The Husbear has grown tired of scraping frost and ice from the windshields in the winter time, so he wanted a carport. So we’re building a carport. Well, I’m building a carport. He’s assisting me. Not that we don’t have enough projects we’re constantly working on.

Lowe’s Delivery shorted me 10 pieces of roofing, which I finally received today. So barring any rain this coming weekend, I’ll get those last pieces installed.

There will be one other vehicle bay, but that won’t be built until sometime next year. We have to level the land for it first, but that won’t be until next year. But at least for now the Jeep and the Prius have a place to sleep.

Having been fairly incapacitated for the last month due to the molar incident and a bad case of food poisoning, I started working on the trim and paneling in the bathroom today. Specifically in the water closet.

Our original idea was to tile up the walls about 4′, in the style of turn-of-the-century (well, the previous century) bathhouses. Sadly, the hexagon tile we wanted was extremely cost-prohibitive. (We were going to use the same hexagon tile on the floor originally as well.)

So we started looking at other options. We both like the look of Craftsman-style trim. While our home isn’t a Craftsman, the insides share some similarities. And again, we like the look.

As I was cutting and installing the panels and trim, the Husbear said he thinks we should do a few other rooms in the house like this. I really hope he’s joking… but I think he’s not.

I hope to finish getting the trim in the water closet area cut and installed tomorrow. Then comes the puttying and caulking and painting.

It’s been a busy month, in many ways: the holidays, the tattoo studio has been crazy busy, and the floor in the bathroom is installed!

Heated floor mats…

Why they price them by the foot, I have no idea, especially when you have to buy the entire thing. But so it goes.

Now we have to wait 30 days before we can turn on the heated floor. Nothing like anticipation.

And then I started the laying of the tile.

I realized that doing an entire 40 pound bag of mortar at one time was a little more than I could handle. By the time I got about 3/4 of the way through, that last 1/4 was starting to harden. So I started halving the bags each “session” after the first weekend.

milli frequently inspected my work at all times. If she didn’t like the way I placed the tile spacers, she was quick to bat them out. 😉

Next time I design a room, I need to remember to NOT do anything with funky angles. *sheesh*

And then we got to pick out the grout color. Which took the both of us forever to decide. Unlike paint, once the grout is installed it’s not something you can just roll over and change. We went with a dark color that was close to the darkest wood grain color in the tile.

The grouting was an interesting process. It was like the day after bad Mexican food induced Botulism. So much wiping!

It took several wiping sessions to get all the haze off the tile. And probably a few more just to make sure before the entire bathroom is complete.

Once we have completed the installation of the wainscoting and the fixtures, we’ll apply a sealant to the floor that will give it a wet look. As you can tell from the last two photos, the tile and grout look way better “wet”. At least to me.

Up next, starting the wainscoting…