BathRoom Renovation - Day Fifteen

Shopping Day! The demolition is complete. The subfloor has been rebuilt and the back wall has been built from scratch. The next steps entail plumbing, electrical and installing the tub. That meant buying the tub. Trip to Home Depot. Tub -- $278.00 American Standard Princeton (an enamel something mix which promises a quieter, warmer, more comfortable bath as well as a scratch / chip resistant finish.) Tub/shower faucet -- $158.00 in brush nickel. We had to call Lowes to find out if the sink faucet was brushed or shiny. Toilet -- $228.00 Geez, all the choices in toilets... apparently there is a grading system, we wanted a bathroom with a grading of a '10'. Plus some plumbing supplies. Bath drain itself was $45.00. A total of $800.00 spent today. Plus $544 in tile spent earlier and $150 in wood and insulation brings our materials and supplies to $1500. Labor to date is about 60 hours at $55/hour equaling $3300 in labor costs.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Thirteen & Fourteen

Last night, hubby/contractor put in 2 hours installing insulation on the outside (back) wall. The bathroom will be better insulated now and the shower wont nearly be as cold as it has been all these years I've lived here.
Today, Asher got in 3 hours before Shabbat started. For awhile there wont be pictures as the work going on now is tedious and wont have much to show. (we'll see -- I might still take pictures.) He's preparing the walls so that the studs are even and we can put up sheet rock. We've (you know the contractor part of we, not the me part of we) -- we've discovered that the sewer line sticks out a bit -- so we'll have to build the wall out about an inch (behind the sink and toilet) so that its even. An 8 foot by 5 foot bathroom isnt exactly 8 by 5. Down to the studs its a little more, but when the sheet rock and tile go up its a little less. While I might think "what's a half an inch?" when the tub is 60 inches, 59.5 inches is a problem. I believe we'll be putting the tub in and then finishing the walls around it. Dont you love my liberal use of the word WE. Dont you love my use of the word LIBERAL when Asher is involved. Meanwhile we hope to be buying a tub on Sunday. I'll take pictures at Home Depot.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Eleven & Twelve

The trip to Texas was great! Hubby/contractor needed time to just be hubby without the contractor part. We really enjoyed spending time with each other and with his family and friends. Last night he returned to the scene of the distruction. Part of the sub floor had to come out. He spent about 3 hours on that. We're hoping that tonight we can rebuild the subfloor with plywood. Look at the floor ... you can see all the way into the basement.
Another 4.5 hours in the bathroom tonight. This time putting down the subfloor. The contractor put down new strips of wood that hold up the sub floor and then put down the plywood subfloor (that's what you see in the 2nd picture).
We're still arguing about nooks. Hubby doesnt think we need them. I think though that I may have convinced him to put two nooks on the long wall. I do need to look for fancy towel racks -- anyone have ideas. Tomorrow night I have to go visit my aunt -- so I'll be surprised when I get home .... I'll let you know what happens.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Ten

My handsome hubby contractor made a beautiful bathroom (handicapped accessible) for good friends of ours and I've included a picture of their shower with the cubbies and also a picture of the towel rack above the toilet. I'm not sure that I want this rack but I think I want something similar. Hubby isnt certain that he wants so many cubbies, but I'm the customer so that's what we're getting! So look at the framing of our nooks. So, most of the work is on the back wall setting in the braces for the shelves that I want in the shower. The lowest shelf is small, just for soap and a razor. The upper two shelves are high enough to put shampoos, face wash and body wash. If the shampoo bottle is 9.5 inches high we need another 2 inches for the sheet rock and tile - each cubby needs to be about 12 inches tall. On the sidewall is also one nook, the same size as the nooks in the shower. I'm going to buy fancy pretty bottles and put in q-tips, cotton balls, band-aids etc in them. It'll be nice to look at. Hubby contractor says that its just a bathroom, to shower and do your business. I explained that women want and expect more . My women friends will notice.

The dumpster is gone! yeah! Several jobs shared the use of the dumpster, our share came to about $275.00. Insallation came to $45. (Materials $970). (Labor 40 hours over ten days $2200) (To date: grand total - $3170)
Meanwhile there are holes in the bathroom floors. And last night a hammer fell through to the basement.

We'll be off for several days. We'll be enjoying the heat and humidity in Houston, Texas with Asher's family.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Nine

We need to put the window in the back wall. So tonight hubby contractor is putting up supports for the window. To the right of the window we'll be shelves that will hold shampoos and soaps and what-nots. Hubby contractor put in another 2 hours of work tonight.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Eight

OK the piece we needed on the new wall is called Ty Vek. Its made of fiberglass and wont tear and wont allow water in. So that'll be against the back of the house.

The new wall cost $150 in materials (plus the $543.04 we spent on tile.) I'll have to go back to all the old posts to find out how much time in labor -- so far its about 28-30 hours of very hard labor. I'll come back and revisit this.

We only have a few hours available to us this week as we are traveling again this time to visit family. Asher hasnt seen his mother in over a year. A contractor's job is not easy. This bathroom renovation at our house, he's doing alone. The walls are big and heavy and unwieldy. Measurements must be exact. It really takes at least two people to much of this work. To do this on Sunday, his only day to relax, also takes its toll. Today he had to go to two customers for much of the day. One to fix a leak and the other to make the basement shower drain better (probably roots growing into the system.) And he had to do some work on our pond (see pond picture -- I eat breakfast out here every morning, its our oasis.)

Asher needed to screw the back wall in, but needed it flush with another piece of wood. so he held it in place and I got to use the drill (YEAH) and screw in the screw. So now I can tell everyone that I built the new bathroom.

The new back wall is in place. Its treated wood, wrapped in Ty-Vek. Its ready for insulation. I believe building a new sub floor is next. Three hours tonight in labor.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Seven

Day Seven. After 3 hours last night, the contractor put in 2.5 hours building a new back wall. Apparently we need the ti-back (which goes behind the new wall), then we need the pink insulation. Then this new wall will installed. This bathroom will become the warmest room in the house in the winter as it will be the only room with insulation on the outside wall.
Labor on the outside wall will add approximately $3K to cost of the project. I have to get an estimate on how much materials will cost for that outside wall.
Lets start talking about colors. Remember what the tile looked like in Day Three. We're thinking about shades of green or perhaps shades of bronze -- we're looking at the accent tile (on the left in the tile picture.)

The most important part of tonight's story.... When I was a little girl our dog of 13 years died. We loved Sandy and were quite shaken by his death. I crawled into the closet in my bedroom and wrote a little tribute to him on the wall. Approximately 20 years later, my parents were selling our childhood home. While emptying all the rooms and closets, my father came across this tribute. I remember writing it. It was a pivotal moment in my life. My most recent pivotal moment is my recent marriage to my heart's love (the hubby contractor). I wrote a little tribute on our new wall. (that's the third picture.)

BathRoom Renovation - Day Six

Last night, Hubby/Contractor worked on the outside wall of the bathroom (3 hours). As you can see in the picture, he's begun to take out the rotted pieces of the wall. It looks as thought the wall had been damaged by water. A few years ago I had a new roof put on the house, some of the damage probably came prior to the new roof. If you look at the upper right hand corner of the picture you should be able to see that there's a gab between the bottom of the gutter and the top piece of house siding. Another source of water damage. Even with all the rain we've had this summer, the wall is dry -- that means this is old water damage. We (well, the hubby part of we) are going to put in flashing (an aluminum piece that will go into the gap and force water away from the wall. Then we'll have to reframe the wall, put in insulation and finally sheetrock with green, water resistant sheetrock.

BathRoom Renovation Day 5.5

Last night hubby/contractor put in about 3 hours. This morning he came back with a crew of 3 to remove the bathroom. (so that's 4 more 'person' hours).

The pictures include taking the tub out of the house. The refuse container outside the house. And the now empty bathroom.

Now its time to start rebuilding the floor and the walls. Then the new tub comes, and the tile goes down.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Five

After a lovely weekend reprieve in Baltimore, we've returned home.  Yesterday we went to Annapolis, after our sailing trip on the schooner husband and I needed restrooms.  We were both amused to see that the restrooms used the same tile that we're using. 

The daughter came home last night, thrilled to see there's no bathroom.  I came home from work today to find a toilet on my front lawn.  I'm hoping that its not going to stay there.  Can the contractor get the tub out by himself?  Cast iron tubs are heavy. 

The work tonight isnt so disruptive.  All the nails have to be pulled out of the wood, wires need to be capped, pipes need to be protected.  Sometime tomorrow the contractor's crew will come in and help him take out the bath tub.  

Quiet night.  We're done.  Tomorrow night we're going to see Crosby, Stills and Nash.  We'll be back here Wednesday night.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Four

We are proud borrowers of a huge garbage container.  We covered the couch in the basement (that ceiling also died) and the sink and floor in the basement bathroom.  Now we've got to empty the main bathroom.  I think there's a wheel barrow in the house to help move the materials out to the container in the driveway.  

Asher and I talked money last night.  How do you really know how much a job will cost?  In fact, you cant really know.  Direct work for the bathroom -- materials $3000, labor $6000.  But if there's extra electrical -- extra plumbing -- or as in my case extra wall work to rebuild the wall.  Its nearly impossible to predict until you open the walls, examine the wiring, look at the pipes.  When one does work, especially in an old house, one has to be prepared for anything.    Now as the client, I am beginning to get an understanding how the scope of work grows.  Generally its cheaper to do the necessary (but unplanned) work when the walls are open rather than having to go back at a later time.  The client has responsibilities too.  The client should track the work that is going on.  I want to try to keep a weekly accounting of what we spent in materials and labor and what was accomplished.

Back to the junk that needs to go.  The big brown dog (top picture of ball of fur) -- Casey, cant be lose today because the front door is open.  So he got a new toy, a stuffless, stuffed skunk.  He's using it as a pillow.  

Lets go see how Asher is doing.  Asher with shovel, shoveling  tile and cement and wood.  Wheelbarrow on its way to being filled, then taken out to the container in the driveway.  My car is in my neighbor's driveway. (Thank you neighbor). Do you have any idea how long it takes to shovel all this debris?  Its over two hours and the contractor is still at it.  Look at picture #3.  The hole in the floor leading to all the debris in the basement on the basement couch.  Fortunately, young adult male living there is out tonight. The good news is that we can see the floor, or rather what would be the floor if the wood wasnt so old that it just disappears.

 

As the pile of debris disappears, we find -- yet MORE TILE.  So hubby contractor has to do more banging  Furry brown dog is unhappy.  He's has pushed himself up against me.  Hubby contractor has to be exhausted.  He worked at 4 job sites today (that's good! ) and now has put in another 4 hours in shoveling debris, moving debris, and banging out debris.

Now is major clean up time.  I went down to the basement and cleaned the living room area and bathroom.  Then we took the big wet/dry vac and cleaned the main floor and the porch.  The last two pictures are of the debris free room.  It took 6+ hours for the contractor to get rid of all the debris.

Now we take a break.  We're off to Baltimore for my high school best friend's daughter's wedding.  We'll return late Sunday and resume the bathroom work on Monday.  Till then.....

BathRoom Renovation - Day Three

This is the wall tile and the two trim accents.  We'll probably use the trim on the left.

Day Three, or really, evening three sets in.  My husband, the handsome contractor, thinks that we may need to do some electrical work -- so we'll need to add that into the estimate.  

We, well not the me part of we, start with more demolition.  Banging the crap at of the floor.  This time we put tarp down in the basement bathroom.  The basement bathroom ceiling was damaged ages ago -- so stuff falls as the banging continues.  OK floor done, or rather, floor gone.  

I just learned that we may have a contact to get the materials at slightly less cost.  If we can that would be great.  We're checking it out.  Meanwhile I'd like to show you the vanity/sink combo that we are getting.  Click on this link: vanity/sink combo

Now its time to take the tile off the wall.  Which also means taking down the green sheetrock we put up last year when we took down the wall paper.  My contractor says this is a big job.  No wonder labor costs are what they are.  It just takes time to do the work.  (Ah the reason the handsome husband contractor has such a fine physique!)

Look at picture three.  That's the back wall of the house.  There is supposed to be a stud several inches to the left of the stud that you see under the window.  It is totally rotted out.  Contractor/hubby will have to rebuild the framing, put in insulation and rebuild the wall from the outside in.  This adds an additional $12K.  We're going to have replace the outside siding as well.  OMG!!!  You dont know what you are going to find when you open the walls.  We're going to have to replace the outside wall of the house from the bathroom to the end of the house (that includes the study - so its about 16 feet across by about 22 feet high.)  This is really scary.  So I asked the hubby/contractor -- what if as a client I couldnt afford $12K (I cant!)  He told me that he'd repair the bathroom wall from the inside and not open the outside wall.  (Then the increase would be about $2-3K.) But he'd prepare a document stating that he recommends that the rotted back wall be replaced and the client is not doing it at this time.  He would do this, both to show the client the urgency of the situation, and to protect himself from liability down the road. 

Suddenly my bathroom renovation went from $9K to $17K!  

As each wall comes down we discover more damage and deterioration.  OK now there's all this tile and wall and rotted stuff in the bathtub and on the floor.  Somehow we've got to get it out of there.  We might need to rent one of those garbage containers.  That $400 was included in the bid.  How are we going to get it out of here.  See picture four for all the garbage.

My contractor put in about 5 hours tonight.  

The video below is of the demolition of the wall tile.

BathRoom Renovation - Day Two

Pictures on left are of the demolition.

We emptied the bathroom of all the shampoos, soaps, toothbrushes, unmentionables, hair products and more.  I'm thinking though, that if I've had something since high school that I havent used, that perhaps now in my fifties it might be okay to get rid of it.  But most of the items I put in boxes in my study and hope that my daughter will go through them with me next week when she comes to visit. (I'm sure she's thinking right now "WOW visiting my family - cant wait to go through bathroom in-sundries.")  

The sink seems to be from 1993.  The vanity was from the late sixties and cost the then owners $68.88.  Both are out in front for the garbage staff. The toilet is the next thing to go, but we're probably reusing it, so it will sit outside the house for the next 3 or 4 weeks.  Isnt that a pretty site?  OOPS!  Toilet heavy.  Toilet broke.  Guess we're buying a new toilet too.  We'll pretend we did it intentionally so that we can be green.  Or we can save the tank so that there's enough water so the poo goes down.   We've got the toilet on the side of the house (bet my neighbors are thrilled!)

Anyone else wondering how a marriage makes out when the renovation is done by the husband who happens to be a professional contractor?  So far so good.  Then again this is only Day Two. Apparently you get rid of the old tile floor by using a sledge hammer and banging as hard as yo can.  Ahhhh. So its not how the marriage makes out -- its how the young adult man living in the basement is going to survive the banging.  Usually contractors do their work during the day when no one is home, now I know why.  But my contractor, fortunately has a day job, so this work will happen at night. (That handsome guy banging the heck out of the floor is my husband, the contractor.)  

When banging on the floor it seems that crap comes out of the ceiling in the basement.  Considering someone lives down there -- not a good thing.  But construction means demolition and demolition means mess.  And mess means dust all over.  

  

Contractor (aka husband) finished his 3 hours of work in the bathroom for day two.

BathRoom Renovation - Day One

The pictures to the left are of the bathroom as it looks today.

We live in a small cape cod style house.  On the main floor we have one bedroom, a study, living room, dining room, kitchen and the bathroom.  The bathroom is approximately 8 feet by 5 feet - small. This is the only bathroom on the main floor and used daily by my husband and I (our bedroom on the second floor only a half bath) and is used by all our guests.  I hate it and am embarrassed by how shabby it looks. Its a white and black bathroom with white subway tile on the walls and small white and black tile on the floor.  The wall paper is white with black tree vines.  The vanity is a beige formica (think ugly) with a white sink.  The tub and toilet are also white.  The tub is cast iron, probably about 40 years old. But after years of use the finish has worn off the tub.  Over the tub in this tiny bathroom is a soffit lowering the ceiling about 18 inches.  Why would someone make a small bathroom even smaller?  Just over a year ago, we took off the wall paper thinking we would only do some cosmetic changes and stay with a black and white retro theme.  But we had to get rid of that vanity and so here we are a year later.

Today we shopped.  The we includes, me, the home owner and client, and my husband, the proprietor of 3in1homeimprovement.com and contractor for this renovation.  Today's shopping trip is the culmination of weeks of internet viewing and visiting stores.  Our color scheme is forest green with terra cotta, gold, and grey running through it.  We bought the slate floor tile -- a rough slate finish with various shades forest green.  The wall tile also has the rough uneven slate finish in all our colors: forest green, terra cotta, gold and grey.  We bought two different samples for trim accents.  The first accent is small rectangular tiles in the dark colors in our scheme.  The rectangular shape breaks up all the squares of the 12 by 12 floor tiles and the 6 by 6 wall tiles.  The second accent is diamond shape, but it picks up the light colors running through the wall tiles.  Since the bathroom is small I think we'll opt for the light colors.  

We spent $543.04 on tile today.

How much will this renovation cost us? My contractor has given me an estimate of $9000.  The 9K includes $3000 in materials and $6000 in labor.  This estimate can go up if there are problems with the electricity or plumbing.  We have an old house, dating back from the 1920's.  A few years ago I had a new electrical panel put in the basement and wires have been run from the bathroom back to the panel.  I dont anticipate any hidden issues with the electrical.  The plumbing is another story.  I'm in the house nearly sixteen years and I've never had any work done with the plumbing.  Several years ago, the water company wanted to switch out my water meter in the basement, but the company said it was so old, that they didnt want to touch it.  So the plumbing is the wild card.  During demolition we'll find out if there are any other surprises.  It makes it hard to know what the upper limit will be for this renovation until the walls are opened and the plumbing is examined.

While we bought only the tile today, we picked out all vanity/sink, tub, and tub door.  My contractor will pick them up during the week with his truck.  We decided that the tub, toilet and sink would all be the same color.  Cashmere, a muddy green grey, goes beautifully with the tile.  Everything would have to be special ordered and therefore has a higher price.  I found a beautiful cherry vanity with a black corian counter and a white vessel sink that sits on top with a great chrome faucet for $398.  We looked at other cabinets but I didnt like any of them as well as this combination vanity/vessel.  But it did mean that the toilet and tub would also be white.  My husband likes to go bold, but we agreed that the vanity/vessel combination was the best. So white it is.  The good news is that we can keep our current toilet and only replace the seat and cover. And, we can get an in stock tub.  

Which brings us to tubs.  Tubs are made out of cast iron, fiber glass, or a special enamel fused with cast iron.  Fiber glass is cheap, about $99, and generally used in apartments because they are light weight and easy to install, but not recommended in the home.  Cast iron is traditional and once the the cast iron tub is warm it holds in the heat of the bath water the longest.  Its also the heaviest.  We decided to go with American Standards' Princeton model with the enamel fused cast iron.  Its half the weight of cast iron and the finish lasts long.  While it wont hold the heat quite as long as cast iron, it holds it much longer than cast iron.  The tub we've picked is $299.  

At this point our materials should come to approximately $1800.  That doesnt include materials that the contractor will need such as grout, pipes, faucets for the tub and more.

Today was a good day.  

Here's a video of the bathroom as it looks today.  (The green board is special water resistant board that will hold the tile. We put this up last year when we took down the wall paper.)