In the beginning...

So what is this blog about? Am I desperately looking for friends or fame? Struggling to communicate with an ever distant world? No of course not. What are you, nuts?

This is plain and simple the easiest way that I can document my bathroom reno for friends and family to see without having to send a ridiculous amount of emails with pictures and descriptions only to have half of the emails bounce back because the files are too big. So Blog to the rescue.

Oh and for those who are wondering about the name, my boss calls me Squeaky because I'm careful with my money. Frugal. Okay, I'm cheap and can't stand parting with money. Well that, and I like my web anonymity.

With that out of the way, let's get to business. I've got a 9x5 bathroom (not including shower/tub alcove and linen closet) that desperately needed to be updated. How desperately? I can't actually show you the bathroom as a whole - you would go mad. Instead the best I can do is picture of the wallpaper lining the inside of the vanity (which by the way appears to have been made either in the 1700's by a blind leper, or in the 1970's by a drunken contractor with basic math issues)

Don't you just love that wall paper? Evey time my better half (known as the Task Mistress or just TM) open the doors she starts singing the them to "Three's Company"...Come and knock my door...

And if that didn't sell you on a reno, check out a section of the mosaic tile floor. Just look at the tile. What more can I say? Just wow. Like how much dope where they smoking when they did this place? Seriously.

It wasn't going to work to just do an update, nope. This was going to have to be a gut. So join me if you will (and go piss off if you won't) on my renovation adventure. I have two main goals - Get this done and make TM happy and please, don't let me end up on some HGTV show where I get rescued by Bryan Baulmer or Mike Holmes.

Oh, and as you may be able to tell, this blog is 50% DIY and 50% pure drivel comedy. If you just want to see my progress and laugh at my misery feel free to skip the DIY. Although I will think of you as less of a person for it.

If you plan to do your own bathroom reno, you may reach a point where you feel like you're over your head. That's okay. Not everyone is handy, and knowing when you're in too deep is not a bad thing. That being the case, you may ask yourself at what point have I gone too far? When is it too late to back out? When is it that a little plaster and paint and a new picture won't put this right? Well, it's about here:

And there used to be tub over here too:

Where is the tub? It's out on the deck. In two pieces. The process was oddly satisfying. Sort of like "Dexter" meets "Bathtastic" only with less blood and no annoying hosts:

So that's where I am today. Destruction and cleanup. Boring as all hell Totally exciting, yes? Next update will be pictures of the ceiling which has been drywalled (with some help - thank you Dean), then new plumbing and then the tub goes in. I'm so excited. Not really. Actually when the tiling starts, then it will be terrifying exciting.

Now, where are the band-aids and Advil? I've got more work to do...