Week 4 Home Reno: Pipes behind the walls

It was a fairly smooth week, so I only made it over to the house twice this week. Once to drop off new tile we bought (pics below!) and to check out the newly discovered pipes behind the wall.

I'd like to suggest that every renovation budget have an automatic line item of "moving pipes" and be sure to double it from what you anticipate.  That's the page we turned this week.  Don't get me wrong, I knew it was coming, but it still hurts.


Tuesday / Kitchen Slabs - Went to see our new kitchen slabs in person!
Relieved I like the new ones just as much as the original (the original slabs had a finishing issue). I had a super hard time deciding on the cabinet color but...drum roll... it is officially Sherwin Williams Serious Gray 6256
Happily hand Elizabeth a key to the house this week too!

So many potential gray paint colors!

So many pipes to move!

Wednesday - Selected cabinet hardware for kitchen, wet bar, and family room. Also ordered the bath accessories (towel racks, robe hooks, etc). Kitchen sink arrives.
Chris tells us he found plumbing inside a wall. And a vent pipe next to wall near toilet. Luckily Elizabeth and I finished hardware selection quickly and I had time to visit the house with her and get an update from Chris and the 3 of us could discuss and make decisions about how to proceed right then.

Original plumbing plan:

• move toilet
  (so simple and innocent sounding)

Revised Reality Plan:

• move toilet by stealing height from the bathroom below master bath in order to route the new plumbing for the new toilet location (necessary b/c cutting through floor joists is bad).
• move vent pipe - see the toilet paper holder below? That bump out wall wasn't for privacy after all, it has a pipe inside. Luckily it's possible to move.
• move more pipes - in the photo below, behind the medicine cabinet you see in the mirror are more pipes that are in our way.  
• add a drain under the upstairs W/D 

Friday - Tile Selections
This basket-weave carrera marble pattern will be installed in the first floor powder room

This 1"x 2" marble brick tile will be the new fireplace surround for the family room fireplace (below).  This size mosaic tile is in keeping with the time period of the home.

 

Next Week:
- Finalize design for master closet built-ins
- Habitat for Humanity picks up the carefully demo'ed kitchen for donation
- I'm sure I'm forgetting something Elizabeth told me to think about. Decision fatigue is real.