Recap

When we first moved in we had no hot water, no kitchen and no bathroom faucets.  We were able to take a cold shower in the disgusting tub on the third floor and use bottled water to brush our teeth and spit in the toilet of our new bathrooms.  It was like camping but without all the nature and fun.  At least we weren’t paying a mortgage and rent.

Update

Bathrooms and Plumbing

The plumber came and hooked up our bathroom faucets.  We still had no hot water but at least we could brush our teeth. The bathrooms are frustrating because the tile work still needs to be addressed before we can truly consider them finished and install the shower doors.

If you recall the weird inch left by the previous contractor, the newly done tiles in the master bath are less than perfect.  There needs to be some re-grouting in areas and the corner has tiles that are rough and chipped.  The faucet was put in crooked and the pipe appears to be too long for the fixture.  But that will be for another day.

In the meantime feast your eyes on our new Ikea cabinet drawer organization.

While Ikea may not be the leader in quality (bahahaha), it has great organizational accessories that fit perfectly into its products.  We picked the Godmorgon/Odensvik sink cabinets mainly because it fit two sinks in the width we needed.  It also has a nice modern design and they are fairly inexpensive.  We figured they can be easily replaced with higher-end cabinets at a later date if they fall apart.

Week 3 – plumber comes back

When the plumber came back to fix the faucets he also tried to hook up the shower in the smaller bathroom.  They could not get the water to come out of the shower fixtures so they had to go in through the small bedroom and cut the wall.  This was heart breaking because it was the only room in the house totally finished and able to be completely unpacked. He cut a hole in the closet wall and told us the rough-in for the shower was damaged and that we had to order a new one.  Nice.  It took us weeks to get that one.

Update to earlier this week, plumbers come back again (not the same guys) and install the new rough-in but it still doesn’t work.  This guy thinks it is the fixture.   I read the instructions (I don’t think he could read English) and suggest taking out the rubber stopper.  He plays around with it and gets it to work (I find the rubber stopper on the sink afterwards).  The only problem, the fixture is upside down with the bolt facing up.  He assures me that is the only way it will install.  I mention we have almost the exact same fixture in the master bath and it faces down.  He assures me again, this is the only way that will work.  Sigh.  At least it works.