Bathroom Updates

In going back through the blog, I realized that I have been terribly remiss in posting bathroom updates (probably because I've actually been WORKING on the room, and not sitting at the computer!). I try to generally not work on the room until after the kids are in bed, so I'm usually ready to crash by the time I wrap up in there for the night! Jeff refers to the room as being my pet project, so I have taken a lot of pride in watching this room take shape. :-)


This is after much of the demo has been done. If you remember from earlier pics, there was a center wall which divided up about half of the room. I had to take that down, as well as strip all of the walls of their plaster, in order to allow appropriate access to run all of the electrical lines. LOTS of trash cans full of plaster and lathe!



Next, I had to square up the areas of the subfloor which were damaged or missing, and replace it with new subfloor. That saw has probably become the most useful tool we own in terms of my work in the bathroom...!
Then, I had to pry up all of the old hardwood floor. This pic shows the subfloor all clean after I had taken out all of the hardwood. I did save as much of it as I could, have pounded the nails out of it, and will be saving it in the attic. That way, if we ever have to replace a section of the hardwood somewhere in the house, we have the original flooring which the house was built with, that we can use to patch :).



A pic of Kev hanging a slighly lower ceiling to allow for ductwork and a level ceiling... Also, note all of the electrical work. I had Jeff do that part- I do NOT do electrical!


And then, there was drywall (and plumbing!) A sidenote on the plumbing- we ended up having to replace all of the drainlines and water lines in the house (to the tune of $2200!). It was a patchwork of PVC, C-PVC, cast iron, galvanized, and copper piping- essentially a bunch of leaks just waiting to happen (not to mention the vent line through the roof was totally clogged!). Now, everything is PEX (except for copper fixture attachments), and PVC drain lines. This should last us (problem free) for many years to come!


More drywall, and in this pic you can see the cement backerboard that I lay down over the subfloor. This had to be nailed down to provide a flat and even surface for the tile.


More drywall, and a view of the shower stall and the new fan (see post below concerning my adventure getting that thing installed!)


Mudded drywall and starting to prime....

And then, there was COLOR! This is a little more brown and a little less yellow than it looks in the pic. The color was actually inspired by the veins of this color that run through the black and white marble tiles which I picked out for the flooring. Also, there are 2 of these sconce lights in the room which will be on either side of the large mirror which I purchased (80% off!). The lights were on clearance also- only $5.19 for a set of 2!!


More color, and getting ready to tile...


TILE!!! I can honestly say that laying tile was a whole lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I'm sure part of it was the fact that I was laying it in an old house- where nothing is square and the old subfloor and floor joists aren't level.... but it took me forever with the thinset and rubber mallet to try and get these things even CLOSE to being level!

And this is what it looks like tonight, just waiting for the thinset to set so that I can grout (black) tomorrow morning. Once I do that, we will be able to set the fixtures after work tomorrow night :-). The pedistal sink and toilet are all ready to go in as soon as the grouting is done... and then we can start using the bathroom!

Projects still to be done:
1- Grout the tile
2- Install 10 inch baseboard to mimic the rest of the house
3- Have Brad install out special ordered new window (it has the same vertical latice on it that the rest of the house windows so, so that it will match)
4- Set fixtures and hang mirror
5- Put up shower curtain and install window vailance.
6- Attach door to door frame (and swap hinges so it opens into the bedroom instead of into the bathroom)
7- Build free standing linen cupboard
8- Enjoy not having to share a bathroom with my kids!!!!!!!

A Tribute to the Pros....

Lest anyone think that Jeff and I are single handedly doing all of the work on the house, I wanted to dedicate a post to the people who REALLY know what they're doing, and who have come to help us out with the stuff that is well beyond our skill level....

Our neighbor, Brad Engelberg, hanging drywall in the kitchen. I can't even CARRY one of those 8 foot sheets by myself, so it's a little intimidating to see him able to hold it with one hand, and attach it with the other!

Kevin Carlson did the framing in the attic, and hung the kicthen ceiling, as well as ALL of the drywall in the new bathroom. What I have learned from watching Kev is that having the right tools for the job is absolutely essential! Took him about 3 hours what it would have taken us DAYS to do!

Jeremy Tell ran the HVAC vent to the new bathroom for us. (he's vacuuming out the ductwork in this pic before coming off of it to place the new one). It made the room feel real though, to have heat running to it :-)

And this is Jeff, enjoying his Doritos while observing the pros at work. People ask me for home improvement advice, and probably the most valuable thing we have learned in this process is that it is VERY important to recognize when something is beyond your skill level, that it is worth hiring it out!

FREAKING OUT!

One of the things that had to be done in the new bathroom was the installation of a bathroom fan for ventilation purposes. Originally, it was going to be a wall unit, but we ended up finding a light/fan combo that we really liked on sale, so we decided to center it in the room. Jeff ran the wire to it, and I installed the fan box. Next, duct work had to be run to the exterior wall. Kevin framed in slightly lower ceiling so that we didn't have to take out a double beam up top. This allowed me the 4 inches that I needed to snake the duct work to the wall...

Now let me say that both Jeff and I are petrified of heights! But SOMEONE hasd to climb up on the ladder and install the exterior fan vent. Time to suck it up and conquer a fear.... Our neightbor Brad was kind enough to lend us his ladder, and my first climb up I was shaking so badly that it took me 5 minutes to get to the top! Of course though, I had to bring a camera up to capture the moment for the blog... Here is a view to the ground (2 1/2 stories down...)

This picture gives a little more perspective. I had to cut a hole in the aluminum siding with the reciprocating saw, cut and run the rigid and flexible ductwork, and attach the exterior vent cap. I can tell you that the scariest part was using the saw. For those who have used one, you know that if you approach the cut wrong, it can have quick a kick back. YEaaaaaah.... I ended up having Jeff take out the window so that he could hold onto my belt loops while I was using it (so that if it kicked back, I wouldn't go flying backward off the ladder)...

The mostly finished result. I didn't get a pic at the end after I placed the drip caps back on the siding and finished caulking everything, but we now have an exterior fan vent for the upstairs bathroom :-). (but you won't catch me up on that ladder again any time soon!)

Cubbies

OK, so the attic hasn't been drywalled yet, but the cubbies have been painted and installed where they will be. All of the kids' toy bins and rubbermaid containers of craft supplies will be stored in these once the attic is finished :-)