It's always something...

...and here are our 3 somethings this week.

1) The lower spray arm on our dishwasher.  Somehow, it came in contact with the heating element and melted.  This has left us without a dishwasher until the new part comes in (2-5 business days, we're told)  It was only a $25 part, so not a major head ache.  Just annoying and time-consuming to have to wash dishes by hand.  And since our New Year's Resolution was to cut our extra spending, especially in regards to groceries and eating out, a week of take-out isn't an option.  How did people ever live this way???

2) The upstairs shower is leaking.  This picture is of the downstairs hall ceiling, directly underneath the shower in the upstairs bathroom.  Joe thinks some caulk with fix this problem.  I am less optimistic.  Nothing is ever that easy.

3) Our refrigerator ice maker.  Hasn't made any ice for the last 24+ hours.  We realized this after breakfast this morning, so we haven't investigated very thoroughly.  Hopefully more ice will just appear and we won't have to worry about it.

Here's hoping those are all the "somethings" we'll have to deal with for awhile.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to clean up lunch dishes, take a shower, and make myself an ice cold drink.  Damn.  

Involuntary Bathroom Remodeling Part II

In my last post, I discussed the suddenly urgent need to completely redo our downstairs bathtub/shower, and the accompanying demolition.  With everything demo'd to dry wood, I had to contemplate rebuilding everything to support the new tub and shower enclosure.

The first order of business was figuring out what tub to put in the space.  The old tub was a 60" jetted "drop-in" that, you will recall, (1) didn't have working jets, (2) wasn't properly supported by the framing, and (3) didn't fit into the 57" space--the tub protruded three inches into the closet in the adjoining room.  Kendra and I decided we would buy a 54" tub instead, which is harder to find than a standard 60" tub.  We finally settled on a 54" tub at Menard's, primarily because it was available without special ordering.

This still left us with a size problem -- a 54" tub to go in a 57" space.  The best solution I could think of was to build a three-inch shelf out at the top of the tub.  This meant more carpentry (ugh)* but seemed very doable.  Since 2x lumber is actually 1.5", that means I just needed to nail a couple 2x8 to the framing to create the shelf.  It all seemed very easy, until Kendra mentioned that she'd like to install shower doors in the finished space, instead of a shower curtain.  Now, my simple shelf project turned into a new wall projecting three inches out from the old wall.  Ugh, more carpentry.

*The reason I say "ugh" is not because I hate carpentry, it's just that I'm really bad at it.  Driving a nail usually is a two- or three-take process for me.  Which makes me hate carpentry.

I set to work reconstructing the space so that we could set the tub.  First, I needed to reinforce the floor joists, which had significant (although not catastrophic) water rot, so I sistered some 2x8s to the existing joists.  Underneath the bathroom is crawlspace, which made the work more difficult in that I was flat on my back the whole time, yet also easier in that I didn't need to reach straight over my head to work.  Due to the bathroom being located on an exterior wall, I was able to rest one end of the 2x8s on the sill plate, which should make them hold better (I think).   After reinforcing the joists, I cut a piece of OSB board to fit the opening in the floor and screwed it to the joists.

After a little bit of framing to correct the hole in the wall the old tub was shoved into, and then installing two 2x8s to create the proper width for the tub alcove, it was time to install the tub.  I cut and fastened a 2x4 ledger board on the back wall to support the tub.  Then  I enlisted Kendra's help to lift the tub into place.  It took quite a bit of coaxing, shoving, and pushing, but we finally got the tub set on the floor.  I doubt we had a quarter-inch of space to spare.  I used some shims to level the tub, and then we were set.

The tub snugly in place.  You can see the new framing at both the right and left-hand sides of the tub.

After getting the tub in, I turned my attention to the new, 3" deep wall I would need to build out to accommodate our future shower doors.  I decided I would attach horizontal 2x4s to the existing studs, then attach vertical 2x4s on top of that to run the length of the new "wall."  This successfully narrowed the tub alcove from 57" to 54", and resulted in a plumb-enough new structure for installing the cement board.

The cement board was surprisingly easy to work with, although there was some drama along the way.  First, I needed to clean up some of the wiring by removing the switch and wires that worked the nonfunctioning jetted tub.  In the switch's place, I installed a GFCI outlet, located in the same electrical box as the switch for running the exhaust fan.  It doesn't really makes sense to have an outlet in that particular spot, but I didn't know what else to put in the box.  I guess this will leave a power source in case we want to put in a 42" TV right across from the toilet.

After the wiring, I called and had Cooter's Plumbing come over and replace some of the old PVC pipe that ran to the tub and shower with PEX pipe.  They also installed the new shower valve and made the drain connections.  With the wiring and plumbing done, it was time to cover the walls.

I attached 4 mil plastic sheeting on top of the lathe board to act as a waterproof barrier to the framing underneath.  I decided to install the cement board on the long wall first, because it would require the least cutting and let me practice my technique before moving on to the more delicate pieces.

One wall down, two to go!

I found the board easy to cut and work with, but my efforts were not without problems.  After hanging the first piece--the one on the top in the picture above--I realized I had forgotten to cut out the opening for the exhaust fan.  Luckily I was able to punch out an opening with the use of a utility knife and cold chisel.  It added some work, but not an ungodly amount.

Yesterday, after a couple weeks of no progress, I was finally able to hang the rest of the cement board.  Here are a couple shots; this picture shows a straight-ahead view:

And here is a photo showing the new 3" wall:

As of today, we are almost ready to start tiling.  I still need to mortar the cement board joints, and finish the perimeter with joint compound.  And we still don't have the tile yet, although it's supposed to come in this week.  After two months of no downstairs tub, and I'm guessing 40 hours of labor, we are getting close to finishing this project.

Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon, Snotorious BIG, Snoprah Winfrey, Snow joke, SnOMG...

Whatever you call it, we survived.  Here are a few pics of our winter wonderland.

Our old house and about a foot of snow (before drifts).  Also a nice shot of our new roof.

Riding the snow drift wave!

Wading through the snow.

Joe had a whole lot of shovelin' to do.

The freshly shoveled path between our garage and the back porch.

The dog, the boy, and a big pile of snow.

Snow angels!

Just relaxin' in the snow.

Max and Charlie wore nothing but pajamas for four days.
I DID make them wear a different pair every day in case you were wondering.

Watching movies and snuggling.  Not a bad way to spend a few snowy days.

Involuntary Bathroom Remodeling

"What's THIS?!" we heard Max bellow from the bathtub.  We had a suspicion something was wrong, but we had no idea what was ahead of us.

It was about two months ago that Kendra and I rushed into the bathroom to see what Max had found during bath time.  In his hand was a small plastic sliver--which, unfortunately, had chipped off the bottom of the bath tub. As we inspected the tub, it became obvious that the tub's useful life had ended quite some time ago.  We always knew the tub would need replacing soon, but it wasn't really a project that was on the front burner.  But with the cracked bottom the tub was now unusable. It was decided--we'd install a new tub, with a new tile surround.

The first order of business was demo.  Since I didn't take any "before" pictures, I'll have to describe the old setup.  Our bathroom walls are textured plaster.  We had a tub/shower combo, with the tub being a non-functional whirlpool tub.  There was vinyl paneling on the shower walls for waterproofing.  Demo started with removing the vinyl paneling.  Unfortunately, this involved just peeling the panels off the walls, as they were stuck directly to the plaster with some type of adhesive.  That was the extent of the wall waterproofing, and it showed.  When I removed the panels, I was greeted by soggy plaster and drywall, which just crumbled off the wall in places.  It made demo easier, but it was more than a little concerning how much water was passing through to the structural elements of the house.  With the help of my craftsman multitool, I was able to cut out plaster from the area to be tiled.  The multitool gave me a nice, straight cut, which should make the cement board installation that much easier:

After cutting/demoing down to the wood lathe, it was time to remove the tub.  As I started to take a closer look at things, I noticed that the old tub actually penetrated one of the walls.  I guess I always knew this, but before now I never paid much attention.  You see, the wall-to-wall measurement is 57 inches, 3 inches too short for your standard 60 inch tub.  That didn't stop one of the previous homeowners from "installing" a 60 inch, drop-in style jetted tub, though -- just shove it three inches into the wall and call it good.  This would not do for our replacement, so this was one area we'd need to address during the new install.

After getting the tub out, I was able to assess the floor.  It was awful.  The tub was resting on a piece of plywood, which was so rotted I was able to fold it in half like a piece of cardboard.  Tongue-in-groove hardwood flooring was laid underneath the plywood.  It also appeared a little wet, so I poked at it with my finger--and a chunk of the flooring crumbled and fell into the basement below.  On the optimistic side, the rotted wood made for an easier demolition, and soon I had removed the existing subfloor.  I could peer into the basement (which is a crawlspace under that particular part of the house) and see the floor joists.  Unfortunately, what I could see was that the top 1" or so of several joists was also rotted.  When the demo was finished, here's how things looked:

The amount of water damage wasn't really surprising, but it was disappointing.  With substantial rebuilding required before I could even start replacing the tub, the "new tub" project was taking on much more of a carpentry feel than I would prefer.  But that's probably enough for now.  You'll have to wait for the next blog post to see how the carpentry went.

Oh snow you didn't!

A peek outside our back door during the now-infamous Midwest Snowpocalypse 2011.

I'm dreaming of the landscaping and patio expansion projects we're planning once the grass turns green.