Early Tuesday morning, the tub was delivered. The contractors took it apart outside and brought it in one piece at a time. While one contractor worked at installing the tub, the other set about applying compound to the drywall. The tub is beautiful but I am a bit disappointed.
Glaringly obvious is the lack of the back massage jets. Remember, we ordered this tub through a member’s only showroom. Their website clearly states that this particular tub includes the back jets. However, the manufacturer’s site states that the back jets, while standard with the massage system we ordered, are not available with the tub model we ordered. Unfortunately, although I did a LOT of research, I somehow missed this fine print.
Another disappointment is the height of the shower unit, or lack thereof. Admittedly, at 6’2″, I am the only person in the family that is affected, but the height of the shower wall does not allow for the showerhead to be mounted at the standard 78 inches. The shower in the original bathroom was also short, so I’m already used to this deficiency, but an upgrade would have been nice. An important point to remember (and absolutely something that I should have realized) is that the interior dimensions are always going to be significantly less than the exterior dimensions.
Despite these disappointments, I am still thrilled with the tub. It really is a beautiful unit that will no doubt get a lot of use in the coming years.
By the end of Thursday, the contractors have finished hanging all the drywall and have applied three coats of compound. They have also installed the cement board in the laundry room and bathroom ready for the tile. On Monday, after enjoying a three day holiday weekend, they will sand the walls and spray on the primer. At this rate, they could be finished the bedroom, bathroom and laundry room by the end of next week, so we can at least start moving back into that part of the house.
In floor heat!
We got a price on in-floor heat for the tiled floors (the bathroom, hallway and kitchen) and are pleasantly surprised by the affordability of the system. Radiators would be less money, but not by much, and having an infloor system will definitely help the resale value of the house. The system we are having installed is a “dry” or “belowdeck” system, where the tubing is attached to the underside of the subfloor. While not as good as a thin slab system where the tubing is installed on the subfloor and covered with lightweight concrete or gypsum cement, it is less expensive and less messy. Plus, there is no risk of damage to the tubes during future renovations if removal of the tile floors is desired.
Custom cabinets!
We got an estimate for custom made cherry cabinets for the kitchen that was perfectly in-line with what we were expecting. We are really excited about this part of the renovation because the design of our current kitchen just doesn’t work well.
Even though we have tiles and countertops already picked out, we will be going to a tile store with the architect to look at other options on Monday, so some of those choices may change. These decisions need to be finalized quickly as the tile will start going down this week.
In fact, the project is now moving at a very fast pace. Second-guessing is no longer an option– we will have to live with any decisions we make now.