DIY Renos

Thanks! That explains why the wife has been feeding me with a slingshot!

Well, I just installed the new toilet throne (we imported it via a local distributor, from Mexico), so that I could locate the wall-sink mounting hanger. and then I placed the tub and checked the new holes. Can't connect anything or install any hardware until Sunday, when this enamel will be at its usable hardness.

The Hydro company was offering a $175 dollar discount on water-saving toilets, and the City was offering another $60 to upgrade to them as well, so we got a Federal Government top-rated Juan.

Included all the hardware, except the shutoff valve and mounting floor ring/wax donut. Piece of cake to install, and looks like a good place to contemplate my navel...

 

Thats why it's been awile since Andy has posted... Norm's BO.....he went to the cabin........


Norm, still be carefull with 'water saver crapers'.... some seem to be a 2 flush deal, so are you really saving anything? Also IMO, stay the hell away from American Standard brand name, there crappers are junk. Not only has my honey's company ( property managment) spent big $ over the years replacing them to the point of they just won't buy them, but I know other trades that won't also. Even in the day of water waist flush.....they just don't flush worth a crap, so to say.

 

Yeah, I read that about the American Standard dual-flush toilets on several forums. My wife's family in Monterrey, MX (5 sisters, 3 brothers, and her mom) all have these Vortens dual-flush units, and swear by them. Luckily, our own Feds seem to agree. Expensive little puppies - puts a whole new meaning to sitting on a fortune... (Almost $600, not bad after the water-saver discounts). I've got my doubts about the Asian brands (Foremost, etc.). Might get another Vortens for upstairs.

http://vortens.com/

Parent company:
http://www.lamosa.com/en/index.htm

With Mexico suffering from decades of bad water management, the manufacturers have stepped up to offer better products. Just made sense to check it out with Winnipeg's constant screw-ups on our water issues. Hard to believe that a Province with over 1,000 lakes, and 3 major rivers, can't find a way to bring clean water without so many chemicals and silt.

 

floor ring/wax donut. Piece of cake to install

Seems like the wrong time and place to discuss junk food !!!!!! But I suppose the crapper is where it will end up!

I remeber when dad could put in an entire bathroom cheaper than $600. Of course that encluded the little house with the Moon on the door too. The Toilet paper was free thanks to Sears.

 

Today's Sears pages are too glossy...

 

Got the drywall trimmed and installed on the 'water wall'... Like carving a statue . That wall is a 2 X 6 partition. Since its at the entrance, I figured I'd make it thicker and sound proof it. All the water and sink drain run inside, so if I have to change to flooring, it'll be simpler, plus they lead to the new upstair's bathroom. The kitchen wall on the opposite side is also 2 X 6.

EDIT!!! Wall Sink tip:

Notice the back support for the sink? Where it was before, it sagged at the front because there was only drywall to support the bottom edge at the back. Well, I had some old 2-1/4" X 5" fir and cleaned it off on the tablesaw, then notched in the 2 X 6 for the full height of that castiron sink (the steel bracket has 7 mounting holes for 1/4" screws!) It's heavy. I found some antique water glass/toothbrush brackets and a matching soap dish, which I'll install on either side. I don't trust drywall to hold much more than paint, let alone brackets. Anyway, that sink sits square and level now. It made the drywall notching a bit harder, because the drywall sits flush with the sink support, but it'll sand smooth and can always be wallpapered over. I'll do a silicone bead around the top and back edges.




Backside:



The idea of building them thicker is to build a removable or hinged platform to use for a lamp changing platform/painting, etc.


When flipped up, it'll have a colourful painting or poster of some Mexican scenery, and at night, if we want the door open for fresh air, we can drop it down as a security barrier.

We've got at least six fire-escape routes between upstairs and downstairs, and that entry door is at ground level. Just an ounce of prevention against home invasions and arsonists, around here anyway.

You can see the concrete foundation on the righthand side of the door; I cut the entry where there was a basement window and then framed the 36" oak door and screendoor within it.

On the outside is a new roof extension with new eavestroughs. These old houses don't have much of a roof eaves (10"), and the rain from the troughs went into the city water drain, through a basement catch-basin drain pipe. That's illegal today, so I cut them both off and plugged them off, which gave me more wall and floor space in my workshop in the basement.

The entrance will get a small 500 watt baseboard heater, because it is cold there, when it hits -30. Doesn't seem to matter how you seal it. The outside aluminum screendoor is insulated as well, but the two of them don't match the R-33 walls. I read that the oak door gives about R-2 and the screendoor maybe R-1.1. I made the entry wide, so I could bring sheetgoods and appliances without much aggravation. When we brought the piano in, my wife finally understood how much space you need for 4 guys to bring in an 800 pound anchor! On the top end of those stairs, on the left, we'll have a small coat-rack for quick runs outside to take the trash out and shovel snow, and a small cubbyhole for snow-salt and a small shovel - the snow can drift up overnight, enough to block the door from opening.

There'll be a full coat/boot closet at the top of the stairs, with a fold-out seat to put the boots on.

Anyway, I'll finish framing in the bathroom cieling today (clearance for the upstairs shower and sink drain.) The upstairs toilet drain runs between the joists. Since the main floor cieling is 8'-6", I've got head room to spare for the P-trap/drain line above the tub. The new bathroom exhaust fan is just 1/2" too wide to fit between the old doubled-up joists, so I have to include an enclosure in that corner. The wife wants a towel-shelf in that corner, next to the sink and tub.

Click on them to see more detail.

 

Winnipeg has the highest rate of Radon Gas in North America. The Canadian uranium mines are in Northern Alberta and Saskatchewan, west of Manitoba. There's some debate about whether the city's name means Muddy Waters or Three Rivers. We get the northern flow of the Mississippi via the Red River, from North Dakota, and the Seine and Assinniboine rivers from Alberta and Saskatchewan, both of which get their tributary rivers from the North of those two provinces. And all the underground aquifers running North to South.

The Feds offer tips to secure your home from Radon Gas, including better seals around the basement windows. I took them out and blocked them up. I have one at the backyard face, that I made into an insulated double-panelled and hinged, long-lumber unloading passageway for the woodworking that I do in the basement. No Radon coming in through there. I spend a lot of time down there, and when we get the media-room built where the crawlout space is, sometime next year, we'll do the new basement floor according to the Fed recommendations. The crawlout was covered with 3 layers of vapour-barrier and sealed with foam, so there isn't much in there right now, if any.

Winnipeg has the highest rate of lung-disease in youth in the country, most of them have their bedrooms and family/hangout rooms in basements. Cost to upgrade protection can run from $3,000 to $15,000 or more if you redo you're entire basement floor slab! Only really pricey new homes get the full treatment. It's barely mentioned in our building codes!

Anyway, I used a good dust collector (Delta) in the shop, so clean air is always top-of-mind, in the shop. And lots of fluorescent lamps between the joists (helps make sure that my measurements actually work. )

 

Maybe the next time Norman offers to go to Tim Horton's for donuts Andy should be checking them to make sure that is where they came from

 

That explains why he won't take the chocolate nuggets!

 

I've done the same in both bathrooms.


Lots of wood behind for towel racks, bathrobe hooks, the sinks etc, etc. Allways better to fasten to wood rather than drywall ancours.

Your sink though.....

Quote.....
because the drywall sits flush with the sink support, but it'll sand smooth and can always be wallpapered over. I'll do a silicone bead around the top and back edges.

Wall paper, in bath......

If you want to keep the wood exposed, rather than caulking a flush surface...maybe a t molding? You can get them in various finnished widths, I've seen 5/8....


Or..??? maybe a cornice style moulding of sort?

 

It kind of depends on the wife's ideas. She really wants ceramic tile with Mexican designs. I've got some of that moulding. Good idea for a clean look. Thanks.

 

I think I kinda know what your wife may want, sota like this for the finnish edge but smaller. I still have a few pieces left from the origonal reno, this is how we finnished the tile where it meets the drywall. Comes in various sizes and styles.



I never liked it, grouting time was longer and then the finnish caulking to the drywall just never looked rite....... over all it didn't look rite, we also painted the wall to dark IMO.

So I busted them off, touched up the drywall, went with a lite colour and then a dark on this wood trim......


....I also doubled up on the drywall, on the wall to the rite. worked out perfect to cut the tiles exactly in half.

 

Not like that, more like this:

http://www.mexhapati.com/

We've got some friends that live close to where these are made (Tonala, MX, near Guadalajara. Very cost-effective. Like $0.60 per square foot!!! Light-weight clay for walls or heavy duty grade for floors. Hand painted too. Gorgeous.

 

Ahhh, Juess.... That should look kinda cool........ but now your gona have to de-do the sink, the tub, and the crapper to match!

Have you looked at local tile shops for similar? I know for a fact out here shops have very similar designs........ and tiles that I made sure my honey would never see.


Hey Bandito Norm...... You are gona pull the sink off before you tile, rite?

 

Yeah, I left some slack in the plumbing, just in case she got serious about tile, ditto on the sink and the "Juanito".

We looked around locally, but if its really 'artsy', the prices use rocket fuel. We know an American who makes 'old' Mexican replica furniture in Guadalajara who told us that the US/Canadian specialty dealers often mark-up by 500 to 800 percent on Mexican prices. The garden-variety discount flooring stores are about 60% of Home Despot prices. Not bad, but nothing that really is exciting or colourful.

For now, we'll go with the standard Canuck pablum decor.