Plumbing, HVAC and my Backsplash!

It's Monday, which means another busy week of work on the house. We're t-minus 11 days from move-in. We are so excited!

The first floor laundry platform was built today. It will be painted white. The 5" or so of height will make the side-by-side washer and dryer easier to use from a wheelchair, and will be easier on the back of all who use it.

Big decision in the kitchen was where to put the instant hot dispenser. We wanted it by the prep sink since it'll be closer to the tea cabinet and cooktop. I finally decided to put it on the right side, but centered.

The bench for the in-law shower today. Originally, we were going to tile in this shower with wheel-in accessibility. But then we found this shower, which will work pretty well for us for now. This is exactly the set up I needed after my last surgery. Of course, then we realized that we lost a couple of feet when the duct work had to go in, so it all worked out well. The decision today was where to put the handheld shower. We chose to put these in all three showers for ease of cleaning, but it was especially important in this bathroom. We decided to put the handheld shower on the outside of the shower rather than the inside  since the water will go toward the back, and because if someone is using it to clean or assist someone, they won't have to reach all the way in to get to it.

Another decision made today is to not use the vessel sink. It's just too high for ADA standards, so we're going to see if we can still use a regular undermount sink like we have in the other vanities. The whole reason we got the vessel sink was because we originally thought we were going to have the plumbing coming out of the wall, not the floor. We conveniently forgot that the bathroom is against the concrete ICF wall and garage. Oops.

Speaking of ICF, the one major disadvantage to ICF walls (and it's quite minor compared to all the advantages) is that moving electrical lines can be difficult. You want to make sure your electrician knows what he's doing! Fortunately, ours does. This is a close up of the command center, where I added a new line for additional lights.

A quick peek at our bathroom fixtures. This is the Moen Eva One Handle High Arc Faucet. We chose the one handle over the two handle partly for convenience and partly for ADA-ease. It's a lot easier to adjust the temperature when you only have one handle to adjust. We have a two handle faucet in our apartment and are constantly burning our hands!

Another burning question today. To use the base of the faucet...

Or not?

Here's the thing, D is most excited to see:

No more port-a-potty!

We installed all dual flush toilets, Aquia II from Toto, which are Water Sense labeled. Since we haven't had to pay for water before, we're very happy to water efficient plumbing fixtures. If you haven't used dual flush toilets, it's easy to remember, push the #1 button (the smaller one) for #1s, and the number #2 for #2. In addition to using less water overall (1.6 gallons per flush), it gives the option of using even less water for liquid waste (.9 gpf). For perspective, the average non-Water Sense labeled toilet uses between 3 and 5 gallons per flush.

Our handrails went up today. They look great! I'm so glad we went with espresso instead of white.

Going down to the basement.

Going upstairs.

And back to the main level.

Two of our thermostats went in today. Another energy-saving feature we included with the build is zone heating and cooling. Our house is divided into four heating/cooling zones: the upstairs, the basement, the in-law suite, and the rest of the main level. Each zone is controlled separately. So, we can set the temperature upstairs (where the bedrooms are) for a comfortable sleeping temperature at night, and a more conservative temperature for the rest of the day. We can heat the basement only when we use it. We made the in-law suite a separate zone so we don't have to worry about heating or cooling when we don't have guests.

The HVAC team was busy installing registers in all the rooms, including this one above the pantry. 

We had wanted this one centered, but the framing didn't let us.

And then, the highlight of our day came from Tim, our tile guy: My backsplash!!

First, I had to decide on the grout color. Platinum, on the right, was too blue, so it was easy to eliminate that one.

I decided on Snow White, which is not quite as bright as the other choice, which is fittingly called Bright White. Snow White is on the left in the above photo.

So I'll always remember:

Getting to work:

The first "square" is up! I didn't intend to match my paint with the backsplash, but I'm glad I did.

Here's the progress as I was leaving to take a tired boy home. I. LOVE. IT.

Now I'm just waiting for Niels to get home for a crisis-averting day at work so we can see the rest of the day's progress...and see if we can have the bath faucets put in without the bases.

Universally Designed Bathroom

One of the primary reasons why we are building a home rather than taking advantage of one of the real estate bargains flooding the market is that we wanted a home where I could "age in place." Since I live with a brain injury, I am keenly aware that I can't take my health for granted. In addition to building around my current needs for sound proofing, trip-proof flooring and extra light, we also considered universal design elements on the entire first floor. In a broad stroke, this includes things like wide hallways, 36" doors, levers and pulls instead of knobs, rockers instead of switches, etc. But a big consideration was having a master suite on the first floor and  the second floor. 

For the time being, we'll be upstairs, next to our toddler son. When family and friends visit, they have a full suite to enjoy. As our parents age, we want our house to be a welcoming place for them. If something happens to me (or, God forbid, Niels or our son), having this suite ready is one less thing to worry about during that stressful time.

The bedroom and closet are ample, but it's really the bathroom where universal design comes to play. We had our vanity custom made because we wanted it open under the sink, but with drawers and storage easily accessible. We're really happy with how it's looking so far:

In order keep the clearance we needed under the sink, we opted for a vessel sink. We aren't fans in general of vessel sinks because they can be a bear to keep clean, but we settled on this square vessel sink from Kraus. We liked the shape (no curves for gunk to get caught under) and the fact that the faucet fits on the fixture, not behind it or on the wall. 

The faucet we're planning to use is the Delta Touch 2.0 hands free faucet. Especially since my mom has arthritis, anything hands free is an extra help.

Most standard ADA bathrooms include a wheel-in shower. Since we don't need a wheelchair ready shower at this point, we chose the low entry Sterling surround with removable bench. A fixed bench can be more of a hazard, so this bench will better meet our needs. I know I would have loved this shower set up after my last surgery. From a practical stand point, we love the storage niches and wish we would have put this in our shower as well.

Lastly, we wanted to install a few grab bars that went along with our "more modern than nursing home" aesthetic. The Moen At Home collection fits the bill by making dual purpose grab bars::

Toilet Paper Holder/Grab  Bar

Towel Holder/Grab Bar

Shower Shelf/Grab Bar

The only other consideration we made with the layout is that we allowed lots of space for a chair to maneuver, so the finished room may look a little sparse compared to other suites, but the function fits the form.

Cleaning Up

The decisions are coming fast and furiously now. Yesterday and today's agenda included shower and tub fixtures.

D's room was easy. We went with a standard Aker by Maax shower/tub kit. It will be very nice to have a standard tub in our family bath. Our current one is only a shower, which made bathing our toddler interesting at times!

Standard 60" shower/bath kit.

In our room, we have a 60" shower with bench, also by Aker by Maax. We opted against the tile showers that are so popular right now because 1) I'm not a fan of cleaning grout lines, 2) it's much more expensive, and not a cost we want to spend, 3) if we do want to upgrade later on, it won't be very difficult to do. This is the same fixture I had in my townhouse, and I look forward to not having to do acrobatics every time I try to shave my legs!

60" Shower with bench.

For the tub, we chose a nice big 60" soaker tub with jets. We have only one tub in our current house, a big honking triangle shaped Jacuzzi tub. The jets are nice, but the thing is a bear to fill and clean. This choice is still a splurge, but a more reasonable one. At this time, I'm not sure if will be 32" or 42" wide, but I know we'll like the rectangular shape much better!

60" x 42" soaker tub with jets

The originally plan for the in-law bath was to have a custom shower that a wheelchair could wheel in, if needed. While we are keeping universal design in mind, in reality, this much-less-expensive option will work just fine for our current needs: our parents visiting, and bench seating for anyone recovering from surgery or broken bones when going upstairs might be more difficult. Niels found this 60" shower with adjustable bench late in the game or else we might have done this for our bathroom as well. I love the extra niches!

60" shower with movable bench.