Saturday, November 22, 2008

Remodeling, the Alaskan Way




We have discovered that when doing anything in Alaska involving construction, the success or failure depends upon who you know.

We are in the middle of the first bathroom remodel. All appears to be going well, thanks to the referral of a friend's stepfather to handle the job for us, as Yukon and I are admittedly stupid when it comes to building things. We are very up front with our contractors when we say we know not the difference between a shim and a screwdriver, enamel versus semi-gloss. This deficiency could make for certain cost overrun had we secured a less-than-stellar contractor. Fortunately, we heeded warnings from our friends to steer clear from "contractors" who claim to have "built half of Alaska from here to Fairbanks". Duh, there are hardly any houses between here and Fairbanks. See ya.

So the ripping and tearing of rotten sub-floor is over, the new vinyl is in (yeah, vinyl, but who wants to clean up stone tile after boys?), and Yukon is gamely painting the walls as we speak. That he is good at. The most difficult part of this whole thing has been gathering the materials and parts. Shipping can take up to six weeks for things like tubs and shower walls; barges are slow and sporadic, especially when you are in a hurry.

The hope is for the project to be completed by the time we leave for Utah, so I can come home and take a soothing shower in a bathroom that doesn't look like one from the 70's. Enjoy the photos, and note the positioning of the toilet next to Yukon's side of the bed. Just what every man needs, right?

1 comment:

dorothy said...

I love the piss pot! Our 'bedroom' is the old duplex kitchen so Robert has a matching one about 5 feet from his side of the bed. My dream is to loose the 1915 bathrooms and someday....someday see a shower in my house instead of three clawfoot tubs!