The past few weeks on our beach house renovation have been hectic and far from smooth. This week we’re sharing the story of three setbacks that happened nearly back-to-back: a missed deadline, discovering there was no water line to the house, and an unexpected medical complication. We’re keeping it real—renovations aren’t always straightforward—but there’s a happy ending: after nearly 20 hours of tiling, we finished the job. We also show the handy gadget that made working without electricity possible, and share what attending a live recording for a popular podcast was like (they had lines around the block). Sherry still refuses to be a clean freak, for the record.
You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio – or listen below. Use this page to check any links, notes, or photos we referenced. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may need to click through to the post to see the player.
What’s New
- The photo above captures our recent beach house chaos: an excavator searching for a mysteriously missing water line while we race to lay tile in four rooms in 33 hours.
- Good news: since we recorded the episode, Burger has been fully cleared. He’s off his meds and his eye is nearly back to normal. We’re so relieved.
- The next photo was taken just before we left for the beach, when Burger still had a slight wink from his ulcer. He looked unimpressed with the slightly melted dog-cookie shaped like him—then ate it anyway.
What’s Not
- For those curious about daily cleaning routines, Good Housekeeping has a helpful list titled “7 Things You Should Clean Every Single Day.”
We’re Digging
- This image shows our after-dark tiling process, powered by a $30 Ryobi area light we picked up before heading to the beach house. The light’s USB charger kept our phones alive and proved indispensable. At one point we used a phone flashlight while Sherry made final spacing tweaks to the blue tiles in the master bathroom. You can see more of that bathroom on Instagram.
- Below is a photo of the downstairs bathroom and mudroom. They connect, so we used the same slate-style tile in both spaces—ignore the dust before final cleanup. We tried a tile leveling system for the first time using small spacers and yellow wedges. It worked well, especially for the larger tiles. We’ll share more details in an upcoming blog post.
- If you want evidence of how hot it was working without air conditioning in Virginia’s summer humidity, here’s a photo showing how sweaty I was after about 30 minutes of unloading the car and carrying tile inside—before we even started tiling.
- Also, if you’re a Real Housewives fan like Sherry, you might enjoy the hilarious recap podcast hosted by two comedians, including Casey Wilson. It’s a fun listen if you like that show’s commentary and jokes.
If you’re trying to find something we mentioned in a past episode but don’t remember which show notes to open, we put together a master list of everything we’ve featured from past episodes to make it easier to find.
Finally, a big thank you to The Annie Selke Companies for sponsoring this episode. Check out Annie’s new bed & breakfast, 33 Main, and use code YHL15 for 15% off at AnnieSelke.com/YHL on bedding, rugs, furniture, and more.
Thanks for listening, everyone!
*This post contains affiliate links*