#i bought everything to re caulk the tub

[thebanalone]

Me whenever I'm expected to do something myself and actually be an independent woman: *re-installs muzz and salams*

[chocdono]

How to Brighten Up a Room with a Fireplace Makeover

After Shelby Vanhoy of Pretty in the Pines bought a new home, she knew she wanted to redo the fireplace to match her style. By re-tiling the fireplace and adding shiplap above the mantle, Shelby was able to elongate the fireplace and make the entire room feel brighter.

Read on to see the steps Shelby took for this tile fireplace makeover!

How to Brighten Up a Room with a Tile Fireplace Makeover

When we first bought our house a few months ago, we knew one of the first things we wanted to do was a tile fireplace makeover! We weren’t big fans of the dark, black tile that not only surrounded the fireplace, but also the hearth, and I had always dreamed of having a bright white and marble fireplace with a farmhouse feel. We began brainstorming on how we wanted it to look and the project steadily grew in scope:

Replace black tile on fireplace wall and hearth with white and marble herringbone tile

Rebuild the hearth box and lay tile on the top only with a white wooden front

Rebuild the vertical columns to match the newly built hearth

Add shiplap going from the mantle up to the ceiling to elongate fireplace

Materials

When figuring out the exact tile fireplace makeover look that we wanted to create, we began listing out what we needed to get this project done. Here is what we ended up getting for our tile fireplace makeover:

Retiling

Crowbar

Rubber hammer

Pull Bar

Mortar

Grout – Cape Gray

(2) 5 x 3 ft. boards Hardie Board Cement Backer

(12) 1 x1 ft. white tiles sheet Herringbone tile

(8) 1 x 1 ft. Marble tiles sheet

7 in. Tile Wet Saw

~10 ft. of Floor Trim

Thin set mortar

Trowel

Grout Float

Tape Measure

Level

Hearth Box & Columns

(2) 4 ft. x 8 ft. sheets of ¼ in. Underlayment Plywood

Hardie Board Cement Backer

(5) 12-ft. strips Lattice Trim

Jigsaw

¾ in. Nails

Loctite

Hammer

Caulk

Behr – Ultra Pure White paint

Faux Shiplap Wall

¼ in. Underlayment Plywood

1 ¾ in. Nails

Table Saw

Base Moulding

Behr – Ultra White Paint

Step 1: Demo

The first thing we needed to do before the tile fireplace makeover was demo. This was probably the most fun, yet most nerve-racking part if you haven’t done it before. We did not want to damage any of the drywall around the mantle and columns, but you do have to be firm when prying off those pieces and the tile.

A crowbar and rubber hammer to dig out behind the columns and separate them from the wall. We decided to leave the mantle attached because it would not affect the demo and applying of the new tile.

Pro Tip: cut the caulk lines before trying to pry the columns and mantle away. You may even need to use a pull bar to help pry the columns and mantle.

Step 2: Remove the Tile

After removing the columns (and mantle, if necessary), it was time to get after the tile! Using the same method you used to pull the columns and mantle from the wall, use the crowbar and rubber hammer to separate the tile away from the mortar that was used to lay the tile. Once you get one up, the others are fairly easy to get under and separate from the surface to which they are adhered.

Be careful around the drywall, especially if the tile is mortared directly on top. We had a number of holes where the tile pulled off the drywall with it when it came off.

Carefully chisel away any remaining mortar so you are working with a clean and smooth surface for the new tile.

After the demo, you’ll want to clean up before moving on to the next step.

Discard the old tile and loose mortar pieces that broke off when removing. We just used a broom and vacuum to clean up the little pieces of drywall and mortar. Wipe down with a clean cloth before moving on.

Step 3: Lay the Base

After completing the demo, we began to work on the top where the tile would lay. We scored the Hardie Cement Board to the dimensions of the top of the hearth and applied the board using the thin-set mortar. Let the mortar dry for 24-36 hours before laying any tile.

When using the cement board, avoid creating a weak point by staggering the lines where the board meets. We did not have to worry about this as we only needed one large piece and one smaller piece.

You want to use the cement board instead of laying tile directly onto plywood because the cement board does not expand and contract as much as wood. This keeps the tile from being strained with those fluctuations.

Step 3: Build the Hearth

For us, the next step was to build the new hearth box. We knew we didn’t want a full tile hearth, so we had to build a new front and sides of the hearth using plywood and lattice trim. The hearth was built on a very stable plywood box and cement backer previously, so we cut and nailed in the new plywood to make the front and sides of the new hearth box.

Our hearth measured 70.5 in. x 18 in. x 10.5 in. We added lattice trim because we liked the look it provided as opposed to just the plywood. Then, we added shoe moulding at the bottom of the hearth as well. We used a jigsaw to cut the lattice into the right sizes and a table saw to cut the plywood. After the box was complete and sturdy, we closed up any gaps with white caulk.

Step 4: Prepare the vertical fireplace wall

While the mortar was drying on the hearth, we moved on to the vertical fireplace wall. Again, we used the Hardie cement board as a base to lay the tile. Then, we nailed the cement board into studs that lined the fireplace, lining up where the old tile used to be. We scored the cement board into 3 different pieces, one running horizontal and 2 vertical.

Step 5: Cut & prepare the tile

Measure the tile. Working with the herringbone tile was a little more difficult than laying squares or rectangles. We measured the spaces where they were going to lay, as the herringbone edges needed to line up and have consistent spacing.

We used a 7 in. wet saw for cutting the tile. For the hearth, we were able to use 6 ½ full tile sheets along with 6 ½ quarter sheets. To make the quarter sheets, we lined up where they would connect to full sheets and cut between the netting that was holding each tile together.

To make a polished look, we wanted the tile to be flat against any surface that it may come into contact. We trimmed the edges on some, and on others, we cut smaller triangular tiles that we would fit between any gaps. Once we had everything cut and laid out on the floor we began to lay the tile.

Step 6: Lay the tile

Lay the tile in small sections at a time. Scoop the mortar (we used pre-made mortar that came in a tub) and spread evenly to where one tile piece will be laid. Avoid spreading the mortar into larger areas as it may dry before you lay the tile. Firmly press tile into mortar.

Spread the mortar evenly across the cement backer, using the ribbed edge of the trowel to make indentions into the mortar. This helps with the tile sticking to the mortar. If working with herringbone tile, do not over-mortar as it will begin to rise between the spaces in the tiles. If this happens, use a rag to wipe away an excess.

For the vertical tile surrounding the actual fireplace, we began with individual tiles to make a border on the edge of the cement backer. We thought this would be a nice look and give us clean grout lines.

Once the all the tile has been laid, wipe down any excess with a clean cloth and let cure before adding grout. Wait 24-36 hours.

Step 7: Grout the tile

After the mortar has cured and is dry, begin to grout. We used Cape Gray as the color because it went well the white as well as the marble tile we were using. Mix the grout according to the box instructions, typically just adding the grout to water and mixing. We did not have a grout mixer, but a garden shovel did the job.

Once the grout is mixed, use a grout float to apply the grout at a 45° angle, ensuring you are spreading evenly between the herringbone tile. Then, once you are sure that it is spread evenly, wipe away excess using a 90° angle with the float. We tried to spread the grout with one end of the float and wipe away with the other end.

Let the grout dry for 10-15 minutes before taking a damp cloth or sponge and wiping the excess away. Wait an additional 2 hours before taking a cheesecloth or textured cloth to wipe the leftover film. Next, let the grout dry for 36-48 hours before standing or putting pressure on the tile.

Step 8: Work on the accents

Once the grout was finished curing, we moved on the columns and shiplap walls. We rebuilt the columns to make them more similar to the hearth. We used a base of plywood with foot moulding on the top and bottom. Then, we added the lattice trim down the sides for a coherent look. We used ¾ in. nails and Loctite to adhere all these pieces.

Once the pieces were dry and ready to be mounted, we used Loctite and nails to remount the columns under the mantle and along the vertical tile. We closed any gaps with caulk. Once the columns were securely in place, we used the same Behr – Ultra Pure White paint to match the hearth box.

Step 9: Add faux shiplap

This was the final step for us. The fireplace and hearth itself, was complete, but we wanted to tie the room together with something else. We chose to do faux shiplap as we had done this on a project previously.

We used a table saw to cut 5 ft. x 7.5 in. strips of underlayment plywood. When mounting the plywood, we used nickels to keep spacing consistent, and nailed the plywood into the studs along the drywall. We had to maneuver around a window, but we were able to cut the plywood as needed.

Once the shiplap boards were mounted, the last piece we needed was trim. We used ceiling trim at the top, and moulding trim along the sides. This tied together the trim that we used on the columns for a cohesive look. The last piece we did was painting, using the same Behr paint.

Final Reveal

Our originally dark fireplace resulted in a bright fresh and white more modern farmhouse looking fireplace and we are thrilled with it! We enjoyed giving this tile fireplace makeover and hope this tutorial was helpful! Replacing tile is a time-consuming process as there are a number of steps where you need to wait for adhesives to dry, but other aspects of the makeover helped us pass the time. Let us know what you think!

Shop tile backsplashes at The Home Depot. Check out other Fireplace Ideas on The Home Depot Blog to get inspiration for your tile fireplace makeover.

The post How to Brighten Up a Room with a Fireplace Makeover appeared first on The Home Depot Blog.

from mix1 http://ift.tt/2HV6RFY via with this info

[ryancanedy]

How to Brighten Up a Room with a Fireplace Makeover

After Shelby Vanhoy of Pretty in the Pines bought a new home, she knew she wanted to redo the fireplace to match her style. By re-tiling the fireplace and adding shiplap above the mantle, Shelby was able to elongate the fireplace and make the entire room feel brighter.

Read on to see the steps Shelby took for this tile fireplace makeover!

How to Brighten Up a Room with a Tile Fireplace Makeover

When we first bought our house a few months ago, we knew one of the first things we wanted to do was a tile fireplace makeover! We weren’t big fans of the dark, black tile that not only surrounded the fireplace, but also the hearth, and I had always dreamed of having a bright white and marble fireplace with a farmhouse feel. We began brainstorming on how we wanted it to look and the project steadily grew in scope:

Replace black tile on fireplace wall and hearth with white and marble herringbone tile

Rebuild the hearth box and lay tile on the top only with a white wooden front

Rebuild the vertical columns to match the newly built hearth

Add shiplap going from the mantle up to the ceiling to elongate fireplace

Materials

When figuring out the exact tile fireplace makeover look that we wanted to create, we began listing out what we needed to get this project done. Here is what we ended up getting for our tile fireplace makeover:

Retiling

Crowbar

Rubber hammer

Pull Bar

Mortar

Grout – Cape Gray

(2) 5 x 3 ft. boards Hardie Board Cement Backer

(12) 1 x1 ft. white tiles sheet Herringbone tile

(8) 1 x 1 ft. Marble tiles sheet

7 in. Tile Wet Saw

~10 ft. of Floor Trim

Thin set mortar

Trowel

Grout Float

Tape Measure

Level

Hearth Box & Columns

(2) 4 ft. x 8 ft. sheets of ¼ in. Underlayment Plywood

Hardie Board Cement Backer

(5) 12-ft. strips Lattice Trim

Jigsaw

¾ in. Nails

Loctite

Hammer

Caulk

Behr – Ultra Pure White paint

Faux Shiplap Wall

¼ in. Underlayment Plywood

1 ¾ in. Nails

Table Saw

Base Moulding

Behr – Ultra White Paint

Step 1: Demo

The first thing we needed to do before the tile fireplace makeover was demo. This was probably the most fun, yet most nerve-racking part if you haven’t done it before. We did not want to damage any of the drywall around the mantle and columns, but you do have to be firm when prying off those pieces and the tile.

A crowbar and rubber hammer to dig out behind the columns and separate them from the wall. We decided to leave the mantle attached because it would not affect the demo and applying of the new tile.

Pro Tip: cut the caulk lines before trying to pry the columns and mantle away. You may even need to use a pull bar to help pry the columns and mantle.

Step 2: Remove the Tile

After removing the columns (and mantle, if necessary), it was time to get after the tile! Using the same method you used to pull the columns and mantle from the wall, use the crowbar and rubber hammer to separate the tile away from the mortar that was used to lay the tile. Once you get one up, the others are fairly easy to get under and separate from the surface to which they are adhered.

Be careful around the drywall, especially if the tile is mortared directly on top. We had a number of holes where the tile pulled off the drywall with it when it came off.

Carefully chisel away any remaining mortar so you are working with a clean and smooth surface for the new tile.

After the demo, you’ll want to clean up before moving on to the next step.

Discard the old tile and loose mortar pieces that broke off when removing. We just used a broom and vacuum to clean up the little pieces of drywall and mortar. Wipe down with a clean cloth before moving on.

Step 3: Lay the Base

After completing the demo, we began to work on the top where the tile would lay. We scored the Hardie Cement Board to the dimensions of the top of the hearth and applied the board using the thin-set mortar. Let the mortar dry for 24-36 hours before laying any tile.

When using the cement board, avoid creating a weak point by staggering the lines where the board meets. We did not have to worry about this as we only needed one large piece and one smaller piece.

You want to use the cement board instead of laying tile directly onto plywood because the cement board does not expand and contract as much as wood. This keeps the tile from being strained with those fluctuations.

Step 3: Build the Hearth

For us, the next step was to build the new hearth box. We knew we didn’t want a full tile hearth, so we had to build a new front and sides of the hearth using plywood and lattice trim. The hearth was built on a very stable plywood box and cement backer previously, so we cut and nailed in the new plywood to make the front and sides of the new hearth box.

Our hearth measured 70.5 in. x 18 in. x 10.5 in. We added lattice trim because we liked the look it provided as opposed to just the plywood. Then, we added shoe moulding at the bottom of the hearth as well. We used a jigsaw to cut the lattice into the right sizes and a table saw to cut the plywood. After the box was complete and sturdy, we closed up any gaps with white caulk.

Step 4: Prepare the vertical fireplace wall

While the mortar was drying on the hearth, we moved on to the vertical fireplace wall. Again, we used the Hardie cement board as a base to lay the tile. Then, we nailed the cement board into studs that lined the fireplace, lining up where the old tile used to be. We scored the cement board into 3 different pieces, one running horizontal and 2 vertical.

Step 5: Cut & prepare the tile

Measure the tile. Working with the herringbone tile was a little more difficult than laying squares or rectangles. We measured the spaces where they were going to lay, as the herringbone edges needed to line up and have consistent spacing.

We used a 7 in. wet saw for cutting the tile. For the hearth, we were able to use 6 ½ full tile sheets along with 6 ½ quarter sheets. To make the quarter sheets, we lined up where they would connect to full sheets and cut between the netting that was holding each tile together.

To make a polished look, we wanted the tile to be flat against any surface that it may come into contact. We trimmed the edges on some, and on others, we cut smaller triangular tiles that we would fit between any gaps. Once we had everything cut and laid out on the floor we began to lay the tile.

Step 6: Lay the tile

Lay the tile in small sections at a time. Scoop the mortar (we used pre-made mortar that came in a tub) and spread evenly to where one tile piece will be laid. Avoid spreading the mortar into larger areas as it may dry before you lay the tile. Firmly press tile into mortar.

Spread the mortar evenly across the cement backer, using the ribbed edge of the trowel to make indentions into the mortar. This helps with the tile sticking to the mortar. If working with herringbone tile, do not over-mortar as it will begin to rise between the spaces in the tiles. If this happens, use a rag to wipe away an excess.

For the vertical tile surrounding the actual fireplace, we began with individual tiles to make a border on the edge of the cement backer. We thought this would be a nice look and give us clean grout lines.

Once the all the tile has been laid, wipe down any excess with a clean cloth and let cure before adding grout. Wait 24-36 hours.

Step 7: Grout the tile

After the mortar has cured and is dry, begin to grout. We used Cape Gray as the color because it went well the white as well as the marble tile we were using. Mix the grout according to the box instructions, typically just adding the grout to water and mixing. We did not have a grout mixer, but a garden shovel did the job.

Once the grout is mixed, use a grout float to apply the grout at a 45° angle, ensuring you are spreading evenly between the herringbone tile. Then, once you are sure that it is spread evenly, wipe away excess using a 90° angle with the float. We tried to spread the grout with one end of the float and wipe away with the other end.

Let the grout dry for 10-15 minutes before taking a damp cloth or sponge and wiping the excess away. Wait an additional 2 hours before taking a cheesecloth or textured cloth to wipe the leftover film. Next, let the grout dry for 36-48 hours before standing or putting pressure on the tile.

Step 8: Work on the accents

Once the grout was finished curing, we moved on the columns and shiplap walls. We rebuilt the columns to make them more similar to the hearth. We used a base of plywood with foot moulding on the top and bottom. Then, we added the lattice trim down the sides for a coherent look. We used ¾ in. nails and Loctite to adhere all these pieces.

Once the pieces were dry and ready to be mounted, we used Loctite and nails to remount the columns under the mantle and along the vertical tile. We closed any gaps with caulk. Once the columns were securely in place, we used the same Behr – Ultra Pure White paint to match the hearth box.

Step 9: Add faux shiplap

This was the final step for us. The fireplace and hearth itself, was complete, but we wanted to tie the room together with something else. We chose to do faux shiplap as we had done this on a project previously.

We used a table saw to cut 5 ft. x 7.5 in. strips of underlayment plywood. When mounting the plywood, we used nickels to keep spacing consistent, and nailed the plywood into the studs along the drywall. We had to maneuver around a window, but we were able to cut the plywood as needed.

Once the shiplap boards were mounted, the last piece we needed was trim. We used ceiling trim at the top, and moulding trim along the sides. This tied together the trim that we used on the columns for a cohesive look. The last piece we did was painting, using the same Behr paint.

Final Reveal

Our originally dark fireplace resulted in a bright fresh and white more modern farmhouse looking fireplace and we are thrilled with it! We enjoyed giving this tile fireplace makeover and hope this tutorial was helpful! Replacing tile is a time-consuming process as there are a number of steps where you need to wait for adhesives to dry, but other aspects of the makeover helped us pass the time. Let us know what you think!

Shop tile backsplashes at The Home Depot. Check out other Fireplace Ideas on The Home Depot Blog to get inspiration for your tile fireplace makeover.

The post How to Brighten Up a Room with a Fireplace Makeover appeared first on The Home Depot Blog.

from Roofing Pro http://ift.tt/2HV6RFY Curated by a professional Roofing Contractor from Blogger http://ift.tt/2HU0fYF via RoofingProToday

[homewoodpage]

The Long-Neglected Upstairs Bath

Three years ago I had a great idea. An idea that was mostly driven by my desire to have one bathroom in this house that contained a tub suitable for soaking.

Anyone remember this tub (with an effing fireplace?!) from my last house?

Yeah. Me too. With pain in my heart every time I think about it.

This house has three full bathrooms, and, for the first 3 years I lived here, zero working bathtubs. I mean, there was one, kinda, but if you put more than 6” of water in it it started to leak… and it also had iron stains that made it look like someone had previously been dismembered in there.

  So, back to my great idea. Three years ago I decided to do a “quick” overhaul of the upstairs bathroom. In my mind that meant taking out the old tub (which meant the old tile had to come out too) then putting in a new tub, re-tiling the floor, and maybe a coat of paint. Voila! Done! Right?

Ha. Hahaha.

Yeah, no.

What actually happened was that I tore up the tile and realized the toilet had been leaking into the subfloor for the last twenty-ish years…

I mean. I could have picked any hobby in the world. I could have been a person who golfs. But no. I had to pick the one that means I’ve spent more hours of my life then I care to think about scraping up subfloor that has been rotted and soaked through with sewer water.

Sigh.

After the trauma with the subfloor and my desire not to spend any more time in that room, it took me a whole year to finally tile the shower surround (and only got it done because Sarah–from the Ugly Duckling House–came to visit and got my ass in gear)…

Then I had a failed attempt at leveling the floor, and finally just said “screw it” because you can, in fact, use a bathtub that only has a raw pipe as the faucet in a bathroom that has a plywood floor…

And then, guys, I just straight-up ignored this room for the last couple of years. I mean, literally every time I woke up in the middle of the night and had to pee, and then had to walk downstairs and to the opposite end of the house… at those times I was keenly aware of my failure to get the upstairs bath finished. But otherwise I mostly just avoided the idea of finishing this room.

I probably would have gone on that way for another year but when my mom was up at the house for Christmas and I was talking about my 2018 projects, she gently steered the conversation in the direction of the upstairs bath. Like, she might of mentioned how much my quality of life would be improved by having a working bathroom upstairs, and then didn’t say anything else about it until she showed up at the farm every weekend for the last 2 months with a bottle of wine and innocently asked what we’d be working on in the bathroom that day.

Moms. Amirite?

She gets all the credit for the progress I’ve made on this room so far.

First, I tore out my previous, unsuccessful attempt at leveling the floor. Then I cleaned and primed the subfloor (and drank some wine.)

I’d been very leery about using a pour-on self-lever for a lot of reasons, mostly involving prep, but I figured I couldn’t have made a worse mess than my first attempt, so used a spray foam insulation to seal any gaps between the old plaster walls and the framing, and rigged up a cardboard “seal” around the toilet plumbing.

Then we went for broke and poured the first coat of self-leveler. Mom was chief in charge of mixing…

While I poured the leveler and worked the float.

One of the many joys of a 170 year old house is that this bathroom floor was ¾” off-level over a 3-foot run of floor. Which is to say, it required a second coat of leveler the next weekend.

Because I let it sit for a week before putting the second coat on I needed to re-prime the surface (aka drink more wine)…

But after a second coat of leveler, we got there. (Or, close enough to there.)

Here’s the new floor, pre-tile:

Once the floor was mostly level I installed Schuler DITRA underlayment, and then started with the tile.

(Also, you can add “tile saw” to the list of tools my mom now knows how to use, since I conscripted her in to being the Chief Tile Cutter for this project.)

I bought this tile three years ago, when I thought this project was going to take a couple of weekends. (I know, I know, keep laughing.) At the time I thought I might try a herringbone pattern with these 8×24 tiles, but the day I was going to start laying tile both my mom and my grandma were up at the farm helping with some other projects, and when I mentioned the herringbone idea they both gave me a look that can best be translated as “are you out of your effing mind?”

And, you know, good point. It’s been three years. The last thing I need to do is make this more difficult.

So I just ran the tile straight, and they actually look great that way. It’s a lesson in 1.) don’t make things harder than they need to be, and 2.) always listen to your mom and grandma.

It’s actually been a solid seven years since I’ve had occasion to tile a floor. (Pretty sure this was the last one. [LINK]). In the intervening years there’s been an explosion of younger, awesome tradesmen who use instagram as a platform to share their work. I’ve been following @tilefreak for a couple of years, which is how I learned about the Perfect Levelmaster T-Lock system…

They aren’t cheap, but The idea made a lot of sense to me and I wanted to check them out. Because I follow the tile guys I know that you have to be very conscientious about backbuttering and having enough mud under the tiles. It didn’t make it easier to lay the tile, but I think the floor is probably the best one I’ve ever done because of it.

Once the tile was in, it was time to address one of the biggest issues in this bathroom… the plumbing.

(That’s the view looking up from the closet in my home gym, which already had the ceiling torn out from the previous leaking.)

The old toilet had been leaking because the flange for the toilet was set below the tile floor (I assume a product of needing to raise the floor so much to level it.). You can see in this picture, the wax ring was barely dented and wasn’t providing a great seal.

I cut out the old flange before leveling the floor, and now that the new tile was in I was set to replace the old soil pipe with a new one.

Here’s a thing I love about my life these days. I have a tool for everything. Need to cut a PVC pipe in a tiny space? I’ve got the saw for that. Need to drill a hole through tile? I’ve got a bit for that. Need to open cans of Oatey PVC primer and cement that I literally cannot untwist the lids from? I legit have a designated can opener FOR JUST THIS REASON.

(P.S. Oatey? If people have a designated can opener just to open your shit, maybe you’ve got a packaging problem? Just sayin.)

But, despite all the tools needed, at the end of the day I had a well-installed toilet flange.

And, even better, a few days later…

A WORKING TOILET.

I realize that shouldn’t be so exciting, but seriously, it’s been three years. And I have a working toilet.

Also, this is actually a toilet that Delta Faucet sent me 4 years ago to review, so… this is why I don’t do product reviews anymore.

I don’t think that after 4 years you can legitimately call this a “sponsored” product (I’m not sure they even make this model of toilet anymore, but they do make other ones.) I will say that one thing I consistently love about Delta faucets–AND this toilet–is the integrated plumbing. Their faucets hook right into the water valve and the same is true of the toilet, which made it a quick and easy install.

So, here’s the awesome thing…

My upstairs bath now has:

A working bathtub

Working sinks

A working toilet

It’s pretty much a working bathroom, you guys!

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s still very much not-finished.

I’ve got an ugly fan/light to replace…

Some drywall to patch where I had the old awkwardly-placed outlets moved…

Plus a few spots above the shower…

Here’s the current to-do list, as it stands:

Tear out closet and patch drywall

Re-face cabinets 

Level, tile, and grout floor 

Tile tub surround 

Patch ceiling 

Move outlets and patch all drywall 

Replace plumbing and install toilet 

Caulk tub and toilet

Paint radiator

Paint ceiling and touch-up walls

Install baseboard

Install new light fixtures and switches

Add cabinet “feet”

Finish tub plumbing for working shower

Get and hang mirrors

Get hutch for storage

Install shelving, towel racks, etc.

And then getting the plumbing finalized so the tub has a faucet (and working shower), and putting baseboard in, plus replacing the light in the shower, and figuring out why the other one in the old closet area won’t turn on…

And then there’s a ceiling to paint, and walls to touch-up, mirrors to buy and hang, and a hutch to find to replace the bulky closet I tore out.

It’s not exactly “close” to being done, but it’s very close to being functional, which is really what counts around here.

Who knows… if my mom brings up enough wine I might even get the kitchen done this year?

I mean. Don’t hold your breath though.

The Long-Neglected Upstairs Bath syndicated from https://chaisesofassite.wordpress.com/

[sureyhny]

The Long-Neglected Upstairs Bath

Three years ago I had a great idea. An idea that was mostly driven by my desire to have one bathroom in this house that contained a tub suitable for soaking.

Anyone remember this tub (with an effing fireplace?!) from my last house?

Yeah. Me too. With pain in my heart every time I think about it.

This house has three full bathrooms, and, for the first 3 years I lived here, zero working bathtubs. I mean, there was one, kinda, but if you put more than 6” of water in it it started to leak… and it also had iron stains that made it look like someone had previously been dismembered in there.

  So, back to my great idea. Three years ago I decided to do a “quick” overhaul of the upstairs bathroom. In my mind that meant taking out the old tub (which meant the old tile had to come out too) then putting in a new tub, re-tiling the floor, and maybe a coat of paint. Voila! Done! Right?

Ha. Hahaha.

Yeah, no.

What actually happened was that I tore up the tile and realized the toilet had been leaking into the subfloor for the last twenty-ish years…

I mean. I could have picked any hobby in the world. I could have been a person who golfs. But no. I had to pick the one that means I’ve spent more hours of my life then I care to think about scraping up subfloor that has been rotted and soaked through with sewer water.

Sigh.

After the trauma with the subfloor and my desire not to spend any more time in that room, it took me a whole year to finally tile the shower surround (and only got it done because Sarah–from the Ugly Duckling House–came to visit and got my ass in gear)…

Then I had a failed attempt at leveling the floor, and finally just said “screw it” because you can, in fact, use a bathtub that only has a raw pipe as the faucet in a bathroom that has a plywood floor…

And then, guys, I just straight-up ignored this room for the last couple of years. I mean, literally every time I woke up in the middle of the night and had to pee, and then had to walk downstairs and to the opposite end of the house… at those times I was keenly aware of my failure to get the upstairs bath finished. But otherwise I mostly just avoided the idea of finishing this room.

I probably would have gone on that way for another year but when my mom was up at the house for Christmas and I was talking about my 2018 projects, she gently steered the conversation in the direction of the upstairs bath. Like, she might of mentioned how much my quality of life would be improved by having a working bathroom upstairs, and then didn’t say anything else about it until she showed up at the farm every weekend for the last 2 months with a bottle of wine and innocently asked what we’d be working on in the bathroom that day.

Moms. Amirite?

She gets all the credit for the progress I’ve made on this room so far.

First, I tore out my previous, unsuccessful attempt at leveling the floor. Then I cleaned and primed the subfloor (and drank some wine.)

I’d been very leery about using a pour-on self-lever for a lot of reasons, mostly involving prep, but I figured I couldn’t have made a worse mess than my first attempt, so used a spray foam insulation to seal any gaps between the old plaster walls and the framing, and rigged up a cardboard “seal” around the toilet plumbing.

Then we went for broke and poured the first coat of self-leveler. Mom was chief in charge of mixing…

While I poured the leveler and worked the float.

One of the many joys of a 170 year old house is that this bathroom floor was ¾” off-level over a 3-foot run of floor. Which is to say, it required a second coat of leveler the next weekend.

Because I let it sit for a week before putting the second coat on I needed to re-prime the surface (aka drink more wine)…

But after a second coat of leveler, we got there. (Or, close enough to there.)

Here’s the new floor, pre-tile:

Once the floor was mostly level I installed Schuler DITRA underlayment, and then started with the tile.

(Also, you can add “tile saw” to the list of tools my mom now knows how to use, since I conscripted her in to being the Chief Tile Cutter for this project.)

I bought this tile three years ago, when I thought this project was going to take a couple of weekends. (I know, I know, keep laughing.) At the time I thought I might try a herringbone pattern with these 8×24 tiles, but the day I was going to start laying tile both my mom and my grandma were up at the farm helping with some other projects, and when I mentioned the herringbone idea they both gave me a look that can best be translated as “are you out of your effing mind?”

And, you know, good point. It’s been three years. The last thing I need to do is make this more difficult.

So I just ran the tile straight, and they actually look great that way. It’s a lesson in 1.) don’t make things harder than they need to be, and 2.) always listen to your mom and grandma.

It’s actually been a solid seven years since I’ve had occasion to tile a floor. (Pretty sure this was the last one. [LINK]). In the intervening years there’s been an explosion of younger, awesome tradesmen who use instagram as a platform to share their work. I’ve been following @tilefreak for a couple of years, which is how I learned about the Perfect Levelmaster T-Lock system…

They aren’t cheap, but The idea made a lot of sense to me and I wanted to check them out. Because I follow the tile guys I know that you have to be very conscientious about backbuttering and having enough mud under the tiles. It didn’t make it easier to lay the tile, but I think the floor is probably the best one I’ve ever done because of it.

Once the tile was in, it was time to address one of the biggest issues in this bathroom… the plumbing.

(That’s the view looking up from the closet in my home gym, which already had the ceiling torn out from the previous leaking.)

The old toilet had been leaking because the flange for the toilet was set below the tile floor (I assume a product of needing to raise the floor so much to level it.). You can see in this picture, the wax ring was barely dented and wasn’t providing a great seal.

I cut out the old flange before leveling the floor, and now that the new tile was in I was set to replace the old soil pipe with a new one.

Here’s a thing I love about my life these days. I have a tool for everything. Need to cut a PVC pipe in a tiny space? I���ve got the saw for that. Need to drill a hole through tile? I’ve got a bit for that. Need to open cans of Oatey PVC primer and cement that I literally cannot untwist the lids from? I legit have a designated can opener FOR JUST THIS REASON.

(P.S. Oatey? If people have a designated can opener just to open your shit, maybe you’ve got a packaging problem? Just sayin.)

But, despite all the tools needed, at the end of the day I had a well-installed toilet flange.

And, even better, a few days later…

A WORKING TOILET.

I realize that shouldn’t be so exciting, but seriously, it’s been three years. And I have a working toilet.

Also, this is actually a toilet that Delta Faucet sent me 4 years ago to review, so… this is why I don’t do product reviews anymore.

I don’t think that after 4 years you can legitimately call this a “sponsored” product (I’m not sure they even make this model of toilet anymore, but they do make other ones.) I will say that one thing I consistently love about Delta faucets–AND this toilet–is the integrated plumbing. Their faucets hook right into the water valve and the same is true of the toilet, which made it a quick and easy install.

So, here’s the awesome thing…

My upstairs bath now has:

A working bathtub

Working sinks

A working toilet

It’s pretty much a working bathroom, you guys!

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s still very much not-finished.

I’ve got an ugly fan/light to replace…

Some drywall to patch where I had the old awkwardly-placed outlets moved…

Plus a few spots above the shower…

Here’s the current to-do list, as it stands:

Tear out closet and patch drywall

Re-face cabinets 

Level, tile, and grout floor 

Tile tub surround 

Patch ceiling 

Move outlets and patch all drywall 

Replace plumbing and install toilet 

Caulk tub and toilet

Paint radiator

Paint ceiling and touch-up walls

Install baseboard

Install new light fixtures and switches

Add cabinet “feet”

Finish tub plumbing for working shower

Get and hang mirrors

Get hutch for storage

Install shelving, towel racks, etc.

And then getting the plumbing finalized so the tub has a faucet (and working shower), and putting baseboard in, plus replacing the light in the shower, and figuring out why the other one in the old closet area won’t turn on…

And then there’s a ceiling to paint, and walls to touch-up, mirrors to buy and hang, and a hutch to find to replace the bulky closet I tore out.

It’s not exactly “close” to being done, but it’s very close to being functional, which is really what counts around here.

Who knows… if my mom brings up enough wine I might even get the kitchen done this year?

I mean. Don’t hold your breath though.

from Home Improvement http://diydiva.net/2018/02/the-long-neglected-upstairs-bath/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[prouxvaire]

The Long-Neglected Upstairs Bath

Three years ago I had a great idea. An idea that was mostly driven by my desire to have one bathroom in this house that contained a tub suitable for soaking.

Anyone remember this tub (with an effing fireplace?!) from my last house?

Yeah. Me too. With pain in my heart every time I think about it.

This house has three full bathrooms, and, for the first 3 years I lived here, zero working bathtubs. I mean, there was one, kinda, but if you put more than 6” of water in it it started to leak… and it also had iron stains that made it look like someone had previously been dismembered in there.

  So, back to my great idea. Three years ago I decided to do a “quick” overhaul of the upstairs bathroom. In my mind that meant taking out the old tub (which meant the old tile had to come out too) then putting in a new tub, re-tiling the floor, and maybe a coat of paint. Voila! Done! Right?

Ha. Hahaha.

Yeah, no.

What actually happened was that I tore up the tile and realized the toilet had been leaking into the subfloor for the last twenty-ish years…

I mean. I could have picked any hobby in the world. I could have been a person who golfs. But no. I had to pick the one that means I’ve spent more hours of my life then I care to think about scraping up subfloor that has been rotted and soaked through with sewer water.

Sigh.

After the trauma with the subfloor and my desire not to spend any more time in that room, it took me a whole year to finally tile the shower surround (and only got it done because Sarah–from the Ugly Duckling House–came to visit and got my ass in gear)…

Then I had a failed attempt at leveling the floor, and finally just said “screw it” because you can, in fact, use a bathtub that only has a raw pipe as the faucet in a bathroom that has a plywood floor…

And then, guys, I just straight-up ignored this room for the last couple of years. I mean, literally every time I woke up in the middle of the night and had to pee, and then had to walk downstairs and to the opposite end of the house… at those times I was keenly aware of my failure to get the upstairs bath finished. But otherwise I mostly just avoided the idea of finishing this room.

I probably would have gone on that way for another year but when my mom was up at the house for Christmas and I was talking about my 2018 projects, she gently steered the conversation in the direction of the upstairs bath. Like, she might of mentioned how much my quality of life would be improved by having a working bathroom upstairs, and then didn’t say anything else about it until she showed up at the farm every weekend for the last 2 months with a bottle of wine and innocently asked what we’d be working on in the bathroom that day.

Moms. Amirite?

She gets all the credit for the progress I’ve made on this room so far.

First, I tore out my previous, unsuccessful attempt at leveling the floor. Then I cleaned and primed the subfloor (and drank some wine.)

I’d been very leery about using a pour-on self-lever for a lot of reasons, mostly involving prep, but I figured I couldn’t have made a worse mess than my first attempt, so used a spray foam insulation to seal any gaps between the old plaster walls and the framing, and rigged up a cardboard “seal” around the toilet plumbing.

Then we went for broke and poured the first coat of self-leveler. Mom was chief in charge of mixing…

While I poured the leveler and worked the float.

One of the many joys of a 170 year old house is that this bathroom floor was ¾” off-level over a 3-foot run of floor. Which is to say, it required a second coat of leveler the next weekend.

Because I let it sit for a week before putting the second coat on I needed to re-prime the surface (aka drink more wine)…

But after a second coat of leveler, we got there. (Or, close enough to there.)

Here’s the new floor, pre-tile:

Once the floor was mostly level I installed Schuler DITRA underlayment, and then started with the tile.

(Also, you can add “tile saw” to the list of tools my mom now knows how to use, since I conscripted her in to being the Chief Tile Cutter for this project.)

I bought this tile three years ago, when I thought this project was going to take a couple of weekends. (I know, I know, keep laughing.) At the time I thought I might try a herringbone pattern with these 8×24 tiles, but the day I was going to start laying tile both my mom and my grandma were up at the farm helping with some other projects, and when I mentioned the herringbone idea they both gave me a look that can best be translated as “are you out of your effing mind?”

And, you know, good point. It’s been three years. The last thing I need to do is make this more difficult.

So I just ran the tile straight, and they actually look great that way. It’s a lesson in 1.) don’t make things harder than they need to be, and 2.) always listen to your mom and grandma.

It’s actually been a solid seven years since I’ve had occasion to tile a floor. (Pretty sure this was the last one. [LINK]). In the intervening years there’s been an explosion of younger, awesome tradesmen who use instagram as a platform to share their work. I’ve been following @tilefreak for a couple of years, which is how I learned about the Perfect Levelmaster T-Lock system…

They aren’t cheap, but The idea made a lot of sense to me and I wanted to check them out. Because I follow the tile guys I know that you have to be very conscientious about backbuttering and having enough mud under the tiles. It didn’t make it easier to lay the tile, but I think the floor is probably the best one I’ve ever done because of it.

Once the tile was in, it was time to address one of the biggest issues in this bathroom… the plumbing.

(That’s the view looking up from the closet in my home gym, which already had the ceiling torn out from the previous leaking.)

The old toilet had been leaking because the flange for the toilet was set below the tile floor (I assume a product of needing to raise the floor so much to level it.). You can see in this picture, the wax ring was barely dented and wasn’t providing a great seal.

I cut out the old flange before leveling the floor, and now that the new tile was in I was set to replace the old soil pipe with a new one.

Here’s a thing I love about my life these days. I have a tool for everything. Need to cut a PVC pipe in a tiny space? I’ve got the saw for that. Need to drill a hole through tile? I’ve got a bit for that. Need to open cans of Oatey PVC primer and cement that I literally cannot untwist the lids from? I legit have a designated can opener FOR JUST THIS REASON.

(P.S. Oatey? If people have a designated can opener just to open your shit, maybe you’ve got a packaging problem? Just sayin.)

But, despite all the tools needed, at the end of the day I had a well-installed toilet flange.

And, even better, a few days later…

A WORKING TOILET.

I realize that shouldn’t be so exciting, but seriously, it’s been three years. And I have a working toilet.

Also, this is actually a toilet that Delta Faucet sent me 4 years ago to review, so… this is why I don’t do product reviews anymore.

I don’t think that after 4 years you can legitimately call this a “sponsored” product (I’m not sure they even make this model of toilet anymore, but they do make other ones.) I will say that one thing I consistently love about Delta faucets–AND this toilet–is the integrated plumbing. Their faucets hook right into the water valve and the same is true of the toilet, which made it a quick and easy install.

So, here’s the awesome thing…

My upstairs bath now has:

A working bathtub

Working sinks

A working toilet

It’s pretty much a working bathroom, you guys!

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s still very much not-finished.

I’ve got an ugly fan/light to replace…

Some drywall to patch where I had the old awkwardly-placed outlets moved…

Plus a few spots above the shower…

Here’s the current to-do list, as it stands:

Tear out closet and patch drywall

Re-face cabinets 

Level, tile, and grout floor 

Tile tub surround 

Patch ceiling 

Move outlets and patch all drywall 

Replace plumbing and install toilet 

Caulk tub and toilet

Paint radiator

Paint ceiling and touch-up walls

Install baseboard

Install new light fixtures and switches

Add cabinet “feet”

Finish tub plumbing for working shower

Get and hang mirrors

Get hutch for storage

Install shelving, towel racks, etc.

And then getting the plumbing finalized so the tub has a faucet (and working shower), and putting baseboard in, plus replacing the light in the shower, and figuring out why the other one in the old closet area won’t turn on…

And then there’s a ceiling to paint, and walls to touch-up, mirrors to buy and hang, and a hutch to find to replace the bulky closet I tore out.

It’s not exactly “close” to being done, but it’s very close to being functional, which is really what counts around here.

Who knows… if my mom brings up enough wine I might even get the kitchen done this year?

I mean. Don’t hold your breath though.

from http://ift.tt/2ERRrnm

[cessanderson]

The Long-Neglected Upstairs Bath http://ift.tt/2ERRrnm

Three years ago I had a great idea. An idea that was mostly driven by my desire to have one bathroom in this house that contained a tub suitable for soaking.

Anyone remember this tub (with an effing fireplace?!) from my last house?

Yeah. Me too. With pain in my heart every time I think about it.

This house has three full bathrooms, and, for the first 3 years I lived here, zero working bathtubs. I mean, there was one, kinda, but if you put more than 6” of water in it it started to leak… and it also had iron stains that made it look like someone had previously been dismembered in there.

  So, back to my great idea. Three years ago I decided to do a “quick” overhaul of the upstairs bathroom. In my mind that meant taking out the old tub (which meant the old tile had to come out too) then putting in a new tub, re-tiling the floor, and maybe a coat of paint. Voila! Done! Right?

Ha. Hahaha.

Yeah, no.

What actually happened was that I tore up the tile and realized the toilet had been leaking into the subfloor for the last twenty-ish years…

I mean. I could have picked any hobby in the world. I could have been a person who golfs. But no. I had to pick the one that means I’ve spent more hours of my life then I care to think about scraping up subfloor that has been rotted and soaked through with sewer water.

Sigh.

After the trauma with the subfloor and my desire not to spend any more time in that room, it took me a whole year to finally tile the shower surround (and only got it done because Sarah–from the Ugly Duckling House–came to visit and got my ass in gear)…

Then I had a failed attempt at leveling the floor, and finally just said “screw it” because you can, in fact, use a bathtub that only has a raw pipe as the faucet in a bathroom that has a plywood floor…

And then, guys, I just straight-up ignored this room for the last couple of years. I mean, literally every time I woke up in the middle of the night and had to pee, and then had to walk downstairs and to the opposite end of the house… at those times I was keenly aware of my failure to get the upstairs bath finished. But otherwise I mostly just avoided the idea of finishing this room.

I probably would have gone on that way for another year but when my mom was up at the house for Christmas and I was talking about my 2018 projects, she gently steered the conversation in the direction of the upstairs bath. Like, she might of mentioned how much my quality of life would be improved by having a working bathroom upstairs, and then didn’t say anything else about it until she showed up at the farm every weekend for the last 2 months with a bottle of wine and innocently asked what we’d be working on in the bathroom that day.

Moms. Amirite?

She gets all the credit for the progress I’ve made on this room so far.

First, I tore out my previous, unsuccessful attempt at leveling the floor. Then I cleaned and primed the subfloor (and drank some wine.)

I’d been very leery about using a pour-on self-lever for a lot of reasons, mostly involving prep, but I figured I couldn’t have made a worse mess than my first attempt, so used a spray foam insulation to seal any gaps between the old plaster walls and the framing, and rigged up a cardboard “seal” around the toilet plumbing.

Then we went for broke and poured the first coat of self-leveler. Mom was chief in charge of mixing…

While I poured the leveler and worked the float.

One of the many joys of a 170 year old house is that this bathroom floor was ¾” off-level over a 3-foot run of floor. Which is to say, it required a second coat of leveler the next weekend.

Because I let it sit for a week before putting the second coat on I needed to re-prime the surface (aka drink more wine)…

But after a second coat of leveler, we got there. (Or, close enough to there.)

Here’s the new floor, pre-tile:

Once the floor was mostly level I installed Schuler DITRA underlayment, and then started with the tile.

(Also, you can add “tile saw” to the list of tools my mom now knows how to use, since I conscripted her in to being the Chief Tile Cutter for this project.)

I bought this tile three years ago, when I thought this project was going to take a couple of weekends. (I know, I know, keep laughing.) At the time I thought I might try a herringbone pattern with these 8×24 tiles, but the day I was going to start laying tile both my mom and my grandma were up at the farm helping with some other projects, and when I mentioned the herringbone idea they both gave me a look that can best be translated as “are you out of your effing mind?”

And, you know, good point. It’s been three years. The last thing I need to do is make this more difficult.

So I just ran the tile straight, and they actually look great that way. It’s a lesson in 1.) don’t make things harder than they need to be, and 2.) always listen to your mom and grandma.

It’s actually been a solid seven years since I’ve had occasion to tile a floor. (Pretty sure this was the last one. [LINK]). In the intervening years there’s been an explosion of younger, awesome tradesmen who use instagram as a platform to share their work. I’ve been following @tilefreak for a couple of years, which is how I learned about the Perfect Levelmaster T-Lock system…

They aren’t cheap, but The idea made a lot of sense to me and I wanted to check them out. Because I follow the tile guys I know that you have to be very conscientious about backbuttering and having enough mud under the tiles. It didn’t make it easier to lay the tile, but I think the floor is probably the best one I’ve ever done because of it.

Once the tile was in, it was time to address one of the biggest issues in this bathroom… the plumbing.

(That’s the view looking up from the closet in my home gym, which already had the ceiling torn out from the previous leaking.)

The old toilet had been leaking because the flange for the toilet was set below the tile floor (I assume a product of needing to raise the floor so much to level it.). You can see in this picture, the wax ring was barely dented and wasn’t providing a great seal.

I cut out the old flange before leveling the floor, and now that the new tile was in I was set to replace the old soil pipe with a new one.

Here’s a thing I love about my life these days. I have a tool for everything. Need to cut a PVC pipe in a tiny space? I’ve got the saw for that. Need to drill a hole through tile? I’ve got a bit for that. Need to open cans of Oatey PVC primer and cement that I literally cannot untwist the lids from? I legit have a designated can opener FOR JUST THIS REASON.

(P.S. Oatey? If people have a designated can opener just to open your shit, maybe you’ve got a packaging problem? Just sayin.)

But, despite all the tools needed, at the end of the day I had a well-installed toilet flange.

And, even better, a few days later…

A WORKING TOILET.

I realize that shouldn’t be so exciting, but seriously, it’s been three years. And I have a working toilet.

Also, this is actually a toilet that Delta Faucet sent me 4 years ago to review, so… this is why I don’t do product reviews anymore.

I don’t think that after 4 years you can legitimately call this a “sponsored” product (I’m not sure they even make this model of toilet anymore, but they do make other ones.) I will say that one thing I consistently love about Delta faucets–AND this toilet–is the integrated plumbing. Their faucets hook right into the water valve and the same is true of the toilet, which made it a quick and easy install.

So, here’s the awesome thing…

My upstairs bath now has:

A working bathtub

Working sinks

A working toilet

It’s pretty much a working bathroom, you guys!

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s still very much not-finished.

I’ve got an ugly fan/light to replace…

Some drywall to patch where I had the old awkwardly-placed outlets moved…

Plus a few spots above the shower…

Here’s the current to-do list, as it stands:

Tear out closet and patch drywall

Re-face cabinets 

Level, tile, and grout floor 

Tile tub surround 

Patch ceiling 

Move outlets and patch all drywall 

Replace plumbing and install toilet 

Caulk tub and toilet

Paint radiator

Paint ceiling and touch-up walls

Install baseboard

Install new light fixtures and switches

Add cabinet “feet”

Finish tub plumbing for working shower

Get and hang mirrors

Get hutch for storage

Install shelving, towel racks, etc.

And then getting the plumbing finalized so the tub has a faucet (and working shower), and putting baseboard in, plus replacing the light in the shower, and figuring out why the other one in the old closet area won’t turn on…

And then there’s a ceiling to paint, and walls to touch-up, mirrors to buy and hang, and a hutch to find to replace the bulky closet I tore out.

It’s not exactly “close” to being done, but it’s very close to being functional, which is really what counts around here.

Who knows… if my mom brings up enough wine I might even get the kitchen done this year?

I mean. Don’t hold your breath though.

Kit

[darensmurray]

The Long-Neglected Upstairs Bath

Three years ago I had a great idea. An idea that was mostly driven by my desire to have one bathroom in this house that contained a tub suitable for soaking.

Anyone remember this tub (with an effing fireplace?!) from my last house?

Yeah. Me too. With pain in my heart every time I think about it.

This house has three full bathrooms, and, for the first 3 years I lived here, zero working bathtubs. I mean, there was one, kinda, but if you put more than 6” of water in it it started to leak… and it also had iron stains that made it look like someone had previously been dismembered in there.

  So, back to my great idea. Three years ago I decided to do a “quick” overhaul of the upstairs bathroom. In my mind that meant taking out the old tub (which meant the old tile had to come out too) then putting in a new tub, re-tiling the floor, and maybe a coat of paint. Voila! Done! Right?

Ha. Hahaha.

Yeah, no.

What actually happened was that I tore up the tile and realized the toilet had been leaking into the subfloor for the last twenty-ish years…

I mean. I could have picked any hobby in the world. I could have been a person who golfs. But no. I had to pick the one that means I’ve spent more hours of my life then I care to think about scraping up subfloor that has been rotted and soaked through with sewer water.

Sigh.

After the trauma with the subfloor and my desire not to spend any more time in that room, it took me a whole year to finally tile the shower surround (and only got it done because Sarah–from the Ugly Duckling House–came to visit and got my ass in gear)…

Then I had a failed attempt at leveling the floor, and finally just said “screw it” because you can, in fact, use a bathtub that only has a raw pipe as the faucet in a bathroom that has a plywood floor…

And then, guys, I just straight-up ignored this room for the last couple of years. I mean, literally every time I woke up in the middle of the night and had to pee, and then had to walk downstairs and to the opposite end of the house… at those times I was keenly aware of my failure to get the upstairs bath finished. But otherwise I mostly just avoided the idea of finishing this room.

I probably would have gone on that way for another year but when my mom was up at the house for Christmas and I was talking about my 2018 projects, she gently steered the conversation in the direction of the upstairs bath. Like, she might of mentioned how much my quality of life would be improved by having a working bathroom upstairs, and then didn’t say anything else about it until she showed up at the farm every weekend for the last 2 months with a bottle of wine and innocently asked what we’d be working on in the bathroom that day.

Moms. Amirite?

She gets all the credit for the progress I’ve made on this room so far.

First, I tore out my previous, unsuccessful attempt at leveling the floor. Then I cleaned and primed the subfloor (and drank some wine.)

I’d been very leery about using a pour-on self-lever for a lot of reasons, mostly involving prep, but I figured I couldn’t have made a worse mess than my first attempt, so used a spray foam insulation to seal any gaps between the old plaster walls and the framing, and rigged up a cardboard “seal” around the toilet plumbing.

Then we went for broke and poured the first coat of self-leveler. Mom was chief in charge of mixing…

While I poured the leveler and worked the float.

One of the many joys of a 170 year old house is that this bathroom floor was ¾” off-level over a 3-foot run of floor. Which is to say, it required a second coat of leveler the next weekend.

Because I let it sit for a week before putting the second coat on I needed to re-prime the surface (aka drink more wine)…

But after a second coat of leveler, we got there. (Or, close enough to there.)

Here’s the new floor, pre-tile:

Once the floor was mostly level I installed Schuler DITRA underlayment, and then started with the tile.

(Also, you can add “tile saw” to the list of tools my mom now knows how to use, since I conscripted her in to being the Chief Tile Cutter for this project.)

I bought this tile three years ago, when I thought this project was going to take a couple of weekends. (I know, I know, keep laughing.) At the time I thought I might try a herringbone pattern with these 8×24 tiles, but the day I was going to start laying tile both my mom and my grandma were up at the farm helping with some other projects, and when I mentioned the herringbone idea they both gave me a look that can best be translated as “are you out of your effing mind?”

And, you know, good point. It’s been three years. The last thing I need to do is make this more difficult.

So I just ran the tile straight, and they actually look great that way. It’s a lesson in 1.) don’t make things harder than they need to be, and 2.) always listen to your mom and grandma.

It’s actually been a solid seven years since I’ve had occasion to tile a floor. (Pretty sure this was the last one. [LINK]). In the intervening years there’s been an explosion of younger, awesome tradesmen who use instagram as a platform to share their work. I’ve been following @tilefreak for a couple of years, which is how I learned about the Perfect Levelmaster T-Lock system…

They aren’t cheap, but The idea made a lot of sense to me and I wanted to check them out. Because I follow the tile guys I know that you have to be very conscientious about backbuttering and having enough mud under the tiles. It didn’t make it easier to lay the tile, but I think the floor is probably the best one I’ve ever done because of it.

Once the tile was in, it was time to address one of the biggest issues in this bathroom… the plumbing.

(That’s the view looking up from the closet in my home gym, which already had the ceiling torn out from the previous leaking.)

The old toilet had been leaking because the flange for the toilet was set below the tile floor (I assume a product of needing to raise the floor so much to level it.). You can see in this picture, the wax ring was barely dented and wasn’t providing a great seal.

I cut out the old flange before leveling the floor, and now that the new tile was in I was set to replace the old soil pipe with a new one.

Here’s a thing I love about my life these days. I have a tool for everything. Need to cut a PVC pipe in a tiny space? I’ve got the saw for that. Need to drill a hole through tile? I’ve got a bit for that. Need to open cans of Oatey PVC primer and cement that I literally cannot untwist the lids from? I legit have a designated can opener FOR JUST THIS REASON.

(P.S. Oatey? If people have a designated can opener just to open your shit, maybe you’ve got a packaging problem? Just sayin.)

But, despite all the tools needed, at the end of the day I had a well-installed toilet flange.

And, even better, a few days later…

A WORKING TOILET.

I realize that shouldn’t be so exciting, but seriously, it’s been three years. And I have a working toilet.

Also, this is actually a toilet that Delta Faucet sent me 4 years ago to review, so… this is why I don’t do product reviews anymore.

I don’t think that after 4 years you can legitimately call this a “sponsored” product (I’m not sure they even make this model of toilet anymore, but they do make other ones.) I will say that one thing I consistently love about Delta faucets–AND this toilet–is the integrated plumbing. Their faucets hook right into the water valve and the same is true of the toilet, which made it a quick and easy install.

So, here’s the awesome thing…

My upstairs bath now has:

A working bathtub

Working sinks

A working toilet

It’s pretty much a working bathroom, you guys!

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s still very much not-finished.

I’ve got an ugly fan/light to replace…

Some drywall to patch where I had the old awkwardly-placed outlets moved…

Plus a few spots above the shower…

Here’s the current to-do list, as it stands:

Tear out closet and patch drywall

Re-face cabinets 

Level, tile, and grout floor 

Tile tub surround 

Patch ceiling 

Move outlets and patch all drywall 

Replace plumbing and install toilet 

Caulk tub and toilet

Paint radiator

Paint ceiling and touch-up walls

Install baseboard

Install new light fixtures and switches

Add cabinet “feet”

Finish tub plumbing for working shower

Get and hang mirrors

Get hutch for storage

Install shelving, towel racks, etc.

And then getting the plumbing finalized so the tub has a faucet (and working shower), and putting baseboard in, plus replacing the light in the shower, and figuring out why the other one in the old closet area won’t turn on…

And then there’s a ceiling to paint, and walls to touch-up, mirrors to buy and hang, and a hutch to find to replace the bulky closet I tore out.

It’s not exactly “close” to being done, but it’s very close to being functional, which is really what counts around here.

Who knows… if my mom brings up enough wine I might even get the kitchen done this year?

I mean. Don’t hold your breath though.

[fixerupperchic]

I’ve moved in to the cottage!

…and here I sit, among the barrage of boxes…

Seriously, this hasn’t been the smoothest move of my life, but that’s usually the case when DOWNSIZING is involved!  I DO like “my stuff”……

(interesting side note….it’s not unusual for clients to come to me, planning to downsize….but I’d estimate that 90% of the time, they reject EVERY house we see that would fulfill those wishes….people (including yours truly) do NOT like to go backwards in most things in life, including square footage, storage & stuff!)

So, for the last 3 weeks our wonderful crew has been in a race to the finish, pending my moving day!    They all worked so hard to get the messiest, ickiest, and stinkiest jobs handled before I had to spend the night here……and by stinkiest, I mean the oil-based paint we had to use on all the woodwork!

By way of explanation for those not ‘in the know’, the world of paint finishes is now blessed to have perfectly good  water-based (latex or acrylic) finishes for wood; however, if one is painting OVER existing woodwork that was originally painted with oil-based paint, one must use oil-based paint again.  (and many of us old-timers swear it’s a superior finish anyway)  WHAT IF YOU DON’T??  Well, I can speak from first-house experience on that subject:  back in the 80’s my young and energetic self painstakingly painted the kitchen cabinets in our first home a lovely white; since I had little children, I was concerned about the fumes (off-gassing) from oil -based paint, so I used the new latex enamel!  Oh, I was so  proud of myself….until the paint started peeling off in sheets a few months later.

So here’s the rule:  you can paint over water-based paint with oil-based paint, but NEVER the reverse!  You might say that ” oil trumps water” when it comes to paint.   

OK, one more woodwork detail, then I’ll show you some pictures….I’m aware that’s why you’re still here!  When we started this  fixer upper. my wonderful carpenter/builder extraordinaire, Jose Chavarrio,  quietly made the decision to  save and reuse all of the original workwork, to the extent that was possible.  Since we were doing such extensive work, that meant he had to REMOVE most of the base and  facings (the crown had been sprayed along with the ceiling when some earlier remodeler decided that popcorn ceilings would be nice !)  So he removed and stored  trim….and later removed all the old nails in the trim.  And when the day came to finally trim out the newly-remodeled rooms, he re-installled the old woodwork in all the main rooms, leaving new woodwork for the entirely new master bedroom only.   What a heroic effort that was…..and the payoff is that most of my little cottage has original woodwork, recoated with fresh oil-based paint!    (OK, just ONE MORE detail; for those inquiring minds in the crowd, we DID NOT remove the previously-popcorned crown mouldings….we simply installed a larger crown over them!)

So…disclaimers first!  None of the pictures you’re about to see are true “after” pics!  I am still solidly stuck in the unpacking phase.  But little by little, the beauty of this cottage is being revealed, and I know many of you are eager to SEE!  So that’s why I’m calling these “Sneak Peeks!”  Just know you’ll see more completely finished-out rooms soon!

Many of you saw this on Facebook….it was night, I was  too tired to unpack another box….and I just couldn’t resist!  Behind those counter stools is a MOUNTAIN of UHaul and Home Depot boxes!

As a reminder, the chandelier was originally in the living room

What’s missing?  The swinging old-door-from-Canton (had to move in the  washer/dryer first)

I had just  FINALLY removed the  plastic covering from the quartz countertops for the first time minutes before…this lovely 7′ island had been a handy horizontal surface for tools, caulk, sandpaper, stray mouldings, etc….for weeks!

The flowers?  YES, I DID move on my 60th birthday!  Thanks, my friend!

And just a quick reminder of where this view started…

          Here’s a current view of the hall bath…

And a reminder of what we started with…

I’m loving my new home office!  And look!  I haven’t even had time to mess up the desk yet!

(Something tells me Ballard Designs didn’t have a dog bed in mind for that particular cabinet, but Kobe claimed it long ago; he keeps watch while I work!)

  A few scenes from the new Master Bath….

     And once again, a reminder from whence it came:

The window was removed; the walk-in shower is now in that corner

The door was moved to the left a few feet; the tub-to-die-for now sits there

Everything….EVERYTHING else about this room….changed!

Now I want to share a detail that is hard to illustrate (due to the difficulty of photographing a light fixture while it’s ON!)

This hall light fixture is original to the house; we changed nothing about it, unless you want to count using LED bulbs so I never ever have to bother changing them:

When you look down the hall from the living room towards the master bedroom….

….you see a consistency of light…but it’s not until you enter the master bath that you see why…..I LOVE this new fixture mirroring the old!

OK, so…about that old blue door I love so so much….first, would you even believe me if I told you that I bought the interior paint WEEKS before I finally found “the door” to use between the master bath and bedroom?!  It’s true!  (I can hardly wait to show you the bedroom side of this door, and another synchronicity of design that was totally unplanned!)

So, here is the door in the form it came to us:

I would be embarrassed to say how much I pored and pondered over what to actually DO to clean and preserve this, as well as the 2 other old doors I bought for the house.  My goal was to clean off the dirt, but preserve as much as possible of  the peely-paint, patina, and patchiness of the old doors.  After all, if I destroyed the character, what would be the point of using them in the first place?  But most treatments would, indeed, destroy what I loved about these re-purposed beauties.  Entirely true to my personality, I came up with the solution literally the night before the day I HAD to do something to the doors.   (if any of my old teachers were reading this, they’d be seriously rolling their eyes right now; I have ALWAYS tackled important projects just prior to the deadline! )

Harsh detergents would wash off the paint; a wire brush or sandpaper would remove the crazing and certainly any about-to-peel patches; sandpaper would leave fine particles in the ridges created by old joints and slight peels; any ‘clear coat’ would yellow or buckle, and shine too much (even if matte finish).

 So here are the 3 doors AFTER treatment (wish I’d thought to photograph the reverse sides too!)  And here is what I did:

I brushed down each door, both sides, with a lint-free soft mop-like hand brush (think feather duster with fat dust-resistant soft fabric loops)  That removed loose dust.

Then I gently washed each with a soft sponge and a solution of mild dish detergent in a bucket of water.  I was super-pleased with how much dirt I was able to remove without harming the finishes!)

Next I used a soft white cloth to rub in a mixture of orange oil and beeswax; it was painstaking work, as I had to be sure every inch of each door was “nourished” with the mixture.  The oil soaked into the dry, thirsty wood, then the soft beeswax sealed in the moisture.  The difference was subtle, but certainly noticeable!  There is a natural sheen now that the wood is nourished.

Now, the door in the middle is a little different.  There is obviously much more peeling paint on this one; given the age, it is likely to be lead-based paint chipping off.  I don’t have little ones toddling around, eager to eat cute little paint chips….but nonetheless I don’t want that door regularly ‘raining chips’.  I removed all that were loose, but since this will be the sliding door on my pantry, it’s going to be moved daily.  I am therefore going to spray a coat of clear matte sealer on this door.  I was so opposed to this, but having faced the fact that more chips are inevitable, I have decided it’s the best coarse of action.  To remind you, Jose is going to slice this door vertically, and hang ‘barn door’ style as pantry doors.  That should happen this week, and I’ll spray the finish afterwards.  

That brings me to the status of the project, which you may be wondering about:  we are all weary of the work and in need of a break in the action!  And now that I live here, I’m not crazy about having guys show up in the morning and throughout the day to “fix” something.  So all but Jose are off to other projects for now; he is staying with me this week to finish up details on the inside, such as hanging the barn doors, hanging curtain rods, installing new door hardware & keying the locks alike, finishing up the shelves for the living room built-ins, and building the 2′ “box” for the base of the black bathroom cabinet.  There are many little  details he and I will handle this week…..then Jose, too, will move on to other projects for awhile.

It is now too cool and damp to paint the exterior brick and siding; this is so disappointing, as I’m eager to have it sporting it’s new white finish!  But we really need a consistent week of warm, dry weather, and it’s just not predictably going to happen for awhile.  So, we will regroup and attack the exterior of the house in February or March, including landscaping.  The new garage door should be arriving any time now, so we’ll get that done, but otherwise we’re all ready for a renovation rest!

I’ll be back with more blog posts, though, as the interior gets photo-ready!  There are so many details, how-to’s and hints I’d like to share with you, so keep watching for posts!  In the meantime, please leave comments letting me know what type of posts/info/pictures you enjoy the most:  I aim to please!  

Now, as we all turn our thoughts to family, friends, food & fellowship, I want to thank each of you for sharing in my fixer upper journey; many of you have touched my life in ways you do not know….I wish for you all the happiness you can stand in the coming holidays & afterwards into 2018! 

    please don’t forget to leave me your comments below…and remember…….I’m never too busy to help your real estate referrals; I will treat each with the highest level of service!

Sneak Peeks Week! I've moved in to the cottage! ...and here I sit, among the barrage of boxes... Seriously, this hasn't been the smoothest move of my life, but that's usually the case when…

[homewoodpage]

The Long-Neglected Upstairs Bath

Three years ago I had a great idea. An idea that was mostly driven by my desire to have one bathroom in this house that contained a tub suitable for soaking.

Anyone remember this tub (with an effing fireplace?!) from my last house?

Yeah. Me too. With pain in my heart every time I think about it.

This house has three full bathrooms, and, for the first 3 years I lived here, zero working bathtubs. I mean, there was one, kinda, but if you put more than 6” of water in it it started to leak… and it also had iron stains that made it look like someone had previously been dismembered in there.

  So, back to my great idea. Three years ago I decided to do a “quick” overhaul of the upstairs bathroom. In my mind that meant taking out the old tub (which meant the old tile had to come out too) then putting in a new tub, re-tiling the floor, and maybe a coat of paint. Voila! Done! Right?

Ha. Hahaha.

Yeah, no.

What actually happened was that I tore up the tile and realized the toilet had been leaking into the subfloor for the last twenty-ish years…

I mean. I could have picked any hobby in the world. I could have been a person who golfs. But no. I had to pick the one that means I’ve spent more hours of my life then I care to think about scraping up subfloor that has been rotted and soaked through with sewer water.

Sigh.

After the trauma with the subfloor and my desire not to spend any more time in that room, it took me a whole year to finally tile the shower surround (and only got it done because Sarah–from the Ugly Duckling House–came to visit and got my ass in gear)…

Then I had a failed attempt at leveling the floor, and finally just said “screw it” because you can, in fact, use a bathtub that only has a raw pipe as the faucet in a bathroom that has a plywood floor…

And then, guys, I just straight-up ignored this room for the last couple of years. I mean, literally every time I woke up in the middle of the night and had to pee, and then had to walk downstairs and to the opposite end of the house… at those times I was keenly aware of my failure to get the upstairs bath finished. But otherwise I mostly just avoided the idea of finishing this room.

I probably would have gone on that way for another year but when my mom was up at the house for Christmas and I was talking about my 2018 projects, she gently steered the conversation in the direction of the upstairs bath. Like, she might of mentioned how much my quality of life would be improved by having a working bathroom upstairs, and then didn’t say anything else about it until she showed up at the farm every weekend for the last 2 months with a bottle of wine and innocently asked what we’d be working on in the bathroom that day.

Moms. Amirite?

She gets all the credit for the progress I’ve made on this room so far.

First, I tore out my previous, unsuccessful attempt at leveling the floor. Then I cleaned and primed the subfloor (and drank some wine.)

I’d been very leery about using a pour-on self-lever for a lot of reasons, mostly involving prep, but I figured I couldn’t have made a worse mess than my first attempt, so used a spray foam insulation to seal any gaps between the old plaster walls and the framing, and rigged up a cardboard “seal” around the toilet plumbing.

Then we went for broke and poured the first coat of self-leveler. Mom was chief in charge of mixing…

While I poured the leveler and worked the float.

One of the many joys of a 170 year old house is that this bathroom floor was ¾” off-level over a 3-foot run of floor. Which is to say, it required a second coat of leveler the next weekend.

Because I let it sit for a week before putting the second coat on I needed to re-prime the surface (aka drink more wine)…

But after a second coat of leveler, we got there. (Or, close enough to there.)

Here’s the new floor, pre-tile:

Once the floor was mostly level I installed Schuler DITRA underlayment, and then started with the tile.

(Also, you can add “tile saw” to the list of tools my mom now knows how to use, since I conscripted her in to being the Chief Tile Cutter for this project.)

I bought this tile three years ago, when I thought this project was going to take a couple of weekends. (I know, I know, keep laughing.) At the time I thought I might try a herringbone pattern with these 8×24 tiles, but the day I was going to start laying tile both my mom and my grandma were up at the farm helping with some other projects, and when I mentioned the herringbone idea they both gave me a look that can best be translated as “are you out of your effing mind?”

And, you know, good point. It’s been three years. The last thing I need to do is make this more difficult.

So I just ran the tile straight, and they actually look great that way. It’s a lesson in 1.) don’t make things harder than they need to be, and 2.) always listen to your mom and grandma.

It’s actually been a solid seven years since I’ve had occasion to tile a floor. (Pretty sure this was the last one. [LINK]). In the intervening years there’s been an explosion of younger, awesome tradesmen who use instagram as a platform to share their work. I’ve been following @tilefreak for a couple of years, which is how I learned about the Perfect Levelmaster T-Lock system…

They aren’t cheap, but The idea made a lot of sense to me and I wanted to check them out. Because I follow the tile guys I know that you have to be very conscientious about backbuttering and having enough mud under the tiles. It didn’t make it easier to lay the tile, but I think the floor is probably the best one I’ve ever done because of it.

Once the tile was in, it was time to address one of the biggest issues in this bathroom… the plumbing.

(That’s the view looking up from the closet in my home gym, which already had the ceiling torn out from the previous leaking.)

The old toilet had been leaking because the flange for the toilet was set below the tile floor (I assume a product of needing to raise the floor so much to level it.). You can see in this picture, the wax ring was barely dented and wasn’t providing a great seal.

I cut out the old flange before leveling the floor, and now that the new tile was in I was set to replace the old soil pipe with a new one.

Here’s a thing I love about my life these days. I have a tool for everything. Need to cut a PVC pipe in a tiny space? I’ve got the saw for that. Need to drill a hole through tile? I’ve got a bit for that. Need to open cans of Oatey PVC primer and cement that I literally cannot untwist the lids from? I legit have a designated can opener FOR JUST THIS REASON.

(P.S. Oatey? If people have a designated can opener just to open your shit, maybe you’ve got a packaging problem? Just sayin.)

But, despite all the tools needed, at the end of the day I had a well-installed toilet flange.

And, even better, a few days later…

A WORKING TOILET.

I realize that shouldn’t be so exciting, but seriously, it’s been three years. And I have a working toilet.

Also, this is actually a toilet that Delta Faucet sent me 4 years ago to review, so… this is why I don’t do product reviews anymore.

I don’t think that after 4 years you can legitimately call this a “sponsored” product (I’m not sure they even make this model of toilet anymore, but they do make other ones.) I will say that one thing I consistently love about Delta faucets–AND this toilet–is the integrated plumbing. Their faucets hook right into the water valve and the same is true of the toilet, which made it a quick and easy install.

So, here’s the awesome thing…

My upstairs bath now has:

A working bathtub

Working sinks

A working toilet

It’s pretty much a working bathroom, you guys!

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s still very much not-finished.

I’ve got an ugly fan/light to replace…

Some drywall to patch where I had the old awkwardly-placed outlets moved…

Plus a few spots above the shower…

Here’s the current to-do list, as it stands:

Tear out closet and patch drywall

Re-face cabinets 

Level, tile, and grout floor 

Tile tub surround 

Patch ceiling 

Move outlets and patch all drywall 

Replace plumbing and install toilet 

Caulk tub and toilet

Paint radiator

Paint ceiling and touch-up walls

Install baseboard

Install new light fixtures and switches

Add cabinet “feet”

Finish tub plumbing for working shower

Get and hang mirrors

Get hutch for storage

Install shelving, towel racks, etc.

And then getting the plumbing finalized so the tub has a faucet (and working shower), and putting baseboard in, plus replacing the light in the shower, and figuring out why the other one in the old closet area won’t turn on…

And then there’s a ceiling to paint, and walls to touch-up, mirrors to buy and hang, and a hutch to find to replace the bulky closet I tore out.

It’s not exactly “close” to being done, but it’s very close to being functional, which is really what counts around here.

Who knows… if my mom brings up enough wine I might even get the kitchen done this year?

I mean. Don’t hold your breath though.

The Long-Neglected Upstairs Bath syndicated from https://chaisesofassite.wordpress.com/