Bathroom challenges

Bathtub replacement.. in thinking stage. As in, we need to figure out how to do it right.

A tight fit.

Crawl space work. Looks fun, no? This is an incomplete shot of the "as is" plumbing in the side attic.  Steve the plumber questioned whether the knob and tube wiring he found running next to and on this mess was live. Good lord I hope not. That is not on my to-do list! 

Plumbing detail we have to move.  Steve is going to move the whole works and make it accessible to the crawl space, so if there is a problem, we don't have to tear out our bathtub surround.  

Our new tub is exactly replacing our old one, albeit with the faucet on the other side.  See that wood lip on the left side...part of the tub frame ?  I did not want the drop in tub look with the marble or tile rim, I wanted a smooth non-fussy look on the side.  But I have to have a little lip, so need to find some sort of tile that will cover that, and look good on the exterior edge. There are lots of thin tiles, but they are usually not finished on the side.  In the back of my mind I am also concerned about weight on a non-reinforced floor. But hey, they put in a tub for 20 years that didn't go through the ceiling, why would mine? 

Back in the home repair saddle - upstairs bathroom

Picture: A very undone bathroom.  I have not figured out the configuration of the upstairs in its early days...this bathroom was added in the 80's, somewhat haphazardly. The venting is 'creative' and the plumbing serpentine and octopus-like. The tub goes in the unpainted floor area.  We added the wall to hold the tile. 

Should probably be getting into the real horse saddle because the horses are turning to jello... but all in good time. 
Javier, my reliable home repair fellow, just sent a text that he has time to work on my house.  He takes the ferry from Seattle, because I have yet found a truly trustworthy guy in Kitsap to do my dirty  handy work around the place so import my ol' reliable person.  He fits me in his schedule, since I always have things for him to do, and it seems he has time this week.   I am very sure there are competent people over here, I just have not found that "can do anything" fellow like Javier.
That means today I was running around changing my mind about tile for the bathroom, and how exactly to set the tub upstairs.  I need to focus and finish for good grief sake.
 I also have a well house with a failing roof, a chicken coop that is leaning, a garage that needs some lovin' (I just noticed the whole thing is tilting... the neighbor says we could straighten it out "in two weekends"), siding replacement/repair and the usual stupid house baseboards that need attaching.  There also seem to be random holes in places.  Oh, and painting.  Lots of painting.
But first... the bathroom.

Upstairs bathroom door

Pics: Top to bottom. Door lock with layered paint that needs to be removed. Interior of lock. Same lock with my specialized paint removal tool, a free plastic dinner fork.

I am beginning to tackle the upstairs bathroom remodel. I should probably call it a readjustment or finishing rather than a remodel, I am not gutting anything like I did downstairs.

First job is to paint the door. When I bought this home, most of the interior of my house was farmhouse white. Which is nice, bright and clean. Until kids or dogs or cats are involved. (Who am I kidding, me too.) I am liking more and more that trendy beige-y taupe paint color, I bet it hides everything. Nothing can hide on my white walls. Have a kid that doesn't wash his hands? Just look on the door edge. Have a cat that smooshes her nose on the edge of the kitchen door while waiting for her food or a dog that pushes open the bathroom door when you are 'busy'? Well, glory be, white lets you see all those lovely nuanced moments of everyday life. In two plus years the upstairs bathroom door is disgustin'. It does not help that everything white is painted in a flat chalky white that rubs off on you, and gets a smudge on it if you walk by. I used to think that they painted the house in a primer. Now, I just think they bought the dang cheapest paint they could find. If MacDonald's had paint available on their 99 cent menu I swear my house would be painted in it. Thank you MacDonalds for sticking to food products.

Back to door. Took off the hardware to strip the layers of old paint off. It looks like there are only three coats of paint on these, not including the black paint on steel that was the original color.

My handy trick for removing a million (or three) coats of paint off of metal is simple hot water. Hot water that you keep replacing to keep it hot and something to scrape the paint off. Here I am using a plastic dinner fork, but I have used a paint scraper, pottery tool (for detail) or a brass brush. I was smarter this time, and took a pick of the lock innards. I am not always so mechanically skilled to put things together correctly, the downside is I love taking things apart. I think those two are a lethal combination for having things work correctly, so pictures save my butt.

To see the downstairs bathroom door hardware finished product click here.

Bathroom Door Stripped

Top to bottom: (re)finished door hardware and painted door

mid: Door coming back from the furniture stripper store

bottom : door hardware before clean-up.

The door is back on the bathroom. We have been living with a curtain nailed to the door frame for bathroom shower privacy. A door works much better. Obviously. I began stripping this at home, but with the weather not warm enough for me to do it outside, I was worried I would asphyxiate my family. It was offgassing something fierce, and there was lead paint on it etc etc. So off it went to the furniture stripper/restorer in Bremerton. Once they took off the 9 layers of paint, they repaired it with glue and dowels where it had cracked half way down the door to the knob assembly. The one thing I wanted to document was the colors. Light pink was the first coat. There was a seafoam green, a grungy green, bright blue, layers of versions of white. I saw a brand new version of this door (four panel, inverted cross) at my local Ace Hardware for $140. Yeah, I coulda put a new door on here, but what would be the story material in that? This door, in all it's uneven glory, has stood with the house through all sorts of livin.' When I uncover the bright colors in this house, I want THAT story. There is someone who lived here who was either embracing the hippie era vibrant colors, or someone was trying to make Victorian era decor in a very plain farmhouse. Eventually, I will figure that one out when I track all the previous owners. There was the time the house was locked and barricaded closed from the outside, so it must have been vacant at one point.

Stripping the door hardware was finicky, being that the materials used originally were not high end. That is steel with a finish over it. And black glass door knobs. My fave way of stripping paint off of metal is boiling water, but I read online that if you do this to steel, it will rust up in no time. I am here to document that if you strip it and treat the surface it will do fine. I used bronze metal spray paint, and/or clear lacquer.

Budgeting a bathroom

The original bathroom for our farmhouse is 101" by 81". It was the only bathroom for 70-90 years, depending on when they built indoor plumbing and when exactly they added another bathroom upstairs (looks like 90's construction)
We changed the configuration, took out a bath and added a shower, moved the vanity and window. Tore out all the layers of linoleum both on the floor and wall. (sigh)
I was loathe to take out one of the few built-in storage units in the house, but did it since that is where the vanity now stands. Plus, found out that it was built over a heat outlet. So now we have heat in the room.
My original budget was $6000. Actuals are below:
Electrical contractor : $1300
Plumber: $1600
Flooring: $240
Toilet: $200
Tile: $45
Vanity: $60 (floor model sale - a scorchin' deal)
Fixtures :$110 + $60 (craiglist, restoration hardware and kohler)
Shower unit; $800 (craigslist, kohler)
Drywall, ceiling repair and window move : $450
Floor prep :$133
New window : $140

Craigslist saved my rump on this one. The fixtures and shower unit would have been totally out of my price range (who really pays $499 for a shower control ONLY) That total savings was $4700. The shower unit, kohler faucet, restoration hardware bath fixtures --boxes and boxes of them --(mirror, lights, towel rack, etc) were all new, unused in their original packaging. The only difficult thing was the finish. It is a brushed bronze, not really what I would have picked, but the price was right! It looks a little fancy in my bare bones house... but it is fantastic to have a bathroom downstairs again. And a toilet that can flush what a kid can produce without clogging. That right there is worth the money.

The bathroom ceiling

What is this you ask? Our bathroom ceiling, in one corner. Originally, we were not going to take out all the drywall, just what the plumber and electrician needed access to. Once Javier came on board the project, however, he said it would be near impossible to match the new drywall to the old and make it look good. Plus, who knew what was hiding behind that drywall? We found one live electrical wire, nestled tightly in a tiny channel carved from the drywall, and going nowhere, with no cap on the end, and covered by the (1970's) metal medicine cabinet... and this. Ya know what this is? It is where they put a vent through the roof and DID NOT SEAL it in any way, shape or form. This is the absolute rot that occurred over what must have been many seasons. And that rot extended to two main cross beams. Javier told me the white stuff was a root system from when our roof was cedar. As in, the roof was so far gone in this area, there were plants/trees extending their roots from the bathroom ceiling. I am sure said previous owner was shocked to note this condition, and so.... what did they do??? To make it all better, they fixed the unsealed roof leak, probably cut down their way trendy roof garden, and slapped a coat of paint over all this rot. I will have to remember that fix. Have rot anywhere? Smooth it out with some goo, and paint it.

As usual, we fixed it. This was a very tight area, so we ended up sistering a ceiling support and tearing out all the rot. We were also able to see and laugh heartily at the octopus system that is the upstairs bathroom drain plumbing. Who knew houses were soooo funny. I really am having fun, regardless of my tone in this post. The plumber comes back to finish Wednesday. Yay!

Ready for a new week of dust

I have been strangely silent on my house stuff going on.
That is because I was eternally pissed of the sideways progress made, then it snowed, the power went out for three days, then we had thanksgiving, then other stuff happened, and here I am, a much wiser calmer homeowner.
Tomorrow I have the plumber coming to finish up his work.
Please pray for me to be gracious, kind, and not tower over him with my cranky but sweet NW passive aggresiveness. Actually, it may be better to pray for him.
I will be shoveling horse manure tomorrow from stall to compost pile. It should do me a world of good.

Bathroom Page 2

I am waiting on the plumber. They said they would be here at 8am, it is 9:21. The contractor came as promised at 8 on the dot. To meet the plumber. Who is not here.
I am paying him an hourly wage, but he is doing work, I hear hammering.
He has raised my bathroom floor 1" so far, to even it out. That worries me a bit, but not so much that I am biting my nails. I am not a nail biter. This process of hiring and bringing in a series of worker type dudes through the house is strenuous. It has taught me I am a worrier.
Javier who came last week and accomplished my big list in a previous post, was a dream. I did not worry about him.
OKAY maybe a little, because I am a detail oriented type of person, and since I don't know how to do this stuff, rely on books to show me. And baby, much of my house stuff is not in any book I have ever seen. So when people do repairs that are not in any book I get worried. NOT wanting to add to this house any of the half-assed work that we are seeing.
BTW, I am ever thankful for the bloggers and website folk who give detailed accounts of how to do something. That will never happen here, I just don't seem to have my thinking cap on at the same time I have my camera with me. And need other people around me to do the linear thinking. I am a bit global sometimes.
Curt the contractor said it best when I was going global about we needed to do this and this and this and this and this....
and he said "let's start with this one project bathroom, here."
I actually called the kids dad and told him I needed some linear thinking done, could he help.
I blame this on my aging. I used to be a very settled straight thinker.

Interior door - concussion weapon

A bit more than a week ago my bathroom door that was removed from the hinges fell over and tried to knock me out. Luckily, I have a hard head, but did not feel too well for a couple days. First injury of the remodel has happened. I also got a completely lame blister raking leaves.
That door was going to cost me $150 to dip strip it in a methylene chloride based bath. My professional woodworking neighbor said my antique door could fall apart if I dunked it in a wet bath... the dunk can make the joints all fall apart. I heeded his advice and went to the paint store and for a can of paint remover instead. Took off the black glass door knobs and plates. Hauled it outside to the garage.
Already I see the door has been through several color changes. It is damaged, dented and needs some lovin'. That's what I am here for. I shall take care of you sad little door.
Pics to follow.

Bathroom - Downstairs Part 1 1//2

Curt sat me down. (Curt is my contractor) Sometimes he gets rather quiet when we are discussing, which can be disconcerting. I am sure it is because I am confidentally waffling on something, and he seems a rather straight-forward person.
He told me what we do first, and I dutifully wrote down the checklist of how we are doing the bathroom. Then called plumbers for quotes. The range for the work was $1300 - 2800. That is craziness in numbers. The problem is I liked the most expensive guy, and Curt told me to hire the least expensive because he knows the company.
Tomorrow is my day to quiz the plumbers. I will ask the most expensive : What the heck am I paying for and why are you charging more? And the least expensive: What aren't you doing? But in my usual friendly sort of way.
All the quotes seemed pricey for what I am doing. It seems like about a two hour job. (But then, really, am I a plumber? Nope.)
As an example of my negotiating skills (not really negotiating, just friendifying) I called the oil company to get a delivery for our furnace.
I asked Paul of my company what the rate was per gallon. He told me $3.24. I was quiet a while, and said wow it has gone up... he then said, let me get my price sheet and see if I can do any better. After a couple seconds he said how about $3.14. I said okay, but that would save me a whoppin' $8.00. He laughed, and kinda clomped around on his calculator and said, yeah, I guess that's not much. How about $3.10? I started laughing and told him I was a baker. How negotiable was this oil?
Too bad we can't do this at the gas pump.

Bathroom Update - Step 1 contractor talk

Today Curt came by to discuss this whole process with me. I believe I will be the project manager on this, and hire all the individuals as we go along.
He drew out the action plan for me:
1. Contractor Curt : will replace the floor and open any walls for the plumber.
2. Me: hire a plumber to replumb and move fixtures. (+ change out both water heaters, put in house water filtration system)
3. Contractor Curt: will come back and patch the walls, mud and smooth.
4. Me : will paint everything.
5. Contractor Curt: will put everything in - shower, vanity whatever.

Laborers

The two fellows that actually got my bathtub out were genius. I found Mr. Stean on Craigslist, and he has previously over the last year hauled away the piles of garbage found/left on the property when I bought it. The tub took them a good hour to wrassle free, and then muscled it out the door and onto my truck.
Then they pulled all the layers of linoleum and wood off the floor.
Then they leveled our piano by lifting it. Literally. The piano that is so heavy I watched my living room floor bend as we rolled it in a year ago. (Just writing that gives me the heeby jeebies. Not sure I should be comfortable with that, I keep looking at my tree trunks in the basement to make sure they are doing their job of holding up the house.)
Note about Craigslist, if you hire off of there, be cautious. I have not had any issues, but have had a couple of hard drinkers show up for jobs (not drinking while working, just had very heavy very sour alcohol fumes wafting off of them.) I also let a neighbor know and a friend in Seattle who calls after a set amount of time to check in. There is also a risk of big danger if they are not licensed or insured and something happens to them doing a job on your property. So hire wisely.

1904 tub removal

This only took about a year. I began to strip the bathroom to prepare it for renovation but could not budge the tub. Tried this, tried that, nope... not me! So the bathroom was unfinished. (We do have another upstairs.)

This is the standard cast iron, claw foot, although sans feet and resting on wood. When we moved in the tub had an unfortunate surround of plaster to hide the claw foot sides. The plaster was then covered by a layer of stick-on wallpaper style TILE that was then painted.

For the 70 years that type of tub was not in fashion the sides were hid behind this strange addition. We now need a shower. And this tub cannot go upstairs... the weight alone with water and a person would drop us one story down into our dining room.

Anyone need a lovely, old tub?

Bathroom Update - Tear out and Prayin'

Photo: Totally unrelated to the bathroom tear-out job other than these chicks lived in the bathtub for a month.

So I broke down and decided to get some bids to tear out the rest of the bathroom so we can put it back together with all the stuff sitting in the garage. I have been sitting on it for 3 months, doin' nothing, so it is time to bring the big guns in. Or the people who would tear out in 3 hours what I seem to not be able to find time to do.

The first quote was a gal and her dad. They drove up in a minivan, much like mine, but newer and not white. After quoting the job ($250) they hopped in their car. It would not start. I gave them gas since they were on E. It would not start. I hooked up jumper cables. It would not start. I called my neighbor who can fix anything, but talked to his wife since he was at work and she said she would say a prayer for us. I actually love the whole 'say a prayer' thing, it seems like such an easy way to reach out into the ether for random help. And let me tell ya, our neighbor has been saying many prayers for us (but that would be another story.)
OK, so neighbor is saying a prayer over the non-starting car and I say thank you and hang up the phone. Walk outside and the car starts. I love that shit. Called the neighbor back and told her that her prayer did the trick, she said no, it was the "Lord's Work" Well god bless that man. I will say a prayer for him.

The final part of that story is that about 10 minutes later I got a call from these two and am asked if I found a wallet somewhere at my house. Sigh. I don't think it was their day. Can someone say a prayer for them?

House - Update

Photo Detail : Stupid old electric ceiling light in process of replacing.

Photo Detail : Smartness-challenged previous owner that put two 100 watt bulbs in 60 watt limit receptacle. Note discolored overheated ceramic holder and bulb base still stuck in the holder after blowing the bulb out like a bomb. Every light was over-watted in this house. Did you note the above wiring pic? Not really the electrical system one should be overloading.

Photo: The start of the bathroom tear-out.

Don't even ask about the light that was the three day job. It is still not done. I blame it not on me, but on my endless illness that is finally lifting. The bathroom is still in a funky state of disrepair. I have been eyeballing it, and then leave the room. Ok, really, I eyeball it, pull up a section of the 5 layers of linoleum, think "I am exerting myself" let it drop and then leave the room.
The thing with this clingy bug which I have learned is not to push it. When I felt a bit better and moved manure, moved hay, clambered up and around the ceiling.... I got sick for another two weeks. Have been moving slowly. Which KILLS ME. How am I supposed to be my laid-back overachieving self if I have to rest all the time.
One thing I have been very effective at is shopping on craigslist for my bathroom stuff. Here is the genius thing. I have a limited budget to do this bathroom, yet have now found a kohler shower unit and restoration hardware lights, sconces and towel racks for 27% what I would pay for them new. And they are new! It helps to be sick in bed, since craigslist is weird and varied in terms of the deals you can find. I am still holding out for my new bathroom window and skylight on there.