• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Not Shop - but house, remodeling a bath . . . ( mad scientist style ) . . .

conv67bdere

Super Moderator
Staff member
FBBO Gold Member
Local time
5:06 PM
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
8,219
Reaction score
14,844
Location
Concord, NC
Bought my house about 10 years ago, and the previous owner ( my belief ) got the house from an older couple - the house was built in 1973 - and he did a bunch of "upgrades" ( and I use that tern loosely ) to the house with possible intentions of flipping the house and making a cha-ching amount of money.

The house still needed a LOT of work - and me, being a handyman, was willing to take it on.

Well . . . he put down pergo flooring in the house ( Personally I hate the stuff and the color that he chose was terrible ) . . . He put it in the guest bathroom too ! A leaky toilet, and all of the pergo flooring was cupping in the guest bath . . .

So . . . time to remodel . . . ( and see how this snowballs into other projects . . . )

The pergo has been pulled up everywhere except for under the toilet . . . under the pergo - was linoleum flooring . . . figures . . .

sm_bath01.jpg


And . . . under the linoleum was 12 x 12 tiles - before I found the plywood

sm_bath02.jpg


The cabinet was a piece of junk, some of the drawer faces were already un-stapling from the drawers . . . time to tear it out too . . .

sm_bath03.jpg


It's gone . . . Oh, and he painted the walls with a "fake granite" paint . . . so the walls were like 80 grit sandpaper . . . don't bump up against it . . . OUCH ! ! !

sm_bath04.jpg


Trying to still get all the flooring out . . .

sm_bath05.jpg


And the 80 grit wall came out with it too . . .

sm_bath06.jpg


Finally . . . all cleaned up . . . Well kinda . . . see the "black" area on the floor by the location where the toilet use to be . . .

sm_bath07.jpg


Oh . . . ant the tub - I think he tore out the door frame to get this "new" one in here - but, I HATE them . . . after years, they start to crack and leak. Will not take out the door frame and wall to remove it - so I cut the darn thing out . . . piece by piece . . .

sm_bath08.jpg


More cutting and removal . . .

sm_bath09.jpg


And the last of it . . .

sm_bath10.jpg


Will update more later . . . got a ton of pictures of the work in progress . . .
 
Snow ball for sure, Good luck with the project !! Don't forget your probably going to need to lower the toilet drain or raise the sub-floor to make-up for the tile & pergo flooring thickness.
 
Last edited:
Cool!
Laminate flooring is junk!
Folks use it because it’s pre finished and you don’t have to be a craftsman to install it.

I’ve got 2600 Sq.Ft. of 3-1/4” wide, 3/4” thick white oak in my house. I built it 11 years ago and didn’t want any carpet in the house. White oak has no pink in it and is slightly harder than red oak.

Keep the pics coming.
 
Cool!
Laminate flooring is junk!
Folks use it because it’s pre finished and you don’t have to be a craftsman to install it.

I’ve got 2600 Sq.Ft. of 3-1/4” wide, 3/4” thick white oak in my house. I built it 11 years ago and didn’t want any carpet in the house. White oak has no pink in it and is slightly harder than red oak.

Keep the pics coming.
That couldn't be further from the truth "laminate flooring is junk" although I suspect your referring to the cheap stuff that is literally fake wood print on a press board? Laminate is where a surface is adhered to a material (planks in this case) so the term covers a broad variety of products. When I built ours I used 3/4" Oak, the gaps were tight in the summer and loose in the winter which naturally meant it developed squeaks and got dirt in the cracks over time. We recently replaced it all with an "engineered" floor which is an 1/8" layer of white oak laminated to a pine base (boards glued apposing the Oak grain) so technically it's laminated. No comparison whatsoever, it stays tight, doesn't squeak, it's a true tongue and groove nailed down (stapled actually) and is absolutely beautiful! They built flooring using these techiques to minimize shrinkage and they do quite well. The big thing you have to watch is buying the cheap junk, we paid a pretty penny for ours and it shows in the quality.
 
I feel for you Larry, all projects start off fun but they never stay on track and with you this is going to get out of control quick bahaha. Enjoy.
 
Yes, I’m referring to the “pergo” type products.

That said, I’ll take my genuine solid white oak floor over any laminate floor product. :thumbsup:
I can sand and refinish my floor multiple times and it will last centuries doing so. Not so much with 1/8” of surface to work with.

Engineered lumber products have their place. I’ve got “lam beams” and a “silent choice” floor joist system in the house I built.
 
Better you than me, I'd rather have an enema than to remodel!!
 
I hate "repairing" anything - rather do a complete "gut" and reno anytime.
 
That's a nice project to get into Larry....hurry up and finish so you can help with my house. i have two bathrooms waiting to be demolished remodelled. :D
Looks good what you have done so far...now don't go getting side-tracked. :thumbsup:
 
Guess I need to post a little "qualifier" here . . . this is work that I've been working on for the past year ( wonder why I'm not getting work done on the Belvedere ) . . . Just finally decided to post up the work that I've been doing and share it with the members here . . .

So the fiberglass surround/tub is finally out of the picture . . . and I bought a new cast iron tub to go back in it's place - I wanted quality . . .

One of the MANY Side track issues - the new cast iron tub sits 3" closer to the wall, so the water fill is now NOT centered in the tub
- - guess who is going to have to go under the house and move some plumbing . . .

sm_bath11.jpg


Plus - notice how they cut out a part of the wall joist . . . idiots . . .

sm_bath12.jpg


YET another Side track item . . . this wall, with the waste pipe vent, is a 6" thick wall . . . so, I've got extra space that can be used - in this picture you can see how I redid the framing and will make an in-the-wall cabinet ( from the other side - that would be the master bath ) . . .

sm_bath13.jpg


Here is the beginning of the cabinet, in the master bath, that will take advantage of the 6" thick wall for additional storage . . .

sm_bath14.jpg


Get it painted . . .

sm_bath15.jpg


Add a couple full extension drawers to the bottom of the cabinet - to help store some things and make them easy to access . . .

sm_bath16.jpg


Time to make a couple of doors to help cover up all the "junk" that would be stored in the center section of the cabinet . . .

sm_bath17.jpg


More progress . . . door installed and painted . . . still working on the drawers . . .

sm_bath18.jpg


Now . . . getting back to the bath . . . and the "rot" around the toilet from years of leaking water . . . cut out a big area and replace it with new plywood . . .

sm_bath19.jpg


Now, to prepare the floor for the ceramic tiles - lay down some concrete backer board - Note - the toilet flange is not set permanently in place yet, just sitting in there to cover the hole.

sm_bath20.jpg


In addition - having an on the floor register ( in a bathroom ) does NOT make any sense at all - so I moved the vent up the wall to prevent water from being able to "easily" drain into the duct work . . .

More pictures will be added when I can get to them . . .
 
looking good, conv.
always, a home job turns into more work than originally thought.
i just finished the kitchen, after 2 total gut jobs in the bathrooms, all within 2 1/4 years
floors, walls, electric, plumbing, vent, windows, doors. everything. by myself with boy1 help.
did alot of tile. some mudding and taping, which i really hate
at least i can sneak in more tools doing renovs.
 
And not a picture of a sledge hammer in sight. That won't cut it for HGTV.


Looks good:thumbsup:
 
Taking a break from this heat and sweating outside to provide the next installment of the Snowball effect of a bathroom remodel . . .

Next on the agenda . . . more things that need to get done . . .

This "was" a linen closet ( Ugh, I think the whole house was painted that color originally ) that is right next to the bath ( the next door in line ) . . . so I got to thinking ( oh sh*t - the mad scientist is starting to take over control ) . . . what if I . . .

sm_bath21.jpg


All of the shelves in this closed ( built in 1973 ) were wood shelves ( and I could reuse them . . . )
( and I still think that this color is horrible . . . bleach )

Notice the closed door . . . it is a hollow core door and it feels so cheap ( guess what another side task just might end up to be . . . )

sm_bath22.jpg


So let's knock the wall out from between these two rooms and ( once again ) use the space a little more creatively . . .

sm_bath23.jpg


Time to build the wall ! ! ! ( I mean shelf )
Used biscuits on the shelves to secure them in place . . . really like the way the work, but find them a little tricky on middle of the board work . . .

sm_bath24.jpg


Using all of the original shelves from the linen closet, I'll build an in-the-wall linen closet that will be in the bathroom . . .

sm_bath25.jpg


that should fit in the wall . . . just about like this . . .

sm_bath30.jpg


And have it stick into the room ( for more space ) but not interfere with the door opening . . .

So far so good . . .

sm_bath31.jpg


But the shelves are a bit too "simple" and they need a little different "touch" and look to them . . . the design of the bath will be old mill style . . .

sm_bath32.jpg


Add the holes to the shelves . . .

sm_bath33.jpg


And see what it looks like back in the wall . . . not too shabby . . .

sm_bath35.jpg


But now I've taken up a bit of the space that was the original linen closet . . . but I measured it all out, so stayed tuned for what will happen with that space . . . later . . .

Gawd, still hate that color that was used in most of this house . . . UGH ! ! !
 
good idea using biscuits. the joint should hold a long time. clean unseen joinery.
im making an 'el' shaped threshold. going to use an improvised way of joining the 'el' with a full length cut to size home made oak biscuit


pictures 4&5, big router is out and plugged in............ why? pic 10, you rounded the holes, with a router.
nice work.
im usually rushing to get done, no/ few pics
 
good idea using biscuits. the joint should hold a long time. clean unseen joinery.
im making an 'el' shaped threshold. going to use an improvised way of joining the 'el' with a full length cut to size home made oak biscuit


pictures 4&5, big router is out and plugged in............ why? pic 10, you rounded the holes, with a router.
nice work.
im usually rushing to get done, no/ few pics

Router was used to round all of the edges that would be seen or felt by people - softens the sharp edge and I like the look of the furniture when it is finished off like that . . .
 

Side note . . . the adding of the holes and routering the edges almost got me into trouble . . . and the router would not fit to do the inside of the shelves holes . . . actually, only one ended up like that and it was sanded by hand to make it look similar . . .

that's what happens when the tings get done on the fly and are not pre-planned . . . but usually something can be improvised to make it work . . .
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top