Days 24-25: Sanding and Floor Tile

Wow... Seth from Mendel just left (he spent the day tiling the walls) and it looks AWESOME. I do feel a little bad not being able to do all of the job myself, but Seth did a great job, and he said there were some parts that would have had me pulling my hair out. With the floors not being level, and my walls not being level (not all my fault!), it was just better to have a professional in.

On to the pictures!







I'll probably get another coat of mud on tonight and then sand it before we grout tomorrow. The adhesive should set for at least 24 hours, so we'll wait until mid-late afternoon for the grouting.

The end is in sight now. Thanks for checking in!

Days 20-23: Floor Tile

Well, panic sort of set in on Thursday as I was preparing to tile the floors, and Veronica and I decided to have Seth come back on Monday and do whatever of the job was necessary. The layout of the room and tile intricacy of a lot of the corners and joints really made the decision for us.

I was able to do the floor, though. There were a few tricky cuts, but with Seth's starting point, it all went fairly smoothly.

Here I am with the first two rows of tile laid out and ready to go. If you click on the picture, you can see more detail - there's a faint blue line running vertically which will be my guideline as I tile my way back toward the door. You'll also notice a dark pencil line horizontally, which is the guide for the first row. Every other row will just be spaced off of that with spacers.


Here's Persey doing her inspection before the last row is in.


Success!


Or not... by the last row, the thin-set had really gotten stiff and I think lost some of its adhesive properties. Also, I think the tiles were a little wet from the saw, and that moisture may have acted as a barrier with the thin-set. No huge problem, though. I just cut out the ones that didn't adhere well and then scraped out the thin-set with a standard screwdriver.


Fixed!


I'm not sure if I'll try anything tomorrow (Sunday) or not. At this point, I have to stay off my patches for a few hours at least to let everything set. I may go back in later tonight and work on the layout for the wall tiles. Seth and I had a plan on Tuesday, so I can at least set things up according to that plan.

Hopefully Seth and I can get all the wall tile set on Monday, and then I can grout on Tuesday, get everything finished on Thursday, and celebrate with a shower in the new bathroom on Friday! (Hey, a guy can dream, right? Just because nothing else has gone according to plan...)

Days 18-19: More Mudding - Tile Layout

A couple more coats of joint compound (mud). It's improving, but I'm still not very excited. And I seriously would be perfectly satisfied if I never had to do this ever again. Worst. Task. Ever.

Some pics:



Seth from Mendel came out on Tuesday to help me lay the tile. At his suggestion, I also applied some of the thin-set (tile adhesive) to the Durock joints in the shower area. That's what you see in the last picture.

After some discussion with Seth, we decided to try it ourselves. He helped me layout the floor tiles and get a starting point so we wouldn't end up cutting little slivers of tile along the bathtub or doorway (the most visible areas). We also spent some time coming up with a strategy for the walls. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), the floor is not level. A professional would have checked before installing the underlayment, but I clearly am not a professional!

This causes all sorts of problems. If we were just tiling the floor and shower stall, it would be no problem. But because we have tile on the walls with a chair rail on top, we need that chair rail to be level around the room. So, that means the beautiful cove base tile that we'd intended to go along the bottom of the room won't work, because it'd need to be cut shorter on the outside wall, and it just isn't possible to make a nice joint with a cut side. As a result, we'll need to just do a regular tile along the bottom, and trim it shorter as we move toward the outside wall.

Tiling is next!

Days 15-17: Drywall/Durock Installation and Taping/Mudding

Well, the last three days have been trying. Apparently, a Master's degree in Applied and Computational Mathematics does not mean one has the necessary skills for measuring and cutting drywall or Durock accurately. Seriously! I don't want to get in to how many miscuts I had. The first was the most spectacular, though. I'd hoped to get the ceiling in one big shot to minimize the number of seams to tape. The combination of a piece about 1/2" too long with very little room to maneuver, and me not being the strongest guy in the world.... well, it didn't end well. It was a valiant attempt, though! Veronica was poised and ready to help get the first few screws in, but it was to no avail. (She was later very helpful on other pieces.)

Also, it may seem odd, but did you know that a material called "concrete backer board" is actually very heavy? Who would have known?

Regardless, everything is up now. There are more seams than necessary because of the measurement mistakes, but many of them are below the tile line. Also, those who know something about Durock (concrete backer board) will notice that some are installed backwards. Ideally, they should be installed with the rough side out to give the mortar plenty of surface to grab on to. Because we aren't tiling all the way to the ceiling, I was forced to install the top pieces reversed and then try to fill any holes in the concrete with joint compound.

Some pictures:


Here you can see the top sheets of Durock where I've tried to fill the holes with joint compound to make it a perfectly smooth surface to paint:




I've received quite a bit of advice through this whole project, but two stick out in particular. First, from Dave Doyle: Dave asked me what kind of timeline I had in mind. At the time, I was planning on two weeks. Dave's response: "Plan on a month." Wise man.

The second piece of sage advice was from Kristin. She asked if we were planning on doing the taping and mudding ourselves. When I said that we were, Kristin warned me not to expect it to look professional. Sage advice, indeed. After today, I'd settle for "not horrible".

Hopefully the second (and third and fourth) coats will help. Everything I've read says they should!

The finish line is in sight - we should have beautiful pictures with all the tile and fixtures by the end of next week! (Steve from Mendel will be coming in on Tuesday to get me started on the tile installation. I'm hoping to get some instruction and then take it from there.)

Thanks for checking in!

Day 14: Insulation and Framing

I wasn't able to start on the drywall and Durock, (apparently, I've been misspelling and mispronouncing the brand name for the last two weeks... oops!) but I did finish the insulation and get some framing in for the sink and potential grab bars in the shower stall. This was actually a suggestion I'd read - there may be a need some day to install grab bars, and it's much easier to install some supports now that the wall is open than to try and retrofit in the future.

Here's the sink support. Even though it's a pedestal sink, it's not free-standing. There's a brace that screws into the supports you can see here, and then the tub sits on that brace.


This is a shot I took of the grab bar supports. I marked down all the measurements for future reference - definitely something to include in the documents for the house when we sell it.


That's it for now. The next few days will be all about installing the drywall and Durock and then taping/mudding.

Fun, fun!

Oh, and good news on the tub - the suggestion from Greg worked like a charm. It's very quiet. Yay!

Day 13: Electrical and Framing Inspection - Passed!

Greg, the city inspector from Batavia, came out to the house this afternoon to inspect the electric and framing. Since I didn't actually build any walls, he really only needed to look at the electric. And just like the plumbing inspector, he didn't look at much. He mentioned 3 things:

1. Any plastic staples (like this) need to be at least 1 1/4" deep on the stud, so you don't accidentally screw into them when you lay the drywall.


2. The leads coming into the box or fixture need to be at least 7" long. That seems really long to me, but it's so you have enough length to work with. Fortunately for me, he didn't check in the switch box. ;-)


3. Any holes that are drilled to thread the wire through also need to be at least 1 1/4" back - again so you don't accidentally drill into them when you lay the drywall.

Interestingly, Greg made notes of all these things and yet still said that I didn't need another inspection before I started putting up all the drywall.

At Greg's suggestion, here's a quick fix for #3:


You just nail these plates on to protect against a screw accidentally going through. These two plates protect the three wires going up from the switch to the lights and fan.

I was also able to get a couple other things done today. I did some more work on the fan - placing some insulation around the outside and foil tape along the joint inside.


I also worked some more on the tub. Greg had a great suggestion here, too - just glue the tub down! He recommended using some construction adhesive (like Liquid Nail) on the lip along the wall. I also followed some tips from the directions and put some shims in and then used 3" drywall screws and a big washer to hold the tub tight to the wall.


It's really much better. It's not perfect yet, but it might be better tomorrow after the adhesive dries.

Tomorrow: reinstall the tub drain (had to disconnect it to put the adhesive in), finish installing the insulation, and start installing the drywall and Durarock.

Day 12: Electirc and Framing

With the plumbing inspection passed, I moved on to the electric and framing. I'd already started the electric last week, so it really just meant threading all the Romex into the boxes and connecting the switch. We put in a triple switch just to the right-hand side of the door. It controls an overhead light, two side vanity lights, and the exhaust fan.


Here you can see the two boxes for the vanity lights and the framing for the medicine cabinet. I re-used some timbers that I had to remove from another portion (behind the shower) and also from an old playhouse that we just tore down.


Tomorrow: electrical and framing inspection!

Day 11: Plumbing Inspection - Passed!

"Not a typical homeowner job. You actually did a nice job."
- Inspector Steve

Success! And actually, he didn't look at much. He didn't even ask if I had the system under pressure. (I didn't - the threaded cap at the tub spout has a very slow leak, and I don't want to tighten it any more.) He did say that there were a couple things he could "nick" me for, but since we're the ones living here...

Now that I think about it, doesn't that sound kind of ominous?

No time to worry about it now - on to the electric and framing! The next inspection is scheduled for Wednesday. By then, I have to finish the wiring, install a new breaker - a double, since I'm out of slots in the box - for the bathroom fan and lights, and do a little framing for the sink and medicine cabinet.

Day 10: Shower/Tub Plumbing, Toilet Flange, Tub Drain, Underlayment

Wow, what a crazy day yesterday was! Amazingly enough, I finished all of the tasks I'd hoped to. The only thing I wasn't able to do was install the overflow stopper for the tub - that's the knob you turn to make the stopper go up and down. The inspector said that everyone struggles with it, though, and it didn't need to be done for today.

I finally gave up on a perfect tub. I did get some improvement, (with some help from my neighbor, Todd) but it still makes a little noise. The problem is that the studs and floor-boards at the drain end are just a little soft, so no matter how level you make it, the tub will move just a few millimeters - enough to make that subtle creak - when you step on that end.

<<<< WARNING: THIS PORTION IS VERY BORING >>>>
A couple notes on the tub: we accidentally purchased the American Standard - Standard edition tub, which is acrylic. We wanted to get a steel one, so I returned that one and purchased the AS Princeton tub, which is made out of a steel product called Americast. It actually looks to me like 3 products - this "Americast", which is enameled and then supported underneath by plastic. I think it'll be fine, but I'm not completely satisfied.

The tub is installed by attaching a 2x4 support "stringer" along the wall which the edge of the tub sits on. The other side just rests on the floor. Of course, if your floor isn't level, the tub will shift when you put weight in it. What I ended up doing - at Todd's suggestion - was cutting the world's longest shim (~4') to slip under the outer rim to level it.

The installation instructions show the tub being attached to the wall (see the drawing below), but there's an entirely different problem with this. The tub was a lip, which is about 1/8" thick, so you actually have to put shims on the wall to fill that extra 1/8", and then screw into those to attach the tubs. I ended up going with 3" drywall screws and some large 3/16" washers to cover the edge of the tub.


Anyway, I probably spent 6 hours trying to make this tub sit quietly. It's definitely the one thing that I'm most frustrated with to this point. (Besides not wearing a good enough mask and getting sick... still!)

<<<< END VERY BORING PART >>>>
On to the pictures!

This is the new toilet riser and flange. I talked in this post about that project. Once the new floor and plywood underlayment were installed (next picture), I just bonded the new flange to the 3" riser and tightened the hose clamps on the coupling.


Here we can see all of the underlayment installed. I forgot to buy a sheet of plywood when I had the truck rented, so I had to buy a bunch of small 2'x4' pieces so they'd fit in the car - hence the many screws. You can also see the tub in this picture, but I have it covered with a dropcloth to avoid damaging the enamel.


This is the shower and tub plumbing. I actually did most of it outside and then brought the whole shower "tree" in. I had to redo a couple of joints - the depth was the hardest part here. I'm still a little nervous! See, the valve in the middle and the bottom piece coming out (which will be the tub spout) have to be at a certain depth so everything fits well with the finished wall. There's some leeway, but I'm still pretty nervous about that, because we won't know for sure until the wall goes up and we try to attach all the fixtures!


This is the new tub drain. Inside those brass pieces is the system which is designed to raise and lower the plug. Hopefully I'll be able to figure that out before we need to use it!


And finally, here's Persey doing her part protecting the pedestal sink stand. Unfortunately, she doesn't know that I've already put it together and the box is empty. I don't have the courage to tell her. She'd be so embarrassed!


Well, that's it for today. If you've actually read all of this... why???

Days 8-9: Sink Plumbing

The first major work is complete. Today I installed all the plumbing for the sink and toilet. That's the hot/cold supply to the sink, cold supply to the toilet, and a new PVC drain for the sink. Only one small leak, but that's not bad - 23 soldering joints, and only one bad one! I was able to get the water turned off quickly and add a little more solder. Everything's under pressure now - with no leaks.


I'd love to report a successful bathtub installation as well, but after about 4 hours of work, it's still not sitting quite level. When I stand in the tub and rock back and forth, there's just a very stubtle creaking near the front. I haven't given up hope, but it may just come down to the tub making a very subtle creaking near the front!

For tomorrow: finish tub installation, install tub drain, tub/shower plumbing, underlayment, and finish the toilet flange installation. Yikes, now that I type that all up, it doesn't seem possible! (I scheduled our first inspection - rough plumbing - for Monday.) Well, we'll see!

Days 6-7: Vent Fan, Subfloor, and Toilet Riser

Some actual construction!

Yesterday I finished off the installation of the vent fan hood. The inner sleeve is also in place, but the fan itself won't go on until after the drywall.


I asked Scott from Mendel Plumbing and Heating if he could stop by today and be a consultant on the project, and he was kind enough to spend a half hour with me free of charge. Thanks Scott!

In addition to lots of good advice about the plumbing, Scott also mentioned that the hole in the window header isn't a problem because the floor joists (which you can see above the vent fan) run parallel to that side of the house. That means that the window header wasn't really holding anything up anyway!

I was also able to get a nice (relatively) square hole cut around the toilet flange - the wood was starting to crumble in that area. I also took the opportunity to replace the toilet flange by cutting through the cast iron (?) riser with the Sawzall - best... gift... EVER!


At this point, I noticed that the old subfloor - where they had been cut - were no longer supported by anything, so I put in some simple 2x4 cross-supports.


Finally, I installed a 4x3 banded coupling to the cast-iron and inserted a piece of 3" PVC to that.


I can't install the new toilet flange yet, because I need to first replace the subfloor with some 3/4" plywood and then install some 1/2" plywood for the underlayment. (There will be another layer of Durarock on top of the plywood before the tile.)

I'm hoping that tomorrow I can get the bathtub in place and get the underlayment in. And then hopefully over the weekend I can do all the plumbing.

Thanks for checking in!

Days 4-5: Not Much

Yeah... not much to report today. I took yesterday off because I felt like crap from the weekend. I think I inhaled some dust, which did a number on my sinuses. Today I have some cold-like symptoms. Yay!

I was able to do a little wiring and get some work done on the exhaust fan. There was already a big hole cut in the window header, so I just had to widen it a bit. (I'm hoping this is not in violation of any codes. Cross your fingers.)

Of course, nothing runs smoothly, and the wound of the day is a nice wasp sting. Don't worry, though. I got him and all his little wasp buddies, too. The "At Home" section of the Chicago Tribune can be a killer. ;-)

Hopefully I'll have some actual progress to report in the next couple of days!

Days 1-3: Demo

Well, demo is finally done. It took a little longer than I'd hoped, but mainly because the insulation above the ceiling was just a mess. I can't even begin to describe how nasty it was. But, we're ready to go now!

Here are some pics from the last few days:









That's it for now. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to start roughing in some electric and plumbing, and possibly replacing the planks around the toilet. They're sturdy enough to hold, but there's been enough water damage over the years that any time you work in that area, debris ends up falling in the basement bath.

Bathroom Remodel - Planning

Many of you know that we've been planning a bathroom remodel for a while. I thought I'd give you an idea of the plan and show some before pictures so we can compare later.

The plan is to totally gut down to the studs. The only fixture we'll be keeping is the toilet. We have a new pedestal sink, legs, faucet, tub, and fixtures by American Standard (Standard line) from Home Depot.

We're also replacing all the tile with white subway tile and the classic octagon-and-dot from Daltile. We decided to purchase both from a local dealer - Carlson's Floors in Geneva. Thanks to Kim for all her help picking everything out! It'll look something like this.

Here's what it looks like now:


I think it'll look better once it's installed.

But seriously, here are some "before" pictures:






So you can see now why we'd want to remodel!

Keep checking back - hopefully we'll have relatively frequent updates and a new bathroom in a couple weeks! Let us know what you think, too.

Cheers,
~Dan and Veronica