english

The official laying of first tile. We decided to use the simplest white tile and spice it up with a green accent. This is the first time I tile a whole wall, so I try to do it as good as possible. Of course I forgot to put in the green accent tiles, but fotunately Alison reminded me just in time, before the tile glue had dried.

Alison and i had a whole discussion of using grout sealant after the tiling. I had never heard of it so she went to ask advice on an online forum. Of course there they said I did everything wrong. I should use cement board instead of water resistant chiprock, and use quick set cement instead of tile glue.

Ah well, I’ll might do that for my next bathroom. One that isn’t in a rented house. Everything I do is a whole lot better than it was.

Patching the bigger holes in the walls so they can be tiled. I also installed an extra outlet next to the sink to use for hair blowers and razors. We use nor own neither of those but you never know. And it’s relative easy to install it now, and much harder to do when the wall is tiled. Officially you’re not allowed to do any electrical work yourself, but considering the current state of the electrical installation of this house, any modification I make is an improvement.

As a rule, the dogs have to test the new bath tub before it can be installed. It passes with flying colours.

When I remove the tiles a nice texture reveals consisting of wood, plaster, paint and old glue.

Why am I doing this? I hate dust.

Amidst an almost gutted bathroom you have to improvise a bit to shave yourself. Fortunately I don’t have to shave very often, since my beard hairs doesn’t grow very fast. So maybe whith my next shave the bathroom is almost finished.

Poupoune blends in nicely with the rocky banks of the RiviËre Des Prairies during our Sunday afternoon walk. She can’t get enough of fetching the ball when I throw it into the water. She’s a very fetching dog, indeed!

In the background you see a hydro-electrical dam that provides a bit of our electricity. There are many bigger dams, but they are far out in the north of Québec. One day I’m going to visit them, maybe even later this year.

My neighbour upstairs gives me a helping hand with installing the ceiling of the bathroom. Manipulating a biggish sheet of shiprock in a small room is a huge challenge, but the two of us manage to get it in and it fits nicely. After that she plasters the joint between two pieces. Thanks Donna!

When I removed the old tiles I found this underneath. They are fake tiles, made by scratching grout lines into the plaster and then painting it. Tiles were apparently expensive in the time this house was built and ‘faking it’ is a concept that was already quite popular in those times before plastics.

We finally have decided to renovate our bathroom. The recent leakage caused a lot of damage. The ceiling has to be replaced and the tiles also came off on one wall and aren’t not bonding very well around the bathtub. Unfortunately our landlord is very slow in fixing things, and I just can’t wait any longer. Since I’m doing major repairs I rather opt for an almost total renovation, but on a budget. That way I can install a real bath, the one we currently have just hold 12 cm of water and is actually just a biggish shower. We won’t install the fanciest things, just some nicer things.

To be done:

• new ceiling

• new lighting (the old wires are very unsafe)
• new tiles
• new sink and mirror
• uncovering and repairing old original floor
• new, low water use, toilet
• new bath tub
• new shower-head, taps etc.
• enlarging built-in cupboard

A lot of work, I know, especially when you live in a rented apartment. But it’s good for me to get some experience with the way they do all kinds of things here (plumbing and electricity is done here very different than in Europe. Worse I would say.) And we’ll get a comfy bathroom in return. And maybe, maybe, I’ll get some money from the landlord. I don’t count on it though.

I’ll keep you posted.

On a walk in the Laurentians we encounter a very boggy stretch. Our boots sink a few inches into the moss and we decide to take a slight detour. But it is very beautiful.

It’s 11 September, and exactly two years have passed since I officially entered Canada as an immigrant, and it’s also two years I keep this weblog. We commemorate this with a nice walk in the woods with Poupoune and a nice supper afterwards.