homebuying fun (caution: stupidly wide .jpg)

[mjimport]

Flyboy, great idea on placing the toilet before the tile sets. I admit I have had 2 toilets go in that I wasn't happy with due to uneven gaps.
Great job on that bathroom!

[flyboyx]

looks you you are getting there. can't wait to see the final result

[MR E30 325is]

Nice nice work Flyboy!

In the middle of our master bedroom expansion/upgrades at the moment.

Started by removing the old closet completely.

20170715_093123 by MR E30, on Flickr

As a by-product, moved the attic access out to the garage. Excited to have that out of our room. Why anyone would put a hole to a giant space filled with fiberglass insulation right above all of your clothes is beyond me.

20170715_155121 by MR E30, on Flickr

Drywall and mudded up the space. Will do final skip trowel finish towards end of remodel.

20170722_062102 by MR E30, on Flickr

Went to the other wall and tore the drywall down. Redid some wiring and framed out another 2 inches, to add room for insulation and to remove any direct sound transfer from the kitchen into the bedroom (wife likes her quiet)

20170722_113349 by MR E30, on Flickr

20170723_144047 by MR E30, on Flickr

We're pulling down the popcorn ceiling, and removing the carpet as well.

Moved on to the last wall that we are modifying during this phase of the remodel. Pulled down drywall, moved wiring, and added new switches. We removed the traditional door king stud, trimmer, and header.

20170730_120302 by MR E30, on Flickr

Wrapped up the day by installing new king studs, trimmers and triple 2x6 header, as well as the pocket door frame. Went with a pocket door due to the layout of all the swinging doors in that tiny area. Huge upgrade already. We're also taking this from a 2x4 wall to a 2x6 wall and adding insulation to keep the noise down from the living room. Huge improvement already.

20170730_160307 by MR E30, on Flickr

Just need to finish up the sheathing of the pocket door frame to keep it solid, drywall and mud. Then the carpet comes out and we will tile the entire room.

Then when that is done, our plans for our external 80 sqft closet addition should be finished/approved and we can start on that massive upgrade.

My wallet hurts, but the wife is happy. And frankly, so am I. Love the upgrades already.

[Stanley Rockafella]

:coolphoto:

[flyboyx]

you have to be extra extra careful since your floors are particle board. when in doubt, just replace it for the piece of mind if it fits within your budget.

in fact, if i were you, every time you reno a wet area(bathroom/kitchen/laundry), i would spend the extra time and money to rip out the particle board and replace it with the same thickness cdx plywood.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Thank you for that, didn't even think about the toilet to be honest. And I really don't want to go through all this trouble just to be back in there working on a damn toilet in a month lol.

Also I agree on the tile wall. The PO put in the liner that's there now, and it has a couple seams that I don't like. I don't know if it's founded but I feel like it's a perfect place for water to creep in and destroy the wall.

[flyboyx]

thank you for the kind comments all of you. that shower door will blow a 1500.00 reno budget to shreds. however, i think its well worth it for your own home. i would never spend that kind of money on a flip.

also, if your toilet is a no name/off brand/or american standard, i would probably replace it while you are in there. maybe its ok if it flushes well, but my advice would be to go the the habitat restore, buy a used white elger, kohler, or toto toilet. you will never have problems with those. also, throw away every part in the toidie that isn't porcelain. put a new fluid master kit in there.

[Exodus_2pt0]

i think this is probably a good idea. i would highly recommend keeping one tub in your home.(hopefully the guest or kids bathroom).

we will probably do the same at our house. i don't know your budget, but lowe's sells a fiberglass shower pan that fits in place of a normal tub. about 30"x60". it costs about 200 bucks. we are planning to go a step further in that they sell an out of the box glass frameless shower enclosure for about 700.00 that looks like it cost 3 grand. nothing i have seen can touch that look for the price. i would skip that cheap ass enclosure and tile the surround like i did in the pics above.

Thanks for the heads up, that would honestly be perfect. Will have to take the Mrs. Out window shopping to see how she wants it.

And definitely keeping the tub in the kids bathroom! I'm not going to bath the dog in mine lol.

[Powling]

Flyboy - cute dog.

Bathroom looks great too.

[flyboyx]

That looks awesome, and makes me feel much better about my situation! I kind of figured it shouldn't cost much with doing the work myself.

Right now we're talking about getting rid of the tub and putting a nice shower in. Figure nows the time since I'll be replumbing.

i think this is probably a good idea. i would highly recommend keeping one tub in your home.(hopefully the guest or kids bathroom).

we will probably do the same at our house. i don't know your budget, but lowe's sells a fiberglass shower pan that fits in place of a normal tub. about 30"x60". it costs about 200 bucks. we are planning to go a step further in that they sell an out of the box glass frameless shower enclosure for about 700.00 that looks like it cost 3 grand. nothing i have seen can touch that look for the price. i would skip that cheap ass enclosure and tile the surround like i did in the pics above.

[Exodus_2pt0]

That looks awesome, and makes me feel much better about my situation! I kind of figured it shouldn't cost much with doing the work myself.

Right now we're talking about getting rid of the tub and putting a nice shower in. Figure nows the time since I'll be replumbing.

[TeXJ]

Looks good!

[flyboyx]

speaking of potty renovations, here is what i have been up to for the last month or two.

this is the bath in our rental. here are the before pics. it was pretty dated. cultured marble everywhere. oak cabinets. 1980 needs its decor back.

light blue ceramic tile. i blasted it up with my 30lb demo hammer. i cut myself on the shards 3 or 4 times. ceramic sucks. porcelain is king.







i had already started demo by the time i took this pic. the cultured marble was leaking at the joints. this stuff is often put together with caulk. it never lasts. the floor was wet under the tub but i caught it soon enough that i didn't have any rot.


gutted






new tub in. hardie backer going up.





new shower valve tied into the preexisting cpvc. the one i removed was the 3 knob style. it was starting to leak too. this part of the house was probably built in the 40's. the sheetrock that i removed was dated 1991. i have to assume the last reno in this bathroom happened about that time. the plumbing had held up nicely otherwise.



joints are sealed and a waterproof membrane is painted over the hardie.



porcelain starting to go up.





new floor tile. after the thin set has dried for about 30 min or so, i like to set the lower half of the toilet over the drain hole. this way it will push the tile down a little to conform to the mating surface of the bottom of the bowl. this way it won't rock back and forth when people shit on it. also the wax ring will last longer that way if the bowl doesn't have movement.



i had to re mud all the walls to smooth them out. i was planning to fill in this recess with 2x4 studs and make it flush. my wife had other ideas so i put up rounded corner bead and mudded it in.


floating mirror.


matching mosiac also used in the shower tile pattern.


finished product with walls painted grey.







all together, i did all the work by myself, but we spent a total of 1500.00 bucks plus of minus a dollar or two.

[fight4life28]

I couldn't think of the name of at the moment while typing it and actually missed you were going to remove it all. In the replay above mine. I was just thinking to myself I hope he doesn't close it up/repair everything else with Polybutelyne still in there.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Oh yes, it's definitely all coming out next year. I looked around in the crawl space and this definitely isn't the first time there's been an issue.

There was a class action suit that would have had everything replaced for free, but it expired a while back. Unfortunate that one of the previous owners didn't know about it. Polybutelyne is the name of this crap.