It's Go Time!

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)

So here we go....

Rule #3 The day job comes first!

The key to getting stuff for free is getting there first.  And trust me, Craigslist users are like bloodhounds with Garmin's.  I have put semi-desirable items out on the curb, and within 30 minutes of posting the ad the items were gone!  When I am crazy enough to include my email address, I might get 15 email responses within the first hour!

In order to get something valuable for free, you have to jump fast and get there!

One of the benefits of my job is the amazing flexibility I have to create my own schedule.  If I need to take my daughter to the doctor at 10:15 on a Thursday morning, I can usually fit it in- and just make up the time later.  So it is conceivable that I could spend lots of time chasing after some free mirror, vanity, or drywall at any and all times of the day.  But I won't.  My allegiance is to my job.  They pay me to work hard, be productive, and give my full attention to the mission of the organization.  And so does your job!

This project is a hobby, meaning my job takes precedence.  Just like I wouldn't sign up for a softball league on Thursdays at 1:00 PM, I can't pick up and run after free junk every Thursday at 1:00 PM.  And I probably should not spend that time surfing for design ideas, either.  And neither should you!

Now get back to work.  Quick!  I see your manager coming!

Rule #1: Play by the rules

I have already thought of twenty ways I could get my free bathroom quickly and easily.  However, I don't want to break my streak of jail-free nights, so 10-12 of those automatically off the list.  I am also arrogant enough to think that someone might read this blog and try it for themselves.  Therefore I would like my project to be successfully repeated by others.  So I have developed a set of rules for myself. And I need your help to stay accountable to them!

Rule #1: Play by the rules.  My daughter might someday take a shower or curl her hair in this bathroom.  I would prefer that she not scald herself with what she thinks is cold water, nor electrocute herself with a mis-wired outlet!  That means I will have to find a GFI outlet, not settle for the non-GFI one sitting in my electrical supplies tote box!  I will submit myself to professional construction standards and city codes.  I will probably need a building permit. (And I am not sure how I will get that for free).


There is a huge temptation to view building codes as overreach of government, breach of privacy, and cover-your-butt overkill.  But they are not.  And I just need to get over it and submit.

I will also try to work safely at all times.  I can't promise that I will wear safety glasses at all times, but as a good Boy Scout, I will try to live out what I learned from the Safety Merit Badge.