Can you post a drawing of what you have & what you are planning? It sounds neat. Yes, marble tile is slippery, and so is porcelain. Dh slipped and nearly fell when he walked in with wet shoes the other day and I've done the same.

OH ML How exciting. Can't wait for pictures of the progress.Tub sounds wonderful.

Now that is what I call a bathtub! Beautiful! It deserves a beautiful floor to go along with it. Pics, please.

Ok, I drew out the room and took a picture of it.

The 6' wall of the bath is made of cement stucco, reinforced with heavy wire and an interior dark paper. The structural wood is a full 4"...very hard stuff. The contractor will remove the present small window and most of the wall but short "wings" will remain at either end of the 6' bathroom dimension. The tub is 30" wide and should have good room with a nominal 48" deep bumpout. You know why I can get a freestanding slipper tub? Because DH did not want to deal with leaky tub surrounds with an alcove-mounted tub! I lucked out, didn't I?

And the issue which started the whole bathroom redo was the mold found after a pipe under the lavatory burst, I started removing the sink & vanity, found rot and leaks under the old toilet, and then started busting up plaster. The present state of this bath is shown here, with a working toilet (a Toto washlet Zoe model is discontinued but it works) sitting on plywood until we can get the floor done, the square of plywood all to itself is the replaced subfloor where the wood was totally rotted out. What is GONE is the old sewer line and the tub w/o a floor under it and NO connection to the sewer! That gave me the creeps, and added determination to my efforts.

Then there is my nice wall mounted lavatory and a Price Pfister pump style faucet. I don't care that it is a modern style, I like it, even with a slipper tub and a British telephone style tub faucet/hand shower!

What pleases me, if you look at the drawing, is that DH wants to run the bumpout all the way down the back #2 bedroom north wall, making a 12' long walkin closet. The double windows in that wall are 72" wide, so a set of 4 bifold frosted glass french doors will let light in from the clerestory windows running the length of that wall.

However large a non-opening window we can put into the tub area, on the west wall of the bumpout, will be a stained glass thingy, so a bath at sunset will be a show stopper. I want beadboard all the way up in the tub alcove, maybe real boards? The beadboard will be a semigloss white. On the walls in the toilet area, I like the Behr colors ORANGE CONFECTION or LILTING LAUGHTER. BR#2 will be Behr SMOKED OYSTER, which starts gray but ends soft lavender.

Flooring in the bathroom: Lowes sells the Italian porcelain tiles (we used the Roman Salmon unglazed on our sunporch and in the tiny bath), and I want IN THE TUB BUMPOUT, the 2x2" off white like marble, it is mounted in 12x12" sheets, with an ivory or white grout. That will be laid only in the bumpout. The rest of the bath will be the same color Rialto White, either 12x12 or 16x16 tiles depending on how level the floor turns out.

Since our bedroom floors are 1.5" wide oak hardwood, there is no way we can match the closet floor to that. We won't even try. So the closet will also be tiled, but with the Roman Salmon, which I dearly love--it does not show dirt much and it is easy to clean, and it looks so very very ITALIAN. (Mercy I do love Italian style!)

Well, that is it for now. Just as a teaser, here is a heads up on the curtain project for the #1 bedroom. DH is busy constructing 6" wide crown molding with enough flat space to mount the wall-to-wall double curtain rods that will allow ceiling/floor grommet drapes to two walls. They will look SO GOOD, that he will naturally want to install similar crown molding in the L/R, D/R, and maybe B/R #2!
Here is a shot of step one of that project:

Here is a link that might be useful: MoccasinLanding Tinypic albums

Wow ML, those are great plans. I've never seen those type of windows (could not spell it, hehe). When you finish it, I don't see how you can leave it to go to Maine!
I looked at your album and you have the most adorable house. I've always liked the arched entryway - and the yard is very nice too.
Can't wait to see the final result.

Idie, thank you! I checked Wikipedia for the modern use of the term "clerestory" (clear story pronunciation), and to quote from there: ""clerestory lights" are any rows of windows above eye level that allow light into a space. In modern architecture, clerestories provide light without distractions of a view or compromising privacy."

So that's why I called my windows clerestory. Let in light, maintain privacy, and keep the outside wall from looking so blank and massive.

We have a little more than a month to get the project far enough along to have the house weatherized, meaning NO HOLES. If that is not the case, I may stay here longer, which I'd dearly love to do, because DH would be gone north! hehehehe....I don't know if he trusts me enough to leave me w/out "adult supervision" again. Last time he did, I demo-ed all the closets and the bathroom!

At least the front bedroom will be totally done by mid-May.
Except for stripping all the hardwood floors and refinishing them. That will require moving all the furniture OUT, not a happy thought. sigh... no, this is not on the agenda currently.

Glad you posted tonight, Loretta, I wondered where everyone went. :)

I was wondering where everyone went too. But the weather is becoming so nice, think a lot are out yarding. Plus weekends on postings tend to get slow.

Remember the built-ins of the 50s/60s? I loved my bedroom with all the drawers and cupboards along and over the closet. This used to be a norm in a lot of small homes.

Wow, that bed is beautiful.

Yeah, I've been working in the yard too. I used to love being out in the sun taking care of the yard - but obviously those days are gone! It is such a chore.

ML, sometimes men just get in the way of the creative process! But they can be so handy when you need crown molding installed

Wow, you've done a lot of work, and sounds like a lot more is yet to come. It's so exciting, isn't it!!

I agree with Loretta, you do have an adorable house. Your arched entryway looks so inviting.

It's very informative, how you've added text to so many pictures. It's interesting going through and seeing the before, during, and after. Thank you for sharing! Can't wait to see the final results.
~Missy

Idie, yes indeed, very handy to have around to build crown molding to spec. Being divorced for 32 years, I forget sometimes that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. As long as I find a way to be persuasive and not manipulative, then I am happy. If we had married 50 years ago when we were first engaged, I'd have had him used to my ways by now. We are both very imaginative and also STRONG WILLED people.

Thank you for the remarks about the entry of the Casa Del Sol. There is another archway in the dining room, leading into the hall. I don't know if you can see the new front door but I will post a photo soon. It is an Andersen low-e double glazed with a blind in the middle. It lets in a LOT of light, but the covered entry keeps it from becoming too hot. We added the privacy fence in 2 stages, half one year and half the next, doing my usual thing and "nibbling" at a task until it is done.

I learned to nibble like this when I owned MoccasinLanding, my very first home on the bayou. I worked offshore then, and was home 3 times a year for 3 weeks at a time. That means, I worked 302 days a year away from home. So when I came home, I only had 21 days to get some project taken care of before I returned to work (usually in LA or south TX)...and I could not leave with gaping holes in the walls.
Also, it fit the budget so I could pay as I went.

While I was away at work on the offshore boats, I drew many house plans. Doubtless if I'd been home I would have made some glaring mistakes, but I had time to meditate about what would be best for the house and for my enjoyment of it. And what I could afford too. In that house I discovered my style. And I realized that the things I loved as a child were the things I loved as an adult. Like a leopard, we don't change our spots. :)

ML Looks like a great plan to me. Can't wait to see the tub.

Chris

Here is a picture of the tub. Mine will have white feet. This is the 60" model, with rim drilling for faucets.

OH ML that is so pretty. I also love the sink in your smaller bath.

wow this is such a big project moccasin. You have so many great ideas in your posts and it's obvious you really think things through right down to the small details. I loved looking through your album, your house is so lovely.

chipping away at projects is all I get to do too, there are just so many that sometimes it feels really overwhelming but Im terrible at making decisions. once I know what Im doing (or at least part of it) I can move ahead but I get so stuck figuring out what Im trying to do most of the time.

And now I found the stained glass window for the master bath. It is a window taken from an old house in downtown Mobile AL. With the 2" wooden frame around it, the dimensions are 28x40" and without the frame it would be 24x36. Perfect proportions for the bathroom. The colors are a gold transparent, a small pattern of orange cathedral translucent, then patterns with green, deep red, green/blue, purple and.....I love it.
And so does DH, because I got it for 75% off the asking price. The man is clearing out his stock, so I lucked out on finding one, and not having to order online or search all over the place for a suitable one. I showed it to the contractor when he came over this morning (to finish the water heater move) and he said it would be a cinch to frame around the window, and HE liked it too. He is the one who originally suggested it to me.

Since a couple of you divas work with tile and stained glass, I am including two shots here. The full view, and a close up which shows the textures of the glass design. I do not know anything about stained glass.

and the closeup:

Trance, I note your remark about you have an issue with making a decision. So do I.

It is my way of doing things to have several projects going on at the same time. In various stages, of course. Designing, just meditating on the options, work a little on this until I get to a "fork in the road," and I am presented with an alternate route. Do I take it, since I am my own designer, or do I continue the original path. If you get to that fork in the road, stop and take a break. I have observed that sooner or later, the house speaks to you.
But while you are waiting, be working on something else. It keeps me free of boredom, or just DOING IT to get the job done.

My DH is totally the other way. He is more a straight-line man, and will keep after ONE THING until he is done. To me, his focus allows me the chance to start something else, or begin the prep for the next step in our overall plan. It drives him crazy. He is logic personified; I am intuition at its best....I hesitate to use BEST, but maybe I should say "inspired?" :)

Not to worry is my philosophy;if you cannot get to the end of your projects, rethink them. Perhaps there is a good REASON you hesitate to finish. There are so many ideas and so few spaces to use them! When one has smaller homes as we do, there is no room for large scale anything. Except maybe some bigger than life CREATIVITY. I buy that.

ML I think mentally Im like your DH, I want to start at one point and keep going until I reach that end point. I like the way you phrased it as "forks in the road", I'd never looked at it that way before. I always worry if I rush into a decision I'll regret it later so I just can't move forward but you're right, that is the time to move on to something else. Lately I'm learning to get more focused but also that I can set something aside and work elsewhere for a while and that's ok too.

I love your little house and want that back sun room. You've done some wonderful work, all looks so comfortable.

I LOVE the stained glass window, it's just so beautiful and wow 75% off, what a deal! a window like that will never go out of style ML, it's like a piece of art.

OH So drolling over your window ML. I work with stained glass but have not done the stained glass process. I am intimated by it. Maybe some day but it means a whole nother bunch of tools.

I did get some more done on my mosaic window for the guest bath. Nothing near as lovely as your window but it fits the rest of the insane things I am doing here. LOL

Love the texture on that glass. I only know a couple kinds of glass. Most I have to work with is left over scrap from stained glass artists.I do have a few pieces of that ripply glass on my window.

Chris

ML, one thing I've learned is that you have exquisite taste! All of your posts are so well laid out and brimming with ideas. You should have been a designer! Sooooooooo, tell me, WHAT were you doing on a boat for so long?
Loretta

Hehehehe.....Idie, I had a real doozy of a midlife crisis.
I had been a librarian, and decided I wanted to live life on the ocean. So I became a boat captain in the Gulf of Mexico oil field, which is the mother lode of "good ole boys." And the oil industry is that unreconstructed industry for harrassment of women in any form or fashion. No joke. But I operated on the slogan, "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." However, it did stress me out and just about ruin my health before I decided to retire. It was exciting and dangerous work, and I was good at handling a large boat without hurting anyone or losing any cargo. I became an adrenalin junkie, you might say. Now I'm almost normal! :)

One thing I did while I was working those 302 days a year away from home was read a lot, and dream of home, and of my garden. So I was doing a lot of studying. I used to never attempt a project until I could do it perfectly. But as I got older, I realized that time was passing and the important thing was to JUST DO IT, and do the best you could, but JUST DO IT. So I started really DOING things when I came home. There is a world of difference in me and a perfectionist. I don't have that much time left to worry about being PERFECT. I'd use a few other words to describe my rules: functional, durable, pretty, adaptable to change.

I've lived long enough to know that I am the same person with the same loves that excited me as a young woman. Or even as a child. You know, shutters, lattice, arbors, pergolas, vines, lovely garden vistas, places to sit and think, nice hammock in the shade, spanish moss hanging on oak trees, a lazy still river, wild birds bathing, the wind in tall pines, wicker and white furniture, french doors, Craftsman bookcases, square or round dining tables, hanging baskets, terra cotta pots, window seats, wind chimes telling me the breeze is blowing, sunrise especially when things are beginning, sharing ideas with folks, and "practicing random acts of kindness and senseless beauty."
Also, "follow your bliss." Another way of saying, to thine own self be true.

But where was I going here. Back outdoors to finish putting plants in the ground!

Oh, moccasinlanding, I too LOVE the window!! It's gorgeous!! That's another thing I've always wanted, but it just wouldn't suit my 1978 plain jane house! Congrats on the find!
What a fascinating story you have. Thank you for sharing a bit of it. :o)
I love your motto of 'just do it'. Actually, I loved your whole last post. It's a nugget that I'm sure I will re-read many times.

Ah, prairie-girl! Thank you so much.
Life is good. :)

"I don't have that much time left to worry about being PERFECT. I'd use a few other words to describe my rules: functional, durable, pretty, adaptable to change."

that's a good way of thinking!

A Librarian! Ahhh, the wonder of the written word! ML, you are a gem! I've never 'known' anyone like you.

Missy, one great window is enough for you, lol.

Idie, there is great joy in expressing yourself. No one else can ever be you. Isn't that lovely? And so is the wonder of the written word....well said....

The freight company delivered the tub today around noon. It is still in its crate, on the brick patio inside the privacy fence. There is no place to put it inside the house YET.
Our contractor drove by and knows it is ready to go. Hopefully that will get him to work on the 4' x 6' tub bumpout, and the 4' x 12' master closet bumpout which is a second portion of the project. We have about a month left before we head north.....unless I have to stay behind and deal with the house project.

How exciting. Probably best to leave it crated if it is sitting outside. Keeping good thoughts your contractor getting to you sooner.

Oh, it will remain in the crate. We threw a big tarp over it, but nothing can disguise a big elephant in your back yard!

And now, since supplies of the floor tile are in short supply in Mobile, I ordered my DelConca Rialto White porcelain unglazed tiles. From TWO different Lowes, before I found enough. Maybe they do not think we like the finer things down here, so they don't stock up on it.....

But I got the 16 x 16 squares for the toilet/sink area of the master. And for the tub bumpout, I got the mosaic mesh-backed sheets 12 x 12 with the 2x2 squares on them. It will appear as tumbled marble. So I think this will look fantastic with beadboard walls.

We've already used this brand of unglazed porcelain on the sun porch and in the tiny bath. In the bath, we used it on the floor and all the way up the wall in the shower. On the floor of the shower, we used the really tiny 1/2" or so squares of mosaic to avoid any problem with slipperiness. It looks good. That shower was totally stick built, including the shower pan.

One of the reviewers of the Rialto White tile said they chose the Ivory grout, very small line, and that is what we intend to do. My DH will probably lay it, he is very finicky with detail, and he knows how to make the line as small as I like.

I also ordered one piece of what I hope is bullnose 12 x 3.5" and if it is, it will become the floor edge trim. I will be able to add that after the rest of the floor and walls are complete, if need be. However long it takes to get enough of what I need, and then proceed to install it.

Well, my end of the project--the shopping--is ready to go. Now, where is that contractor!!! Guess I will work out in the flower beds another day, start now before it gets hot.

Woo hoo Contractor. Where you be??????????? Come quick we need you over here in ML's Home.

Oh I hope he arrives soon. Hehehehe on hiding the elephant in the back yard.

Enjoy your day in the yard. We are still in storm mode here.

Chris

lol Loretta. :o) I guess you're right. I shouldn't be greedy, eh?

Here's hoping your contractor shows up soon, ML! It must be frustrating waiting on someone like that.

Your bath is going to be gorgeous!
~Missy

Update on the tub situation.
I ordered it in April, it arrived very soon thereafter.
We've heard ONCE from the contractor since then, and it is now LATE JULY.

A second contractor I want to do the work is invollved with BP down on Dauphin Island, and I hope he will soon be available to build our bumpout for the tub and walkin closet.
But I will have to wait and see.

At least the tub is inside the house, I finally slid it out of the dining room (2 friends came over and helped me carry it inside before some tree fell on it during a tropical storm, a total possibility this time of year.)....

So it is in the future master bedroom with all the plumbing fixtures sitting in it in their boxes. It is beautiful, but it is going nowhere fast.

that is terrible! but maybe better for you than letting him start and then disappear for 3 months!

hopefully the 2nd guy will get back into town.

Okay, I now have a recommendation for another contractor. I called him, and he said he'd come over this Saturday to look at the job. That means I must get the back bedroom straightened out so he can get an idea of what my plans are for the space.

I'll just get my black magic marker out and start writing and drawing on the walls so he will see what I'm talking about.

Oh boy, I am so very excited. And I told him: everything must be permitted with the city. And he assured me that he had all proper licenses and bonded and insured. Now I go do some investigating about completed jobs.

Oh, let it be the right man for the job!!! Oh BOY.

OH Boy keeping good thoughts it will be the right guy for the job.

Chris

Tonight DH and I discussed how we want the contractor to finish the tub and walk in closet bumpout. And to what degree we want it completed. DH is an itch about doing things so-so, therefore it will be better to add the tiles ourselves, and do the painting as well.

BUT, the electrical, the plumbing, the windows, the removal of the old pair of windows in the bedroom to allow entry into the new closet, that will be framed and cut by the contractor. Also, drywall and taped, but we will finish with a skim of plaster--or so DH thinks. I am ready to leave the closet drywall plain. I am fed UP with DUST.
In the tub bumpout, I've decided I want it all beadboard...roof and walls. I think there is a synthetic beadboard mfg by a company with a name beginning with "A"...am I right? That would be very very water proof or moisture resistant.

Of course the contractor will do the foundation, the framing, the roof as well. Our windows will be up high near the little rafter "tails" that stick out all around the house. The clerestory "lights" will be NON opening, and made of Lexan. DH says that if you make them less than 24 inches (they will be about 16) you do not have to allow for expansion/contraction of the Lexan. So each small panel can be caulked in and screwed down. That will give us natural light all along our northern exposure, and require no window treatments. I want these Lexan panels in the walkin closet also. I already have the wire closet kit to make high and low hanging racks and such.In fact, I might even get the contractor to install them for me. The top shelf rack will come about the height of the window bottoms. The roofline will just extend at its current angle, and we will lose a little closet height near the outer new wall...but not enough to create a problem. Having the "lights" up high will really take advantage of ambient natural light coming from the north, which is true and consistent all year long, winter and summer. For closet doors, I plan to get two pairs of bifold with frosted glass in the top panels, and louvered fixed shutters in the bottom panels. They can be installed later by us, because the brand I want is special order from Lowes.

I also already have the tub fixtures/plumbing stuff ready to be installed. And the two short sconces and one longer double ended sconce for the sink, and the towel bars and racks and ONE grab bar. I plan on more of these grab bars, and will ask the contractor to place a lot of blocking in the walls while they are open.

I am so excited. I've tried not to get my hopes up, this might not work out, but OH BOY I"M READY TO TAKE A TUB BATH.
If the man is a professional, this job should not take very long, should it?

ML The grab bars are wonderful. I had them in a bath once and needed them for a fractured hip. They really helped me be self sufficient.

Sounds like you have a plan in the bath and closet. Love the idea of the north facing small upper windows.

Chris

I wouldn't think it'd take him long if he knows what he's doing. watch him like a hawk. from things I read on kitchens it can be scary! I hope he's the one and is good!

I bet you want a tub bath as much as I do a shower without stepping over the side of a tub. I'm surprised I don't dream about it.

you're brave to take on louvers - that's one thing I had a lot of yrs ago and won't ever again. I hated cleaning them.

I did see this door on kitchens (maybe) and saved it because I might do something like it if I put doors on the den.

{{gwi:2069425}}

Okay, folks, I had the new contractor come to look at the job site. I THINK WE HAVE A WINNER.

He was very softspoken, pointed out some ways of dealing with the roofline, the exterior finish, the foundation venting, the ceiling slope, the electrical and finalizing the plumbing. Oh yes, and levelling the subflooring, and using the beadboard, and ventilating the closet, and blocking the walls for future grab bar installations. And he is on board with the clerestory Lexan windows up high along the entire north wall.

I could tell he was a very business like person who knew all of the issues and how to fit the new addition into the look of the existing house.

He said he has a man who will give us stucco exterior to match the existing old style stucco, and a roofer who can change the angle of the rafter(?) tails to have enough height inside the house to put in the Lexan panels and also have double hanging rods in the closet, while still giving proper slope for good drainage. To give us 4 feet interior, the bumpout will be 5 feet total. On that side of the house, our construction must have an 8 foot setback. Since it is 21 feet to the property line, taking 5 of that for the bumpout and about 18" more for the roof overhang, we are legal all the way.

And he said no problem with the permitting, he'd get the permits for every part of the job. Oh happy day.

Desertsteph, thanks for the door idea. It looks like walnut or teak, and would fit almost any style house. I love the built in shelving in your example photo too.

I say fixed louvered bottoms to these doors, in order to ventilate the closet. With a frosted glass top, there should be a lot of diffused light still coming into the bedroom. I do not want to darken the room when it has such lovely light.

The contractor will save the window sashes for us. The rest of the house needs some work on the old 3-over-1 double hung windows, and I think DH could redo these and they'd be ready to replace another pair which he could then rework, and so on so on.

I'm thinking this thread is about done, so when he comes back to me with his estimate and a starting time, I will then begin a new thread........Don't you just love it when you take a positive step? He does come recommended, and his vibes are all good. Hard to fool me too.

WOOOHOOOO! I'm glad you're back in business. I can't wait to see the finished product! I haven't had a tub in three years, so you'll have to take a soak for me. :)

Thanks, also, for sharing your "mini life story." It's just what I needed today.

Young-gardener, thank you.....I tend to share too much sometimes, but it helps the mind wrap around the vision.

that's great news ML, you've been waiting a loooong time now so it must be exciting to get things moving forward again.

I think there's talkers and do-ers sometimes, and your contractor sounds like a do-er to me :)

Ok, this is the new thread of the JOB BEGINS.
See the link below....

That's where the rest of the story will appear.
See ya.

Here is a link that might be useful: Master Suite Construction About to Start