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And they Huffed and they Puffed

June 4th, 2012

This past Friday we had an enameled cast iron tub delivered for the new upstairs bathroom. Luckily we have great neighbors that were willing to swing over to help us heave it up the stairs.

As you can see, the upstairs of our house is completely unfinished, just stud walls. We live in a small cape, so the attic has those walls that slant in. I’ve always loved this style and love the lines in the attic. The unfinished upstairs was one of the reasons we bought this little house.

We didn’t need a big house, two bedrooms was perfect for us and the price was great since it was unfinished. We knew we could finish the upstairs after a while and we’d be able to sell for more as a four bedroom two and a half bath house. With selling in our future, the upstairs is on our list of projects.

The pedestal sink and toilet arrived two weeks ago, and the tub showed up in a UPS freight truck on Friday. They said, we deliver it to the end of your driveway, you take it from there. Weighing in at 365 pounds, it was quite a challenge to be sure!

We hooked the pallet up to our car and drug it up to the porch, then Mr Chiots and two neighbors hoisted it up onto a dolly and then into the house and up the stairs. I helped push from the bottom as they went up the stairs, good thing I’ve got those gardening muscles!

We chose this vintage style claw foot cast iron tub with the shower surround, because the upstairs bathroom is going to have a classic feel. It also wasn’t much more as far as price goes when we figured in the cost of an acrylic tub/shower combo with installation and extra wall building materials for it.

The neighbor who helped us carry up the tub is going to do some of the work in the attic for us. We could probably do it ourselves but it will be much quicker to have him do it while we’re working. I can’t wait to see it all come together. The funny thing is that I’m not much of a bath person. Growing up we had a cast iron tub that I loved, but I haven’t taken a bath since I was probably 10 yrs old. I’m sure whoever comes after us will love it and appreciate all of our hard work getting this classic beauty upstairs!

Showers or baths, which do you prefer?

18 Comments to “And they Huffed and they Puffed”
  1. Mich on June 4, 2012 at 5:30 am

    I prefer a shower as its quick and doesnt use masses of water but on those winter days when I’ve got frozen to the marrow after a long day outdoors with the dog, horse or garden…then you cant beat a soak in the tub!
    Cant wait to see the ‘after’ photos of your upstairs project. :)

    Reply to Mich's comment

  2. kristin @ going country on June 4, 2012 at 5:53 am

    My husband is the one everyone calls to help with carrying things like that. Penalty for being known as super-strong.

    Most of the time I shower, but there are definitely times in the winter when I long for a bath. Sadly, we don’t really have enough hot water in the winter to indulge in filling our enormous old-fashioned tub for a proper bath. Which is one reason I love visiting my parents. My dad installed one of those big soaker tubs with jets due to his hip problems, and it’s delightful.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  3. Joan on June 4, 2012 at 6:48 am

    Bath! We finally finished our bathroom last month, and after 4 years without a bath, it was so wonderful to sink in warm water up to my neck! In the winter there is nothing better than a nice warm bath to warm me up when nothing else will. Still, a shower is more practical for everyday. I like your solution of having both combined, with a traditional look – it’s going to come out great!

    Reply to Joan's comment

    • Susy on June 4, 2012 at 12:54 pm

      Can’t believe you were without a bath for 4 years since you enjoy them so much. Bet you’re loving that new huge soaking tub, and you even got it finished with some cold weather left!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  4. jennifer fisk on June 4, 2012 at 7:04 am

    I would love to sink into a warm bath tub but my tub is a standard size and too short for me to really enjoy. I do indulge myself in lengthy showers after the post activity chill in the winter. Perhaps a hot tub on the deck would be a nice touch.

    Reply to jennifer fisk's comment

  5. goatpod2 on June 4, 2012 at 7:55 am

    I like both but I take showers more lately though but sometimes I use our whirlpool with the jets.

    Amy

    Reply to goatpod2's comment

  6. daisy on June 4, 2012 at 8:10 am

    Baths are a luxury I indulge in only once in a while during the cooler months. Showers are quick and cooling in the summer.

    Reply to daisy's comment

  7. Misti on June 4, 2012 at 8:23 am

    Having just bought our first house (closing on the 29th!!!) I am glad to see y’all seem to be good sellers—doing things and preparing correctly. Our sellers seemed to just want to get out of town and were fussy about fixing things. Luckily they gave us a credit but it seemed silly that they couldn’t have done a few touch ups to sell the place. Or taken down the 7-9 dead trees that died in the drought last week. Oh well, we’ll have a fun next few months doing all of that ourselves!

    Reply to Misti's comment

    • Susy on June 4, 2012 at 12:53 pm

      We certainly try to make sure things are in great shape, everything has been deep cleaning, shined, polished, old crappy things replaced. Whoever moves in here won’t have to do anything, besides maybe paint a few rooms if they don’t like our color scheme – and we chose mostly neutral colors for those as well.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  8. Misti on June 4, 2012 at 8:24 am

    *drought last year—not week!*

    Reply to Misti's comment

  9. Amy on June 4, 2012 at 10:02 am

    Showers, most of the time, especially in this house, a 1978 ranch with 1978 dirty blue fixtures. Nothing screams the opposite of “relax” like those do!

    My first house was a 1910 2-story Craftsman in Tacoma, which we remodeled before selling it 4 years ago. We gutted the only bathroom (note: don’t do that when you live there, at least not the same time as they’re dry walling the kitchen!), and as they hauled the battered claw foot down the steep, narrow stairs for its trip to the refinishers, I saw “July 7, 1910” stamped on the bottom. Too cool!

    Reply to Amy's comment

  10. Turling on June 4, 2012 at 10:21 am

    I am the bath king in our house. Only during the winter, though. And, if I’m sick, forget it. I live in that tub.

    Reply to Turling's comment

  11. Jaye Whitney on June 4, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    Baths all the way!!! I’m a little envious of your new tub – even crated!

    Would love to see the installed version once it’s all finished!

    Reply to Jaye Whitney's comment

  12. Maybelline on June 4, 2012 at 3:59 pm

    Shower (or swimming pool).

    Reply to Maybelline's comment

  13. Joshua on June 4, 2012 at 4:17 pm

    We have a clawfoot tub in one of our bathrooms. The nostalgic appeal is nice, but the lack of a stand-up shower is annoying. I wish the previous owner had added in a shower curtain holder and a clip for the hand-shower-head that is already attached to the faucet. As it is, I’ll never spend the money on these items (shower curtain holders for standalone tubs are hundreds of dollars) but I wish somebody else had!

    Reply to Joshua's comment

    • Susy on June 4, 2012 at 4:31 pm

      Yep, we got the shower ring attachment and the hand shower with holder too and yes the can be quite expensive.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  14. KimH on June 4, 2012 at 9:20 pm

    I love them both equally. Prior to about 10 years ago (Man, the time does fly) I rarely ever took a bath.. but with 4 teenagers in the house I needed a place to go hide & unwind…and the bathroom was it. Calone, take me away!
    I started taking a time out bath in the evening, just 20 or 30 minutes max to relax… and its become a nightly ritual that I love.

    I also refuse to leave the house in the morning without a morning shower & shampoo..and have since I was a young teenager. Course, the truth may be that I cant wake up without a shower, but they’re both a necessity in my world. :)

    Reply to KimH's comment

  15. Domestic Executive on June 9, 2012 at 4:31 pm

    I remember the day our iron bath arrived when we lived in England. the delivery man looked at me and shook his head. They had to come back another day with someone else who would do the heavy lifting :o)

    Reply to Domestic Executive's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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