How To Get A Jacuzzi In Your New Bathroom

(Without really trying...)

We have this sitting in the middle of our new bedroom at the moment:

Good thing we aren't sleeping there at the moment.

And how, ladies, did I convince The Farmer that we needed a jacuzzi tub, let alone a 60 inch two-person jacuzzi tub?

Well, it helps if your bathroom originally looked like this:

Yes, the sink is pink.

Our master bath is actually on almost the same spot as the new bathroom, we just flipped it.

Here's the view now from the same spot (sorta):

This is the wall I moved two feet, making the entry "smaller" (it's a relative term, it is still extra-large), and the bathroom larger. You can see through into the new bedroom (aka old living room) - that's the demolished fireplace in the background. Originally we were going to push the opposite wall into the bedroom (because it's 20 feet wide, and really...that seems a bit greedy...), but as it turns out that wall was the exterior wall of the original 1940s house, complete with a stone foundation that you can see through the open hole in the floor (OK, you could have seen if I had actually taken a picture). So it would have been a GDP (family translation = G** D**n Production).

But it's a good thing that tile was stubborn and the contractor just decided to tear out the floor instead of chipping it away inch by inch. While it made for a dramatic feature in the middle of the bath for a few weeks, it allowed for great access for the plumbers.

(These are floor-hole pictures, taken of the new plumbing. In short, it's just yucky down there...)

The plumbers, as it turns out, were busier than they thought. Let's just say we discovered there were no vents in the house. OK, there were vents inside the house, but not on the outside. Where did the vents go, you ask?

Nowhere. The walls. The attic.

Yuck.

Truly, did it ever smell?

I don't want to think about it.

Yep. Lots of problems that we probably never would have quite figured out had we gone room by room, according to the plumber. So one more point given to the decision to take it down to the studs!

Here's where the shower (a steam shower, as it turns out) was located when I returned home from that infamous four-day business trip:

The middle of the entry.

It now sits on the front lawn/flowerbed.

I hope it gets moved soon, but that might be wishful thinking. And strangely, no one seems to want it...we keep offering it to people who visit. And yes, it is pink too.

Back to the renovations!

Here's the start of framing for the new jacuzzi (and no, I have not forgotten I still need to tell you how I convinced The Farmer we needed this item):

And the toilet (because everyone needs to see that):

The original toilet is now behind that wall frame. It was under the staircase in a closet - with nice cedar shelving. We essentially moved it forward and are putting the shelving above the old toilet, blocking out the back shelving. So, yes, we will have cedar hidden within the walls. It'll keep out the moths that might decide to congregate under the staircase.

And the shower, which includes my one request...a bench (girls, you understand...).

Oh, and a light above the shower! (It's the little things..)

Now, back to how I managed to get The Farmer to pick out - on his own - not only a jacuzzi, but a 60 inch two-person jacuzzi:

1. Mention that you really want one, but add "if at all possible".

2. Let it be.

3. Stay at a hotel that happens to have a two-person jacuzzi tub. Try it out! Mention that it's a bit small, but nice.

4. Continue to make no mention of #1.

5. Send The Farmer to Lowe's (or Home Depot, you pick) by himself.

6. Hope that he wanders by the new display of jacuzzi tubs - 60 inchers - and remembers the hotel jacuzzi experience.

I realize #6 is not really a task, but a hope, but it worked. And while he refers to it as "my tub", I have a feeling he's going to be using it.

He already is trying it out.