Almost There!

I realized this week that I am almost there!  I am so thankful that the city building inspector has given me some extra time to complete the project.  I have emailed him every Friday with a status update and he has been great to work with.

However, I think I am ready to schedule the final inspection!  I am hoping to schedule an inspection for this coming Monday.  This week I was able to paint the walls and to install the shower doors.  I also was able to prime the rest of the walls.  Which means we can start cleaning the drywall dust that sits on every horizontal surface of our house!

For the decor, we decided to go with gray walls, white trim and doors, black furniture, and yellow and red towels and decorations.  More on the black furniture later, but here is a picture of the walls painted gray and also the shower doors.

Drywall & Tile

Throughout the last month I have been incredibly busy hanging drywall, taping, sanding, applying more mud, sanding again, adding a little more mud, sanding, and now finally painting and laying tile.

One of the difficulties of using materials obtained for free, especially when installing drywall, is that I have had to work with small pieces.  This has usually not been a problem, since this is a very small space, but it has been a taping hassle.  I was fortunate enough to get several sheets of drywall at no cost thanks to a Craigslist find last year!  In the end, though, I purchased a few more sheets just to finish the drywall.

Then came the fun of taping, mudding, and sanding.  This is one of those jobs that really is not hard, and anyone can do it.  It just takes so long when you do not have the "touch" of a pro!  The guys who apply mud every day have an amazing ability to apply just the right amount of mud in the right places with a steady hand, resulting in very little sanding!  We do-it-yourselfers, well, we just sand a lot and re-coat - A LOT!

After installing all the drywall and taping the inside of the bathroom, I switched my focus to installing the tile in the shower and on the floor.  I used some 8" X 8" tiles on the shower walls.  They are a little big for typical shower installation, but a picked up a ton of them for $10, so I used them.  I did not have enough tile to make the floor look nice, so I purchased some at a discount store in Grandview, MO.  In the end, it cost about $100 for tile, thinset, and grout.

Right now I have the tile done and the walls of the bathroom primed.  I have to give a big shout-out to my friend, Larry Stock, who took a few hours out of his Saturday to help me spray knock-down texture on the ceiling of the bathroom and on the ceiling of the hallway.  If you live in the Kansas City area and need some work done on your house, give Larry a call.  He owns and operates A Guy With Tools, and he will take care of you!

A few nights ago I put the first coat of white enamel on the doors and trim.  Tonight I will apply the second (and hopefully) final coat.

We are almost there!

Here are a few pictures of the progress.

This picture shows the tile work in the shower.

Here you can see the built-in shelving next to the shower.

Here we are looking out from the shower.

Here is a panoramic shot looking out from the shower.  No the tiles are not that crooked - it is the distortion from the camera.

Shower Base and Backer Board

One week ago I was happy that I mostly passed the framing, plumbing and electrical rough-in inspections.  Later that night, Easton wanted me to install the switches, outlets and light receptacles.  Then we had light in the bathroom!  Over the weekend I installed the Boca plates, the fire boards and also applied water-proofing to the baseplates.  I emailed pictures of my work to the inspector and he gave me the go-ahead.

Next up is the shower inspection.  The inspectors want to know that builders are not putting drywall under the tile in the shower, so I have to get another inspection after installing the backing board in the shower.

Last night I plumbed the drain into the shower.  The drain placement wasn't perfect, so that required a bit of work (and frustration).  This afternoon I put up the Hardi-backer underlayment boards in the shower, as well as one piece of drywall on the ceiling above the shower. 

No, I didn't get the hard-backer for free.  Honestly, I am not getting much for free at this point.  But more on that later...

It is starting to look like a bathroom!

I Passed the Inspection! (Mostly)

I am feeling relieved right now.  The city building inspector just left and I am wearing a smile because I passed the inspection!  Well, I mostly passed the inspection.  I have a couple of items I need to add/fix, and then I can move on.

First of all I need to add Boca Plates to the few areas where the PVC drain and copper water supply lines pass through the framing.  Honestly, I figured he might ding me on that one.  I just wasn't sure if I also needed them on the places where the electrical lines pass through.  Fortunately, the code says that as long as the wires or pipes are 1.5 inches deep, no plate is needed. So, I only need to buy a few plates.

The second thing I need to add are fire blocking at the points where my drop ceiling meets the walls.  Once again, I thought he might ding me for this.  I recently learned about fire blocking at a very helpful basement finishing website (http://www.ifinishedmybasement.com/framing-basement/fire-block).  While I didn't fully understand how to apply it to my situation, I did learn from the article that if the inspector mentions it, I shouldn't give him the deer-in-the-headlights stare of confusion.  Rather, I acknowledged it and asked the inspector where all I needed them.  Luckily, I only need them along a couple of walls.

Finally, (and on this one I feel a little embarrassed...I should have done my research).  I didn't know that I was supposed to use treated wood on the bottom plates of the wall framing.  Luckily, I will not be required to rip it all up, but merely need to seal those board with some kind of wood sealer.

So, give me a couple of hours some night, and I will be ready for drywall.

The next inspection?  I will need to install the shower pan, install the wall treatment behind the tile (Hardi-Backer) and then call for another inspection.  They just want to make sure that I am not putting drywall behind the tile in the shower.

Finally, the inspector told me that the one year deadline is not absolute, but that as long as I stay in constant communication with their office, I will be fine.  I will pretend I did not hear that, though, as I generally need hard deadlines to get me motivated.

Here we go!

Progress Pictures

As I noted in the last post, I am ready for the building inspector to check out my framing, plumbing and electrical work so that I can start hanging drywall.  Below are a few pictures with descriptions.  Taking good pictures of a framed room is so difficult because there is so much junk in the background!  (I trust that you will forgive me - I had to put all of the collected materials somewhere!)  Plus, let's be honest - you have a few piles in your basement as well, don't you - you just aren't bold (or stupid) enough to put pictures of them online.

In this first picture, I have tried to show the new "hallway" that I built.  Because the bathroom is situated in the back half of the basement (which is unfinished), I don't want guests to feel like they are entering the dark, cold, creepy portion of the basement just to use the facilities.  That would feel like a typical basement bathroom.  I built this little hallway to make it feel like the bathroom was a part of the family room.  From this picture, you can kind of see that I removed the door, built a wall on the right, and rough-framed for the same door to sit at the end of the little hallway.  I considered opening up the entire wall and enlarging the family room, but the furnace and hot water heater sit about 6 feet back from that new wall, and I didn't want to make a closet access to them, but chose to keep them (and their noise) hidden in the darky, dingy portion of the basement. 

In this second picture (to the right), I have attempted to show the shower area.  I have a 48"X32" shower pan to install.  The fixture will be installed to the right, and I built a support wall on left. On the far left side of the picture, you can see a portion of the small space in which I will build a linen closet  (similar to what I built when I remodeled by upstairs bathroom).

You may also notice the framing that I built to hang drywall at the ceiling.  In order to get the ceiling to the required 84" height, I will have to put it right under the HVAC ducts.  (I asked the inspector and he said it was okay).

In this third picture (to the left), I have attempted to show the corner just inside the bathroom where the vanity will go.  On the right side, I have a receptacle for two light switches- one to turn on the two main recessed light and the exhaust fan, and one to turn on the vanity lights.  Next to it is the first of two GFI outlets.

In this final picture, I am standing outside of the bathroom looking in.  To the far left is the new doorway I built at the end of the new hallway.

To be honest, I am excited to put up some drywall.  With just a few hours of work (and lots of white dust!) it will really start to look like a bathroom!

I am really praying that I pass the inspection this morning, as I have 35 days to pass the final inspection!

The Building Inspector is Coming!

Early in January I realized that I was getting close to a deadline.  The building permit that I obtained for my bathroom project expires after 1 year.  I remembered that I applied for it in March 2013 and reality set it:  I better get going!  Then I dug out the permit application to see when in March.  It is March 13!  I really better get going!

I have been slowly working on the framing and the plumbing.  Although it took a while, I decided to use copper instead of PEX, since the rest of the house is plumbed in copper.  I learned just how important flux is.  At first I didn't use nearly enough on the joints and became very frustrated.  Once I figured out I need lots more flux, then it went fast!

Then came the framing.  The hardest part of framing was framing around the HVAC ducts in order to hang the ceiling.  Lots of hammering in extremely tight spaces!

This has been a lot of work!  I was glad to hear Erica tell me yesterday that it is finally starting to look like a bathroom.  That was good encouragement.

I finally started the wiring a couple days ago.  I learned from the inspector that bathrooms require a 20 Amp circuit, wired with 12 gauge wire.  Ouch!  I had plenty of white, 14 gauge wire, but alas, another trip to the store!

Yesterday's snow day really helped and I finished the wiring last night, cleaned up my tools, swept and vacuumed.  This morning I called City Hall and scheduled a rough-in framing, plumbing and electrical inspection for tomorrow morning!

Wish me luck, everyone!

Pouring Concrete!

This morning I dragged a garden hose downstairs, hooked it up to the main water supply, and prepared to pour some concrete.  My good friend Larry Stock, who owns and operates A Guy With Tools, a local handyman and contracting company, loaned me a concrete trowel and a plastic mixing bin.  I had purchased 4 bags of Quikcrete (using their handy estimator tool on the company website).  I also had a bag and a half of Quikcrete that I had scored from a Craigslist ad.  My four year old son, Easton, was more than excited to help pour some concrete, so he used a small garden spade to help mix the water.

I quickly realized that I would need more concrete, finished as much as possible with the bags I already purchased.  The two older bags had a few hardened chunks in them, but I broke up the chunks with a handheld sledge and mixed them up and added them to the mix.

As Easton poured water, stirred cement and helped to trowel the finished portion, he only stepped into the mix once.  I hosed off his shoe and when he discovered that his shoe, socks and pants were wet, he was done for the morning and found a video game while I finished the job.

In the end, I had to purchase three additional bags, but I was done by noon.    I left the part surrounding the shower drain open so that I would have room to adjust the drain to match the opening in the shower pan.  I am pretty inexperienced with concrete, so I mixed it too wet.  Several hours later, it was set up and beginning to cure.

Total cost for the concrete:  $28.61

Total cost for the project so far:  $304