I am Designing My Bathroom Around a Faucet

My new bathroom faucet!

I reorganized the guest bathroom vanity. I like it a bit better. It is allowed to stay in my house. I'm still not excited that my sink and faucet looks exactly like every other bathroom in my neighborhood. I need to do something about that.

I haven't decided what or if I should revamp the vanity or the sink. Knowing me, reworking the vanity/sink will likely snowball into a remodel I’m not quite ready to put on my punch list.

I have no idea what I want in those areas anyway. Except for the bathroom faucet.



I made my mind up after the Delta Faucet DIY Blogger Summit last June that someday I'd have a Delta Addison  Touch2xO faucet of my very own. It's so cool that you don't have to tap it to turn it on or off. You just wave your hand near it and it turns on like Star Wars! (The first three movies The last three Star Wars movies are dead to me, except the Yoda scenes because he's a puppet who kicks some serious Dark Side.)

If I’m not laying out the dollaz for a new sink, counter top, and supplies for a vanity rebuild, I'm taking it as a sign telling me to treat myself to the swanky techy water saving bathroom faucet I crave.

Bathroom Faucet Before

The guest bathroom is your typical builder grade sink and faucet. If you put two of these puppies next to each other you have my Master Bathroom. Boo.

Z-z-z-z-z-z

Installing the Touch 2xO has a few extra steps due to the battery pack that activates the touch features (if the batteries die you can use the faucet in the conventional manner) compared to the conventional faucet I installed in my half bathroom remodel.

It took The DIY Geek 45 minutes to install the same faucet in his home.

Not me.

Why? Because my condo lives in some negative DIY universe. The plumber who installed the original bathroom faucet tightened every fitting as if his life depended on it.The old faucet did not want to leave the house willingly. I put my back, front, and sides into loosening the fittings on the old faucet. No dice. I threatened it - loudly. Nada. 

Finally broke out a rubber mallet and whacked the handle of the pipe wrench to loosen the nuts. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk! Twist.

Whew!

I removed the old faucet. I donated it to the Habitat Restore.  I got a receipt so I can take the donation off my taxes as a charitable donation. 

Notice the plumber putty stains from the old faucet? Yuck!

The sink has three holes. My new faucet needs one. Delta faucets come with a clever plate you use to cover the extra holes in your sink if you need it. Delta comes to my wallet's rescue again. They saved me the cost of a new sink and counter top.

It's bittersweet because I would not mind (much) an excuse to run out and buy a new swank vessel sink to go with the new swank faucet. And a new counter top. And a new vanity. And new flooring. And heck, why not a new tub, and...

Needless to say Husband loves the new faucet's cover plate flangy thingy. I like that it covers up the plumber putty stains on the sink. So there you go. We're both happy!

I removed the old drainpipe and stopper and installed the new drainpipe and stopper that came with the faucet. You have to use the drain stopper that comes with the Touch 2xO else touching every metal surface in your bathroom can accidentally activate the faucet. Out of curiosity I tested that theory before I installed the new drainpipe and stopper. It wasn't a good thing. Install the new drainpipe and stopper.The instructions are clearly written. It isn't very hard.

I finish the install. I turn the water back on and give the faucet a tap. It works!

Pretty! Shiny! Stainless Jedi faucet!

And leaks!

Whyyyyyyyyy?

Because I took a short cut I knew I shouldn’t and it bit me. I rushed on some of the connections because we didn't want to miss a movie (Hey, it was Thor. In 3D. In case you weren't paying attention, Chris Hemsworth with his shirt off in 3D IMAX!)

Do you know what happens when you don’t run a strip of Teflon plumbers tape around the treads of each connector and pipe to guard against leaks? The connections leak! That's why you should use Teflon tape on the connecting threads and why a nice little roll of it came with the faucet.

This isn’t a Delta Faucet problem. This is a Lisa knows better and ignored it problem.

Bad Lisa! No new vessel sink for you!

 Retaped and ready to reinstall!

My pipes did not leak after taping the threads of the connections like I should have done the first time around. Don’t be me. Use Teflon tape the first time.

Bathroom Faucet After

To punch up the vanity I shopped the house for accessories. Two terra cotta statues I bought on vacation in the Dominican Republic look at home next to the ocean blue walls.

The Dominican ocean inspired the wall color.

User install error aside, I love the new faucet! If I have my hands covered in paint, goop, or some other DIY smutz I don’t do the keep-the-handle-clean-turn-it-on-with-my-elbow faucet dance. A wave of my hand around the faucet or a physical tap anywhere on the faucet or handle turns the water on or off. If I forget to turn the water off when filling the sink, the brain behind the Touch 2xOness turns the water off for me.

The obligatory photo of a DIY blogger taking a photo of herself while taking a photo of a room with a mirror in it.

The Delta Touch 2xO faucet is Watersense rated which guarantees it uses less water. In theory. Husband and I can’t help but play with our geeky cool touch faucet every time we walk past the bathroom.

OK, just me.

Yeah, I know. Bad Lisa! No new mirror for the bathroom either.

*sigh*

Disclosure: Delta Faucet Company graciously gave me a Touch 2x.0 faucet after attending the Delta DIY Blogger Summit last June. I am not required to blog about it but choose to because I was planning to buy one with my own money after I came home from the trip because it's a freakin’ sweet faucet.

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