Saturday, April 21, 2018

Montana Dream DIY Bathroom


I think we started this winter project on February 12. I was putting the toilet paper holder up on March 15th but we were still waiting for a mirror and the light fixture to be delivered. That came on the 27th. I was actually guiding that day and when I got off the river, I was so excited to finally be done with the bathroom, I installed the light immediately. I did it hot without turning off the electricity because I just wanted it done and didn't want to take the time to set up a shop light and run a cord. (I've been shocked before with 110 and it's not that bad.) Non incidences, although that would make for a better story.

So in all, just over 6 weeks. I think I said two months on the video but it was really about 6 weeks. In that time I learned a lot about plumbing, hanging sheet rock, texturing walls, tile, bathroom fixtures and breaking toilets. I thought I might share some pitfalls so if you decide to do something like this, you can avoid some of it.

First of all, tearing out a fiberglass tub/shower insert is a bitch. Your best bet is to sawzall it. You're never going to get it out in one piece anyway and you won't be able to use it for anything so just cut the fricking thing out.

Second, make sure you have the right tools. I didn't have "super tool tub drain wrench" in my box because, well, I've never heard of one and wouldn't have because I'm not a plumber. Unfortunately, not having that tool resulted in breaking a drain pipe and spending $170 to have someone come and fix it. I just looked on line and that tool is less than $12.

Once the tub was out, I was feeling pretty good about myself and started whacking the crap out of the drywall. I thought I was being careful but obviously, not careful enough. I put a couple holes in the dining room wall as a result. Repair kits aren't that much but it all ads up. Plus, I was so mad at myself I felt the need to go have a couple beers so that was another twenty.

Having the right tools is key and it did give me an excuse to buy some fun stuff. I found out that I really like the angle grinder for cutting holes in tile. It's a little trick I learned off another YouTube video. That's another thing. A person can learn a ton off of YouTube.

I hung the sheet rock myself. I'd do it again but what I might do next time is hire someone that has the gear to do the texturing. I rented a sprayer. Let me tell you, renting a sprayer is like renting a a Uhaul or anything else. People drive them "like they're rented," right? I can't tell you how many times I had to scrape an entire wall off from the sprayer getting clogging and then spitting out a chunk of mud on the wall. There was very little consistency in the size of particles it was spraying and it was one of the most frustrating parts of the entire remodel. Plus, you have to clean up the mess. I f'n hate texturing walls now. HATE IT!

Redguard...that shit really sticks. It's great for sealing off your shower before tiling but don't get any on your new tub. That cost me a few hours and a bunch of experimenting with different cleaners that wouldn't damage the tub but would soften up the Redguard. At the end of the day, carefully scraping it off with a razor on the smooth parts and on the textured bottom of the tub; elbow grease and a stiff nylon brush.

Tile...don't be dumb. I was for a moment which lead to ripping off a couple walls of tile because I just thought, if the tub is level and I run the tile along the top of the tub, the grout lines should line up, right? Nothing is going to be perfectly level in a remodel. The lines are not going to line up unless you start from one corner and work your way out, leveling the top edges of the pieces of tile and then working your way up. At least I was able to re-use the tile. It cost me a day.

Mosaic tiles aren't as easy as they look. Too much thinset and you'll be spending hours with a dremel grinding out the mortar from in between the tiles before you grout. Not enough and your tiles won't stick. I'm still up in the air on weather or not the floor tiles we went with were worth it.

F'%(%g toilet. Be careful not to over-tighten the bolts attaching the tank to the base of the toilet. Another $170.

Having a system for keeping track of stuff would have saved me a day, I'm sure. Whether that's a belt or you just hang something for the time being on the wall to put all the screws and fixture parts in so you KNOW where they are; do something or you might find yourself looking for essential items for hours. Literally, hours. God I'm tired of losing stuff! And why is it that I can't ever find a tape measure or a a fricken pencil? I started leaving tape and pencils in every room I thought I would go to including the bathroom we were remodeling, the kitchen table, the other bathroom I might use occasionally, and the garage where the saws are.

I can't even begin to tell you how many trips I made to The Home Depot and to Lowe's. Some of that was because of lack of knowledge and some was just not being prepared. Write lists. Watch videos before you do the runs so you know what you need. Buy the stuff on-line that you need like fixtures and faucets, etc., before you begin so you can go through them and have an idea of what you will need to install them.

When we bought the faucet for the tub, I didn't realize that any faucet that is worth a crap would have a threaded female coupling that would attach to a male nipple on the pipe. The original builder for our house used the cheap slip-on fixtures. Had I known this from the start, I could have addressed the pipe issue before the walls went up and while the plumber was fixing the drain pipe I broke. This all resulted in another late evening run to The Home Depot, trying to figure out what I needed to solder a threaded nipple onto the existing pipe.

On a side note, can I make a suggestion to all hardware store employees? Listen before you try to show me how smart you are. This goes to fly shop employees too, by the way. Nobody cares about how much you know about plumbing or fly fishing. They just want help either completing a project or finding out what fricken bugs are coming off. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. If people would just put ego on lockdown for a minute and listen to what you're really asking, think of how much one could accomplish and how much time we could all save. I'll let your imagination run with that a little while, knowing I was in The Home Depot trying to figure out this plumbing thing.

This next little piece of advice isn't a criticism of Jill; it's more of just pointing out the paradoxical relationship between design and technology, given the vastness of resources out there to help design a house. Do you know how many different tiles we looked at from how many different sources? Colors of paint? Vanities? Mirrors? Light fixtures? The possibilities are endless. Literally endless and if I could make one suggestion I'd probably limit those resources so that decisions could be made a little easier.

Again, please take what I'm saying with a grain of salt and find some humor in this, (Jill.) We bought tile for the shower, got it home and realized the hue was wrong so we loaded it all back up and returned it. We then proceeded to look through pages and pages of Pinterest and other design sites, only to go to our local Lowe's to find tile we really liked that would fit. We painted the walls twice with two different colors. We installed two different mirrors. We ordered two different light fixtures because the one we really wanted was on backorder. Even toilets; do you go with the standard height and size or do you get the more ergonomic height and extended seat for comfort? What type of flusher do you want? Do you go with the slam proof lid? Plastic or composite? And now they even have heated seats!! Crazy.

All of these options one has is kind of crazy and what it does is paralyzes the process. I can't tell you how many times I found myself saying, "Just make a decision."

I could care less about the tile. I just want it to be done. That's probably the biggest difference between guys and gals in this entire process. I'd crap in a hole in the floor if it meant finishing this project in half the time. But that's why it's important to have both sides and realize how much labor goes into choosing the tile, the paint, the vanity, etc. I'd say Jill did a fantastic job and at the end of the day, the bathroom looks great and we completed it before my season kicked off.

Take a minute or two to watch the video and see the end result. And if you need help remodeling your bathroom, I'll get the number of a couple contractors I'd recommend.

Keep 'em where they live...



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