Bathroom Day 8: Cleanup and the End of the Foundation Repairs

I had to return to work, but my husband stayed home to supervise the foundation guys. They finished up by filling in the basement trench with concrete and backfilling around the exterior walls. Considering that temperatures went up to 35 degrees Celsius over the past week, they did a great job keeping on schedule. We hope this solves the water problems and we can look towards someday having a finished basement again.

We decided to rent a dumpster to dispose of all the garbage from the reno. My husband spent the day loading it, putting tools away and trying to tame the chaos in the house. The bathroom is now at a state of 95% completion. Still to be done is painting, sealing the tile and putting up towel bars, which should all get done over the next week.

And now we know: we are capable of doing a big renovation project ourselves! It was an ambition project but we learnt a lot and produced a professional looking bathroom (without too much fighting!)

Bathroom Day 7: Caulking, Baseboards and a Rock Slinger

The foundation guys were back! This was the day the filled the trench with stone and huge truck with a conveyer belt to move the stone. They also began work in the basement, cutting the concrete floor and linking the weeping tile to the sump pit.

At this point the house was hectic. There was stuff everywhere; basement stuff moved to the living room, bathroom supplies in the front room, tools in the 2^nd bedroom and hall. 3 to 5 construction workers traipsed in and out of the house all day and there was mud and dust everywhere.

This was the day we started putting the bathroom back together. I caulked and my husband installed the new fixtures. We installed new baseboard and quarter round. The toilet was put back in and the vanity moved into the room. The bathroom finally took shape and the end was in sight.

And now we know: they use some really cool machines for foundation work.

Bathroom Day 6: Grouting

After waiting 24 hours for the mortar and adhesive to dry, we set out to grout the tile. Starting with the wall I mixed half a box of non-sanded grout and got to work. My husband started to help and became very concerned that we would run out of grout due to quantity required for the mosaic border. Since it was 4 pm he rushed off to the only store open on the holiday Monday which happened to be on across the river.

I continued grouting, ran out and mixed the rest of the box. An hour later he returned to find me with the walls completed and still having grout remaining. He was not happy.

After a breather we began to work on the floors together. It went quickly but sanded grout is not as easy to work with. It required more pressure and more time on your hands and knees. The floor was also harder to clean the excess off of and get rid of the haze.

And now we know: grouting is quick and easy. Trust what the box says in terms of coverage.

Bathroom Day 5: Floor Tiling Attempt 2

Sunday morning we headed out bright and early to get regular mortar. We used the same system of 1 person cutting and 1 person laying. This time just in case the mortar dried quickly, we layed out the entire floor and pre-cut all the tiles before we started. We then mixed the mortar and easily installed the tile. A couple of hours latter we were done and as a bonus had the afternoon free as we waited for it to dry.

And now we know: regular mortar works great, so does pre-cutting all the tiles.

Bathroom Day 4: The Tiling Begins

At this point in the renovation we were a day behind our planned schedule. The time it took for the plumber had caused us to shift our tiling from Friday to Saturday.

So we got out the wet tile saw and our trowels and set to work. The system was I would lay the tile and my husband would run up and down to make cuts. This worked well but took a lot longer than planned. Although the area was only 50 square feet, there were angled walls, a window, a shelf and the fixtures to tile around. This meant lots and lots of cuts and little pieces. We worked all day and returned after dinner to complete the walls.

By this time it was around 8:30 and we had been working for over 10 hours. We decided to just plow through and finish the floor tiling so we would be on schedule for grouting. I mean it was just 45 square feet of floor and the tiles were large 12x48 so how hard could it be?

We started mixing the mortar and laid a couple of tiles. When I grabbed the trowel to apply for the third tile, I realized the mortar was setting in the bucket! Assuming we mixed it wrong, we added more water and mixed it again. And it dried again. So more water and more mixing. Finally we gave up. 20 minutes after mixing the mortar it was dried rock solid in the bucket.

Frustrated we called it a day and planned to hit up Depot for new mortar in the morning before trying again.

And now we know: do not buy fast drying mortar even if the Home Depot tile guy recommends it. Apparently in researching after the fact it is not recommended for first timers. Although who could tile 60 square feet in 20 minutes? I think even a pro would have problems.

Bathroom Day 3: Cement Board, Subfloor and a Back Hoe

Friday morning marked a fun surprise; the foundation company arrived to fix our basement problems. They spent the day digging a trench around the south and east sides of the house and building a mountain of dirt on the lawn. By the end of the day the trench was finished and new membrane and weeping tile was installed. They planned to return Tuesday to finish the job.

We continued to work on the bathroom. After a nights sleep, I quickly built the shelf at the end of the tub without incident. Installation of cement board was the task of the day; it was messy but painless. We also got the new section of subfloor in.

The plumber returned and completed his work. He remarked that this was one of his hardest jobs; tight spaces, inconvenient locations of joists and old pipes. We are just happy that we have shinny new pipes hopefully reducing the chance of future water problems.

By the end of the day the bathroom was prepped and all ready for the installation of tile. It was beginning to look like a bathroom again.

Bathroom Day 2: Tales of a Frustrated Plumber

Day 2 started under pressure. We new the plumber was arriving at 1 pm to install the new fixtures and pipes in the tub area. So before he arrived we had to get the new bathtub in place. First we installed vapor barrier, something that was lacking on the exterior walls. Then we moved the tub into the room which required taking off the door stop.

Once it was sitting in place the hard part began. The instructions look easy enough; level it then install 1x3 boards around the perimeter to rest the edge on. Leveling went okay, some plywood shims and we were done. But getting that 1x3 in the right spot then securing it in place was harder than it looked. We had our new tool: the framing nailer. Man is than a scary thing. It sparked and the nails are huge. On the first try the thing was no longer level by the time the nails were in. So in came the pry bar and the husband went off to Depot to get some more lumber. On the second try it went in and we started contemplating how far we could proceed until the plumber arrived; would he need to move the tub? Access the entire wall?

Luckily getting this far had taken all morning and so at this point the plumber arrived. He proceeded to work for 3 hours on various aspects of our plumbing. He replaced the pipes, the drain and the pipe for venting, all the while having trouble with the small spaces and placement of floor joists. At the end of the day he was still not done and planned to return the next day.

During the plumber work he had moved the tub to get at the drain, so after he left we put the tub back in place and leveled it again. I then started attempting to build a shelf into the remaining 14 inches of dead space at the end of the tub. This should have been an easy task, involving making a box using 2x3s and leveling it in place, but it was just not working the way I wanted it to. Tiered and frustrated I finally abandoned this at 6:30 and we called it a day

And now we know: plumber work takes longer than expected. Illustrated diagrams with only 4 steps make tasks look easier than they are.

Bathroom Day 1: No More Ugly Bathroom

Mostly we re-did our bathroom cause of the water damage and rotting sub-floor. But also it is really ugly; sheet vinyl flooring not stuck to anything and sheet plastic surround made to look like tile. This was one of those projects that we were planning for a couple of years down the road…you know once the financial pain of a wedding and buying a house in the same year was a faint memory. Some projects just choose you instead of you choosing them J

So we shipped our cat off to stay at my parents and started ripping out the old bathroom. We started with the easy stuff, taking out the vanity, wall cabinet, toilet and accessories.

Then we moved on to the bathtub and surround. The plastic faux tile popped right of but the plywood backer board was another story. It involved a crowbar and some brute force to pry it out. Still nothing compared to the tub. Turns out it was cast iron, weighed 300 pounds and could not be separated from the drain with any amount of tools or force. So, as is the solution to many home improvement problems, we borrowed a sledge hammer. My husband spent an hour smashing it, not a fun job. Every time the sledge hit the tub the entire house reverberated and the noise was deafening. We finally got the pieces out and into our junk pile but I don’t think my husband could hear for the rest of the day….we plan on getting ear protection before our next project!

The final task for the day was to remove the rotten subfloor. Initially we planned on taking up the entire top level, but after a couple of hours with little to no progress we changed our plans. The installers had used screws every 2 inches in a grid pattern then applied wood putty over each screw. Suffice to say we decided to remove only the 24”x48” section that was rotten!

And now we know: check what your tub is made of before you assume you can remove it. With this house always assume it is built with at least double the amount of screws and nails required.

Staining the New Vanity

My test stain pieces were ugly. Streaky, opaque in some area and the wood filler looked like crop circles. My grandfather-in-law provided some wisdom and I tried again; no brush this time and no sanding between coats.

Rubbing the stain in with a cloth turned out really well. I ended up with 3 coats; the final one didn’t darken but evened out the colour and made it look richer. Then 2 coats of clear protective finish and it was good to go.

And now we know: always use a cloth to stain not a brush. Taking a risk on building something yourself instead of buying can really pay off.

Painting the Sideboard Handles

We got out dining room sideboard so we would have somewhere to put our wedding presents other than the floor in the second bedroom. It came from a consignment store and just made it home in the back of our Rabbit.

I finally got tiered of the brass handles and updated them to a brushed nickel kind of look. Simple project; over and done in one evening.

And now we know: sometimes a small project is good so you can see immediate results and remind yourself that home reno is fun

Construction of a Vanity

At the end of May we are re-doing our bathroom. The water damage is just gross and the rotting of the sub-floor concerns us. So with a small budget, I decided to tackle constructing our own vanity. My husband just shook his head.

Here are the plans I drew up. We are re-using the existing sink which covers the entire top of the vanity:

I started with a large sheet of birch veneer plywood and started cutting with a circular saw. In the end I had to visit my grandfather-in-law and use the table saw to clean up some of the cuts. Wow is that a more efficient tool for cutting this type of thing!

Also, it seemed like a good idea to use wood dowels to assemble the pieces so you wouldn’t seem any screw heads. I thought it would be easy; drill two holes, add some glue and press them together. Well turns out it is hard to line up the holes perfectly without a jig. So we went out and bought a nail gun, the most fun tool ever. After that assembly was a piece of cake.

This is how it currently looks, waiting for stain and serving as a play house for the cat:

And now we know: Nail heads are small and hardly even show after you patch them. (maybe, I think, hopefully) I still don’t know how to get those dowel holes to line up.