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Farewell Crummy Bathrooms!

aimless | Posted in Photo Gallery on February 14, 2006 09:34am

The contractor is coming on Wednesday to start the demo. He will be totally gutting the things because the supplies are being replaced and on the upstairs the waste as well. We will have a new floorplan upstairs – not sure yet about feasability downstairs. We don’t have a lot of space to work with, but the layout upstairs will still allow much more storage than what we have.  Not sure if anybody but me is interested – but I will post pics of the progress anyway, because I am interested. And because Jeff Buck talked me into hiring a real contractor instead of using UBuildIt.

Only things we are giving up are drippy galvanized plumbing, mold growing in the cabinets upstairs, decaying wooden countertops, the leaky shower pan downstairs, mold in the ceiling downstairs (from the toilet above, I think), and a complete and total lack of storage space. And the fish wall.

 

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  1. User avater
    razzman | Feb 14, 2006 09:51am | #1

    drippy galvanized plumbing, mold growing in the cabinets upstairs, decaying wooden countertops, the leaky shower pan downstairs, mold in the ceiling downstairs (from the toilet above, I think),...

    dang aimless, sure am glad you have Spiderman hanging on your wall.

     

    be on the web

     

     

     

    'Nemo me impune lacesset'
    No one will provoke me with impunity

    1. User avater
      aimless | Feb 14, 2006 09:58am | #2

      Not just any Spidey, but a poster of Spidey when it was Todd MacFarlane drawing him. The poster will come down and be saved, in spite of it's bedraggled condition, so we won't be giving that up.

      1. User avater
        razzman | Feb 14, 2006 05:29pm | #3

        Too funny. I'm wagering you have a youngster in the house.

         

         

         

        'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity

        1. User avater
          aimless | Feb 14, 2006 06:10pm | #4

          The poster is my husband's. Compared to me, he is a youngster.

          1. User avater
            razzman | Feb 14, 2006 09:19pm | #5

            Yep, baths and kitchens best bang for your trouble in remodeling.

            So is he a comic collector?

            You seem fairly informed knowing the difference of a MacFarlane Spidey.

             

            be an Amazing Fantasy #15;o)

             

             

             

            'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity

          2. User avater
            aimless | Feb 14, 2006 10:12pm | #6

            This 'remodel' is ancillary to the need to replace the plumbing. We've been saving up to fix this since one month after we bought the house and the sewage ejection pump that was hidden (undisclosed) under the lawn died.  That pump services the entire house when it is really only needed for the downstairs bath. Then the galvy sprang a major leak. Then we discovered that we can't shut off the water main from the house without a major drip. The cheap tub is starting to have rust spots, the sink basin has always been annoyingly small, blah, blah, blah. And I've always, always, always hated that we have carpet in the bathroom. It grosses me out. It's taken us 8 years to save enough and get the equity loan, and we are so ready for this. Of course, demo starts when we have company.

            My husband was sort of a collector before he went into the service. He used to have all the Spawn from number one. Then he traded them to get money for something dumb. They were probably worth something after the movie came out, but I wish we still had them just for reading. We're both believers that books are meant to be read and toys are meant to be played with.

          3. User avater
            Luka | Feb 15, 2006 12:05am | #7

            DEfinately my kind of people !!But then we already knew that. LOL
            Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength. ~~ Eric Hoffer

          4. User avater
            aimless | Feb 15, 2006 01:37am | #8

            :^)

          5. User avater
            razzman | Feb 15, 2006 06:20am | #9

            Best to you on your future bath remodel. Your be happy when it looks so good.

            Spawn comics aren't really worth that much even in mint shape in that when the published them that had astronomical print runs so there are plenty of copies out there in collections.

            Now if you had a 1960s near mint copy of the first appearance of Spiderman then that is a whole different story.

             

            be in the neighborhood of 12 grand

             

             

             

            'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity

  2. DougU | Feb 16, 2006 06:34am | #10

    Now thats a bathroom in need of an updating!

    Keep the pics coming as you move forward.

    We have a spiderman calender in our main bathroom, and a spiderman rug, spiderman toothbrush holder and a ...........

    We also have a little boy!

    Doug



    Edited 2/15/2006 10:36 pm ET by DougU

  3. nailer01 | Feb 20, 2006 09:22am | #11

    Please, not the fish wall! Can you somehow save or possibly reproduce it? LOL

    Good luck. Look forward to the thread. I've done a few baths and those look like a job. I have seen worse however.

    nailer01

  4. User avater
    aimless | Mar 11, 2006 02:41am | #12

    We've made progress, but pretty slow when you don't have sink or a shower or a tub. So far: he's torn out the upstairs bath completely (Goodbye fish wall). Once it was uncovered he decided he needed to tear the ceiling out downstairs (expected) to get at the plumbing. Then he realized that he really needed to take out a wall downstairs to get at what he needs - this happens to be the wall with the sink and the shower (unexpected). So we now have a toilet in the basement and a kitchen sink upstairs that we need to use. Gives me new respect for people at the turn of the last century, and we've only been sponge bathing for 3 weeks.

       Outside a  big hole was dug to try and divert around the sewage ejection pump for the upstairs. They had to go a lot farther than they expected away from the house before they found 4" pipe.

      Yesterday he hooked up the tub so we could bathe while we wait for the next step (tile). The tile guy was held up, so we wait. But it is SO nice to sit in a tub, even if you can't splash around.

    1. User avater
      razzman | Mar 11, 2006 03:20am | #13

      heh heh

      aimless is excited something is finally getting done.

       

       beseeing a little dance in her step

       

        

       

      'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity

      1. User avater
        aimless | Mar 11, 2006 08:03am | #16

        jiggedy jig

        cha cha cha

        pirouette

        1. User avater
          razzman | Mar 12, 2006 04:18am | #17

          jiggedy jig

          cha cha cha

          pirouette

          and sing tra la

           

            

           

          'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity

          Edited 3/11/2006 8:23 pm ET by razzman

          1. User avater
            aimless | Mar 24, 2006 06:50am | #18

            Progress is slow, at least it feels that way when you have no plumbing. We had several days of no water where we were spending the night at my in-laws. But we do have something to show for it. They busted out the basement floor and rerouted plumbing (Hole-in-Basement). That means that the upper storey of my house no longer goes through the sewage ejection pump. Hooray! The new plumbing is all plastic. It's noisier than the galvanized was, but presumably won't leak so much (manifold).  We upgraded the electrical service (newCircuitBreaker). We were only able to get 150 amps, but compared to the 60 we had the improvement is vast. We were lucky to get that - our drop from the pole is no longer to code and they could have made us totally reroute everything as well as cut down a mature tree out front.  That upgrade allowed us to change the heat in the bathrooms to radiant, which has been installed upstairs (WarmFloor).

            The tile job was a little disappointing. He (the tile contractor) did a mud base, and to me it seemed a little lumpy, but never having seen one in progress before, we kept our mouths shut. The end result is that the tile is uneven. Every tile job we've ever done ourselves (all 2 of them !) was flat and level, and have lasted without problems for years. Then when they grouted they left a void in a fairly obvious spot. The void will be fixed, but the unevenness isn't bad enough to make them rip it out. I just hate paying for something I could have done much better (albeit slower) on.  I spoke with the contractor about it and he said "Well some tiles aren't flat" - but THESE were. Simple ceramic tile. I'm concerned because we are putting a river pebble tile in the other bathroom and that requires attention to detail. I told him that if they couldn't give the job decent attention, then we'd rather do it ourselves. I know this is a little crummy job to them, but it's my bathroom, darnit.

            And today, wonder of wonders, they hooked up the new toilet upstairs. Houston, we have a flush!

          2. User avater
            aimless | Mar 24, 2006 06:55am | #19

            Forgot to attach.

            Just to note: we were still using the toilet next to that big hole in the basement, as it was the only one.

             

          3. User avater
            zak | Mar 24, 2006 06:56am | #20

            pitchers! we need pitchers here! it's the photo gallery, forchrissakes!Disappointing about the tile- especially since it's so permanent. It can be a little more difficult with the radiant heat, especially if it's their first time working with that, but still.zak

          4. User avater
            aimless | Mar 24, 2006 05:16pm | #22

            Sorry about that - look at the next post. It won't let me add the pix in the edit.

    2. semar | Mar 11, 2006 07:22am | #14

      I really don't like the big cutout in the bearing wall studs to accommodate the drainline, could you frame another wall in front of the exterior wall?

      1. User avater
        aimless | Mar 11, 2006 08:02am | #15

        ? I'm confused about where you are talking about. The new drainline you can see in front of the concrete wall.  The old toilet drain (Upstairs East) is not a bearing wall, but that drain is coming out anyway. As far as I can tell by looking, there are no pipes in the studs. On the exterior wall where we needed supply for a shower head (spout is not on that wall) he furred out the wall to put the supply in front of it and added more insulation. 

        The pics aren't in the order that I thought - so the demo pics are mixed with the newer work.

        1. Varoom | Mar 24, 2006 05:32pm | #24

          Reference is to the web-upstairs-west photo before the tub install photo.  Looks like your old vanity waste line was cut into the bearing studs.  An easy fix to remove/cap the old waste line and reinforce the wall before finishing.

          1. User avater
            aimless | Mar 24, 2006 07:17pm | #25

            You are right - the old waste was cut into the wall. That has been remedied - it has all been pulled out and repaired. Unfortunately I was out of town during part of this so didn't get a picture before the drywall went up.

          2. Varoom | Mar 24, 2006 10:11pm | #26

            Very nice transformation.  Even with a tile install that you are not 100% happy with, you must still be pleased.  Let me know if you are selling the spidy poster.  He, he.

    3. User avater
      aimless | May 04, 2006 07:44am | #27

      Well things are streaking along at a snail's pace. Luckily, we have a usable bathroom upstairs now, so waiting is easier.

      Much of this month has been spent fixing problems.  For starters, the countertop guys really had a problem with getting the counter right. First they installed it with no overhang, which showed off the nice big gaps between counter and cabinet.  To avoid making them repour a new one, I agreed to let them just fabricate a new piece for the back of the sink and slide it forward.

      Then when the light was installed, I discovered that the sink was offcenter. But since I didn't make them repour it the first time, I've already set a precedent for accepting their crummy work. So we are going to try and make it look like we meant it that way with an asymmetrical medicine cabinet.

      The tile on the wall upstairs got installed, though the grout guy was pretty lazy.

      Then the old cast iron vent pipe came crashing through the ceiling. They had broken it off and just left it, unsupported and uncapped, in the attic. Of course, this event was followed by the contractor leaving town and a week of rain. On the weekend it got sunny, so I crawled up there, pulled out the heavy pipe (luckily it didn't land on us, but too bad it didn't land on the offcenter sink), put in a patch and roofed over it. My husband said the look on the contractor's face when he discovered who had done the repair was interesting.

      1. User avater
        aimless | May 04, 2006 07:54am | #28

        Downstairs has been some more of the same.

        They put in the ($) limestone tile that we splurged on, but spent no more time on it then the cheaper tile upstairs. Just found out today that they didn't put the tile at the right level (plumber expected backerboard like upstairs, not thinner trowel on waterproofing), so the tub filler won't install properly. Plus they cut the hole toooooo big around it. It figures that Kohler doesn't make a goof ring. So we have a wait while they bust out some tile, move the fixture out, retile, regrout. I'm sure the tile guy is just going to be all over this fix (we waited weeks each time when he was getting paid). The only thing I'm counting on is that he hasn't been paid for the material in there yet, so hopefully his cash flow will force him to act quickly.

        The countertop guys are doing the same drugs as before. This picture was what they considered an acceptable install. I should have put a coin in the picture for reference - that's over a half-inch gap between the counter and the upper piece, and almost 1/2 inch to the adjacent cabinet.

        Edited 5/4/2006 1:00 am by aimless

        1. MikeSmith | May 04, 2006 01:07pm | #29

          hmmmmm..... hard to get an impression of the overall effect..

           can you get some wide-angle pics ?

          on the cast iron vent... we had one job where the ceiling had been leaking for years..

           turned out to be since they had the roof redone four years previous.. the roofer took a cap off an old stack

          well the  bottom had been broken off in a previous remodel and left in the ceiling.. when we opened up the ceiling you could look right out to the sky

          good on you for the patchMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

          1. User avater
            aimless | May 04, 2006 05:31pm | #33

            "can you get some wide-angle pics ?"

            That's as far back as I can stand - these bathrooms are really small.

        2. DougU | May 04, 2006 02:31pm | #30

          I hope your holding some of the money from the tile installer so that you have the uppper hand!

          That counter top should be a fairly easy fix, that is if you can convince them that it needs fixing! Should be able to bring that backsplash out to cover over that void. Is that solid surface?

          Doug

        3. RalphWicklund | May 04, 2006 04:34pm | #31

          Large scale tile presents some difficulties for the installer but I would have the man pull the tile off the fixture wall and redo the spacing. A cut on the tiles to the left would center the fixtures and present a more symetrical finish.

          What does the back wall look like? Do the cuts present a symetrical installation or did he start with a full tile on the right and end with a cut on the left?

          1. User avater
            aimless | May 04, 2006 05:37pm | #34

            I would have preferred the fixtures be centered in a tile as well. Unfortunately, I think this was the tile guy trying to save me a little green because the tiles were expensive and cutting on both sides (he started with a full tile on one side) uses more tile. At this point, I think if I ask him to redo the fixture wall, he (I mean I) will end up buying another box of tile, and I have no confidence that he will do an acceptable job. I can live with the off center grout lines, even though I would have done it differently.

        4. xosder11 | May 04, 2006 04:57pm | #32

          Sometimes in pics, it's hard to determine heights, but is that shower head extra high in the downstairs bath or is it me?

          1. User avater
            aimless | May 04, 2006 05:39pm | #35

            The downstairs bath is in the basement below the upstairs bath and has a lower ceiling because of the mechanicals that pass through. The shower head looks high, but it will be just right.

          2. xosder11 | May 04, 2006 08:12pm | #37

            Only reason I ask was that I just renovated my own bathroom.  I redid the shower and in doing so I left teh old mixing valve where it was but decided I would be slick and raise the shower head height.  It ended up being a mistake.  I knew what conventional height was but thought "hey I'm taller, and I'm building it, so why not"  Unfortuanatly, I was scolded for it later by a much shorter female (ooops-inconsiderate bastard I am).  I ended up getting one of those adjustable height setups that works really well.  Best of both worlds. : )

          3. User avater
            aimless | May 04, 2006 08:27pm | #38

            I guess I don't understand what the problem is with "too high". We're both short and I've never had a complaint about a shower head except "too short". When we moved into this house I swore that the original owners must have never washed their hair.

            In any event, we have a handheld with this one as well, so if a really short person has a problem, I think we've got it covered.

        5. User avater
          CapnMac | May 04, 2006 05:43pm | #36

          It figures that Kohler doesn't make a goof ring.

          Well, they do, it's just, A, not veru big, and B, occasionally very hard to get one.  There was a long thread on this about this time last year on coping with the reverse condition (tile hole too small, and then too deep from the faucet body) on this.

          A GC I know opines that tile guys only come in two "speeds," either Divas or Dunces.  I'm guessing yours wear pointy hats . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)

  5. RalphWicklund | Mar 24, 2006 07:06am | #21

    According to the plan you are swinging the door against the vanity rather than the blank wall. Personally, I'd swing it the other way. What say you?

    1. User avater
      aimless | Mar 24, 2006 05:23pm | #23

      Ralph,

        We'd like to change the swing, but that blank wall slants into the room, so if we did we could only open the door half way. The sink is far enough down the vanity that it can still be used with the door open, but we have to close the door if we want to open the drawers. We'd really like to make it an outswing door, but it is at the top of a flight of stairs so we can't do that either. It's just a small, tight, awkward space.  What I really like about the new arrangement is that I'm not crowed into a 20" space to try and give the girls' their baths. I can reach them anywhere in the tub without doing acrobatics (before the vanity blocked 2/3 of the tub).

      Here's one of the main reasons for doing this:

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