Bathroom - 05/2004

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05.01.2004 Waiting
	This is the new tub/shower faucet trim and our final color scheme. The paint color is brick red. The vinyl floor is Armstrong: Bavard Mushroom available only at the home despot... how exclusive!		This is the second and first layers of floor screwed together with a handle. The handle made it easy to remove the floor for the cutouts. Ro loves it when I make things so convenient.
	This is the measurement markup for the tub drain. I am not going to screw in the subfloor until I talk to a plumber, he may want to take advantage of the open floor.		Here is the cutout for the tub drain. Doesn't it just figure that a joist is in the way of the new drain? We'll have to notch it. It will sag over time, a long time
Today we made a trip to Expoo. Expoo is the upscale home despot. The project came to a halt when I realized that I wanted a temperature-controlled shower/tub faucet, with brushed nickel trim, no diverter on the spout, and a volume (or flow) control on the diverter. Picky picky picky. We found one at the Expoo. It's a Hansgrohe: Solaris ThermoBalance II I wasn't thrilled with the Pegasus "brand" faucet we bought in March. Turns out that Pegasus is the manufacturer du jour for home despot. I don't want to find out twenty years from now that I can't get parts for it. Hansgrohe has been around since the beginning of the last century so I am hoping for the continued success of the company. Another thing about the Pegasus faucet is that it did not allow for trickling the hot water during a long soak in the tub, something that is absolutely necessary for a good long soak. I really need to get a good plumber, we are ready.
05.02.2004 A Drawing! A rare occurrence.
I rarely do any drawings for our home improvement projects. Measurements are taken on the fly and the plan and punchlist are kept in my head. But we were at the point where we needed a plumber so I figured I make a drawing for him to work from. Click here to view a DWF version of the drawing. Unless you are really a technogeek, you will get prompted to download a viewer from AutoDesk. It's safe and it will allow you to view the drawing I did for the plumber that we will never find. If you don't want to download it, there's another version of my drawing in PDF format - here.
05.07.2004 Plumbers are picky around these parts.
	These are the piecesparts that need to go into the wall.		This is the wall where the piecesparts go.
	But before the piecesparts go in, the old stuff must go and new wood must be installed.		This was a day's work. The valve, the riser and drop for the shower and tub are in. New copper and brass are so pretty.
	Nice joint! Solder joint that is.		Nibco! I don't know why I took this shot, other than to foodle with my macro settings. And for some reason... the name "Nibco" cracks me up!
I gave up on getting a plumber at a reasonable cost and in a reasonable amount of time. One plumber wanted a flat rate of 800 dollars, didn't matter what. The other plumber was all; "Ohhhhh, I don't know if any of my guys would even DO that... they're on vacation blahblahblah..." What the hell? So I decided to tackle the plumbing myself. It's mostly soldering and I've been soldering wires for 30+ years. Pipes are just big wires... right? My employer gave me a little gift, a gift certificate to the home despot. (very thoughtful actually) All those copper and brass piecesparts (except for the main valve) in the first photo are courtesy of WJ and AC's thoughtfulness. There seems to be a rift among the internet plumbers. Some say use dielectric unions between galvanized pipe and copper, others say use a brass nipple, it works better and won't leak. I went with the brass nipple - a Nibco Nipple! It's actually six inches long so it's kinda large to be called a nipple, maybe a brass dong would be more appropriate. (I wonder how many porn search hits this paragraph will get?)
05.08.2004 Lead Free Plumber
	I just gotta say, this is one nice piece of brass!		Here's The Boy pondering the plumbing.
	Today's project was to connect points A to points B.		Here are the connections - points A to points B all done. Unfortunately, point C leaked!
	This is the damn point C. It required a bigger wrench and some solder to stop the drip.		Here's a close-up of point C. It will not leak.
I took a lot of effort to get this part of the project completed. Many trips back and forth. Turning off the water, fixing a leak, turning the water back on, turning off the water, fixing a leak, turning the water back on, turning off the water, fixing a leak, turning the water back on... The soldered joints were all fine. It was the threaded ones that were being boogers. First time there was a leak on the hot water side that was pretty bad. That one was pretty easy to fix, just more Teflon tape was needed. But then this teeny-tiny weep of a drip appeared at point "C" in the photo. Fixing something like this without dismantling the entire assembly requires: a bigger wrench, a blowtorch, some choice expletives and molten metal. I just went in to check for leaks and I swear I felt something damp. Ro assures me it is; "arid, dry, desert, sand..." I don't know... I think it might be leaking a molecule of H₂O at a time in spite of me... What if it's leaking as fast as it can dry out? How would I ever know? I'll be better when I check tomorrow. I keep going in to check for a leak. Ro is already in there and proclaims; "It's DRY." I leer at point C and return to writing this.
05.09.2004 Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck
	The traditional penny. I soldered it to the pipe strap. This was a very pennyworthy project.		The main valve installed. This part of the build is DONE!
	Here's the boy checking specs per the plan.		I notched the joists for the new drainpipe.
The first thing this morning, I went to see if there was a leak. Sure enough, there was a teeny-tiny droplet of "morning dew" at point C. One more cycle of turn off the water, blowtorch, wrench, blowtorch, solder, turn the water back on... This time I am satisfied. It does not leak!
05.15.2004 No Turning Back
	The last thing to do before sealing off the subfloor was to cut out the old, rusty drain.		This is the old drain. It is fused together. The only way to get it out was with a hacksaw.
	This is the new temporary plug so sewer gas won't come into the house.		The first layer of subfloor is in. Any more work under the house will require crawling. I hope I didn't forget anything.
	The second layer of subfloor is in. Were DONE with this part of the build.		Here's The Boy inspecting the finished subfloor.
Today was more stress than work. I pondered long and hard before sealing up the floor. I want to be sure that there is nothing else left to do down there. I made one last scan under the house to check for wayward tools or birds. All clear. So the subfloor is now done. Nailed, glued and screwed! I will arrange for delivery of the tub on Tuesday for the following Friday. I recruited some friends from work to help schlep the tub inside. That will be plan "B." From what I understand, the tub delivery guys are only obligated to drop this 350 pound thing in our driveway. However when they get here I will try to bribe them to get the tub inside the house in its final setting. That is plan "A."
05.21.2004 I Get By With A Little Help...
	The tub was delivered today. The farthest the guy could bring it in was "to the front door, liability and stuff..." So there it sits.		So I imposed upon my friends and co-workers to help me out. Presenting Joe Henderson and Anatoly Chorzlav.
	Tub in - yay! We did have to pull it in and out a few times because it needed to be shimmed to level.		The hard part about shimming is: finding the perfect shim. Too soft, too thick, too big, too small, too thin, finally... just right. Yep, close enough to level for me!
All in all, the tub thing was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. At 351 pounds, it was truly a beast. But I made a dolly and had some muscle to help out. My sincerest thanks, again, to Joe Henderson and Anatoly Chorzlav. Unfortunately, there was some minor damage to the hardwood floors. It almost invisible unless the light hits it just so. The wheels on the dolly were a bit too hard (I guess) and made some indentations. Joe was right, I should have put cardboard or something down... oh well... who cares. What's important is... Wheeeeee! We have a tub in the bathroom again. It's all downhill from here.
05.22.2004 Now We're (sheet) Rockin'!
	Ro installed insulation.		Then we installed a vapor barrier.
	Then we installed the greenboard.		Here's another view of the day's work.
Ro crawled up into the attic again to get some leftover insulation. Then she installed it into the open wall cavities. Me? Just a small and restful project after yesterday's tub move. (My back is a bit sore.) Installing greenboard is fairly easy. Making the cuts is easy and the measurements can be inaccurate since it's all going to be spackled anyway. Covering up the bare studs really improves the appearance of the room. Don't you think so?
05.29.2004 Spackle
	The spackled wet wall.		The spackled tub wall.
	The spackled wired wall.		Here's a shot of our new vanity temporarily located in the living room.
Today we installed the last two pieces of sheetrock and then spackled all the seams, corners and screw holes. This is the first coat of spackle. The seams are reinforced with fiberglass-mesh tape. Tomorrow we will go, once more, to the despot. This time for: sandpaper, more spackle, a corner trim for the sheetrock, some disposable spackle knives, and a 4 inch brass (Nibco!) nipple.
05.30.2004 Primed and waiting
	The primed tub alcove.		The Swanstone alcove back. It's sitting in the shop waiting for the primer to dry.
Today we made the obligatory run to the home despot. Ro sanded, vacuumed and then gave some things a second coat of spackle. I replaced a corner bead near the tub and spackled that. Then I closed the door - behind the door, I found a spot that we missed yesterday. So, more spackle. Ro primed the tub alcove. We are now waiting for it to dry. This is the hardest part. The primer feels dry but that's not dry enough. I think we'll wait for tomorrow to install the first piece of Swanstone.
05.31.2004 Swanstoned
	Here's the back wall of the tub alcove.		Here's The Boy inspecting the bracing for the Swanstone.
	There's The Boy checking out the second Swanstone wall. One more to go...	No Picture	The third and final Swanstone wall would have been photographed here. But I'm tired, smelly and done for the day.
Go to "The Bathroom June 2004"

This page was last updated Wednesday, 11. July 2007 07:00:12 PM -0500