Archive for the ‘renovation’ Category

when you bite off more than you can chew…

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

…why not take another bite?

If you’ve been with me up till now, you know that I’ve been blindly remodeling my half bath. I dove right in, with the recklessness of an acid tripper believing she can fly. So far, it’s been gutted and plumbed and the “Two T’s” are waiting for me: Tile and Toilet. I finally mustered up the balls to go buy all the drywall equipment, even though something as simple as choosing screws put the fear of god into me. I even had to trick Scott with promises of hoagies, to get him to drive the rented van that Home Depot provides.

Here is the drywall and the cement board for the tiled wall. Like immigrants fresh off the boat, they needed time to acclimate to their new home. They sat here for 3 days absorbing the room’s temperature.

Just as I was getting ready with that first sheet, something started nagging at me. The floor. Or rather, three floors. Why are there three types of flooring within 6 feet of each other, pray tell? Yes, good people, it doesn’t make any sense to me either.

So what did I do? That’s right. I put off the drywall some more. I went to town on that square tile. Of all the ways I tried to pop it off, I found the easiest thing to do was simply smash it. Like it did me wrong. Which it did. Cuz it looked at me funny.

In about an hour, it looked like the sky fell in.

I swept up the shards, and now had my blank canvas. I’m going to simply extend the blonde wood flooring into the hall, which will add a few bucks to my floor cost.

There was a lot of debris in all the nooks and crannies. I rolled on over to Home Depot to rent a Shop-Vac, the mother of all vacuums.

The lady manning the counter told me none were available, so I am now the proud owner of a $50 model. Is this how they get you to buy stuff? It took me an embarrassingly long time to assemble the thing.

It’s one powerful monkey! It almost pulled the fillings out of my teeth. Why doesn’t everyone use these instead of the regular ol’ vacuums for their house?

Ok, now I can do the drywall. Or can I? What about this dangling electrical box?

I’ve been meaning to change it into a GFCI outlet. Back to Home Depot I went. If you’re paying close attention, you’ll see that so far, I spent half the day on vacuuming and shopping at Home Depot. Oh, hours, where do you go!

It was also a mystery as to how to deal with a dangling box (sounds like slang for….something). Looks like a crash course in electric wiring is about to commence. I purchased another box that looked like it could get screwed to the side of the stud. But, ugh, wrong size. The wood behind it displaced it forward too much.

Another trip to Home Depot seemed as appealing as eating rotten eggs. It was time to “Tim Gunn” it and make it work.

I screwed the back into the wood behind it, all the while wondering why the original person didn’t do that. I have since learned that this style of electrical box is only used when there is no open wall, and it can be slid right into a drywall hole.

Between this video, and the instructions that came with the outlets, I was easily able to install both the GFCI outlet, and the on/off switch. I only had 3 wires to work with because this was the last stop of the power line, but if you have more than 4 wires, you may want to watch this video.

I was pretty impressed with mah bad self.

Now, NOW, I was ready for that drywall. If you’ve been smelling procrastination, you’d be right.

I should preface this by saying I’ve been reading up on how to do this during my work commute. I read 2 books on the subject.

1. Drywall: Professional Techniques for Great Results

and

2. Complete Drywall (Stanley Complete)


The first one was so detailed, and comprehensive, it was like reading a drywall tell-all. The second was a reinforcement of all I had learned, and showed some additional pics of the how-to’s. I did feel well armed with the right info to get the job done right. Now all I needed was the benefit of experience.

First, a quick check to see if the studs are all lined up. They all appear to be flush against the level.

I shimmied the first piece of drywall toward the bathroom. I angled and pushed, and the thing would not fit through the door. I called in my backup, aka Scott, and he confirmed that I’m not a total spacial dolt — it truly wouldn’t fit.

Mo-fo! I specifically gutted the place to avoid seams, and now I was going to have seams up the wazoo. Such is life.

Cutting was easy. I measured, I scored.

I snapped it against my knee, and cut the other side free.

Then I propped it up against the studs, and with gritted teeth, drove the first screw through.

According to the experts, it’s important for the screws to stop just below the surface of the drywall, making just a dimple, without actually breaking the surface paper, otherwise the screw may be weak and “pop” later on. Um, some areas got away from me, especially around the corners.

When that happens, the right thing to do is get another screw in, a couple of inches away.

After a few hit-and-miss screws, I had my first piece of drywall up! Yay me!

Now that I’m looking at it, I’m thinking I could add a few more screws.

Anyway, I was gearing up to start the awful cement board installation on the other side of the wall. I say awful because those bastards are heavy. That’s probably why they come in small pieces. I popped open the box of special screws designed just for that purpose, and only then noticed they required different bits. The screw on the left is the square-bit-loving cement board screw.

I couldn’t bear another trip to Home Depot today, so time to take a nap.

Do you guys ever feel like utter brain mush when doing these sorts of projects? Do you just plow through anyway? Learn everything you can about it beforehand?

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Posted in bathroom, home project, home repair, renovation | 9 Comments »

gettin’ dem pipes cleaned

Saturday, February 5th, 2011

After a long wait, the plumbing’s finally in. This wasn’t a job I was prepared to tackle myself, what with all the rerouting and setting angles to code, so I called in the Water Guns. The pros. Am I glad I did.

Much to my surprise, 2 guys showed up. I wouldn’t have thought this was a 2-man job. Once they got started, I heard sounds that were as foreign to me as a Magpie’s bird calls: lots of welding and sawing. I most certainly would have botched that one. They added wooden slats to support the sink’s bowl, and roughed in the correct pipes for the narrow pedestal. I was bummed to learn that the hot and cold supply valves would be visible, but it does make sense to have easy access to them in the future. It’s that same dang argument of form vs function.

On the other hand, the Porcher photo of the sink shows no visible valves, so WTF?

Anyway, the plumbing project is estimated at $585, a whopping $185 more than I jotted down in my original budget plan. Granted, I took a wild guess then, but the prices I get quoted for this sort of stuff keep shocking me.

Before we found these guys, again on Angie’s List, we got several other estimates:

1. For the first estimate I was curious to see what it would cost for more than just the plumbing. I called in the same dude that did my brother’s dental office remodel, and asked for a number that would include the plumbling, changing the outlet to GFCI, and routing in a light for the adjoining closet, installing the 4 panels of drywall, popping in the trim, and getting in some new doors to replace the 3 doors in that immediate vicinity. I asked him NOT to include, the tiling, painting, and floor installation. I nearly dropped my donut when his email came in. Wait for it… wait for it… $5800!!!! For a half bath! There’s not even a tub! And not even for the complete job! Were the new doors going to be gold-encrusted? Would the drywall have some sort of diamond technology? How can it be so much? If I’d go with him, this half bath would end up costing 10 thou, a sum to make the angels weep.

2. Once it became clear that I would, indeed, be doing most of the work myself, I called in a local company that quoted $700 for just the plumbing.

3. I also called the fella who hooked up our dryer, but since he lives about an hour’s drive from here, he didn’t want to make the trip for a quote unless I was willing to have him do the work right then, once we agreed on a price. He did say the second part of the installation, where he’d hook up the toilet and hang the sink, would be $350. I didn’t want to be stuck in a situation where I was forced to hire someone on the spot, so that was a no go.

4. And, of course, the last estimate was the one above for $585, from Visentin Plumbing in North Jersey. So far so good with them, though I’ll have a more thorough assessment when they’re fully done.

They’ll install the appliances once the walls and floor are all set.

Posted in bathroom, home project, renovation | 3 Comments »

Day Stripper

Friday, January 28th, 2011

The title of this post will probably attract spam comments that would make Hugh Hefner blush, but I can’t help myself. I did do some stripping.

Wallpaper. I’m talking wallpaper. While helplessly and impatiently waiting to coordinate the plumber’s rotten schedule with mine, I decided that twiddling my thumbs wasn’t a good use of time.

On one of our many recent snow days, I attacked those pink birds like I had a score to settle. Pink birds floating through the pink clouds. Some kind of bubble-gum nightmare, me thinks.

As per usual, I’ve never torn down wall-paper before, so I consulted the all-knowing google. It led me to:

THIS VIDEO

Man I love it when info is spoon-fed to me.

Firstly, I got the wallplates off. Someone actually took the time to wrap them in this wallpaper. And, wow, they even matched the pattern for perfect seamlessness.

Oh, and the heating grills.

Then I twirled around like a paper ripping lunatic. Since the “paper” was more vinyl than paper, the top layer came off in big, happy sheets.

Holey! Where’d THAT come from?

This came down in a jiffy, maybe an hour.

Too bad the backing didn’t come off with it. This called for some garden sprayer spraying. But first I spread out the tarp to catch the water that might otherwise damage the floor.

And tape off the outlets so water doesn’t drip in. All part of my “avoiding death” plan.

The back and forth spraying action makes me I feel like I’m spraying for bugs. Kind of fun, actually. After a minute of waiting, the paper should be well saturated.

Then comes the eyeballs-rolling-to-the-back-of-your-head tedious labor.

Scrape.

Scrape some more. It worked with just water. No chemical aids necessary in this case.

I try to ignore the ironic fact that the lavender paint and spackled patches underneath look a lot like the wallpaper I just pulled off.

Better put on some music. This is gonna take a while. At least it’s working.

Six hours, 3 garbage bags, and one cramped claw-hand later, I’ve got this.

Glad that’s done, even though the room looks like it came down with chicken pox. Now what color paint says “exercise”?

Here’s all the stuff I got to do the project, in case you want to do it, too. Did I end up needing it all? Nope. But I was boy scout-level prepared.

1. Garden Sprayer — well worth it. Made the soaking of the paper go much faster.

2. PaperTiger Scoring Tool — I really wanted to avoid using this. One of our bathrooms has wall pocks all over it, and it’s obvious someone was once over-zealous with one of these. In the end, I didn’t need it and it went back. Of course, it depends on how stubborn your wallpaper is.

3. Plastic Drop Cloths, 9′ x 12′ — good for catching water and chemical drippings.

4. Protective Goggles — Why did I think I needed these? Really unnecessary for this project, but I kept them for the tile chipping.

5. Rubber Gloves — Essential. I don’t know about you, but the sensation of being sticky makes me want to dip myself in acetone. And this soaked-up wallpaper goo could catch flies.

6. Blue Tape — Needed to tape off the outlets, so water doesn’t seep in there.

7. Particle Mask — Talk about overkill in this case. Since I only used water to soak the paper, these were extraneous, but if you use the chemical stuff, these may help save some brain cells.

8. Wall Metal Scraper — I used what appears to be a 6″ taping knife. It worked wonders, and I’m glad I got the metal one, and not the plastic one, because I can tell the plastic one wouldn’t have been up for the job.

9. Dif Wallpaper Stripper Gel — The hardware store guy recommended this one, and I would have used it if I had to, but luckily, the wallpaper came off with just water and I took it back.

The whole undertaking cost me about 50 bucks and about 9 hours spread over two days. And since it’s the only wallpapered room in the house, I can bid this project adieu.

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Posted in home project, renovation | 8 Comments »

Follow the gray brick tile

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Choice is the enemy. Everyone thinks they want a lot of choice, but let me tell you, it is a curse, not a blessing.

I’ve learned this this the hard way at my advertising job, where we used to present our clients with lots of different concept ideas for selling their product. Many months and headaches later, no one could agree on anything. Now we give them three to five choices, and the process miraculously goes smoother.

I’m no different. Too much choice will keep me second-guessing myself for so long, it’s almost preferable to fling myself into a volcano. So why, oh why, did I pull every swatch and sample I could get my hands on? I’m still grappling with that question.

So, tile. As per usual, I first surfed my way through the world’s internet until bleary, looking for every possibility that might work, some sort of muted gray and white combination, based on this photo:

A few of the many I bookmarked:

This one looks just like the one in the picture above, with a mother-of-pearl quality. It’s lovely, but I’m not the iridescent type. The $20.71/sq. ft. wasn’t calling my name either.

Murano Amethyst

Winter Blend, skews a little too yellow, but tempting at a friendly $5.95 sq.ft.

Mint Marble, too green, and too varied in texture, $9.00/ft

Arabescato Carrara, $14.00/ sq. ft.

5/8 x 5/8 Bianco Carrara from Deko, 12.48/sq. ft.

Eh, like candy. Hakatai Calliope Monet Grey, $16.42/ft

Too contrasty, Intertech Grey Mosaic, $8.81 sq. ft.

Hmmm, interesting mix. Cloud White Glass and Marble, $18.56/ft.

It’s hard to commit without seeing the stuff in person, so not only did I spend $40 for having samples mailed to me, I took myself to a few local showrooms. Every time, without fail, I gravitated to the same tile — the carrara statuary marble.

Somehow, the sales people managed to keep a straight face when they quoted prices ranging from $15-35(!) per square foot. Well, I guess they need to pay for their kid’s XBox somehow. I won’t be helping.

At least now I had an idea of what I wanted, and I went back to the internet, where prices were a more reasonable $10-12. When I saw this sample at $8 bucks/ft, I thought I won the tile lottery. I was just about to pull the trigger.

Statuary white, $7.99/ft

Too bad the shipping was almost as much as the tile ($168). Apparently, all tile purchased on the internet has exorbitant shipping charges, even on amazon. Tile is friggin heavy! That put an end to that.

After more searching, I landed on this company. They say they can charge less for marble because they import it themselves and they have no store front. Luckily, their shipping center isn’t far from me, so I called and asked if I could pick it up in person. Pay dirt:

Basketweave Mosaics, $9.95/sq. ft.

One leisurely drive later, I was the proud owner of 35 new squares.

So in the end, I can’t decide whether tile shopping is fun or stressful. What’s your take?

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Posted in home project, renovation | 9 Comments »

And the bathroom beat goes on

Monday, January 10th, 2011

I swear, I’m the slowest demolitioner on the planet. This is really moving along at turtle speeds. Kudos to all of you who knock this out in a 12-hour marathon session. I, on the other hand, start to exhaust after about three. Especially when crouching for the better part of it.

Case in point, the tile floors. Why, oh why, does the pattern have to be a mess of Chicklets? It gave way only one piece at a time.

After 20 minutes:

I spent another 15 minutes trying to chip the marble threshold. It was quite the stubborn slab. I used every ounce of girl brawn I had, to no avail. Little did I know, this was a fool’s errand.

You see, it was BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE TILE! Duh! Something that only became obvious once I cleared away the offending squares.

After shuffling around the floor for a while, I felt literally bent out of shape, and took a “break” by moving on to the drywall. First, I had to yank off the trim around the window and door. I hammered in the pry bar until the nails came loose.

The trim popped right off.

Relief. It’s working.

Only, whoops, I did a smidge of damage to the wood. I hope that’s not an issue. Anyone, chime in if you think it is.

When the trim was no longer trimming, I beat the crap out of the drywall, making a line of holes around a section.

Then I riiiiiiipped it out. Hmmm, it’s not so tough.

Soon I got into the groove, and it started going faster.

The nails in the framing went next.

Speaking of nails, I was surprised to see them. I’ve been edumacatin’ myself on drywall installation and everyone seems to use drywall screws nowadays, citing that they’re much stronger and less likely to pop out. Ah, the age of progress. I was also surprised to see fire resistant gypsum being used along the two insulated walls lining the exterior. Is this code? Anyone?

As I worked, yet more questions kept cropping up. How do you know if you need to replace the insulation? This one must be from 1971. I really hope someone out there reading has some insight on this. Please share your hard-won knowledge.

Here’s some mess for your enjoyment. I had to stop and bag it up every once in a while, or risk burying myself alive.

When I got to the ceiling, I had a head-scratching moment. You might think this is from the soot crumbles littering my hair, and you’d be right, but also from the question at hand. I couldn’t just keep hammering out the drywall near the ceiling, or I’d damage the ceiling. And I was trying to preserve it because the thought of re-drywalling the ceiling by myself made me want to forever disappear into some remote, one-horse, Mexican town.

I hope I handled this right. I scored the ceiling tape, and pried out the drywall pieces. Anyone? Did I do harm?

So I’m pretty much there. All that’s left is pulling out the rest of the nails and a thorough sweep up.

Though I’m not near that step yet, I also have to figure out how to prep the floor for my hardwood installation. Right now, it’s got paper backing and adhesive all stuck to it.

If you want all the gritty details, here’s bathroom demolition part 1, and bathroom demolition part 2.

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Posted in bathroom, home project, home repair, renovation | 12 Comments »

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