# 563 - RV Life is OVER!

Big news in our three-year adventure to build a country house...we have finally moved OUT of the RV and into the house!

No, the house is not finished. It is far from finished; it's a massive project that will take quite some time to get wrapped up, but we managed to get the kitchen workable, and the Master Bedroom is now sleepable.

Master Bedroom.

Other angle of Master Bedroom.

And folks, we now have a toilet and a BATHTUB!

The plumbing needed some tweaks.
This is the potty room.

My regular readers know that the RV accommodations were nice enough, but we never expected that this process would take three years. I did figure it would take one year to assess the acreage and decide where to build the house, then it would take a minimum of one year to build the house. All along, I've had a five-year plan. However, three years in an RV was a challenge, for sure.

Master bathroom.

It's been a tough road, but not one that I could feel justified in complaining too much about. However, I did miss my bathtub tremendously. As the weeks, months and years passed by in the RV, I became more disturbed about the lack of a bathtub. Sometimes my body hurts to the bones and the only remedy for that kind of aching is a serious soaking. I must say that the bathtub separation angst was just as bad for Sgt. Dave.

The bathroom requires a massive amount
of work to complete.

We don't yet have the tub-surround tile put up, but it appears we will start on that angle this weekend. Like everyone on the planet, we only have a limited amount of time in each day. Since Sgt. Dave does most of the heavy lifting, we cannot make leaps in progress unless he is home.

But, we got the bathtub connected about a week ago and Sgt. Dave was sweet to clean it out and then draw a hot, luxurious bath for me to go first. It was incredible to just lie there and not worry about rushing. I soaked and soaked and soaked. Even though we've had our RV shower, there's something deeply cleansing about having a bathtub at your disposal. I scrubbed every scrubbable body part, then made my poor country feet feel pampered as I worked on them. I ended up taking TWO baths in a row that night, first to soak and scrub, the next to relax.

I might have scrubbed off some wrinkles.

One thing about the bathtub in the Master Suite is that I had the plumber install valve guts to allow for two knobs, one for hot water and one for cold. We have three bathrooms in the house and the other tub/showers have "mixer" valves that allow for the type of faucet that has a swivel system, one knob to turn for hot and cold water. But, I didn't want a mixer valve for my tub water since I have long loved soaking as hot water drizzles and I like to adjust the volume of the water with my toes.

It's a force of habit throughout my life. You can't adjust a mixer faucet very easily with monkey-moves, so I insisted on the dual knobs.

I now need to paint the overflow valve and drain so it won't be chrome.

However, I soon learned that the dual knobs is almost a thing of the past, and the valve guts we installed are only compatible with Pfister brand. Two big plumbing hurdles.

I searched many Home Depots, Lowe's, local plumbing shops and online options...it was a nightmare. I finally found the ONE AND ONLY Pfister package kit at a Home Depot in the Houston area that included a tub faucet, two knob faucets and a horrible shower head, for approximately $100. The package included knobs of the cheapest fake crystal kind you could imagine.

Worse, I had already purchased everything else for the bathroom, even the lights, and everything is Oil Rubbed Bronze, but that package deal had chrome fixtures. Unbelievably, Stefie and I kept looking at home improvement stores and we found a bronze Universal tub spout at Home Depot for $27. and then we found Universal dual tub knobs! They were chrome, but at least not fake crystal!

Compared to the local plumbing store's price for a bronze tub spout that I could special order at $129, taking 5-7 days to arrive and the knobs would be the same price, making two knobs and a spout to be about $300.

So, I purchased the Universal chrome knobs and spray-painted them with an Oil Rubbed Bronze metal paint.

I took my time with light, multiple coats and the finish is PERFECT. The knobs PERFECTLY match the tub spout. I'm very happy with my spray-painted tub knobs that are monkey-toe compatible!

Once the tile is around the tub, I'll be able to also attach these to dress up the faucet knobs. Everything was in bronze, except for the knobs. 

And I use the spray paint to update many things. Here is my bathroom trashcan, now matching everything else.

Yes, I love the spray-paint. Sometimes the bronze finish can cost a little more and a can of paint can end up saving a lot in the long run. The adhesive abilities of spray paint these days is remarkable.

I will do my best to catch-up with other posts. I have exciting news about Stefie, my youngest daughter, and I need to post pictures of the most adorable grandbaby boy I could imagine having...Little Hank. Well, okay, since you insisted, here he is with me last month...excuse my wild hair, it's part of my existence.

The hurdles in life are worth it for these incredible moments. I'm so thankful to be OUT of the RV and sleeping in the house. Every day is so jam-packed, but life passes anyway, so we might as well be working on the house...it seems to be what we do best in life...work on houses.

I'm glad you stopped by!