What a day!

So in honor of Alberto "Kid" Contodor winning his first Tour de France at only age 24 (and for the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, no less!), I decided to hunker down and grind out the work on the bathroom like the riders grind out the climbs in the Tour. After watching Contodor cross the finish line on the Champs-Élysées, I was more than motivated to make a big dent in the remaining bathroom tasks.

After installing the cabinets, sink, and faucet yesterday, I began my day today with a quick trip to Lowe's for a couple of plumbing supplies...oh joy!

About the only thing I hate worse than electrical work, is plumbing. I awake to cold sweats and nightmares just thinking about that horrid sound of trickling water that is the telltale sign of a leak somewhere. My quest today, was to find a 1/2" - 1/2" male connector that would allow me to extend the water supply lines that came with the Swedish faucet that I bought from Ikea. To my surprise, Lowe's had exactly want I needed (and a couple of things I really didn't need, but still bought anyway). Through the self-checkout and I was quickly on my way home. Once there, I was able to hook up the hot and cold water supply lines without to much difficulty, and I also attached all of the drain plumbing for the sink. Now the moment of truth...I turned the shut off values back "on" and inspected the connections. No drips. Then I turned the faucet on and filled the sink...still no drips. My last test was to lift the stopper and let the water flood the drain pipe...and still no leaks, yeah!!

Everything seemed good, so I moved on to the next step in the bathroom, the shower bypass door. Believe it or not, this was a really simple installation. That is, if you don't count the "metal cutting and grinding to make it fit the curved shower insert" portion of the job. Again though, without too much difficulty, I had the doors installed and caulked. Now I just have to wait 24 hours for the caulk to dry and Suzanne and I can start showering in the our bathroom again. Next step is to tile the walls, including a 4" accent strip of floor tile about half-way up the wall. I also need to tile the backsplash and surround at the sink. Once I get the tile in, all that will be left is setting the toilet! I'm predicting a couple more weekends before we have our dual-flush throne back in working order!