I Forgot to Expect the Unexpected.......

And just when things were moving along nicely.

On Friday (yesterday) I stopped at the kitchen/bath store to see if they could recommend a plumber, and got a couple names. I called the first one, Rick Littreal, and he had just finished a big job early (good sign) so he offered to come by that very same day and take a look at what I need to have him do. He asked if I had the spec sheets for the fixtures, so I downloaded them. Hmmm. I noticed right away that the toilet installation guide said "READ BEFORE INSTALLING!" "Non-standard installation!" Oh boy. I was hoping that I have a non-standard bathroom. But, no. He did admire my tile choices, so we were off to a great start. And the vanity base is no problem. But when I showed him the installation guide , he immediately spotted two things that will have to be changed. The guide specifies that the waste pipe should be a four inch pipe with no flange, and it needs to extend above the floor. The water supply line needs to come out of the wall at a point about 7 inches higher than it currently is. And the bolts holding the toilet to the floor will need to be pre-drilled and tile will need to go around those spots because he will not be able to drill through tile. Argh. So the short story is that it will cost about $500 to install instead of $100 for a standard installation. But he is Richard the Lionhearted Plumber - - did a thorough diagnosis and is not afraid of this totally unique installation, just letting me know it will cost a bunch. The guide said there was a template that the installer would use to mark the floor for drilling, so he suggested I get my hands on a template so I could continue with the tiling if that is the toilet I want.


So I am a little disturbed that the salesman at the K/B Store didn't tell me about this - they have it in the showroom, for pete's sake, so he had to know it is better for new construction than it is for renovation. I looked through my old bookmarks to see what other toilets we had looked at to see if any of those were standard and cheaper to install. But when I called my husband and told him I was looking for an alternative, he said no, Let's Go For It. That is the Toilet I Want. So I went to said K/B Store and requested the template from the floor model, he gave it to me, and I guess I will Go For It.


But I decided I would grout the wall tile (except for about a square foot right around the water supply pipe, which will need to be ripped out to move it) before I lay the floor tile. I got out my bag of grout and started mixing. Just as I was getting it all mixed up, I realized it was smooth...............too smooth. What is up? Suddenly, I realized ----it must be unsanded. I checked the bag, and dambit dambit dambit - that is exactly right! No sand!! This is not good. Unsanded is for very thin grout lines (or for applications with really polished tiles that might be scratched by sanded grout). My grout lines are going to be way too wide, sometimes more than 1/4", and those will be too big. I need the sand or else there is a strong chance that the grout might crack. I might be able to get away with this since it is a wall, not a floor. But who wants to take a $15.00 chance with $600.00 worth of tile??? Not worth it. Plus, I want the floor grout to be the same as the wall grout, so I had to just trash that whole batch of grout and drive back to the hardware store and buy new grout. By the time I got home, I had lost all my momentum. Ready to plop on the couch and watch "Blades of Glory".

Tomorrow is another tile day.