Hitting a moving target

A rather ugly yet plain bathroom. Note the
$5 light fixture/ 

We keep changing our mind on what we want to work on next so it's kind of hard to plan ahead. After discussion it has been decided that the half bath off the kitchen was next on the list, since I've done such a good job on the upstairs bath. (Ha Ha). I really don't understand the evolution of our tiny powder room. It was clearly not in the original plans of the house as it was added to the porch, but it seems like an early edition as it has some of the same old tile that is found in the main upstairs bathroom. It looks like an older style construction, but they punched a hole in the basement wall to get the plumbing through. In any case, the paint and tile are quite dated, with the lower half of the wall a metal "tile" that has actually rusted in spots. The first two rows of tile are ceramic, and I may retain them for sentimental or historic reasons, but that metal stuff below has to go. No decision has been made on what to replace it with, but I may dabble in ceramic tile. It should be a good place to practice at something I've never done before. The toilet and pedestal sink are newer, and in good shape so their fate is unknown. The toilet tank, at a minimum, will need to be removed to get to the tile, and if we decide to replace the sink, we will we to make that decision before I get to the tile work.

Old tile detail. along and above the thin black tile is
ceramic. Below is metal. It's amazing how well it matches.

A more pressing problem is the complete lack of insulation under the floor and in the walls causing the occasional frozen pipe. Next to and behind the bathroom is the old porch, which is unheated, and below is an unheated crawl space. I've insulated the pipe the best I can, and even added a heater to the crawl space in the winter. There is a small heater in the bathroom itself, but in the coldest weather, freezing pipes are still a problem. It really surprises me that they built it this way with no concern for frozen pipes. What I really need to do is force myself into the crawl space and insulate it. This may be a job for the fall, when all the bugs and spiders have gone away.

Use the regular paint for big jobs. Save the spray for small
ones, Trust me on this. 

Getting back to the upstairs bathroom, I mentioned last month how I needed to repaint the bathroom door as the old dark color was bleeding through. Well, I went ahead and bought the spray version of my favorite stain blocker made by Zinsser. This was a mistake. It does say on the label to use in a well ventilated place, and they mean it. Despite opening the window, the fumes were just too much, especially considering how big the door was, and how much paint I needed. I had a headache for two days. I was smart enough to do the second coat with the regular, brush applied version of the product, but frankly that stinks too. The good news is that the door came out great, after two coats of the stain blocker and a finishing coat of semi-gloss enamel.

On the lawn and garden front, I've had a sudden invasion of crab grass. Looking around the neighborhood, it looks like it has it everyone has crab grass to some degree, so I guess that makes me feel better. I have fertilized the lawn twice now this year, with little effect. Part of that may be due to the fact that I will not waste the time and money to water the grass, especially on the large side lot. As we get into August there's not much reason to do anything about it this year, but I'll do some crab grass research over the winter. In the meantime, I'll continue to call the collection of weeds and crab grass our "lawn".