I went to look at bathroom fixtures and sinks last night. I think I am going to go with a pedestal sink made by American Standard.
Year: 2007
High Performance Toilet
I’ve been shopping around for stuff for my two bathroom remodels (demolition on the master bath starts tomorrow!). I found a good online community at GardenWeb. The people there absolutely rave about the Toto Drake toilet. Early 1.6 gallon per flush toilets had some serious problems with clogging, self-cleaning, and needing multiple flushes. From there someone posted a site where a guy rates low-flow toilets and ranked the Drake at the top even though you can spend a lot more. The remaining question is whether I want to spend $312 for the higher ADA-compliant model or $234 for the conventional height seat. I am going to see if my GC can get these installed. Maybe I’ll spring for an ADA one in the main bathroom.
Bathroom: Before
I thought I would post progress pictures of the bathroom remodel. I’m having the master bathroom done first because its shower is not usable. So once they get it working, they can start on the hall bathroom. This bathroom is very small, with a shower at one end, a vanity that I installed several years ago and a toilet. Before I moved in, the inspector noticed the shower pan was leaking so I had that replaced by the owner. Unfortunately they didn’t do a very good job and within a year or so I wasn’t able to use the shower because it was causing the plaster on the other side of the wall to peel and the new tiles around the bottom of the shower were coming loose.
First Quarter Results
Overall I sold 149 things for $3,986.25 with commissions of $186.39 in the first quarter of 2007. In January I had my best month with Amazon ever with $93 in commissions. But a big part of that happened when someone bought an XBox for $400 and instead of getting the 4% electronics commission, I got the full 6.5% allowed for computer and video games. That’s $26 on one sale, the most I’ve ever made. I also sold one movie through Amazon’s Unbox movie download service, which they are offering a promotional 10% commission on (so I made $1.50). The most unusual thing I sold was a book, Federal Prison Guidebook, which sold at the same time as a guitar pick, guitar bag, and several CD’s. I guess someone was planning a trip. That was good for me because the $80 book and other things all got 6.5% commissions.
To Do List
This is the list of things I asked mom to turn her attention toward, in order. Until I run out of money or get tired of it.
Master Bathroom: Replace shower and shower tile.Reglaze remaining wall tiles white. Install a new toilet. Install new floor tile. Repaint walls and repair plaster in the hallway and bedroom where the shower leaked.
Main Bathroom: Replace sink with either a pedestal or hanging sink. Replace medicine cabinet. Replace the toilet. Replace or refurbish the existing tub and tile. Install new shower/bath plumbing and fixtures. Reglaze wall tile white. Paint walls, repair ceiling damage. Replace bathroom cabinets or at least fix them up. Replace attic pull-down steps.
Replacing carpet in back room with tile or wood flooring (Susan has some tile I can buy). Replace back door with full glass door. Reinstall other back door and finish trim. Replace linoleum flooring in the bay window. Remove old “window” air conditioner and patch over the hole. Replace all the vent registers in the house.
Replace flooring, countertop, and sink in kitchen. Replace refrigerator and dishwasher. Remove wall paper and paint walls.
Refinish floors in all 3 bedrooms. Replace wood paneling in guest bedroom with drywall (may need new trim and doors as well).