After nearly 40 years, it was time to redo the master bathroom. When we built the house, we put carpeting throughout the bedroom, closets, and bathroom. I hated carpeting in the bathroom! I moved to the main bathroom and left the master bath to the master. Check out the tub enclosure color. It's easy to date the bathroom just by the harvest gold that went in as the house was built. For a while now the bathroom has been less used. First DH turned off the lavatory faucet -- because it dripped. We replaced the faucet fixture, but more recently he turned off the stool supply because it was running constantly. Eventually even the shower limed up enough that it was hard for DH to work. Slowly, over a period of time DH invaded 'my' bathroom. Not good! Because of his advancing Alzheimer's, he is no longer able to do the fixing needed and wouldn't let me hire someone since he didn't see a problem. This week, DS decided it was time for a fix. DH and I got all the materials and we went to work. First, we took everything out of the room. Should'a taken a photo of that gross (were the vacuum didn't reach) carpet! Then we raised the floor to meet with the oak flooring we'd put down in the bedroom a couple of years ago. ( I must have deleted that photo, but you can see where the new flooring is level with the wood in another photo.) Because we raised the floor, we needed to raise the closet flange. New to me was this adaptor set that worked just fine. DS painted the walls. The screw dents in the plywood were filled with Spackle and allowed to dry. While we waited, I touched up the stain and varnish on the vanity cabinet and the base (after I pulled the nails through the back). We got the vinyl down. Because we have plans to redo the tub into a shower enclosure in the not-too-long future, we put the vinyl down without glueing it. Because of the room's small size, the caulk along the tub, the stool, the cabinet, and the base, we decided to skip the glue to make removing it for future ceramic easier. Cute shot of my toes, there. DS didn't make it out today. I figure we will get the room finished Monday. We did put the sides and doors back on the vanity and I replaced the towel rack so all that needs be done when DS get here is to replace the cabinet, sink reconnects, and re-nail the base. I also got the tub cleaned and started removing the shower/tub faucet fixture we are replacing. I will post the finishing photos when they are available. Kitchens and bathrooms. These are most likely to need work, especially after many years of use.
Monday, instead of finishing the sink and base, someone (DH wants his shower back) decided to start on the tub. It's been nearly 40 years since the tub was installed and, of course, tub faucets have changed. The new mixer has a male thread going up to the shower while the old mixer had the shower pipe threaded into a female end. That makes the existing shower pipe about 1.5 inches too long. When we put things together the first time, it was before drywall and plastering. We did manage to get the shower pipe out -- it dropped down into the basement area -- and had it cut 1/5 inches shorter and rethreaded. I'm not sure how easy it will be to get the pipe back in place with the shower elbow on, but we're hoping everything is ready for assembly Tuesday morning.
Success! The master bathroom redo is done! (Okay, there are a few details yet, but it works finished.) Here is a photo of the finished plumbing behind the scenes. Notice the one black pipe! I learned today why black pipe is required in natural gas applications, but seldom used (or not recommended) in water. The zinc in water pipe is more resistant to rusting. Black pipe is more likely to degrade when used with water. I went with black pipe only because the hardware store was out of the right size nipple in galvanized pipe and I wanted done with the project. Also, I know we will be redoing the tub/shower into a shower only stall within the next few years. The black pipe wouldn't be problematic for over 15 years. The only caveat is black pipe cannot be used for drinking water. Not a problem in the shower. The new fixtures are bright and shiny. We went with Moen faucet because of their forever warrantee. Need a new part and they'll ship it to you free forever. . . at least that's what we've found to be true so far. I still need to do a bit of cleaning under the spout. I am out of LimeAway. Here is the re-finished vanity hooked back up and ready for use. On the top is half the cost of worker's services for the entire revamping although son said he would have done it for free. Finally, we have the finished master bathroom. When we reattached the side panel on the vanity it broke, so we need another colored piece cut. Fortunately, we do have more of the glass to do the job. Otherwise, I would have gone with a plain varnished wood panel. Tomorrow? I had a tenant call to say he was without hot water. We fired up the unit today and it seems to be working. With the heavy winds we've had lately, I know it is possible that a down draft blew out the pilot. If it stops again, we'll be replacing the water heater with a new one. Gotta have hot water!
Still to be done... DS says he'll build a wall cabinet (medicine cabinet) with a new mirror. It will cover the wall behind the sink vanity and extend over the stool. It will have the same style glass panels in the cabinet doors as in the vanity cabinet.
