You learn the most from the things you do wrong...

Well, this weekend started off with a Saturday morning trip to the local tile store, Stovers, and Knox Rail Salvage to check out their selection of flooring, tiles, and other things that all DIY projects require.  After deciding to simply give our 2 guest bathrooms a 'facelift' instead of completely re-doing them (my idea-I mean they NEVER get used...I'd rather spend the big bucks on the master bath, which gets used EVERYDAY) we decided that giving the floors a new look wouldn't be such a bad idea.  After Brad and his friend decided they could do the  job, we bought some peel and stick tiles (sounds classy, I know-but they actually look much nicer than what you are probably thinking), beer, and decided to cut loose.  

Here is what the downstairs bathroom floor looked like pre-tile...

I know what you're thinking, sexy flooring.  And yes that is a beer on the counter.  Maybe that was the cause of the eventual demise of the flooring?  More to come  about that later in the post.

So, the boys got started, doing an excellent job, taking out the toilet, not making a big mess, and just chugging right along-in terms of the progress and their drinks.  Here are some of the 'action' shots of the work.

Prettyyyyyyyyyy

Getting there...

And finally, the after shot...too bad it was short-lived.  

The bathroom looked great, and I could almost see the finished product with crisp new white trim, instead of that awful wood stuff that we still have lingering around the house in certain rooms, a fresh painted vanity, and updated faucet.  

We got up on Sunday and went out on another home improvement store run to buy the new faucet.  We were extremely excited for this quick, inexpensive transformation! When we got home to install the newly purchased faucet, I left Brad to do this on his own, and I headed out for a brisk 20 mile run.  When I got back in the car after my run, Brad informed me that when he went to get under the sink to replace the faucet, he noticed that water was coming up from the floor... meaning we had a leak and a big problem.  See, the beauty of a self-adhesive tile is that you just stick it down, but the other side of that is, it cannot have ANY moisture on it for 5 days after installing it-so needless to say, our little water bubbles that were locked underneath were a big oh sh*t sign.  Poor Brad had to rip up all his handy work.  He watched hours of work come out in a matter of minutes.  

So, now the floor looks like the 'pre' picture again.  Bummer.  The moral of the story is, make sure the toilet is sealed once you put it back in place.  Man, we really thought it was and definitely did LOTS of flushes throughout the evening to make sure, but I guess it just wasn't sealed perfectly...who knows.  Hell, now that we have the floor out of there, it doesn't seem to be leaking at all...maybe the new wax ring that we had to install formed to the seal?  Your guess is as good as mine.  BUT the silver lining is that Brad wasn't super crazy about how the tile looked against the hardwood (didn't really care-I thought it looked good), so we will get to pick something that he thinks 'goes' better against the hardwood-as if he is a resident expert in picking things that 'go' together. Ha.  That made me laugh.  

The good news, is that we did the same floor to the upstairs bathroom, and it is great.  No leaks, no water, no moisture.  Apparently this toilet decided to cooperate.  I am in the process of refinishing the vanity in this bathroom, so please disregard the poorly primed vanity and lack of doors.  More to come about that project once I actually finish it...eeeek!  Soon...I swear, along with all the pictures I have yet to post of the house....

Before

 During-Note the toilet in the tub and the presence of beer...yet again-many hours after the first in the downstairs bathroom...maybe they got better with the volume that was consumed?

 Probably should've painted behind the toilet, where we couldn't reach when we re-painted the bathroom...nah

 After...so pretty, such a difference!

Once again, like the vanity downstairs, this one is getting a fresh coat of paint on the vanity and on that awful wood junk trim.  Since I think the curtain in here is kinda shabby chic, I am going to antique the vanity once I paint it.  Meaning, I am going to sand my newly painted vanity and rub stain on it to make it look old.  This bathroom also got a new faucet, which is not installed yet.  Brad was pretty pissed, irate, furious tired after his discovery of the moisture in the downstairs bath, that he was done for the day with any sort of home improvement projects around the house.  Can't say I blame him.  

So, there you have it.  You live and you learn.  Sh*t happens, or in our case, sh*t water happens to your floor sometimes, and you've just gotta roll with the punches.  We are learning as we go, and next time we will be damn sure that there is not a leak anywhere!  Hopefully we can rope Brad's flooring partner in crime to come and finish the bathroom floor again-I have a feeling it will take the promise of beer and pizza.  I can handle that.