remodeling for geeks

Master Bath Project Episode 1

Having completed the Walk in Closet Project it is time to move to the Master Bath.

Our Goals for this project are to open up the room, and perform a serious makeover.
Behind the door is the closet that was emptied into the Walk In Closet. We will be removing the closet completely. The vent above the closet has already been disconnected when we had the tin men re-routing the ductwork for the Walk In Closet Project. We will be putting a big shower. We will also need to move the switches.

The old shower has cultured marble sides with glass doors bound for the dumpster.

The vanity counter and cabinets will be replaced, as well as the mirrors, fixtures and lights. The wing wall will stay after some serious modifications and moving the GFI outlet.

The tub ended up staying, but the side panels above and on the side of the tub will be replaced.

Rounding the corner is the toilet which has a floor to ceiling partition which will be removed and replaced with a wing wall the same height as the one at the tub and left side of the Vanity.

Some decisions have been made, as to materials, types, fixtures, and finishes. Others are dependent upon what we find behind the walls. With remodeling projects there are always surprises when the hammers meet the walls and you begin the demolition.

The Walk In Closet Project Episode 7

The painting is done. In this photo, you can see the wall and the floor. Let's look at the floor for a moment.
As you look, you see the area on the left where we removed the carpet and the pad. This allowed us to install the bottom plates for the new walls. We deliberately left the rest of the pad and carpet down while we were building. The clients are still living in the rest of the house. This controls dust and dirt during this phase and the extra soundproofing helps as well. We will be cutting it up into manageable chunks for removal.

It is time to begin installing and setting the cabinets.

Something Used, Something New
We are recycling the old cabinets that were in the old closet. We are also putting a platform for the hollow core door dividers.

We also are installing a cabinet on the right side. That one is new. One of the details that is not currently apparent is the removal of the kickspace on this project. In the closet there is really no use for it, and as the client notes, it will make cleaning easier.

The base is just loose right now. The floor is not flat. We will address that in our next episode.

The Walk In Closet Project - Episode 4

Now that the tin men are done, we installed a new 36'' pocket door, sheetrocked the closet side and are ready to finish the drywall on the bedroom side.

The sheetrock hanging is done, and screwed off. (Note: We used 1'' screws on the pocket door frame so the screws will not interfere with the operation of the door) I choose to screw the drywall just because it is a better fastening method and in the case of the pocket door frame, nailing would just bounce off the frame.

On the bedroom door side, with the soffit removed and the ducting cut back,they have gained 20 square feet more room in the bedroom.
Taping will use both paper and mesh tape. Paper tape will be used on the seams and inside corners of the new drywall, and mesh tape will be used on the transitions between the new drywall and the existing construction.

I have also used blue painters tape to cover the trim over the bedroom door and the new pocket door frame. This allows me to build up the mud coats to get the walls flat, and not spend extra time having to scrape and chip mud off the trim later.

The pocket door side has its first coat of tape and mud. I used speed set here for mudding as there are some elevation differences and gaps that would take extra time to dry with regular mud, In the case of gaps and elevations, regular mud shrinks back and cracks, requiring much more time to finish.

The bedroom door side is taped and will require using smaller knives to tape as the ductwork protrudes from the wall just a little bit, and using a large knife will just fill up the duct, and smear mud on the trim and floor.

This is one of the areas that we will be remodeling. The closet being finished, so that clothing that is scattered in different closets around the casa can be consolidated, will allow us to work on the master bath which will be getting an extensive makeover. Today we will be going out and looking at different storage solutions.

Some remodeling has plans down to the millimeter, some projects morph as conditions change and are seat of the pants deals. I like these projects as I love the challenge of thinking on my feet and adapting ideas as projects progress. New construction is boring. But that's just me.

The Walk In Closet Project - Episode 3

I mentioned in the last episode that we were removing the bedroom closet wall to eliminate the soffit over the door and make the room bigger. Here is that wall.
The Bedroom Wall

The desire to just blast away with hammers and bars to get it all done at once, must be resisted. It doesn't matter if it is your house, a friends house or a clients. A measured plan will help you control the mess and allow you to minimize surprises. And there will be.
The Backside
Here we have removed the drywall from the backside of the bedroom wall. We now know where the electric runs are and can plan our new runs as well as moving various control panels into the hallway. We also know how the wall is attached and anchored, so that we can remove it, with the smallest mess. This is why we have left the bedroom wall for last. It minimizes dirt and dust into the living areas.

New Wall
We installed some 1/2'' plywood and a stud on the left side corner assembly. On the right side I used a 10' steel stud track to establish my plumb and to provide anchoring for the wall. I anchored it at the top and bottom as well as gluing it to the wall and running drywall screws into the inside corners to hold it in place for the glue to set. PowerGrab does the job.

It has a wide header for the 36'' pocket door that will be installed.

Bedwall Demo Right
Ed got the electric rerouted, so now we can take down the bedroom wall. Starting with the soffit and working across. You can see the ductwork that will be cut back, and a rough idea of the patching that will be required.

Bedwall Demo Left
The wall is gone and you can see where we have patched the walls and ceilings with small strips of drywall.

We will use Mesh tape and Speedset to fill in the gaps.

The Walk In Closet Project - Episode 2

In the last Episode we looked at the area where we will be expanding the closet. The majority of work will be centered around combining the two closet areas into the new closet.
Pre Removal Inspection
This is the party closet wall that held the cabinets. Now that the cabs have been removed, the owner did a little demo to inspect the inside of the walls. On the left is the romex that supplied that wall with power.

[Tech Tip] When removing old sheetrock walls, take your utility knife and cut along the inside corners of the walls that will be removed. This makes removal easier, and minimizes damage to adjacent surfaces. By cutting deep enough to cut through the tape, you will have a much cleaner job.

Open Wall

Here is the closet with that wall removed. Notice on the left that the paper has ripped from the drywall, because of not scoring around the boards that were used for shelf brackets. I did this purposely to illustrate the wisdom of scoring the inside corners before removing the drywall. On the left of the door are globs of mirror mastic that attached a mirror to the wall.

In this case the studs that formed the walls are 25 years old. In Arizona these have dried out. To the point where reuse is not an option. The lumber is brittle and will cause more trouble than it is worth. This is fireplace kindling now.

Next steps
Our short wall is open and we can examine our next steps. On the left is the built up corner from the wall we have just removed. On the right is the built up corner from the bedroom wall to the corner wall of the closet. We will be removing the right most stud from this as we are removing the wall. This decision is driven by the need to remove the soffit over the bedroom door and making the wall flat from one side to the other.

We will be moving the alarm, phone, electric and cable wiring around. We will also be closing off the existing attic scuttle hole and relocating it into the new closet.

surprise surprise surprise
On the top of the photo you can see where the return for the HVAC unit is. The square on the ceiling formed the plenum for the return air, and the filter assembly is mounted in the bottom of the hallway wall. One of the things the client wants is to reuse the mirrors. Part of that is to mount one of them in the hallway on the end wall.
I have mentioned that remodeling is biblical in nature by the way one thing begats another. Here is that in action:-)

Since we decided to move the return into the ceiling of the hallway, we need to figure out what needs to be done. A quick inspection revealed that the trunk line for the HVAC runs the length of the hallway ceiling.
(Because I know nothing about AC beyond basics, we called the AC guy. Always get help for areas you are not familiar with. It may cost a little more in front, and set your project back, but on the back side you will have a much better project)
Calling the AC guy brought Bill the Tin Man over and we examined what we had and what we wanted to accomplish. We determined that the trunk line will be shortened, giving us room for mounting the grille in the ceiling and rerouting the supply and return lines.
This will set us back a day with the tinmen crawling around doing their thing. That's okay, as it will take a few days for them to arrive and we have other things to do.

Light Fixture Mounting

As part of the disaster from One of Those Days, the kitchen ceiling is going to be replaced. This is a photo of what the last guy did when he remodeled.

The ceiling box is attached to a cheap ass mounting bracket. These are used all over to set the electric boxes in tract houses all over the country. If you never plan to install a ceiling fan or hang a fixture that has more than one bulb, this is probably okay.

These brackets are not made for the homeowner, they are used to reduce the labor in building houses and you will never see them, unless of course you have a disaster, or you are having a custom home built.

I am going to replace this turkey with wood backing so that I can install a 4 bulb 4' florescent light in my kitchen. I will also be installing backing in both the joist spaces on either side of this location. Being able to screw the fixture into solid wood is a good thing.

The next owner will thank me.