| Author |
Message |
Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Wednesday, September 30, 2026 - 11:22 am 
Got a call from our bathroom contractor. They have received some of the materials and have expected delivery dates on the custom pieces. We now have a start date of 30 November. They have adjusted the number of days to complete the full project from 7 to 8. The extra day came from their wallpaper guy who now wants the old wallpaper in the powder room fully removed and the walls leveled and smoothed. The initial plan was to leave the existing wallpaper up and cover it with a leveling material then the new wallpaper. Wallpaper guy said no to that approach so an extra day added. Luckily no change in cost.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Wednesday, September 30, 2026 - 12:17 pm
When I started reading the words "they have received some of the material...", my first thought went to that the material was going to be more expensive because of tariffs or something. Thank goodness that's not the case.
My sister in Dallas needs to get a new cement driveway. It's starting to buckle. Her estimate is $6,000. She loves in an HOA development. So it has to be done. And I can't imagine the driveway being very long. Everything is so expensive these days.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Wednesday, September 30, 2026 - 2:20 pm
They have received and are warehousing items like sinks, faucets, towel racks, lights, and mirrors which are readily available standard items. The custom pieces are the cabinets, cabinet tops, and the walk-in shower pan. We are supplying the wallpaper for the powder room and that’s expected next week.
Concrete work is usually pretty expensive especially when you’re replacing existing work. In your sister’s case they will have to break up and dispose of the old concrete. Then they have to prep for the new driveway with a new base, add new rebarb steel, forms, and finally pouring and finishing the new concrete.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Saturday, October 03, 2026 - 4:35 pm
Wallpaper for the powder room remodel arrived today. Because we wanted a very specific wallpaper the contractor measured and told how much they needed. Nice aspect of working with this contractor is they are willing to work with and use client supplied items and material. For instance, in the guest room they are replacing pretty much everything except the existing tile floor but will remove and leave the existing towel rack, faucet, etc., that I can use to upgrade the upstairs buddy bath. In the powder room we had purchased but not installed a new faucet and they will install it for us. The powder room also already has a very nice Kohler low flush toilet that they will temporarily remove and reinstall. Right now it looks like a 30 November start time and 7 to 8 days to complete.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Sunday, October 04, 2026 - 11:01 pm
Almost afraid to ask, but what is a buddy bath?
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Monday, October 05, 2026 - 5:35 am
A buddy bath is a bath shared between two bedrooms. In our case each bedroom has a door in the bedroom that opens to a vanity area for that bedroom. Then there is another door that opens into a shared tub/shower and toilet area. Around here they are commonly called buddy baths but maybe more properly they are shared baths. The point is an occupant of a bedroom can get to the facilities without going into the hallway.
The original owners of our house opted for the buddy or shared bath arrangement. The builder did semi-custom interior layouts and had several floor plan options for upstairs. One of the options was fully private baths for each of the three bedrooms upstairs.
That was more expensive and the first owners decided to go with the lower cost and more standard floor plan.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Monday, October 05, 2026 - 10:22 am
Also, it's one less bathroom to clean! 
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Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Monday, October 05, 2026 - 12:24 pm
We always called those Jack and Jill Bedrooms, don't know why but it was the bathroom in the middle of the 2 bedrooms. Like Brenda and Brandon had on 90210, LOL.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Monday, October 05, 2026 - 12:32 pm
As it is the buddy/shared bath is between what we call the office and the exercise/craft room and really doesn’t get used that much. The third bedroom that we call the guest bedroom with a private bath, the bath we’re getting remodeled. We have no plans to remodel the buddy/shared bath. Other than a bit dated it is in excellent condition. With the bath in the guest room being converted to a walk-in shower only that means the only tub upstairs will be in the buddy/shared bath. And yes I have heard those called Jack and Jill bathrooms.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Monday, October 05, 2026 - 10:00 pm
Oh, okay, thanks. The first house I remember living in was a 2-BR, 1-BA bungalow in central Illinois, and the bathroom was between the two bedrooms. I think after the third child, our Daddy built on a third bedroom where my sister and I moved.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Wednesday, October 07, 2026 - 8:45 am
Just got the firm start date of 19 October for our window replacement project. All the windows and doors have been received by the installer and are warehoused. While the foreman wasn’t concerned about it we think it not being 100F+ outside is better for everybody. Works for us.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Thursday, October 08, 2026 - 7:29 am
Grooch mentioned the potential impact of tariffs on our remodeling project a few posts ago. As it turns out that has not been an issue or problem either the window replacement or bathroom remodel projects. However, and not related to those projects, we have been impacted in another area. It turns out our new refrigerator is delayed until maybe late October or early November and we still don’t have a firm delivery date. The issue seems to be while the refrigerator is assembled and manufactured in the US pieces and parts of it are imported mostly from Asia. One key piece is the stainless steel for the outer case and shipments of the sheets of stainless have been delayed. Very frustrated as you may recall we’ve had two failed deliveries. One due to damage in shipment and one because of a manufacturing issue. Bottom line is what should have been a simple delivery week or so from purchase is now going to take at least two maybe three months.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Friday, October 09, 2026 - 6:23 am
New long range forecast is not looking good for the window replacement to start 19 October. Right now the forecast is for a high chance of rain that week. Of course that’s over a week off so that could change. We are not anywhere close to the hurricane in the Gulf so that’s not an immediate issue.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Sunday, October 11, 2026 - 5:23 pm
Today was major prep day for window replacement a week from tomorrow. Carey and I worked on those windows upstairs that will be replaced. For the most part we will keep the blinds while replacing a few drapes all that needed to be taken down. Only one more room upstairs and that’s the what we use as the office to go. We are having a guy come in next week to remove the more difficult window treatment upstairs and down stairs. We are getting there but lots of work.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Sunday, October 11, 2026 - 9:25 pm
Keep up the good work Mack and Carey.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Monday, October 12, 2026 - 1:52 pm
We keep on keeping on. I worked on the few windows downstairs that we can do. There are six or seven windows that are a bit beyond us because of heavy window treatments or the size. Two of our front windows are palladium windows and require a 12-14 foot tall ladder and young muscles. I have neither. We contracted this morning with a guy to do the more difficult windows. He also hauls away the pieces and parts we don’t need. Same guy who did my son’s windows a few weeks ago when he did his window replacement so we know his work.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Wednesday, October 14, 2026 - 8:54 am
We finished up the rest of the window treatment removal that we can do. Switching gears to installing a full shelve of vertical spice racks in the kitchen. In this case we’re using them for organizing our meds and vitamins. Yes our meds and vitamins are in the kitchen. We tried years ago to have them in our master bath but it just didn’t work for us. Kind of an out of sight out of mind issue for us and we spend more time in the kitchen and adjoining family room than the master suite. Not really a part of the renovation projects and should be in the organization thread but not going to do double post.
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Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Wednesday, October 14, 2026 - 12:05 pm
LOL, I have meds in the kitchen, and my 2 nightstands because I have morning, noon and night pills.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Wednesday, October 14, 2026 - 7:31 pm
So today turned out to be a mixed bag. Carey and I feel like we accomplished a lot then a 5 PM call from our window contractor. Turns out while our windows and doors are all received and warehoused they are having issues completing the project before ours. Bottom line is our window replacement has been delayed a week with the possibility of earlier start. We had enough time this afternoon to delay our guy who was coming Friday to remove the harder window treatments until Monday on the off chance the window company gets an earlier start date.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Thursday, October 15, 2026 - 2:47 am
OK, now it's a race to bet on. Will Mrs Mack get her new refrigerator first, or her windows?
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Thursday, October 15, 2026 - 6:31 am
To say Carey was not exactly a “happy camper” yesterday afternoon would be an understatement. I just gave her space to work through her frustration. While it’s probably not fair to draw a direct parallel we both come from a working environment where when some action was due on a certain date it was due that date usually with very little to no leeway. You simply didn’t call or go into your boss and say you were busy and didn’t get it done.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Thursday, October 15, 2026 - 11:12 pm
Same, Mack, on my job. We three may be dinosaurs?
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Friday, October 16, 2026 - 8:28 am
I think we are Juju. Now the window project manager is a good guy that did our earlier door replacement project. We liked him and the company so much we didn’t even get other bids for the windows. He couldn’t have been more apologetic. He said on the job they were working on they have run into structural issues that required an engineer and a subcontractor to fix as the problem was beyond their capability. He expressed his frustration at the subcontractor being less than responsive. I can understand that as I have had recent issues with plumbers and electricians booking an appointment and then never showing up or following up. They get less than kind reviews on Yelp, etc.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Thursday, October 22, 2026 - 5:57 am
Looks like the window contractor isn’t going to get started earlier so we, at least as of today, should start next week. The only issue we can see is the weather forecast for two or three days next week shows high rain potential. Meanwhile we’re working on some minor projects like the garage and office reorganization. And…fingers crossed….we’re still on schedule for the new refrigerator delivery on the 31st. All the local companies like Lowe’s and Home Depot show the same model available for delivery about then so hopefully GE caught up with the demand.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Friday, October 23, 2026 - 12:26 pm
Did vet confirmation early this afternoon that the window replacement project starts Monday. Finally!!!! 👍
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