Tools and progress

Anytime you are involved in a major building project, there are tools to acquire. For the bathroom project we have needed several new tools, some replacing tools that seem to have disppeared or been broken over time, and some new ones.

So far, I have bought a recipricating saw, a circular saw, a cordless drill, a drill with a cord, a pipe wrench, a chain wrench, about $120 worth of hole saws (that's 2 saws and an arbor, by the way), a Rotozip-type tool (Harbor Freight), and assorted bits and pieces of stuff.

The demolition is finally finished, and we have started with replumbing (more than once, as plans have changed). The hot water supply lines are all run, but turned off, and the cold water has one more connection for the shower that I'll make tomorrow or Monday.

Ready to start running the new water lines.

One of Beaux' friends was helping with the PVC supply lines, and apparently didn't use enough glue. In this picture, I'm checking the joints on the line for the toilet to see if it needs to be redone.

I was having fun playing with the glue and pieces-parts. PVC is so much better to work with than copper or cast iron!

The pieces of plywood for the floor have been cut and laid in place, but not screwed down, since we still need to do the drain lines for everything. I laid the shower floor in place and discovered that it came too close to the toilet, so the shower got moved to the other side of the bathroom and we are back to putting a small pedestal sink in next to the toilet.

Also, reading the instructions for the shower (always a good idea), I discovered that we need to put the sheetrock in first! So, we will start insulating and doing sheetrock work later this week, and then get the shower set.

I keep finding out that I have to do a bit on this part, then a bit on that part, so that the whole project is knitted together: I can't screw down the floor till I finish the plumbing, which I can't do till I have the shower in place, which I can't do until the sheetrock is in place, which I can't do until the floor is screwed down!

Good thing it's a small bathroom!

The bathroom remodel lives again!

We're finally back at the bathroom remodeling project, and hope to progress quickly. Beaux ran to the store and picked up a new reciprocating saw (the old one had died), and cut out the floor. Now as threatened, I can stand in the dirt and look at the bare studs!


I'm standing about where the door will be. The tape measure is so that I can see the measurements for the toilet. There will be plenty of space in front of it now!


The sink was going to go on the wall on the left, but there is a concrete sill from the original foundation there, so a brilliant idea occurred to move the sink to where the bathtub controls were. Now we don't have to move any of that plumbing! Additionally, the wall on the left becomes nothing but storage shelves/cabinets!


After extending the wall out to 36 inches, we're going to put a quarter-round shower where the light switch is now. Of course, we'll move the wiring first. The advantage is that once again, we don't have to move any plumbing, since the sink used to be there.

The boys are going to be able to do quite a bit of the work, but Beaux' time is limited as he is going to a school in Dallas next week. I'm sure I'll have to bring in my plumber to not only look the work over, but finish up parts of it. I don't have any problem with that though.

I'll post more as it happens...

Bathroom Update

Remember the bathroom I was remodeling before my son's house burned down? It's still bare studs and sub-floor. I had to stop working on it because kid problems overrode bathroom remodeling, and now it's been sitting for about 2 months (walled off by plastic and duct tape).

A few weeks back, I realized I had a Whole Life insurance policy my parents had taken out on me when I was around 5 (I'm getting dangerously close to 50 now). Realizing that Whole Life is evil, and that I have quite a bit of regular life insurance, I contacted the company and asked them to close the account. After filling out the appropriate form, and sending a blank voided check, I sat back to wait for the money to be deposited.

We came back from a camping trip today and happened to look at our bank balances, and guess what? There was a whole bunch of money there, and it turned out to be about twice what I had been expecting!

So, off we went to Lowes and Home Depot to look at bathroom stuff. Monday I'll be calling the plumber to set up what he'll be doing (and charging), and then it's back to heavy construction.

I'll post pictures as appropriate, and will keep this blog updated.

Upcoming project

A model railroader I know in Dallas made a display case for his On30 trains. I saw the pictures and dimensions, and thought that this might be a fun project (and would get my trains protected behind glass).



The drawing is a bit small (click to see the full-size drawing), but the case will be 24 X 48 inches on the outside, with 5 shelves 3 7/8 inches apart. I'll put plexiglass doors on the front to keep the dust out, and will stain the wood a nice color.

I'm looking forward to this project, and hope to get started in a few days. Of course, I will post pictures as I go.