...a diversion... (soon to be a life-long project!)

Every "Do-It-Yourself" home renovation book that I've read states that the bathroom is the most complex and time-consuming room to redo. There's the whole plumbing aspect (hooking up leak-free supply lines as well as positioning toilets and drains so that gravity is your friend). There's also electrical work that has to be done in such a way so that water and electricity can safely coexist in a small, confined space. All of this (and there's more) on top of the fact that the typical DIY'er is pressed for time and no one wants to be without a bathroom (even the second bathroom) for any length of time.

DIY books also mention that the difficulty is compounded exponentially if, in the course of your bathroom renovations, you want to rearrange your fixtures. Then you've got to deal with lining up supply and waste lines in such a way that they properly meet the fixtures you're installing. You've got to poke holes into floors and walls - and you can't always be too sure of what might be lurking on the other side...

In spite of what we had read, Grace and I have, over the course of our years in this house, undertaken three bathroom renovations. That's no mean feat, especially when you take into account that our home had only one and half bathrooms when we bought it... But wait, there's more. Not only are we presently engaged in our third bathroom renovation but every one of these projects has involved repositioning fixtures.

At this point you may well be asking, "Al, how do a couple of intrepid DIY sadists manage to undertake three bathroom renovations in a 1.5 bathroom home?" Well, I'm glad you asked; let me explain. When we moved in we had one full bathroom (about the size of the lavatory on a DC-10) and we had a room (minus one wall) in the suite with ugly, mismatched plumbing fixtures (a pink sink, green toilet and white claw foot tub with enamel chipping off it.) We got a "new" tub, throne and sink from a contractor friend; installed them in exactly the opposite places that the existing tub, throne and sink were; built a wall and called it good. Then we remodeled the bathroom in the house. We expanded the room by about 18 inches; removed the existing fixtures - installed a new tub/shower, sink and toilet (again, in brand new positions) and called it good. Then we realized how much fun we had redoing the bathroom in the suite so we thought we would do it one more time - and that brings us to the present. Now we can see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel with regard to our latest (but I guess I shouldn't say "last") bathroom project...