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Heaven and Hell of Moving a Toilet Flange
Hurricane Lane won’t cause much damage before tonight, which gives me time to talk about moving a toilet flange. Such an exciting topic, right? Well, it is to me. I wish we had known about moving a toilet flange when we remodeled our master bath in Sacramento 10 years ago. But c’est la vie. At least I acquired that knowledge in time for our Hawaii bath remodel.
Plus, for some reason, our existing guest bath toilet in Hawaii was not centered exactly between the bath tub and vanity. It’s a little bit tough as there is a lot of labor involved, especially on a slab foundation. Primarily because you have to dig through it. And our house in Hawaii is basically built on a bed of lava.
The workers from Lowes were here on-site almost all day yesterday. Reciprocating saws going as they dug up the floor. Good thing I wasn’t saving the floor tile. Spent most of my day out on the lanai, away from the noise. Fielding emails from people worried that I’ll meet my death with Hurricane Lane. But the way I look at it, at least they cared enough to check in.
Like I said, though, not much will happen storm-wise before tonight. Then the winds and rain will begin to pound us. Hawaiian Airlines is offering waivers to travelers, and my husband might get caught up in that as he’s flying to Honolulu at the end of the week. The storm should be over on Big Island by this weekend.
I am also feeling grateful that we are a mile up the hill from the ocean. Already had one home fall into the Pacific and not about to live through another disaster. Once is enough.
Our first photo on top is of the new deeper and wider tub. It is 3-inches wider than our horrid fiberglass one-piece tub. It is also about 8 inches deeper. A couple people had asked me for a photo when I mentioned buying a bath tub, so there you go.
The second photo is digging up the toilet, and the third is the finished toilet flange. Although some of the pieces for the tub are on back order. Turns out a lot of people like the design I chose. Which puts us on a waiting list for the valve and diverter for the Moen 90 Degree Collection. I ordered it from Lowe’s more than a month back. Just now, it is arriving in Georgia for shipment to Hawaii.
Painting Baseboards Day Two Hawaii Bath Remodel
Painting baseboards is not really my idea of a fun time in Hawaii. However, with the new vinyl plank flooring that will be installed, it will look odd without baseboards. I matched the baseboards in our bedrooms with the same tiger bamboo, and now I wish I hadn’t. The reason is the baseboards are not snug to the wall because walls are not plumb. And that is where the critters that make up the downside to living paradise like to hide.
My neighbor Buzz showed me that painting baseboards is the way to go. That’s because he painted his baseboards the same color as his walls. How brilliant is that? You don’t even notice them. And the tops hug the wall, topped with a bit of caulk, which discourages pests from taking up residence.
I decided to jump right into painting baseboards today because it’s a nasty job that’s best getting done early. Finished my two coats in record time, too. It was a lovely day in Kailua-Kona. Perfect for painting baseboards on my lanai.
Maybe today the guys from Lowes will get lucky and Lowes will actually deliver all of my materials. Lowes was supposed to deliver all of my bath remodeling supplies yesterday but for some reason did not. The only progress they made on Monday was to install the cabinets in each bath.
The quartz guy showed up, though, to check out the situation. He asked me why Lowes didn’t install greenboard behind the sink vanity and toilet. I have no answer for that except that I had asked them to do it, and they said it wasn’t necessary. My quartz guy said it is code here in Hawaii. Wherever there is a shut-off valve that could produce moisture, you need greenboard.
