Renovation Realities, an MRI and Cake.
A couple of things to touch on today.
First I have been offline for a few days as I renovate my daughters’ bathroom. It was almost a complete gut job. I removed the built-in, tile shower that could have been used in a number of bad movies, removed the vanity, pulled out the toilet (it will be reused) and moved some electrical.
One part of my plan was to install a four-foot tub and surround as that is all the space we had and the room is actually the original master bath so it would have been a great feature in a small bath but the cost and availability did not work in my favor.
I don’t understand why a decent four-foot tub cannot be made and supplied for a few hundred dollars.
In the end, I decided to install a two-piece fiberglass shower stall. The room is fifty-two inches wide so I would have to make some changes to fit the four-foot shower stall but that wasn’t a big issue. The issue was getting the upper part into the room.
Going down the hall was easy enough but there was no way that it was going to make the turn into the bedroom. So off came the door, door frame and a couple of wall studs and it was in the bedroom.
Next was removing the door, frame and eighteen inches of bathroom wall to get it in the rest of the way.
There is no way that a bathroom renovation can happen on a weekend. I don’t care how many people they have.
A few days later the shower is in, light roughed in, plumbing complete and the drywall is installed. Now it’s on to the vanity.
The old vanity was installed before the tile so the floor under it was about an inch or so lower. The new vanity was deeper so that wasn’t an issue and we knew we could put in a strip of tile along the one edge but there was another bump in the road.
Back up to the original planning. Most vanities come with double doors or one door and a couple of drawers on the right side. This was going to be an issue due to the door swinging into the room and the cost and rarity of a left-handed drawer. Easy fix… replace the door with one that swings out into the room. Not quite as convenient but it opened up a lot of space in a small bathroom.
On to the install. I pull the new vanity from the box and do a test fit. It fit as expected with the exception of the plumbing being too far to the right and being blocked by the drawers.
Out comes the drywall saw and I open up another wall only to find the main plumbing stack and the drain from the other bathroom sink.
After another trip to the building store and nothing we really liked I decided I would just go to a local cabinet shop the next day and have one made. The cost is slightly higher but the cabinet will have two doors, two drawers on the bottom, built with plywood and no particle board and it will be made locally.
It will take a few days to complete but that leads into another issue.
I am the tear out and build guy and my wife is the one that makes it look good. The lipstick and mascara of renovations. After the initial taping of the drywall wall, she stepped off the stool and felt a twinge in her knee. About 20 minutes later the pain started.
Today involved some doctors, x-rays and MRI’s. Results to follow tomorrow.
So our daughter gets to spend a few more days in the rec room with the big screen TV. I’m not hearing a lot of complaints but she is excited about the new bathroom.
There are a couple of other things I wanted to mention but it’s late and I’m still a little sore form installing the drywall. But I did find out that I can have my cake and eat it too unless I was a baker and then it technically isn’t my cake. Confused?
Welcome to my world.
If you have any comments please post them below.
Play Safe.
Ken
Where I am getting all this?….. It All Begins Here.
