mandy) & pulling out wet insulation, the small yellow blob....that's a chunk of frozen insulation! The ice has been removed from the roof & now we just wait for it to dry out & start repairs......waiting is our game!
Will we never be free from their cover-ups????? We're missing a thermostat. Well, we're not actually missing it, we still have it in the box, we're missing the wire to connect it to. Well, that's not actually true either, we have the wire in the wall, we just can't find the wire 'cause the drywallers covered it over. Now they did the same thing with the thermostat in the laundry room
( not to mention a few other items, outlets, water hookups, vent pipes) & the recovery project was right on target! This one is for the foyer & so far we're not doing so good! Tom thought it would back up to the same wall as the one in the guest room off the foyer (makes sense).We would therefore cut holes in the wall in the guest room since it hadn't been painted yet & the foyer had (well parts need repainting now), then be able to reach around the insulation & feel the wire. He figured out where the stud was & had a 50/50 chance it was on one side vs. the other. First guess-wrong......second guess-wrong.......cover the holes back up, new game plan.
"Oh,by the way Mandy......,another repair job"!
He talked to the guy who helped with the installation of the heating system...."I coulda sworn that's where the wire was" he says while he's scratching his head.I of course, not being the quiet & shy type, have repeatedly voiced my opinion on where I think it is, based on my recollection of our discussions on placement of the thermostats in the beginning. We all know I had to make a bizillion decisions on placement of everything from light switches to outlets to to light fixtures , etc., etc., seems I might remember one of the thermostats! But we'll see... maybe another bet.....
When you click on these to blow them up, the first two are are the framer on the ladder chopping ice & snow to stop the leak in the master bedroom (note the neighbors trailer, um I mean storage unit). The next three are the most absolutely amazing mother hunks of ice I've ever seen on a roof! Picture #6 is the path I shoveled on the back deck so I could still feed the birds ( hey-a girl's gotta have her hobbies!). The last three are the framer chopping ice & shoveling snow from the front of the house. That monster mound in the last shot is about 5 feet high & right in front of our front door!Tom & I are taking bets on when it'll be melted-he says May.I say NO Way-not until June! It's not just snow, it's those mother hunks of ice in there too!Send us your closest guess & the winner gets a free week at The Medaj Manor! Drinks are on us!(That's assuming one of the guest rooms are actually done...) 
As I stood in my now cluttered attic & watched our framer chop ice off the roof, I looked over at the neighbor's house-thing aren't lookin too good over there. (This is NOT our old house)Apparently, while they were in FL their pipes froze & burst, saturated the insulation & the ceiling came down. We're feeling bad for them.... or we were.....
get this....their Ins. Co. is putting them up in a hotel, boarding their cat & dog (the same one that bit Tom), sent in a company to haul out & trash the damaged ceilings, walls & furniture in a dumpster in the front yard, then pack their belongings & put them in a big grey storage unit (that looks like the back of a tractor trailer on wheels) in their front yard!Surely now they would be interested in selling.....Our hopes were dashed....they're looking forward to re-doing the inside; compliments of their Ins. Co..Yeah for us & their neighbors-they're not planning on doing anything with the outside.I'm thinkin those Mandy skills are gonna come in handy this spring when we'll be painting a mural on the side of their garage. Lots of trees, maybe an old pump around the hose that sticks out of the wall that ejects their laundry grey water onto the ground. Maybe when she puts too much laundry soap in the faux pump can pour into a faux painting of rapids ????
Tina & Steve-any ideas for your side???
Well, we finally moved into the master bedroom on the 24th of February, after living in the "Guest Room" for 18 months! YIPPEE!I cleaned the floor, I washed the windows (inside only) & hung temporary curtains. The new bed linens & comforter set came out of storage and went on the bed. We're In!Sunday morning, the 25th at about 5:30 am I wiggled my little toes in an attempt to snuggle in a little deeper and felt something wet....uh-oh....MJ (our cat) has been sick & just diagnosed with kidney disease, my first thought was he had jumped on the bed & wet the bed. Not that he had ever done that but-what the heck??? As I wiggled my little toes further, the wet area wasn't warm, it was ice cold! I woke up Tom-yelled we have a leak & turned the ceiling light on, only to see the water leaking from the light socket in the center of the beautiful tray ceiling!!!"Shut the damn light off" the voice in my head was yelling (or was that Tom).Well, I guess we're up early & Good Morning!
Tom shut off the power to the light, poked a couple of holes in the ceiling so the water could drain & we put a bowl with some towels under the light. We moved the bed, changed the sheets & went back to sleep-hey-what else are you gonna do at that hour???Later that day Tom went outside to determine where the problem was, the next thing you know we're cutting holes in the attic wall to divert the water flow from going into our bedroom & pulling out wet insulation. My poor organized attic is no more....there are 4 dish pans (we just happen to have in stock-don't ask) stuffed in between the studs to catch the leaks. Hey-in case you need to know...dishpans fit between 16" on center studs perfectly!
