The basement bathroom was the very 1st thing we "did" 17-1/2 years ago when we bought the place. The basement was unfinished, and there was no rough-in's/NOTHING. So I cut the slab, installed the waste system & floor drain(s), and built the bathroom. Then over the next 3 years finished off the rest of the spaces.
Last winter Sheryl threatened that she wanted to redo the bathroom, but it kinda slipped by the wayside and monies went to other things... but I wasn't getting out of it this year. I'll admit it was getting pretty shabby looking
Last weekend I blew out the pre-fab shower enclosure, ripped out the walls, and chiseled off the old floor tile.
This weekend I've reframed the shower wall, installed curbing, set a new drain assembly, and just poured leveling compound for the proposed tiled shower enclosure.
John your like that tax commercial...Hey didn't you do my taxes the other day?.....ya and today I am a master plumber!!!
John D said
Apr 1, 2013
Man, that stuff is neat! Hard as (duh) concrete and dead-smack level from corners to corners.
Believe it or not, there's 5 GALLONS/50 lb sack of "stuff" in that space (about 4' x 5').
What's totally stupid was the level of the original concrete floor!
In that +/- 20 sq.ft. area, it varies in slope (from level at the drain) between 1/8" to nearly 3/4", gauging from what is left exposed on the 2x4 sill plates. The new drain was set/glued in place (level) where one spot of the rim contacted the existing floor. (I'll assume that about 1/2 gallon poured down and filled the hole I had to carve out for the new drain assembly but GEEESZZZZZ!)
I think my basement floor was poured & floated on a Monday or a Friday!
Lost in the 60s said
Apr 2, 2013
I doubt the builders expected people to actually use a basement for living space back then. My first house was built in '43 and the concrete wasn't even smoothed out, just poured and troweled a little.
BLyke said
Apr 2, 2013
your not alone on the bathroom remodel. i promised Cheryl i would get our done "over the Winter" and started last Thursday with a long weekend. Once it is done it will be full speed ahead on finishing the current round of painting on the 59 Nomad wagon
dashboard said
Apr 2, 2013
Baths are a lot to do in a very small space while trying to keep the dust out of the rest of the house.
John D said
Apr 2, 2013
I doubt the builders expected people to actually use a basement for living space back then.
It was intended to be living space... there is a finished fireplace in the basement. It was wierd, you walked down the stairs and dead ahead was a furnace & water heater, to the left a slop-sink, and to the right a brick fireplace... just sitting there in the empty space.
They just did a crappy job getting the floor pitched/level!
John, take that toilet out of the trash pile put it on your back deck fill the tank and bowl with black dirt and grow some nice colorful flowers in it as a conversation piece, you can call it a………flower pot.
John D said
Apr 6, 2013
Phase II of pouring the Goo...
Spent a few hours this afternoon chiseling off the old thinset (BTW - an air-hammer with a 1-1/2" blade makes SHORT work of this nasty job), and vacuuming about 385 times. Then brushed on the primer solution.
Went out for dinner tonight - John Jr's 18th birthday today - and when we got back I mixed up two 5-gallon buckets of goo, and poured the main floor.
Off to bed and tomorrow morning it'll be set and walk-able!
I'm good in that respect. When I plumbed it 16-1/2 years ago I spent $$ on REAL, all metal, shut off valves. They are rebuildable, and they're not sweat fittings - they're compression. If one of them happens to buy the farm, I can just take it off.
I am very impressed with the floor leveling product. Follow the directions precisely (using the recommended primer, water quantity, and mix time) and it will flow out from 3/4" to a feather-edge. It's still a little "green" this morning, but completely walkable. (The shower stall after 4 days cure is hard as the parent concrete).
(If you're wondering why the bottom 4" of the wall(s) is gone, there was a tile baseboard. It would not come off without totally chunking the wallboard, so I cut my losses and just sliced it off tile & all with a roto-zip. I'll scab in & tape new strips of durarock, and since the walls will be tiled 40" up, the seam will be concealed.)
I get to play with mud today! After talking to some Grazzini guys at the job last week, they recommended the Pre/Quick/Kirb line of stuff from Mark-E (part II)for DIY'ers. They can do this by hand, in their sleep, hung-over, and be done before morning coffee, but I need something like this.
Lost in the 60s said
Apr 6, 2013
Congrats to Jr on his birthday !!
Just an observation, but are you planning to replace the toilet supply valve while it's accessable ? I have been replacing all the old rubber seal screw valves around here with ball valves as I work on various things.
John D said
Apr 6, 2013
Well, the "pre-pitch" is down, and now imbedded with 60lbs of "sand mix". Sheryl is "Paper Tiger-ing" and DIF'ing the walls (old wallpaper). Looks like tomorrow will be laying the vinyl membrane and then "Quick Pitch" for the final shower floor.
Fun! (Not... going from 2 thrones to 1 gets some getting used to)
Update: Started around 8:00, and have accomplished... building the curb, installing the shower pan, the drain fitting, temp'd in the shower caddy insert, and moisture barrier. Time for a sammich, and then lug the cement board out of the car and downstairs... ugh.
If I see another sheet of DuraRock/Hardieboard it'll be too soon. Great stuff, but a PAIN to work with - hard to cut, heavy, needs "special" screws (at $8 a box of 150). But, the shower stall is rocked.
Next, pour the final floor and mud/tape the seams.
Got done an hour early today, and got started on the final phases of the rough-in. The joints are taped and mudded, the final "Pitch Sticks", and curb forms are built, and the drain weep-hole protector is installed.
After dinner it'll be mud time again, and pour/screed the final floor!
Looks like it will be nice but a LOT more work than a ready panel stall. You're far more ambitious than me.
John D said
Apr 10, 2013
That's what was in there before, a "neo-angle" pre-form pan, walls, and glass. Since the room is a funny shape, there was this wasted, wedge-shaped corner with it. Now basically the entire end of the room (from the doorframe, south) is all shower.
It's framed for a standard 48" wide glass shower door insert, but we are considering a custom frameless glass wall & door. ($$$$)
(Had a great surprise when I got home today. Sheryl was stuck on a multi-hour conference call (which she had to attend/listen in on but not contribute to). So the wireless headset went on, and she got all the wallpaper stripped off!! )
I've never done a "poured" shower pan before but thanks to YouTube, I was able to watch about 10 videos about it and convince myself "I can do that...". I've done all the tile-work in other remodels around here (I actually like it ), so that isn't an issue.
Did you cut a square out of the large tiles and install the small multi-colored tiles? Either way, you do NICE WORK !!
John D said
Apr 15, 2013
Had another session after work & dinner tonight, got 95% of the west wall done. (mixed a batch of "too hot" mud, and it started setting before I could get the cut tiles on the adjoining wall done...)
I've done a shload of tile-work around here, and have picked up a bunch of tricks from setters on jobsites. (I also "cheat" by using AutoCAD and doing a precision layout of each surface before handling a tile. I establish center, left, or right edge starts, and can shift things around by click & drag. I've got about 30 hours into just drafting time... so the physical work seems to go fast)
Thanks... The "series" of tile comes with 9x12's either plain or with the hole for the mosaic (or other insert).
dashboard said
Apr 16, 2013
John, I think you’re making this look to easy. The speed and craftsmanship with which you are completing your bath project could well have unintended consequence for all of us with baths on the edge.
Lost in the 60s said
Apr 16, 2013
dashboard wrote:
John, I think you’re making this look to easy. The speed and craftsmanship with which you are completing your bath project could well have unintended consequence for all of us with baths on the edge.
Um, my wife saw the pics a couple days ago and started reminding me that she still wants a tiled backsplash in the kitchen.
I told her to call John.....
dashboard said
Apr 16, 2013
That might be the answer. John, what’s your going rate for a small bath?
John D said
Apr 16, 2013
Hardee Har Har... you guys are cracking me up. I do this stuff 'cause I like it, and can do it on my own time/schedule. This job's on a fast-track because I want my bathroom back, and Sammy's coming home next month - we NEED a second bathroom! Mitch, don't let the wifey see these...
(Kitchen backsplashes are a bytch... tight quarters and all the work is vertical. Setting isn't bad, but grouting is a pain in the back).
While I've been "sticking" tile, Sheryl was out this afternoon hitting the "Home Centers" looking for a new vanity top and a commode. I really don't have a preference on the vanity/sink top (as with all of our "projects", she does the color/theme/coordinating thing, I just build it...) but the commode has to be of a "Ferguson" or "Binford 6100" power level ...
John D said
Apr 21, 2013
No, I haven't been slacking off.. just a few things (like the April Club Meeting...) took some time. Started this AM with the wall on the left, then after a sammich got to the wall with the shower valve. (waiting for the mud to "set", then I can move the left ledger to the upper 1/2 of the valve wall)
(another "cheat"... use the little plastic spacers!)
I installed a Briggs "Vacuity" 4400 in the main floor 1/2 bath a number of years ago. It's a 1.6 gallon but it has a bladder in the tank that flushes like a jet...
Large, fully glazed trapway for "smooth action".
Using the spacers isn't cheating.....it's working smart
Tim H said
Apr 22, 2013
Nice kitchen tile. I wanted to do that a few years ago but got Vetoed. Probably saved me a bunch of headaches.
Lost in the 60s said
Apr 22, 2013
Tim H wrote:
Nice kitchen tile. I wanted to do that a few years ago but got Vetoed. Probably saved me a bunch of headaches.
You're lucky....I've been putting my wife off for a few years but now that I'm partially retired, she's back to hinting I will have time. Oh well, I guess I will.....
.....when ALL my cars are done...
dashboard said
Apr 27, 2013
Is it a bathroom yet?
John D said
Apr 27, 2013
It's getting close... 90% of the walls are done, and I'll be working on the floor layout & setting today. Once the floor is done & set, I can do the last course of wall tile down to meet it. Sheryl's got the commode, vanity top, wall paint, fixtures, and even the towels either "in hand" or on order!
Got started on the floor this morning, then went out to "Mom Seitz's" and met Dave. Spent several hours disassembling the boat lift and loading on a trailer, then back home for more floor.
Got everything cut and "dry fit". Tomorrow morning I'll pull it all off, thinset, and stick! Then since I can't walk on it for 24 hrs, I get to do yardwork!!
very nice. Off subject but did you have stamped concrete done at you place a year or two back? I am looking for someone to do that.
John D said
Apr 29, 2013
These pics don't appear to be too much different than the previous one, but the tile is now stuck to the floor. I gotta tell you... invest the time and do a "dry-fit" on a room/job with wierd angles, or if you're doing a diagonal/diamond pattern. Then make yourself a map of the floor, and number the tiles & map. When you set them, it's just a paint-by-numbers gig then - they go back exactly as placed.
The spacer gizmos I'm using are totally cool! One side is 1/8", the other 1/4". Made of reasonably rigid plastic, they just push in place and maintain the grout gap with no fuss.
Did the shower curb last night, and then the bottom course of 1-3/4 walls tonight. If things stay on track, I should be ready for grouting this weekend
Looks great! Is this a bring your own soap and towel deal?
John D said
May 6, 2013
Well, a 12-hour marathon session yesterday... and the walls are grouted! The seam at the top of the shower stall, door casings, and the stall to wall will be done in sanded color-matched caulk (expansion/contraction issues). Sheryl has procured the replacement outlets, switches, cover plates, and paint... target is to have (at least) another functional head by the weekend...
The King has a throne! (not a "Furguson", but a Kohler that has some serious "baaaawhooosh" )
Would've had the vanity top & fixture(s) installed, but the top was cracked (in the box) when we got it home. Sheryl's going to get another tonight, and I'll be installing the shower doors this afternoon, then tonight the vanity top.
(The wall color is keyed off of the stone segments in the mosiac. It's that estrogen thing about "coordination" and "accessorizing" that testosterone overrides. I see in 8 colors and "peach" is a fruit - Sheryl has the "eye" for this stuff - she envisions, I build.)
The cabinetry is the old stuff from the original bathroom. It is good quality stuff, and well made - and it ties in with the new color scheme - so we saved it. I've got a bag of new knobs, pulls, and hardware in "oiled bronze" that will match the new shower & faucet fixtures.
-- Edited by John D on Tuesday 14th of May 2013 03:51:42 PM
I LIKE the Blue paint !! The Oiled Bronze shower fixtures go well with the Sahara Sand tile color....
John D said
May 15, 2013
Vanity top didn't happen tonight - the "design consultant" bopped around town looking at other alternatives before going back to the original plan... so the vanity top & faucet will be tomorrow's job.
The shower doors are in but edges/seams not caulked. I'll do that tomorrow after the sole plate has fully set.
As if I don't have enough "irons in the fire"...
The basement bathroom was the very 1st thing we "did" 17-1/2 years ago when we bought the place. The basement was unfinished, and there was no rough-in's/NOTHING. So I cut the slab, installed the waste system & floor drain(s), and built the bathroom. Then over the next 3 years finished off the rest of the spaces.
Last winter Sheryl threatened that she wanted to redo the bathroom, but it kinda slipped by the wayside and monies went to other things... but I wasn't getting out of it this year. I'll admit it was getting pretty shabby looking
Last weekend I blew out the pre-fab shower enclosure, ripped out the walls, and chiseled off the old floor tile.
This weekend I've reframed the shower wall, installed curbing, set a new drain assembly, and just poured leveling compound for the proposed tiled shower enclosure.
Man, that stuff is neat! Hard as (duh) concrete and dead-smack level from corners to corners.
Believe it or not, there's 5 GALLONS/50 lb sack of "stuff" in that space (about 4' x 5').
What's totally stupid was the level of the original concrete floor!
In that +/- 20 sq.ft. area, it varies in slope (from level at the drain) between 1/8" to nearly 3/4", gauging from what is left exposed on the 2x4 sill plates. The new drain was set/glued in place (level) where one spot of the rim contacted the existing floor.
(I'll assume that about 1/2 gallon poured down and filled the hole I had to carve out for the new drain assembly but GEEESZZZZZ!)
I think my basement floor was poured & floated on a Monday or a Friday!
I doubt the builders expected people to actually use a basement for living space back then. My first house was built in '43 and the concrete wasn't even smoothed out, just poured and troweled a little.
Once it is done it will be full speed ahead on finishing the current round of painting on the 59 Nomad wagon
It was intended to be living space... there is a finished fireplace in the basement. It was wierd, you walked down the stairs and dead ahead was a furnace & water heater, to the left a slop-sink, and to the right a brick fireplace... just sitting there in the empty space.
They just did a crappy job getting the floor pitched/level!
Sniff... Sniff...
Had to say goodbye to an old friend today...
Shoulda put it on craigslist for $10...
Phase II of pouring the Goo...
Spent a few hours this afternoon chiseling off the old thinset (BTW - an air-hammer with a 1-1/2" blade makes SHORT work of this nasty job), and vacuuming about 385 times. Then brushed on the primer solution.
Went out for dinner tonight - John Jr's 18th birthday today
- and when we got back I mixed up two 5-gallon buckets of goo, and poured the main floor.
Off to bed and tomorrow morning it'll be set and walk-able!
I'm good in that respect. When I plumbed it 16-1/2 years ago I spent $$ on REAL, all metal, shut off valves. They are rebuildable, and they're not sweat fittings - they're compression. If one of them happens to buy the farm, I can just take it off.
I am very impressed with the floor leveling product. Follow the directions precisely (using the recommended primer, water quantity, and mix time) and it will flow out from 3/4" to a feather-edge. It's still a little "green" this morning, but completely walkable. (The shower stall after 4 days cure is hard as the parent concrete).
(If you're wondering why the bottom 4" of the wall(s) is gone, there was a tile baseboard. It would not come off without totally chunking the wallboard, so I cut my losses and just sliced it off tile & all with a roto-zip. I'll scab in & tape new strips of durarock, and since the walls will be tiled 40" up, the seam will be concealed.)
I get to play with mud today! After talking to some Grazzini guys at the job last week, they recommended the Pre/Quick/Kirb line of stuff from Mark-E (part II)for DIY'ers. They can do this by hand, in their sleep, hung-over, and be done before morning coffee, but I need something like this.
Congrats to Jr on his birthday !!
Just an observation, but are you planning to replace the toilet supply valve while it's accessable ? I have been replacing all the old rubber seal screw valves around here with ball valves as I work on various things.
Well, the "pre-pitch" is down, and now imbedded with 60lbs of "sand mix". Sheryl is "Paper Tiger-ing" and DIF'ing the walls (old wallpaper). Looks like tomorrow will be laying the vinyl membrane and then "Quick Pitch" for the final shower floor.
Fun! (Not... going from 2 thrones to 1 gets some getting used to)
Update:
Started around 8:00, and have accomplished... building the curb, installing the shower pan, the drain fitting, temp'd in the shower caddy insert, and moisture barrier. Time for a sammich, and then lug the cement board out of the car and downstairs... ugh.
If I see another sheet of DuraRock/Hardieboard it'll be too soon. Great stuff, but a PAIN to work with - hard to cut, heavy, needs "special" screws (at $8 a box of 150).
But, the shower stall is rocked.
Next, pour the final floor and mud/tape the seams.
Got done an hour early today, and got started on the final phases of the rough-in. The joints are taped and mudded, the final "Pitch Sticks", and curb forms are built, and the drain weep-hole protector is installed.
After dinner it'll be mud time again, and pour/screed the final floor!
Mud's down.
Those pitch sticks & curb formers are the only way to go!
Tomorrow night: Tile layout on the walls
Looks like it will be nice but a LOT more work than a ready panel stall. You're far more ambitious than me.
That's what was in there before, a "neo-angle" pre-form pan, walls, and glass. Since the room is a funny shape, there was this wasted, wedge-shaped corner with it. Now basically the entire end of the room (from the doorframe, south) is all shower.
It's framed for a standard 48" wide glass shower door insert, but we are considering a custom frameless glass wall & door. ($$$$)
(Had a great surprise when I got home today. Sheryl was stuck on a multi-hour conference call (which she had to attend/listen in on but not contribute to). So the wireless headset went on, and she got all the wallpaper stripped off!!
)
I've never done a "poured" shower pan before but thanks to YouTube, I was able to watch about 10 videos about it and convince myself "I can do that...". I've done all the tile-work in other remodels around here (I actually like it
), so that isn't an issue.
The 1st tile(s) are down and set!!
3rd to Sirloin Steak and Cold Beer, a wet-saw is one of the best things ever invented.
The shower floor was the morning shift, the afternoon shift was the 1st wall...
Had another session after work & dinner tonight, got 95% of the west wall done. (mixed a batch of "too hot" mud, and it started setting before I could get the cut tiles on the adjoining wall done...)
I've done a shload of tile-work around here, and have picked up a bunch of tricks from setters on jobsites.
(I also "cheat" by using AutoCAD and doing a precision layout of each surface before handling a tile. I establish center, left, or right edge starts, and can shift things around by click & drag. I've got about 30 hours into just drafting time... so the physical work seems to go fast)
Thanks... The "series" of tile comes with 9x12's either plain or with the hole for the mosaic (or other insert).
Um, my wife saw the pics a couple days ago and started reminding me that she still wants a tiled backsplash in the kitchen.
I told her to call John.....
Hardee Har Har... you guys are cracking me up. I do this stuff 'cause I like it, and can do it on my own time/schedule. This job's on a fast-track because I want my bathroom back, and Sammy's coming home next month - we NEED a second bathroom!
Mitch, don't let the wifey see these...
(Kitchen backsplashes are a bytch... tight quarters and all the work is vertical. Setting isn't bad, but grouting is a pain in the back).
While I've been "sticking" tile, Sheryl was out this afternoon hitting the "Home Centers" looking for a new vanity top and a commode. I really don't have a preference on the vanity/sink top (as with all of our "projects", she does the color/theme/coordinating thing, I just build it...) but the commode has to be of a "Ferguson" or "Binford 6100" power level
...
No, I haven't been slacking off.. just a few things (like the April Club Meeting...) took some time. Started this AM with the wall on the left, then after a sammich got to the wall with the shower valve. (waiting for the mud to "set", then I can move the left ledger to the upper 1/2 of the valve wall)
(another "cheat"... use the little plastic spacers!)
I installed a Briggs "Vacuity" 4400 in the main floor 1/2 bath a number of years ago. It's a 1.6 gallon but it has a bladder in the tank that flushes like a jet...
Large, fully glazed trapway for "smooth action".
Using the spacers isn't cheating.....it's working smart
You're lucky....I've been putting my wife off for a few years but now that I'm partially retired, she's back to hinting I will have time. Oh well, I guess I will.....
.....when ALL my cars are done...
It's getting close... 90% of the walls are done, and I'll be working on the floor layout & setting today. Once the floor is done & set, I can do the last course of wall tile down to meet it.
Sheryl's got the commode, vanity top, wall paint, fixtures, and even the towels either "in hand" or on order!
Got started on the floor this morning, then went out to "Mom Seitz's" and met Dave. Spent several hours disassembling the boat lift and loading on a trailer, then back home for more floor.
Got everything cut and "dry fit". Tomorrow morning I'll pull it all off, thinset, and stick! Then since I can't walk on it for 24 hrs, I get to do yardwork!!
These pics don't appear to be too much different than the previous one, but the tile is now stuck to the floor.
I gotta tell you... invest the time and do a "dry-fit" on a room/job with wierd angles, or if you're doing a diagonal/diamond pattern. Then make yourself a map of the floor, and number the tiles & map. When you set them, it's just a paint-by-numbers gig then - they go back exactly as placed.
The spacer gizmos I'm using are totally cool! One side is 1/8", the other 1/4". Made of reasonably rigid plastic, they just push in place and maintain the grout gap with no fuss.
Getting closer!
Did the shower curb last night, and then the bottom course of 1-3/4 walls tonight. If things stay on track, I should be ready for grouting this weekend
Hurry up.....Buick show and swap at the Fairgrounds on Sunday !!
Cut & stuck the LAST PIECE of tile this morning!!
That "niche" for shampoo & soap is a beeyatch... 18 pieces of tile in each compartment!
Grout tomorrow!!
Well, a 12-hour marathon session yesterday... and the walls are grouted! The seam at the top of the shower stall, door casings, and the stall to wall will be done in sanded color-matched caulk (expansion/contraction issues). Sheryl has procured the replacement outlets, switches, cover plates, and paint... target is to have (at least) another functional head by the weekend...
Tonight... the floors!
Getting really close now!!
)
The King has a throne! (not a "Furguson", but a Kohler that has some serious "baaaawhooosh"
Would've had the vanity top & fixture(s) installed, but the top was cracked (in the box) when we got it home. Sheryl's going to get another tonight, and I'll be installing the shower doors this afternoon, then tonight the vanity top.
(The wall color is keyed off of the stone segments in the mosiac. It's that estrogen thing about "coordination" and "accessorizing" that testosterone overrides. I see in 8 colors and "peach" is a fruit - Sheryl has the "eye" for this stuff - she envisions, I build.)
The cabinetry is the old stuff from the original bathroom. It is good quality stuff, and well made - and it ties in with the new color scheme - so we saved it. I've got a bag of new knobs, pulls, and hardware in "oiled bronze" that will match the new shower & faucet fixtures.
-- Edited by John D on Tuesday 14th of May 2013 03:51:42 PM
I LIKE the Blue paint !!
The Oiled Bronze shower fixtures go well with the Sahara Sand tile color....
Vanity top didn't happen tonight - the "design consultant" bopped around town looking at other alternatives before going back to the original plan... so the vanity top & faucet will be tomorrow's job.
The shower doors are in but edges/seams not caulked. I'll do that tomorrow after the sole plate has fully set.
IT'S DONE!!
Sealed, Caulked, Towel Bars/Hooks, Accessories... Done!
(Now I get to clean up the rest of the basement... and then try out the shower to clean me up!)
Looks GREAT, John.
Congrats on finishing it so quickly. I would be working on that for years...