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.
When I began this project almost two years ago, I dreamed of doing this entire project for free. I know - a crazy dream! Can you really take a framed, stubbed half bath and expand it to a full bathroom and finish the entire thing for free? Maybe!
Okay, maybe not, but we are trying! I figured there were a few things I would never find for free on Craigslist. Nobody is really going to give away copper tubing and fittings, right? After all, thieves will pull the wires from houses under construction, strip the insulation and sell the copper!
At this point in the project, I just need to get it done. I can't wait around for free stuff to show up on CraigsList. So I am pretty much buying what I need at each step. Later today I will buy 14 2X4s and 6 bags of QuikCrete for the floor. It is okay, though! It is time to get the project done! I will keep looking for deals for what I need, but I will also buy what I need at the time.
So here is a financial update on this project, having just completed one stage.
Building Permit: $231.00
Cutting the floor to plumb the shower drain: $7.20 Thanks to my friend Brett, all I had to buy was some plastic drop cloths to cover the vents, washing machine, furnace, etc.
Shower drain supplies: $97.88 (I bought some 2" ABS pipe at the Habitat ReStore to vent the drain, and since I am not using it, I am hoping to re-sell it on CraigsList. Hopefully that will bring this price down.)
Water lines supplies: ? (I just bought some copper tubing and fittings today for about $80, and I hope to return some of it, so we will see...)
So as of now this project has cost me $275, including the permit, but not including the water line supplies.
Maybe I should have called this the one thousand dollar bathroom project!
Some people have the project that will never end. This has felt like the project that will never begin. After one year of collecting materials, I finally got a permit in March, but then didn't really start the project. I knew that the first part would be the hardest for me, as I have no experience cutting into floors and plumbing drains. So I waited, procrastinated, etc. I finally asked a friend to help me cut into the floor. Then I waited some more, did some "research" on how to properly plumb a drain, and waited longer...Yes, I am a classic procrastinator.
I cut the main toilet drain!
Like most procrastinators, I need a deadline. And I discovered on in the fine print of the building permit. If I did not start the project within 6 months of the application date, the permit would be void. Likewise, if I don't finish within 12 months, the permit will be void. I already paid way to much for a crazy permit, I don't want to pay for another!
So last week I dove in again. I knew that I wanted to connect the shower drain to the main line, but wasn't sure if there were code issues with doing that. Just to make sure I was doing everything correctly, I stopped by City Hall and talked to the building inspector. He said I could do it, but told me that I needed a back-water prevention valve to insure against sewer water backing up through the shower drain. That cost me $40, but to be honest, I was worried about this issue anyways. After all, a shower drain in a basement is a virtual floor drain, and backups are nasty, and tend to ruin nice bathrooms! However, he also told me that since I am running only a 3 foot drain to the main line, I could wet vent the drain and would not have to run vent pipes! That saved me some money! I am glad I talked to him!
On Saturday morning, armed with everything I needed, I cut into the main line. It was do-or-die. After all, there would be no flushing in our house until it was all glued back together. I purposefully waited until I had plenty of time, with many hours available to run to the store. (You don't start this kind of thing at 9 PM) It took longer than expected, but I got it done.
You must use a "Y" connection when tying into a drain line!
This afternoon, the building codes inspector stopped by and approved the drain system and told me I can fill my holes, pour concrete, and move onto the rest of the framing, plumbing, and electrical!
Note the cool clean-out access for the backwater valve!
The building codes department of the city of Raymore called me last
week to inquire about the status of the project. I was glad to tell
them I had started the plumbing and the framing, as the building permit
expires if you do not start the project within six months of issuance of
the permit. I was embarrassed to tell them I was not far along.
But
I am feeling a renewed energy for the project. (In the last few months
I have been working on building a nightstand for my daughter. It was
suppose to be a birthday present....last January!) Two nights ago I did
more framing and plumbing prep. Unfortunately the batteries in my
drill died and stopped me for the night.
I am determined to get this project finished! Hold me accountable, my friends! Let nothing stop me!
For in a few weeks, I will have pictures of a framed bathroom, completed plumbing and completed electrical!
By the way, here are a few pics of the nightstand that I made using mostly scrap wood. I only had to purchase one 18" X 48" board, which I used for the top and for the bottom shelf.
A "point of no return" is just that - the result of a decision or
action from which there is no going back. Kind of like the minute your
toe leaves the diving board. You will get wet. After a year of
gathering materials and, honestly, just procrastinating, I cut a big
hole in my basement floor. And we are not looking back. This unused
space is on its way to becoming a working bathroom.
This
bathroom was designed and roughed in to be a mere half bath. But we
realized that we needed one more full bathroom in order to make it easy
for guests to shower. It is not too difficult to add a shower - except
for the drain. The drains are already plumbed for a sink and a toilet,
but not for a shower. In order to add a shower drain, I have to
connect to to the existing drains, and vent the line to an existing vent
pipe. That means cutting a trench in the concrete. Not too difficult,
right?
I was initially going to cut the floor with a
circular saw equipped with a masonry blade. It probably would have
worked. But it would have taken a long time. It turns out that the
floor was 5" thick in some places, so it would have taken a really,
really long time! When my friend Brett heard about my project, he
volunteered to bring his gas powered concrete cut-off saw with a 14"
blade. That did the trick. It even has a water line attachment, to
which we connected a garden hose. Nice! We vented the room and covered
the doors, furnace and laundry machines with plastic. I ran the wet
vac and Brett sawed the floor. He broke up the concrete and I pried out
the chunks. It went fast!
The shower will sit here
We thought we were done -
but if you know how construction projects work you already know that we
were not done. We assumed that the sink drain connected to the toilet.
So cut the trench and find the pipe, right? Wrong. It turns out they
weren't connected. So we cut another section, going around the toilet
drain, and I will have to tie it in there.
Here is where we tie into the drain
So my
basement sits with a long trench inside a soon-to-be bathroom. Next I
will plumb the drain line and the vent. Then I will frame the walls and
run the water pipes. At that point, I get to call the inspector and
hope it passes.
Thank you, Brett Parsons for helping
me! If you live in the Kansas City area and are looking for a massage
therapist, give Brett a call. If you are a looking for a chiropractor,
give his dad, Charles, a call. They work together at Parsons Chiropractic in Peculiar, Missouri. You can reach them at (816) 7791022.
One
more thing - I discovered a new tool today. Of course, I have heard of
a hammer drill. Who hasn't right? But did you know that Makita (and
maybe a few other companies) make a combination hammer drill/chisel?
Basically, with the flip of a switch. you can turn off the rotating
drill and use the hammer feature only as a chisel. Want one for yourself? Here it is at Amazon. (And yes, I get a small commission if you buy it)
After a full year of collecting sheetrock, shower pans and Sakrete, it is time to move to the construction phase of this project. My plans are finalized and I know what to do. Now it is time to dot it. I still need a few items, but at this point I will have to either buy them on the day I need them, or hope to still find them. Enough waiting... let's go!
The launch of the construction phase was initiated by the application for a building permit. I guess I should have done my homework. I thought a building permit for a 100 square foot bathroom would only cost $50 or so. But after applying for a plumbing permit, an electrical permit and a general permit, the final cost was $231. Oh well. Someone has to pay for the inspectors' salaries- and the conservative in me says it ought to be those using the services and not the general public taxpayers. And a building permit really connects me to some additional resources. For instance, when I applied for the permit, I asked the inspector if building code allows me to connect PVC pipe to ABS pipe. He was able to save me a lot of research time by giving me the official answer. (Which, if you are interested, is "yes, provided you use the proper fitting).
So, I must ask for an exception to the "free" part of this project. In this crazy endeavor to do a free bathroom, I cannot conceive of how I could ever obtain a building permit for free. And yes, for this project of this extent, and especially since I am broadcasting its progress to the world, a building permit is necessary. So, with your permission, I will not count the cost of the permit in consideration of the free-ness of the project. If that is not okay with you, you might want to then think of this as the $231 bathroom.
Step one of the project will be to cut the floor and connect a drain line from the shower to the current drain at the sink. My friend Brett has a large concrete saw and has volunteered to help! (That will be much easier than using a carbide blade on my circular saw). Anybody have an electric jackhammer that I might borrow to break up the concrete? (That would be much easier than using a sledge hammer)
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.
