Two Different Screen Types

A wall canvas for the newly-renovated bathroom finally got here this morning. FedEx thought it'd be here yesterday, but obviously, that wasn't the case. This was the second we'd received. Unfortunately, the original package contained someone else's canvas and it had to be returned. That means this was about two weeks late in arriving. This has allowed me to keep the Bathroom Reno blog tag active for a little longer, I guess.

Another arrival this evening was Windows 11.  This was the first day of its worldwide release to the public.  Most Windows 10 users will automatically receive the free upgrade in the same way the OS usually updates.  However, I could've waited forever with our older laptop used when travelling.

You see, this computer is about four years old.  Although the processor is perfectly adequate, Microsoft decided against allowing most Intel 7th generation chips from running the new operating system.  This has an Intel Core i5-7200 CPU.

So, I had to download the free MS Media Creation Tool and create a bootable USB drive.  I saw warnings only before beginning the process.  Otherwise, it all went very smoothly and quickly.  I have already deleted the old backup Windows 10 left on its drive.    

It takes only a few minutes to find one's way around with the new menuing.  It is smooth and faster than the previous OS.  It feels a little dumbed-down but I guess I'm past the point of wanting an operating system that is complicated.  This feels like it's going to work well, even without the Microsft-included 'Apple-marketing-ripoff comments' about its 'magical' and 'calming' attributes.  Paaleeeze, spare me!

Beware of the Behr!

Yesterday and today, Jay attacked the bathroom's pocket doors and hit much of the other white, doorway trim in the apartment too.

Dear Dennis in Calgary,

I have your canvas art.  I'm here in New Westminster, BC but was mistakenly sent your order. I really liked your print of the forest scene, especially how it is colourful on the right but transitions to a neutral grey on the left. 

Unfortunately, the design doesn't really match our new bathroom. Also, it is a bit too large for the intended spot on the wall over the toilet.   So, I telephoned overstock.ca and they've given me an RMA.

You will likely get the print that was destined to arrive here.  It is completely grey on white as I'm trying to keep a monochrome scheme.

The company is working on shipping an item that actually matches what I ordered.  I assume they'll automatically do the same for you.  

Thanks for letting me have a look at the design of your canvas print.

Sincerely,

Dennis in New Westminster

The Renovation is Mostly Finished

We had to wait a bit over a month for the arrival of a custom-sized door. That was an entire, extra month as the initial order didn't fit correctly. Now, I can say with great pleasure that our bathroom reno is mostly complete. 

Today, the guys came to put in the door for the washer drier. They also painted both of the new doors with a quart of silver/grey paint, we'd had mixed to match our new vanity. Even today's new door proved a bit of a hassle as it was considerably thicker than the old bifold door had been. The upper head needed modification because our dryer proved too deep for the new bifold to close correctly. Thankfully, the guys improvised and got it installed today.   They also installed a remaining towel hanger near the shower. 

We put on different door handles and will do a tiny bit of caulking in areas with which we're not satisfied.  We will also need to apply some touch-up white paint. However, it feels good to have this job finished. Because of the necessity to order a custom-made door, this renovation took nearly three months in total!  All I can say is, "We probably won't have to do this again."

A Step Closer to Completion

 

This project has certainly been a long one. On June 8th we got a city of New Westminster Building Permit for our bathroom reno. (And we initially started the paperwork a few weeks before that!) 

Another step in its completion occurred today. We drove over to the North Surrey Home Depot and picked up our door for our washer/drier closet.  The doorway is an odd size and the pre-made doors were not an option.  Our first door order arrived incorrectly sized for the opening.  This was because the employee didn't notice that the computer expected the opening size and not the exact dimensions of the bifold door required.  The first time, we got a door that was about two inches too short.

Today, we squeezed the newly created door into Kimchi.  Jay held on to it as we bounced back over the Pattullo Bridge.  It's been so long since we last saw our contractor, it'll be like meeting up with a long-lost acquaintance.  

 

Still No Door!

Our bathroom renovation project was mostly completed a few weeks ago. We have been waiting on a custom-made door ordered through Home Depot. The opening for the washer/dryer closet is a rather odd size and nothing 'off the shelf' would work. So, we waited more than a month for it to be made and shipped to the Coquitlam location.

Finally, our guys were back at 7:45 am to put it in and paint it.  We'd put off painting the other new, bifold door as doing it all at once seemed reasonable.

Damn.  The door was a half-inch narrower and two inches shorter than the order.  Due to its location, there's very little wiggle-room and the missing gaps would've been rather obvious.  So, the guys were only able to glue down the floor transitions to the bathroom and do a little missing caulking.  They'd brought the door in the company van but left for another job.

We didn't know if we'd be able to fit the door in Kimchi to return to the Home Depot.  I hoped there would not be any trouble as custom items cannot be returned.  However, as it did not exactly match the order, they were happy to rebate us.

We drove the closer Home Depot in Surry to reorder.  For some reason, it cost $100 more this time around.  We didn't get a firm date by which the door should be available.  We have never been through a big reno.  I must say that the missing door doesn't really impact our lives much.   However, I just want this whole thing to be completely over! 

The Bathroom Work is Progressing

Much of the 'real' reason for this blog is to document the dates that stuff happens. We have a record of our comings and goings, starting from 2003, down to a precise day, in many cases. 

Someday, I may want to remember the year of the bathroom-reno work.  So here goes.  This morning, our 3-ft-wide, fixed-glass, shower screen arrived.  The 22" doorless, walk-in opening should provide easy access. 

It seems as though getting the project done is taking forever.  However, we were issued the building permit just one month ago yesterday.  The plumbing inspector from the city just stopped by and gave us the final green light.  He was one of the nicest guys in this whole process.  So, moments ago, I was able to book a visit for our final, official completion of the building permit next Monday.  

I am already having a hard time remembering when this area contained the ratty, old bathtub.  

 

Rye Not?

When we went over to the Home Depot to pick up a few remaining items for our bathroom reno, the bread machine was kneading the ingredients. 

It takes 3.5 hours to complete a 2.5 lb rye bread. We were back well before it started actually baking. So, we were home in plenty of time not to miss the smell. To me, that is one of the best things about making a loaf of bread at home.

 

Amongst the items purchased, we got a quart of grey paint for our bathroom's closet doors.  The final plumbing inspection by the city will take place sometime next week.  One door to our washing machine/dryer had to be custom ordered from Home Depot and won't arrive until, at the earliest, my birthday.  We are also waiting on the delivery and installation of a fixed glass panel for the shower.  That will probably take about three weeks too.  So the completion of this project is still a ways off.

Home Depot Card Credit

The main event, on the hottest day in local records, was a trip to the Home Depot across the river. 

We had unopened cartons of tiles from our bathroom reno to return. I'm unaccustomed to having to return things. I hardly ever bring anything back to a store. However, folks in the construction trades surely don't want to run out in the middle of a job. They deliberately order more than required, even more than a healthy overestimate. I had to return 5 boxes of the 14 wall tiles and 2 of 7 of the larger floor ones. We didn't need the 2 boxes of grout purchased as they had a sufficient supply to use. I guess the 300 bucks can go towards a half-shower, fixed glass installation. 

This photo is the same Surrey location but it was taken a bit more than 10 years ago. For years, I've included a photo for every blog post.

 

Dogs Left in an EV are Cool

Wow. It's unusually hot. It's 7:24 pm and currently 34°C (93°F). 

The bathroom reno continued this morning and the guys got a whole lot accomplished. As we have a short week coming up, the plumber may not be able to schedule us. Also, we need to talk to a special contractor for a half-width glass panel for the shower. It doesn't matter really, as we are already happy seeing the new tiles when we walk into the room. 

We went in the late afternoon to do a bit of grocery shopping. The parking lot was packed. I tried to use the Bluelink phone app to turn on the climate control from inside the store, but it wasn't immediately obvious how to do that. I thought I did but when we came out the car was pretty damned hot. The A/C works awesomely though. If this heatwave continues, we can always go for a drive to cool off.  Oh, and we don't have a dog.

 

Stay Hydrated

It's not a surprise. The forecasts have readied us for the coming heat. We have recently learned what a weather heat dome is.  These temperatures do feel hot now they've started to arrive.  It's 10:15 am and nearly 30°C already.   Monday could be 108°F.  That is much much warmer than I've ever seen in this part of British Columbia.

 

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And during the heatwave, in our bathroom, new tiles are going up around the shower base.  More new tile will be going down on the floor today as well.   Once the behind-the-scenes things, such as plumbing, are checked off, the cosmetic flourishes come fast.  It will be nice having this little project completed!

In the Tower to the Left

I walked past our buildings and took this photo from Forth Street today.  I realized that we've lived in these buildings for 23 years this month. That seems pretty amazing to me!  They've been standing for only 30 years.  

How could we have moved to British Columbia 25 years ago!  Now, the inconvenience and cost of our bathroom renovation seem totally justified. The old bathroom was ripped out last Tuesday. The tile installer is likely to be here on Saturday.

 

A Future Demonstration of the Coriolis Effect

Not much changed in the bathroom today. The renovation job was held up for a municipal framing/firestop inspection. It finally came at around 4:00 pm with a visit that lasted for all of ninety seconds. 

 

Hopefully, a little bit more work can be completed before the city's plumbing permit and inspection needs to be checked off.

A Busy Wednesday

We got up earlier than usual because they guys were coming to rip out the tub at 8:00 am. Actually, they were able to demolish the old flooring and vanity area as well by 10:00 am.  It seemed like longer though. 

We still needed to pick up the shower and sink faucets today. We visited a Coquitlam Home Depot today for the first time ever. It is nearly double the distance from the one across the river, but still a mere 6.4 kilometers from the apartment. This is one more reason why I like living in a metropolitan area; namely, the quick access to facilities. We also got the bathroom hardware such as towel racks and the toilet paper hanger. And everything is in brushed nickel.

   

In the afternoon we each had a quick appointment with our doctor. 

We also were able to book the second dose of our COVID-19 vaccine for this Friday.  We had our initial doses of AstraZeneca exactly eight weeks ago yesterday at a pharmacy.   The recommended period between jabs is eight to twelve weeks.

The BC government website sent invitations yesterday.  Our London Drugs in Coquitlam sent out invitations today. If we felt as though we wanted to mix doses, we'd have been able to get the BC Pfizer or Moderna vaccination on July 2nd. We chose speed, however.  Friday's AZ shots will put us into fully vaccinated territory by that date.

Goodbye to Purple

We felt a little rushed today. In the morning we went to the bank. At 4:00 pm, we met our contractor inside the Home Depot. We spent an hour getting many of the important materials for the bathroom reno. We're putting in a narrower vanity and mirror. Importantly, we selected and bought the new shower and floor tiles. Then, we rushed home to empty the bathroom closet and vanity. Demolition will start at 8:00 o'clock tomorrow morning! 

Goodbye, familiar but tired and old.

 

Brushed Nickel is More to My Liking

Generally, Jay would rather be nearly anywhere other than inside Home Depot.  On the other hand, I could wander for hours, aimlessly looking at all the things on offer.

So today was unusual because Jay was the one suggesting we drive across the Pattullo Bridge.  He wanted to get a headstart on picking out materials for our bathroom renovation.

I took several dozen photos.  (I selected only two to include here today.)  We will be having the floor and tub ripped out of our bathroom.  We'll be replacing the tub with a full-sized shower.  The floor will be tiled.  We will put in a new vanity and closet and laundry doors.  A large mirror will be replaced with a traditional mirrored medicine cabinet.  The walls will go from a medium purple to white, white, white.

Our contractor could start the work as soon as this week.  I am glad they could fit in our job almost immediately.  I hope it doesn't take too long, as our one-bedroom apartment has only one bathroom. 

We will return to the same Home Depot and meet up with our contractor on Tuesday afternoon.  We can ask him valuable questions and purchase much of what they will need to start our project.

The Answer, My Friend ...

As soon as we got up, I started a load of laundry. That is not terribly exciting nor newsworthy but I wanted to explain this photo. We hardly ever use our dryer. I like having the wash actually dry in the wind. Doing so gives them a much better smell than any natural-sounding dryer sheet. It's not that I'm too cheap to pay for the electricity. Really!

   

This blog exists to help me remember specific details about our lives. I frequently visit the web version, so I can perform a search for a specific date, or see if I wrote about a particular topic. There was little to note in this space about going to the Superstore for groceries today. Oh, with the exception that cheap boxes of Mexican mangoes are back in season. On sale, today were the smaller, yellow type.  They're not our favourites but we bought them anyway. 

Something of actual note is that we had Ben Brzovic from 3 Step Construction over at noon. He had already stopped by with a contract for our bathroom renovation on Thursday night. However, I wanted a little time to look it over to see if we'd missed anything. We put our names on the dotted line today.  Our next step will be to select some of the materials to be used. We will meet him and his partner at the Surrey Home Depot on Tuesday at 4:00 pm.

The Contractor Gets a Plumbing Permit

 

An email arrived this morning from city hall.  It explained that our application for a building permit was accepted.  We had to make an appointment to go up and pay the $486 fee to pick it up.  I suggested today at 1:30 pm.  I had begun collecting the required materials in mid-May.  I scanned a large packet, including a Land Title office deed, and sent in the PDF via email on May 21st.  Now, Jay and I have the results in hand.  So, we are one of many steps closer to having our bathtub removed and a full-sized, tiled shower installed. 

We arrived a few minutes early at city hall. Our email suggested that we not come ahead of time. That was fine. We easily took ten minutes visiting adjacent Tipperary park.

 

Pretty Please!

We did drive over to Queensborough this morning.  Jay didn't think that Walmart had a better selection of suitcases than he'd seen uptown.

Before that, we met with a member of our strata (condo) council in the office. He signed a document that we have to use with our request for a permit from the city. There are a lot of signatures and permissions needed to get rid of an old bathtub and build a full-size, tiled shower stall.

   

 I hope it's possible to get it all done this summer!

Monday Uptown and Down

We went up to the mall in the morning. The weather today has been fair and pleasant.  We parked Kimchi in our usual location on the roof.  We had to make sure we were back down the hill by noon.

   

Ben, from 3STEP CONSTRUCTION, said he'd be able to stop between 12:00 and 1:00. We met him and showed him our bathroom because we are considering a renovation. He has done work for a number of apartments in our building and comes highly recommended. The process requires authorization from our strata and permits from the city.  It has given us something to think about.