Archive

Archive for January, 2010

This Old House Part 32 of 63453 – Bathroom Preperation for Tile

January 31st, 2010 Comments off

Once my walls were completed the first order of business to tackle was to get a working bathroom again in my house.  To do this I needed to do the following to get the bathroom ready for tile.

  • Rough in all the plumbing in the bathroom
  • Sand, prime, paint all the walls
  • Install the replacement window
  • Hang and install the new bathroom door in the rough opening

Once the tile is installed the bathroom will be ready to go after installing the sink and toilet.

I ended up re-doing most of the plumbing to the bathroom as the previous plumbers had done very shoddy work.  First off they used the wrong type of copper pipe (Type M – You should use type L for water it’s a bit thicker than M).  Secondly they didn’t support any of the plumbing properly at all.  Most of it was just hung by plastic straps from the framing and it was allowed to swing from side to side a few inches at least. And last they bent some of the pipes instead of routing them around properly.

Orignal supply lines hanging from plastic straps

Original supply lines hanging from plastic straps

Original pipes from a different angle.

Original pipes from a different angle.

This meant that I ended up redoing almost all the copper supply lines from where they split off the house main feeds.  It took me a few days, but it did get completed.  All of the pipes are secured very well to the framing.  I also replaced the sink drain as the old galvanized drain line was so corroded that no more than 1/2″ remained inside for water to flow in the original 1 1/4″ line.

New sink plumbing secured to the wall and the new drain installed.

New sink plumbing secured to the wall and the new drain installed.

Shower rough plumbing.

Shower rough plumbing.

When the walls were completed they were supposed to be “ready for paint” but there were still plenty of areas that needed sanding so I ended up hand sanding lots of fuzzy spots on the ceiling and walls in the bathroom (and will have to in the rest of the house as well) and opted to re-prime all the surfaces in the bathroom.  My wall contractor should have fixed all of that but the last thing I needed was any more delays caused by him, so I just sucked it up and did it myself in 10-15 minutes.

The color I chose for the bathroom was Valspar’s La Fonda Tortuga.  It turns out the bathroom was originally that same color as the La Fonda series from Valspar is part of the historic trust for preservation series.  I didn’t plan on it happening but it’s sorta cool that it is the same color.

Bathroom when walls were completed.

Bathroom when walls were completed.

Painted bathroom walls.

Painted bathroom walls and ceiling.

Since I opted to re-expose the window that was originally above the bathtub I needed to replace it with something that wouldn’t rot.  Even though I restored the rest of the windows in the house leaving a wooden window in a shower surround is a crazy idea.  To be able to have a window and mitigate as much chance of it being a problem I got a custom (frosted glass) replacement vinyl window from Lowes.  There is nothing in it that can rot and hopefully it turns out it was the best option for the shower.  I had originally thought about putting glass blocks there, but I liked the idea of being able to crack the top of a window when taking a shower to help pull more steam out than the fan alone would.

Installing it wasn’t too bad with the exception of stripping one the mounting screws trying to secure it to the original window frame.  The old wood in my house is like concrete after drying for close to 90 years.  I always try and pre-drill the holes when putting screws into it but once in a while I get lazy.  I didn’t have a bit that would go all the way through the frame and I thought “surely I can screw the remaining 1/4 inch without drilling it”.  Obviously I was wrong.  Either way the window is in place and sealed and secure.

Replacement window in shower surround.

Replacement window in shower surround.

The last thing I needed to do before the guys could get started on the tile was to hang the bathroom door.  I took it to Guilford Builders and had then square it up and then built a frame for it on the floor and hung it like a pre-hung door.  I have shown this technique before in my blog so I won’t repeat it here.  I also painted all the door trim so that it could be installed once the backer-board was installed and the tile guys had something to tile up against.  The door ended up still not being totally square (there was a slight cup/bow in the door near the lock set).  I was able to work around it and got it hung despite it not being totally squared up.

Mostly squared door being hung on the floor.

Mostly squared door being hung on the floor.

Bathroom door hung, trim installed, and backerboard installed.

Bathroom door hung, trim installed, and backerboard installed.

So now the tile guys have been at work since Tuesday.  I am hoping that by next Tuesday or Wednesday I will be able to re-install my toilet and spend the night at my house for the first time since the end of October.  (Thanks wall guy for delaying me a few months).

Categories: Grayland House Tags:

This Old House Part 31 of 63453 – Plaster Repair

January 31st, 2010 Comments off

When I purchased the house on Grayland the walls were cracked all over the place.. Most of it was from normal settling of a structure (My house is 87 years old as of 2010)..   The first two rooms I remodeled (kitchen & dining room) I had skim coated and it brought the walls back to smooth crack-free surfaces.. Since I opted to do the rest of the house at once instead of living in a construction zone multiple times again I had the all the remaining walls in the house skim coated.. The main focus of “phase II” was the bathroom it was the only exception on the skim coating.. The bathroom had been drywalled over top the original plaster and most of it was ruined so it made more sense to take that room all the way down to studs and start fresh with drywall in that once instance.

The process took 79 days to complete.. I was originally quoted 19 total days, but my contractor seemed to take his time.. He is the same guy who did the kitchen and dining room, which he completed within a reasonable time frame.  I don’t know exactly what caused him to take so long, but going 400% over an estimated time is unacceptable.  I won’t get into this too much as it’s not relevant to the blog but I didn’t pay full price for the job and his delay pushed my completion date back at least 2 months if not more.

The process for repairing the walls is pretty interesting. First all the loose plaster is cracked away.  The the walls are painted with a sealing primer to ensure adhesion of the new mud to the old surface. Once this is done all large holes are patched with mud.  Then a fiber mesh is applied to all of the walls and is filled with mud.  This mesh is supposed to keep the walls from cracking again in the future as it adds strength to the walls much like re-bar adds strength to concrete.  Once all of the fiber meshing is covered with mud the walls are sanded smooth and the walls are ready for paint/primer.

Here are some photos of the process with one of the cracks near a window frame.

One of the original cracks above a window frame.

One of the original cracks above a window frame.

Same crack filled with mud and fiber mesh applied over top

Same crack filled with mud and fiber mesh applied over top.

As far as the ceilings are concerned it’s far too much effort to skim coat those, so furring strips (1×3 lumber strips) are applied to the ceiling nailed into the joists and then the ceilings are drywalled..  This means the ceiling is dropped approximately 1 1/4 inches but it’s not a noticeable reduction as it takes the ceiling from 9 feet to 8 feet 10 3/4 inches..

Here are a few photos of the ceilings being furred and then drywalled..

Ceiling in the living room.  Note the recessed lights and electrical box are lowered 1 1/4" from the current ceiling.

Ceiling in the living room. Note the recessed lights and electrical box are lowered from the current ceiling.

Living room with furring strips installed before drywall is applied.

Living room with furring strips installed before drywall is applied.

Living room with new slighly lower drywall ceiling and lighting fixtures flush with the new ceiling.

Living room with new slightly lower drywall ceiling and lighting fixtures flush with the new ceiling.

I had to have all of the wiring on the walls and ceilings completed before I got the walls done..You can see from the photos above that all the ceiling electrical boxes needed to be lowered 1 1/4″.. Here is a shot of one of the smoke detector boxes lowered before the new ceiling is installed.

Smoke Detector electrical box lowered 1 1/4" in bedroom.

Smoke Detector electrical box lowered 1 1/4" in bedroom.

The biggest hassle electrically was the switches by the front door.. Because my exterior walls are solid masonry (i.e. not framed lumber with a wall on either side) I had to install conduit into a crevice in the wall and have that area filled over.. I pulled the old wiring out and ran new conduit through these same holes so that new wire could be pulled in for 3 way switches and one additional switch.

Plaster chipped out and old wiring hanging on the right. The new conduit that is now totally covered by the plaster is on the left along with the new 4 gang electrical box.

Plaster chipped out and old wiring hanging on the right. The new conduit that is now totally covered by the plaster is on the left along with the new 4 gang electrical box.

Conduit is all covered up and the wall is smooth around it now.

Conduit is all covered up and the wall is smooth around it now.

Categories: Grayland House Tags: