Kristopher and his Dad (Esme's Pop and an expert in these matters) were going to do the work themselves. Another lucky break. Kris figured the work would take 3, at most 4 days. Though we liked the funky black and white tile design, our vintage pink and black bathroom already has a lot going on, so instead we opted for a more understated, yet still period, white hexagonal tile. 
A plumber had warned us about taking up that floor. "You'll find a hornet's nest," he said. We didn't exactly find a hornet's nest, but it was a quite a mess. Basically beneath the floor was a pit filled with ash, cinder and gravel. Beneath all this was a false ceiling. Kris and his Dad spent hours hauling all of that debris out of the bathroom and down to the garage. While this was all underway, they also discovered a slow leak oozing from one of the pipes. This was most likely a result of the demolition, though later we learned, as these were the original threaded iron pipes, that this was an accident waiting to happen. This leak set us back two days on the project as a plumber had to come in and replace all the bathroom plumbing. And since we wanted to preserve the walls (and that hand-glazed tile), he had to use flexible plastic piping throughout from basement to bathroom at the tune of... oh, I can't even bring myself to type it here. Let's just say Esme won't be getting that pony this year.With pipes in place, Kris and his Dad set about building a new floor and laying the tile. This they did beautifully.
So now the plan all along was just to replace the floor, we wanted to keep the orginal fixtures because they still worked, they looked pretty good and, well, we were, at least when we started out, on a budget. Well, first the sink went. We hoped to recoat it in order to brighten it up and hide some rust stains that developed over the years. This didn't go as planned. The result was more like a thick slathering of paint and less like a fresh coat of porcelain. So we bought a new sink. What the hell, might as well do our part for the economy. Then the toilet went. This we knew was a possibility. Apparently old toilets, like sleeping dogs, should just be left alone. Once you try to put them back, they leak like a sieve. So we went back and bought the toilet. Thank God we could keep our tub.
All in all the project took twice as long as planned. Pop was incredibly generous with his time and expertise. And Kristopher, with his usual aplomb, somehow managed to balance this renovation gone wrong and his day-to-day work responsibilities. And Esme and I are particularly indebted to Grandma and Grandpa who put us up all that time we were without a bathroom. Even after we moved back in we were still at the mercy of plumbers as there were all sort of little things and issues that kept popping up. But, and I'm crossing my toes as I type this, I think that's all behind us now:
And for those of you who checked in not to hear me ramble on about the bathroom, but to see a recent picture of the girl, I've got you covered, fear not:
Thanks to Nana for the jacket!
