Business in the Front, Party in the Back

Front of house, I tiled the shower floor last night. Hex tiles are surprisingly finicky. You'd think the mesh backing would be helpful, but it's still super tricky. Looks good though, eh?



I'm prepped to do the rest of the floor (all 55 square feet of it -- Agh!) tomorrow night. Bren had to cut a hole for a new heat vent (our tub covers where the original one was) (he went through two saw blades) and install the toilet flange. Whatever that is.

Today in the back yard, an $8,000 extravaganza took place. I wish I had pictures of the process, but unexpected ventures like this one sort of necessitate us going to work on a Tuesday. Here's the end product:



Funny, it's not much worse than before. Except for the demolished fence. A back-hoe will do that.



Those white things are called the "cleanout." So you don't have to take out a toilet if any more subterranean mischance occurs. The concrete used to go to the edge of the house, right before the gate.

I did some checking online and found quotes as low as $3500 for main sewer line replacements. But they said "starting at $3,500...for up to 75 feet." Well, Rescue Rooter had to dig about 100 feet through our yard, and through concrete in two places. And they were available today. I guess that's why it cost so much. It took four guys about 9 hours. I highly doubt those guys are getting $200 an hour, though, even for working in sewage. If it's anything like Bren's position at Best Buy -- he sees about one tenth of what they charge for him to calibrate people's expensive TVs. He did one in a trailer home the other day, by the way.

Pardon me while I try to rationalize spending so much money on something I can't even see, rather than on, say, a KITCHEN. Or...FURNITURE.

Or burritos. We sure love a good burrito.