Back on the Hunt

Well the demolition is in full swing.  It’s amazing what you discover when you begin tearing down walls and pulling up floors—like exposed electrical wires.  The wall and threshold to the shower are gone, along with all the tile, which was a job as whoever redid this bathroom in the past applied the new tile right on top of the old.

Pulling up the floor tile was much easier as there was very little mastic used to adhere it to the floor.  The subfloor beneath is in pretty bad shape, particularly under the shower where the wood is rotted.  We used to think there was a leak in the shower pan as there was water under the house after the shower was used, but we discovered that the drain pipe from the shower isn’t connected to anything…it just drains under the house!

After discovering I couldn’t afford my dream sink, I started to think of other options and decided on a table with a rectangular vessel sink.  Back on the hunt, I spent two days at Scott’s Antique Market this past weekend.  On Friday, I hit the North building as I love the area outside which is more like a flea market and there is a dealer in an outbuilding with lots of old sinks, tubs, and, well, just about anything you can think of.  Nothing caught my eye so I headed indoors.  Unfortunately, everything I saw was either too long—I only have 36 inches to work with—or too expensive.

On Sunday I dropped Mr. Man off at the airport, and my brother and I headed back to Scott’s, this time to the South Building.  It was early afternoon but dealers were already beginning to pack up.  This is a good time to find a deal, if you can find what you’re looking for.  I didn’t see anything I loved until I found an old chest of drawers, but decided against it because so many people are doing this now days and I want something a little different.  We continued to look; then I saw this table tucked in the back of a booth.  It has really interesting legs and the size is good—it’s only 30 inches long so will afford more room on either side—and it’s well below my budget; SOLD.

With the first coat of non-toxic, environmentally friendly paint stripper

I spent today stripping the paint off, leaving just a bit of residue.  After sanding with fine steel wool and treating with wood oil, it is really beautiful.  There are a few mars, which the paint was covering, but this adds character to the piece, especially considering it’s going into a bathroom in a 107-year-old home.  We’ll see what Mr. Man thinks when he returns from London.