Only things remaining are some touch up and the trim work, which includes hanging the entry door since it's actually hung from the trim. We'll see how that goes shortly.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Well! I spent most of the day today installing fixtures. Got both the toilet and the sink installed, and installed the shower curtain rod as well. We now have a fully functioning bathroom again at last. The fixtures turned out great, I think. The sink looks really nice. We decided to buy a new toilet, instead of re-using our old one, mainly because the top of the old one was in pieces. Apparently it's really difficult to find tops for old toilets, and when you do, it's very expensive. The cost of the new toilet versus a new old top was $50. Tough choice.
Only things remaining are some touch up and the trim work, which includes hanging the entry door since it's actually hung from the trim. We'll see how that goes shortly.
Only things remaining are some touch up and the trim work, which includes hanging the entry door since it's actually hung from the trim. We'll see how that goes shortly.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Tile is finished!
After a long hiatus, I finally was able to get back to work on the bathroom. This session went very smoothly. Last time, I had gotten all of the tile laid out and all the cuts made, with the exception of the one surrounding the toilet flange, a large circular cutout. I had destroyed about 5 tiles trying to use the tile nippers to cut the circle before I gave up and decided that just wasn't going to happen. I really didn't want to rent a tile saw just for one cut, so last week my wife took the tile to Lowe's where we bought them and they were able to make the cut for us. They did a really nice job too. Luckily they got it on the first try too, because that was the last tile in the 5 boxes we bought.
So this weekend I only had to set the tiles and then grout. Everything went off very smoothly. No surprises, no hassles. I set the tiles saturday morning which took about an hour from mixing the thinset to cleaning everything up. Then sunday morning I grouted, which didn't even take that long. I was glad that something worked out for a change...was getting sick of the nasty work(drywall).
Here's the result:
Not too shabby, we're both really pleased with the colors of both the tile and the grout(actually the grout will turn out quite a bit lighter...it's wet in these photos...will post pics when i get a chance).
Almost there!! This weekend I'll be installing the toilet and the sink. The room will be usable again, woohoo! After that, as time permits, we'll be completing the rest of the finish work. All that remains is to do some cleanup/scraping, patch some spots in the wall that I missed with drywall mud, probably one more coat of paint, and install the trim. We'll be finished soon!
So this weekend I only had to set the tiles and then grout. Everything went off very smoothly. No surprises, no hassles. I set the tiles saturday morning which took about an hour from mixing the thinset to cleaning everything up. Then sunday morning I grouted, which didn't even take that long. I was glad that something worked out for a change...was getting sick of the nasty work(drywall).
Here's the result:
Not too shabby, we're both really pleased with the colors of both the tile and the grout(actually the grout will turn out quite a bit lighter...it's wet in these photos...will post pics when i get a chance).
Almost there!! This weekend I'll be installing the toilet and the sink. The room will be usable again, woohoo! After that, as time permits, we'll be completing the rest of the finish work. All that remains is to do some cleanup/scraping, patch some spots in the wall that I missed with drywall mud, probably one more coat of paint, and install the trim. We'll be finished soon!
Monday, December 04, 2006
Almost there!
Started working on the tile this weekend. I was hoping to be able to set the tiles on saturday and then grout and, if lucky, install the toilet and sink on sunday so that the room is usable again. Unfortunately that turned out to be a bit too ambitious.
Got a late start on Saturday. Most of the day was spent prepping the floor(getting all the paint and drywall mud scraped off of the subfloor), and then laying the backerboard. Cutting and fitting the backerboard was almost as much of a pain as hanging the drywall. The sheets are only 3x5, however, so they're a little more manageable. I'm using Hardiboard instead of Durock, as I read that it's a lot easier to deal with than Durock. I suppose that's true, and if so, I'd really hate to deal with durock. Only bad thing about Hardiboard is that it contains a lot of silica, which apparently has been found to cause cancer if exposed to a lot of the dust. Because of that they tell you not to use any power tools to work with it, nor anything that will generate a lot of dust(read saws). The good old score and snap was pretty much all I had to work with. That works well for 90% of the cuts I had to make, but there were a few places(around the closet) where I broke down and just used a saw to cut some of the L-shaped cuts to get around the wall. All in all, it wasn't TOO bad...just fairly time consuming.
By the time I was finished with that it was 6pm and time for the SEC championship. Awesome game, btw... If you didn't catch it, AR gave FL a good run for their money, but FL stepped up and showed them who was boss. Really interesting play calling too...Florida fakes a punt from their own 30 to convert a 10 yard 4th down. Completely unexpected. Lol, and it turns out that 5 people threw passes for big yardage, 4 for TDs. It was like they were seeing who could top whom for the most unexpected play. Really exciting. Normally I wouldn't care all that much about either of these teams, but since it turned out that UCLA upset USC(woohoo!!!!), FL would have a chance at the championships if they won the SEC. They found out around halftime, and at first it looked like the news kinda shook them up. AR came out of the locker room on fire and FL couldn't answer. AR scores 2 unanswered TDs to reel in the score, and their defense has completely shut FL's offense and Leak down. But then, after a lackluster drive by FL, resulting in a 4th and short. Apparently FL is reeling so badly, they don't know what to do and have to burn their LAST timeout(this is the middle of the 3rd qtr, btw) to decide. Cooler heads prevail and they wisely decide to punt it down inside the AR 10 where the AR receiver CHOKES and fumbles the ball! Florida recovers in the AR end zone for a TD. This completely knocks the wind out of ARs sails for the rest of the game, and FL is off to the races. AR never recovers from the loss of momentum, and FL wins convincingly. Pretty amazing game. However, the play of the day(or the year for that matter) was UCLA LB Eric McNeal making a game-saving play when he deflected AND intercepted a USC pass to stop the game-winning drive by USC with 1 minute to go in the game after USC had driven down to the UCLA 20. Clutch!
Heh, I digress...So, I got the backerboard down on Saturday. Sunday I was hoping to get the tile at least set so that the next session could be grouting and installing fixtures. Unfortunately, but as usual, it took me a lot longer to get the tiles ready than I thought. I decided, since the room is so small, that I'd go ahead and just dry-fit and layout everything before setting anything. Doing this took all of my time on Sunday, but it was worth it. I think I have everything fit perfectly, and now all I have to do is mix up my thinset and start laying the tile. Cutting the tile, for the most part, wasn't TOO difficult. 90% of my cuts were all straight cuts, which I did with a score and snap cutter I rented from HD. I decided that the critical area(i.e. Full tile) was next to the tub, so that's where I started with the layout. I got lucky and this worked out great. I only had to cut 6 tiles on the exterior wall, and 6 tiles on the entrance wall. The sink wall worked out to not need to be cut. Plus, I got lucky and ended up with a full tile right in the middle of the closet doorway transition so that looks pretty smooth as well. All of the interior closet tiles were straight cuts as well. The only tough cuts were the 4 tiles that touch the closet doorway(not bad as these are basically just corner "notched") and the tiles where the toilet drain are. Two tiles intersected are the toilet drain, one covering about 20% of it, and the other covering the other 80%. I was able to use my tile nippers and "sculpt" the smaller cutout, but the one where I had to make a larger cut(the 80%) eluded me. I destroyed 5 tiles before I decided to give up and try something else. As of right now, this is the only tile that isn't finished. All the other tiles have been cut and laid out. When I went to Lowe's on Sunday before I started, I noticed they had a tile cutter set up in the tile section(like they have the pipe cutters in the pipe section..etc). I'm hoping they might be able to cut this tile for me. It's going to be a pain, but it's only *1* tile and we've spent so much money there I don't really have a problem asking them to do it. I really don't want to spend 50 bucks to rent a tile saw to cut 1 tile. We'll see.
Here's how the room looks with the tile laid out. We're definitely getting there. I think my wife did another good job picking out the color. The first couple of pics was taken with flash to get the detail(notice the one tile with blue marking on it that hasn't been cut yet :P), but I took one without(the last one) that's much more accurate from a color standpoint. It's pretty darn close to the actual color of the tiles and the walls.
One for color:
So, next up will be setting the tiles, then grouting and sealing, and then finally installing the sink and the toilet. Once that's done the room is usable again, and we can actually use it while we install the trim and do all the little clean-up tasks. Almost there!
Got a late start on Saturday. Most of the day was spent prepping the floor(getting all the paint and drywall mud scraped off of the subfloor), and then laying the backerboard. Cutting and fitting the backerboard was almost as much of a pain as hanging the drywall. The sheets are only 3x5, however, so they're a little more manageable. I'm using Hardiboard instead of Durock, as I read that it's a lot easier to deal with than Durock. I suppose that's true, and if so, I'd really hate to deal with durock. Only bad thing about Hardiboard is that it contains a lot of silica, which apparently has been found to cause cancer if exposed to a lot of the dust. Because of that they tell you not to use any power tools to work with it, nor anything that will generate a lot of dust(read saws). The good old score and snap was pretty much all I had to work with. That works well for 90% of the cuts I had to make, but there were a few places(around the closet) where I broke down and just used a saw to cut some of the L-shaped cuts to get around the wall. All in all, it wasn't TOO bad...just fairly time consuming.
By the time I was finished with that it was 6pm and time for the SEC championship. Awesome game, btw... If you didn't catch it, AR gave FL a good run for their money, but FL stepped up and showed them who was boss. Really interesting play calling too...Florida fakes a punt from their own 30 to convert a 10 yard 4th down. Completely unexpected. Lol, and it turns out that 5 people threw passes for big yardage, 4 for TDs. It was like they were seeing who could top whom for the most unexpected play. Really exciting. Normally I wouldn't care all that much about either of these teams, but since it turned out that UCLA upset USC(woohoo!!!!), FL would have a chance at the championships if they won the SEC. They found out around halftime, and at first it looked like the news kinda shook them up. AR came out of the locker room on fire and FL couldn't answer. AR scores 2 unanswered TDs to reel in the score, and their defense has completely shut FL's offense and Leak down. But then, after a lackluster drive by FL, resulting in a 4th and short. Apparently FL is reeling so badly, they don't know what to do and have to burn their LAST timeout(this is the middle of the 3rd qtr, btw) to decide. Cooler heads prevail and they wisely decide to punt it down inside the AR 10 where the AR receiver CHOKES and fumbles the ball! Florida recovers in the AR end zone for a TD. This completely knocks the wind out of ARs sails for the rest of the game, and FL is off to the races. AR never recovers from the loss of momentum, and FL wins convincingly. Pretty amazing game. However, the play of the day(or the year for that matter) was UCLA LB Eric McNeal making a game-saving play when he deflected AND intercepted a USC pass to stop the game-winning drive by USC with 1 minute to go in the game after USC had driven down to the UCLA 20. Clutch!
Heh, I digress...So, I got the backerboard down on Saturday. Sunday I was hoping to get the tile at least set so that the next session could be grouting and installing fixtures. Unfortunately, but as usual, it took me a lot longer to get the tiles ready than I thought. I decided, since the room is so small, that I'd go ahead and just dry-fit and layout everything before setting anything. Doing this took all of my time on Sunday, but it was worth it. I think I have everything fit perfectly, and now all I have to do is mix up my thinset and start laying the tile. Cutting the tile, for the most part, wasn't TOO difficult. 90% of my cuts were all straight cuts, which I did with a score and snap cutter I rented from HD. I decided that the critical area(i.e. Full tile) was next to the tub, so that's where I started with the layout. I got lucky and this worked out great. I only had to cut 6 tiles on the exterior wall, and 6 tiles on the entrance wall. The sink wall worked out to not need to be cut. Plus, I got lucky and ended up with a full tile right in the middle of the closet doorway transition so that looks pretty smooth as well. All of the interior closet tiles were straight cuts as well. The only tough cuts were the 4 tiles that touch the closet doorway(not bad as these are basically just corner "notched") and the tiles where the toilet drain are. Two tiles intersected are the toilet drain, one covering about 20% of it, and the other covering the other 80%. I was able to use my tile nippers and "sculpt" the smaller cutout, but the one where I had to make a larger cut(the 80%) eluded me. I destroyed 5 tiles before I decided to give up and try something else. As of right now, this is the only tile that isn't finished. All the other tiles have been cut and laid out. When I went to Lowe's on Sunday before I started, I noticed they had a tile cutter set up in the tile section(like they have the pipe cutters in the pipe section..etc). I'm hoping they might be able to cut this tile for me. It's going to be a pain, but it's only *1* tile and we've spent so much money there I don't really have a problem asking them to do it. I really don't want to spend 50 bucks to rent a tile saw to cut 1 tile. We'll see.
Here's how the room looks with the tile laid out. We're definitely getting there. I think my wife did another good job picking out the color. The first couple of pics was taken with flash to get the detail(notice the one tile with blue marking on it that hasn't been cut yet :P), but I took one without(the last one) that's much more accurate from a color standpoint. It's pretty darn close to the actual color of the tiles and the walls.
One for color:
So, next up will be setting the tiles, then grouting and sealing, and then finally installing the sink and the toilet. Once that's done the room is usable again, and we can actually use it while we install the trim and do all the little clean-up tasks. Almost there!
Progress
First let me apologize for the frequency of the updates lately. Lots of stuff going on right now and I haven't had a whole lot of time to work or update the blog.
Late last week I was able to finish up the painting. It looks like my wife did a great job selecting the color...it looks really great.
Once the paint was dry, I decided to go ahead and install the medicine cabinet and vanity lights to give a little more light to the room...plus the medicine cabinet she picked out is so cool we just wanted to see it mounted. I think it looks really nice. These are the only items in the room that are dark in color so they really pop.
The paint really does a great job of highlighting the awful job of drywalling that I did. I think there are one or two spots that I'm eventually going to have to sand and redo, but I'm going to save that job for after the tile/toilet/sink are in and the room is livable again. I also mis-estimated the width of the mirror trim, so I have one or two screw holes that I didn't finish, thinking they'd be covered. Oops.
Anyway, the room is starting to come together.
Late last week I was able to finish up the painting. It looks like my wife did a great job selecting the color...it looks really great.
Once the paint was dry, I decided to go ahead and install the medicine cabinet and vanity lights to give a little more light to the room...plus the medicine cabinet she picked out is so cool we just wanted to see it mounted. I think it looks really nice. These are the only items in the room that are dark in color so they really pop.
The paint really does a great job of highlighting the awful job of drywalling that I did. I think there are one or two spots that I'm eventually going to have to sand and redo, but I'm going to save that job for after the tile/toilet/sink are in and the room is livable again. I also mis-estimated the width of the mirror trim, so I have one or two screw holes that I didn't finish, thinking they'd be covered. Oops.
Anyway, the room is starting to come together.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Overdue update
Well!
Sorry it's been so long since the last update. Busy times...
Lessee...where are we? Ah, drywall is up. Took me about 2 days to get all the drywall hung, with Allen's help. Let me tell you...drywall is, by far, the worst thing I've had to do yet. I don't know what it is about it, but I can't stand it. If you bump into it, it cracks. If you drop it, it cracks. If you're not careful carrying it and hit the doorway, it cracks. If you don't cover your mouth when you sneeze, it cracks. Ugh! You have to be careful when you're driving the screws or you'll go too far. AND the stuff weighs twice as much as a sheet of plywood. Need I go on?
Anyhoo, 2 days of wrestling wallboard and it's all hung.
Meanwhile, my wife has been busy stripping. Old moulding, that is. We want to use the old moulding around the doors and window to keep everything in line with the rest of the house, so she's been trying to get rid of the 50 layers of paint on everything. Doesn't look like an easy job. She uses stripper to take off the first couple of layers, and then a heat gun to get the rest of the ancient paint off. Not a fun job.
After all the wallboard was hung, it took me another 2 days to get it all taped an mudded. This part is just as bad as hanging the stuff, only messier. The mud gets EVERYWHERE. Also, I wasn't warned and found out too late that you have to be careful and not contaminate your mudpan, or you'll get gouges and lumps in your seams. Woohoo... Stop laughing...
Next time, the drywall is getting contracted out...
Finally, today I was able to finish up the mudding. After everything was dry I had enough time to put a couple of coats of primer on the walls, in preparation for the paint. Hopefully I'll be able to get the paint on tomorrow and can proceed to the tiling. I might go ahead and hang the lights and the mirror to give a little more light, and I won't be working up there anymore so I shouldn't have to worry about messing them up.
Sorry it's been so long since the last update. Busy times...
Lessee...where are we? Ah, drywall is up. Took me about 2 days to get all the drywall hung, with Allen's help. Let me tell you...drywall is, by far, the worst thing I've had to do yet. I don't know what it is about it, but I can't stand it. If you bump into it, it cracks. If you drop it, it cracks. If you're not careful carrying it and hit the doorway, it cracks. If you don't cover your mouth when you sneeze, it cracks. Ugh! You have to be careful when you're driving the screws or you'll go too far. AND the stuff weighs twice as much as a sheet of plywood. Need I go on?
Anyhoo, 2 days of wrestling wallboard and it's all hung.
Meanwhile, my wife has been busy stripping. Old moulding, that is. We want to use the old moulding around the doors and window to keep everything in line with the rest of the house, so she's been trying to get rid of the 50 layers of paint on everything. Doesn't look like an easy job. She uses stripper to take off the first couple of layers, and then a heat gun to get the rest of the ancient paint off. Not a fun job.
After all the wallboard was hung, it took me another 2 days to get it all taped an mudded. This part is just as bad as hanging the stuff, only messier. The mud gets EVERYWHERE. Also, I wasn't warned and found out too late that you have to be careful and not contaminate your mudpan, or you'll get gouges and lumps in your seams. Woohoo... Stop laughing...
Next time, the drywall is getting contracted out...
Finally, today I was able to finish up the mudding. After everything was dry I had enough time to put a couple of coats of primer on the walls, in preparation for the paint. Hopefully I'll be able to get the paint on tomorrow and can proceed to the tiling. I might go ahead and hang the lights and the mirror to give a little more light, and I won't be working up there anymore so I shouldn't have to worry about messing them up.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Ooops
An email from my mom just reminded me that I forgot to mention that all the plumbing of the tub works great. I actually tested that first thing this morning(woke up thinking about it, lol). Just wanted to mention that!
Closet
Spent the day completing the rest of the framing. This mainly consisted of rough framing for the closet door, and hanging the door itself.
I decided to expedite things by buying a pre-hung door to replace the old closet door. The old doors are actually hung right on the moulding, oddly enough, so I wasn't really too comfortable trying to reproduce that with the old material. Plus, I'm not that great to begin with at the art of door hanging. Buying a pre-hung door made it a simple matter of rough framing and nailing the new door in place.
I probably could have done more today, but I think I've picked up the bug that's going around. I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a cough that's gotten progressively worse. So I really didn't feel like working at all today, and took quite a few breaks :P. But the framing is done and the door is hung and the room is ready for drywall. Hopefully I'll feel a little better tomorrow and be able to get the drywall hung.
I've never done drywall before, so I don't really know what to estimate. My rough guess is that it'll take me all day tomorrow to get it all hung, and then the next day to tape and mud it. I expect if there are any surprises, it'll be in the taping/mudding, which means that I'll probably screw up hanging it, since all my other estimates seem to have been completely wrong. I'm also trying to resist the urge to buy a rotozip to make cutting all the holes for everything quicker and easier. I've bought way too many tools already.
Anyway, here's what the closet looks like:
I decided to expedite things by buying a pre-hung door to replace the old closet door. The old doors are actually hung right on the moulding, oddly enough, so I wasn't really too comfortable trying to reproduce that with the old material. Plus, I'm not that great to begin with at the art of door hanging. Buying a pre-hung door made it a simple matter of rough framing and nailing the new door in place.
I probably could have done more today, but I think I've picked up the bug that's going around. I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a cough that's gotten progressively worse. So I really didn't feel like working at all today, and took quite a few breaks :P. But the framing is done and the door is hung and the room is ready for drywall. Hopefully I'll feel a little better tomorrow and be able to get the drywall hung.
I've never done drywall before, so I don't really know what to estimate. My rough guess is that it'll take me all day tomorrow to get it all hung, and then the next day to tape and mud it. I expect if there are any surprises, it'll be in the taping/mudding, which means that I'll probably screw up hanging it, since all my other estimates seem to have been completely wrong. I'm also trying to resist the urge to buy a rotozip to make cutting all the holes for everything quicker and easier. I've bought way too many tools already.
Anyway, here's what the closet looks like:
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Tub is in!
Finally got the tub into place. It's actually been in the room since Friday. Allen helped me get it into the room and into place. I was still kinda sick of being in the room, so that's all we did for the night.
It was pretty interesting getting the tub into the room. I had to take the moulding off of the bathroom door to make room. The room into the hallway turned out to also be about 1/2" short. I really didn't want to remove the moulding from that door as well, since the doors themselves are actually hung from the moulding and taking them off is a sure way to get an uneven door. Allen came up with great approach that let us squeak the thing thru the doorway so all is well. Not a very fun job, but we made it in.
Made great progress today. Started the day off by framing in the closet. I needed to get the tub into the room so that I could be 100% sure where to put the closet wall. Now that it's in, it was a simple matter of making some marks and laying the sills. After that, I build the corner post, and nailed up the top sills to keep everything in place. Then I was able to throw in some studs to complete the 3rd tub wall.
After that, it was just a matter of inserting the tub into the faming, SHIMMING, and screwing the tub into place.
After getting the tub secured, it was finally time to get it connected to the plumbing. Wasn't very difficult, but it took me the rest of the night...and I had to make yet another trip to HD to get a hole saw and to Lowe's to pick up some more fittings(HD doesn't carry the cpvc/MIP fittings that I like to use). Just a few tricky things...making sure the valve unit was mounted at the right depth, marking/cutting the holes for the fixtures, gluing all the joints...etc.
Unfortunately, I didn't finish the gluing until 9:30, which meant it would be 11 or 11:30(it's cold in the room) before the glue had cured and I could test the plumbing. That would be too late for me(yawn), so I decided to just install the fixtures on the tub so they'd be ready for testing tomorrow. I toyed with the idea of cleaning up a little as well, but only briefly.
Soooo, tomorrow I'll start by testing the plumbing to make sure I don't have any leaks. Then I'll probably finish up framing the closet..basically framing the door. That shouldn't take too long, so I suppose it'll be time to start on the drywall. Not really looking forward to that :).
Some details of the progress:
Oh, almost forgot I haven't posted any pics of the electrical work either. Here's a couple of snaps showing the outlets and the mirror wall with the vanity lights and switch/outlet plate. The room's still not very clean, but you get the idea :P.
It was pretty interesting getting the tub into the room. I had to take the moulding off of the bathroom door to make room. The room into the hallway turned out to also be about 1/2" short. I really didn't want to remove the moulding from that door as well, since the doors themselves are actually hung from the moulding and taking them off is a sure way to get an uneven door. Allen came up with great approach that let us squeak the thing thru the doorway so all is well. Not a very fun job, but we made it in.
Made great progress today. Started the day off by framing in the closet. I needed to get the tub into the room so that I could be 100% sure where to put the closet wall. Now that it's in, it was a simple matter of making some marks and laying the sills. After that, I build the corner post, and nailed up the top sills to keep everything in place. Then I was able to throw in some studs to complete the 3rd tub wall.
After that, it was just a matter of inserting the tub into the faming, SHIMMING, and screwing the tub into place.
After getting the tub secured, it was finally time to get it connected to the plumbing. Wasn't very difficult, but it took me the rest of the night...and I had to make yet another trip to HD to get a hole saw and to Lowe's to pick up some more fittings(HD doesn't carry the cpvc/MIP fittings that I like to use). Just a few tricky things...making sure the valve unit was mounted at the right depth, marking/cutting the holes for the fixtures, gluing all the joints...etc.
Unfortunately, I didn't finish the gluing until 9:30, which meant it would be 11 or 11:30(it's cold in the room) before the glue had cured and I could test the plumbing. That would be too late for me(yawn), so I decided to just install the fixtures on the tub so they'd be ready for testing tomorrow. I toyed with the idea of cleaning up a little as well, but only briefly.
Soooo, tomorrow I'll start by testing the plumbing to make sure I don't have any leaks. Then I'll probably finish up framing the closet..basically framing the door. That shouldn't take too long, so I suppose it'll be time to start on the drywall. Not really looking forward to that :).
Some details of the progress:
Oh, almost forgot I haven't posted any pics of the electrical work either. Here's a couple of snaps showing the outlets and the mirror wall with the vanity lights and switch/outlet plate. The room's still not very clean, but you get the idea :P.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Electrical finalized
Last night I was able to finish up the remaining details of the electrical work. I installed new switches and a new plate for the existing switch in the hallway to match. I also mounted and wired the boxes that will hold the vanity lights around the mirror. Not much to this...only trick was locating them correctly. Just to be safe, we temporarily mounted the mirror in place so that we could visually locate where we wanted the lights. Then it was just a matter of installing crossbraces between the studs, and mounting the boxes to the crossbraces.
Tonight I'm going to clean up the mess I made doing the wiring, and then bring in the tub. I want to use the tub itself to determine the location of the new closet wall. Once I determine that location, I can frame that wall and then install the tub itself. This should just be a matter of screwing the tub to the studs, shimming anything that's not exactly even. I'm hoping that won't take very long.
After that I'll go ahead and plumb the tub, testing it to make sure everything is hooked up correctly. Then I'll seal up the hole in the floor where the tub supply comes from the crawlspace with great stuff. Right now we have a nice draft there that ensures the room stays about the same ambient temperature as the outside :P. While I'm at it I'll probably just go ahead and seal up any gaps or voids along the perimeter of the room.
The final thing after that will be to frame the second closet wall, which is the wall that will accept the closet door. This might take some tweaking. Then again, I'm re-using the old closet door, which was just hung from the moulding around the door frame, so I don't think the actual door opening in the framing will be critical. It just needs to be close enough that I have some leeway when I'm installing the moulding for getting the door to hang right.
After that I won't have anything else to do but drywall. I suppose I've put it off as long as I can :P.
Tonight I'm going to clean up the mess I made doing the wiring, and then bring in the tub. I want to use the tub itself to determine the location of the new closet wall. Once I determine that location, I can frame that wall and then install the tub itself. This should just be a matter of screwing the tub to the studs, shimming anything that's not exactly even. I'm hoping that won't take very long.
After that I'll go ahead and plumb the tub, testing it to make sure everything is hooked up correctly. Then I'll seal up the hole in the floor where the tub supply comes from the crawlspace with great stuff. Right now we have a nice draft there that ensures the room stays about the same ambient temperature as the outside :P. While I'm at it I'll probably just go ahead and seal up any gaps or voids along the perimeter of the room.
The final thing after that will be to frame the second closet wall, which is the wall that will accept the closet door. This might take some tweaking. Then again, I'm re-using the old closet door, which was just hung from the moulding around the door frame, so I don't think the actual door opening in the framing will be critical. It just needs to be close enough that I have some leeway when I'm installing the moulding for getting the door to hang right.
After that I won't have anything else to do but drywall. I suppose I've put it off as long as I can :P.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Electrical Success
The room is now wired. Everything went pretty much according to plan. I was able to use the bit of wire Allen gave me, plus some of the 12/3 I had left over from the garage to finish running all the wires. In the process, I found the old circuit for the bathroom(and I mean OLD), and completely removed all the old wiring. I removed it all the way to the panel, so that no one would be able to turn on a "dead end" circuit that just stopped somewhere in the attic. Now it's completely disconnected from the panel and all the wires removed.
Connecting everything was fairly easy. I decided to just connect everything and test it all. Surprisingly it worked the very first time. The fan switch works, the overhead light works, the vanity light switch works(and they're all oriented correctly), and all the outlets work. The only thing I have left to do is to install boxes for the 3 vanity lights. I tested that the wires supplying them work fine, I just have yet to mount the boxes. That'll involve putting the mirror in place, getting my wife to tell me where she wants them, then nailing a crossbrace in between the wall studs to which the boxes will be nailed. The light fixtures themselves will eventually be mounted to the boxes, after the drywall goes up.
We also had a little "scope creep". Now that the overhead fan/light switches are nice, new, pretty white, the other switch plate in the room, which controls the attic fans and the hallway light, looks wrong. It's a painted "brass" color, and the switches are either almond, or have just yellowed from age. They're very old. Sooooo, I get to rewire that switch tonight as well. Should be an easy fix, but those switches are ANCIENT, so lets hope I don't screw up the brittle wire when I'm wiring them. Then a coat of paint on the walls and that room should look nice. Of course the paint will have to wait until we're finished in the bathroom.
So, tonight will be spent mounting the vanity light boxes, and fixing the second switch in the hallway. Shouldn't take too long, and that's all I'm going to do tonight. I feel like I might be coming down with something...either that or I'm just tired...can't tell which. So, early to bed and maybe I'll feel better tomorrow...just in time to work on the tub :).
Also, sorry I don't have any pics...the room is still a mess from the wiring(insulation from the attic all OVER the place), and I was too tired last night to clean it up. Maybe I'll get some tonight when I finish.
Connecting everything was fairly easy. I decided to just connect everything and test it all. Surprisingly it worked the very first time. The fan switch works, the overhead light works, the vanity light switch works(and they're all oriented correctly), and all the outlets work. The only thing I have left to do is to install boxes for the 3 vanity lights. I tested that the wires supplying them work fine, I just have yet to mount the boxes. That'll involve putting the mirror in place, getting my wife to tell me where she wants them, then nailing a crossbrace in between the wall studs to which the boxes will be nailed. The light fixtures themselves will eventually be mounted to the boxes, after the drywall goes up.
We also had a little "scope creep". Now that the overhead fan/light switches are nice, new, pretty white, the other switch plate in the room, which controls the attic fans and the hallway light, looks wrong. It's a painted "brass" color, and the switches are either almond, or have just yellowed from age. They're very old. Sooooo, I get to rewire that switch tonight as well. Should be an easy fix, but those switches are ANCIENT, so lets hope I don't screw up the brittle wire when I'm wiring them. Then a coat of paint on the walls and that room should look nice. Of course the paint will have to wait until we're finished in the bathroom.
So, tonight will be spent mounting the vanity light boxes, and fixing the second switch in the hallway. Shouldn't take too long, and that's all I'm going to do tonight. I feel like I might be coming down with something...either that or I'm just tired...can't tell which. So, early to bed and maybe I'll feel better tomorrow...just in time to work on the tub :).
Also, sorry I don't have any pics...the room is still a mess from the wiring(insulation from the attic all OVER the place), and I was too tired last night to clean it up. Maybe I'll get some tonight when I finish.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Small change
Small change in plans for the wiring. I've decided to install separate switches for the light and the fan on the overhead fan/light combo. Did this for a couple of reasons: 1) the wiring is not that much more difficult, 2) I needed something to fill the second hole on the double plate where the light switch will be, and 3) It should be a little nicer being able to control them independently.
An added bonus is that the wire from the switchbox to the fan/light in this configuration requires 12/3 instead of 12/2, so I can use some leftover 12/3 that I had when I wired the garage. Not that I couldn't have used it in either case, but now I'll actually be using all the individual wires, so it's cleaner :).
Here's an updated diagram:
An added bonus is that the wire from the switchbox to the fan/light in this configuration requires 12/3 instead of 12/2, so I can use some leftover 12/3 that I had when I wired the garage. Not that I couldn't have used it in either case, but now I'll actually be using all the individual wires, so it's cleaner :).
Here's an updated diagram:
Electricity
Spent yesterday evening running wires in the attic. Got my bathroom circuit laid out and planned, so it's now just a simple matter of running the wire and connecting everything. I think I'm going to go ahead and connect everything so that I can test and make sure everything is ok.
I got about 80% of all the wire run last night, and connected a few junctions that were complete. I ran out of wire(was using some stuff that my father-in-law gave me). I have some that I purchased at the beginning of the project, but I don't need that much more, and I don't want to open the 250 ft reel just for 20 feet of wire. Allen found some in his garage from one of his leftover projects, so hopefully that will be enough to finish the job and I can return the 250 ft reel. That romex ain't cheap.
I also measured for and hung the outlet boxes and switch/outlet box by the mirror. I'll be working in the dark for now as well, b/c I removed the existing switch box in preparation for replacing it with the new switches. It's a double box, and I only have one switch I need to operate at that location(the overhead light/fan). So I think I'll just get another switch to put in there as a "dummy" so it doesn't look funny. This explains why, when you buy a house, there are always one or 2 switches that don't seem to do anything. I guess the next owner will puzzle over it until they take it apart and notice that it's not actually connected to anything. Another option is to wire the light and the fan separately(there's "a rat" in "separately"), which is probably the more elegant solution. I just don't know if 1) the fixture we purchased will accept that(it should, tho), and 2) I have enough wire. We'll see.
Tonight, I'll finish running the wiring, connect all the loose ends, and then test everything. If it all looks good, I'll probably just leave it on for the duration of the project. I'll probably use the old light fixture to test the lighting wiring, and just leave it up until the drywall goes in. I also have to locate my outlet tester(it's been misplaced) to make sure the outlets are wired correctly.
After this, the tub goes in and th framing for the closet. That's the last thing that needs to be done before the drywall can go in and we have an almost finished room. Stay tuned...
Oh, and if you're interested, here's the high-level wiring layout:
I got about 80% of all the wire run last night, and connected a few junctions that were complete. I ran out of wire(was using some stuff that my father-in-law gave me). I have some that I purchased at the beginning of the project, but I don't need that much more, and I don't want to open the 250 ft reel just for 20 feet of wire. Allen found some in his garage from one of his leftover projects, so hopefully that will be enough to finish the job and I can return the 250 ft reel. That romex ain't cheap.
I also measured for and hung the outlet boxes and switch/outlet box by the mirror. I'll be working in the dark for now as well, b/c I removed the existing switch box in preparation for replacing it with the new switches. It's a double box, and I only have one switch I need to operate at that location(the overhead light/fan). So I think I'll just get another switch to put in there as a "dummy" so it doesn't look funny. This explains why, when you buy a house, there are always one or 2 switches that don't seem to do anything. I guess the next owner will puzzle over it until they take it apart and notice that it's not actually connected to anything. Another option is to wire the light and the fan separately(there's "a rat" in "separately"), which is probably the more elegant solution. I just don't know if 1) the fixture we purchased will accept that(it should, tho), and 2) I have enough wire. We'll see.
Tonight, I'll finish running the wiring, connect all the loose ends, and then test everything. If it all looks good, I'll probably just leave it on for the duration of the project. I'll probably use the old light fixture to test the lighting wiring, and just leave it up until the drywall goes in. I also have to locate my outlet tester(it's been misplaced) to make sure the outlets are wired correctly.
After this, the tub goes in and th framing for the closet. That's the last thing that needs to be done before the drywall can go in and we have an almost finished room. Stay tuned...
Oh, and if you're interested, here's the high-level wiring layout:
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