Projects/Home Improvement Thread

[RDU Irish]

Timely discussion - Had a water leak that is moving a full bathroom remodel to the top of the priority list. Replacing old tub/shower with a walk in shower, no tub. Wood floor being tiled. Move a floor vent to the wall, new fan, new vanity but plumbing staying pretty much in same place.

Water seepage curled some of the wood floors. Not a problem in the bathroom where we want to replace anyway but adjoining space outside the bathroom has same problem on the floors. Being told they should settle as they dry and not a big deal to sand and refinish to get to 100%. Sounds like a bigger PIA than I hoped.

Arguing with insurance company on if this is claimable or not. They want an "event" and say rot indicates it has been leaking for a long time. I say the smell and leak are new developments and can't find rot after pealing back to studs - plenty of discolored wood but not rot or indications it has been soaking for months/years.

 

[koonja]

Timely discussion - Had a water leak that is moving a full bathroom remodel to the top of the priority list. Replacing old tub/shower with a walk in shower, no tub. Wood floor being tiled. Move a floor vent to the wall, new fan, new vanity but plumbing staying pretty much in same place.

Water seepage curled some of the wood floors. Not a problem in the bathroom where we want to replace anyway but adjoining space outside the bathroom has same problem on the floors. Being told they should settle as they dry and not a big deal to sand and refinish to get to 100%. Sounds like a bigger PIA than I hoped.

Arguing with insurance company on if this is claimable or not. They want an "event" and say rot indicates it has been leaking for a long time. I say the smell and leak are new developments and can't find rot after pealing back to studs - plenty of discolored wood but not rot or indications it has been soaking for months/years.

Well thanks for scaring the sh!t out of me. Wish I could help you out - good luck. I hope you can get a claim to help with the cost.

 

[wizards8507]

Move a floor vent to the wall, new fan, new vanity but plumbing staying pretty much in same place.

I do not understand this. I've never heard of a bathroom vent being in the floor. What the hell good would that do? Where does it vent to, the basement?

 

[Irish#1]

I'm hearing that's only a necessity if you're tiling a shower/tub, and if you remove the old floor tiles/thinset and it's smooth and level - you can just tile right over the floor.

Is putting down cement board something "You'd suggest" or is it a "must do" even if the floor below can be smoothed and leveled?

I've put down five or six tile floors in the last 10-15 years. Cement board isn't a necessity but you should use something between the subfloor and tile. A thin plywood would suffice and would add less height to the floor so you don't run into issues with the bottom of doors clearing or having to get an extension to raise the toilet. I would be surprised if your current tile is laying directly on the subfloor. Just rip it all out to the subfloor and put your thin underlayment in. You shouldn't have to do any leveling unless your house is way off. In that case level before putting down the underlayment.

 

[RDU Irish]

I do not understand this. I've never heard of a bathroom vent being in the floor. What the hell good would that do? Where does it vent to, the basement?

A/C and heat vent - not the exhaust fan. Right by the toilet too - that thing ever over flows and water goes down the vent (not to mention any splatter radius and the chilling experience of A/C up the leg when doing your business).

 

[Irish#1]

I do not understand this. I've never heard of a bathroom vent being in the floor. What the hell good would that do? Where does it vent to, the basement?

All of mine are in the floor. Are you thinking of a cold air return vent?

 

[GowerND11]

All of mine are in the floor. Are you thinking of a cold air return vent?

Wiz was talking about the bathroom vent as in the one to take the poo smell out.

 

[Irish#1]

Wiz was talking about the bathroom vent as in the one to take the poo smell out.

Those things never work! lol

 

[RDU Irish]

The vent fans are to remove moisture as much/more than your stink asses. I got new ones with humidity sensors because the kids are so damn unreliable to turn the fan on. Also much quieter so they may actually use it when they drop deuces too. And a night light so maybe they can hit their targets a little better.

 

[Irish#1]

The vent fans are to remove moisture as much/more than your stink asses. I got new ones with humidity sensors because the kids are so damn unreliable to turn the fan on. Also much quieter so they may actually use it when they drop deuces too. And a night light so maybe they can hit their targets a little better.

Sounds like you should install one of those toilets where the bowl illuminates. lol

 

[wizards8507]

A/C and heat vent - not the exhaust fan. Right by the toilet too - that thing ever over flows and water goes down the vent (not to mention any splatter radius and the chilling experience of A/C up the leg when doing your business).

Got it. How do your ducts work where you have the flexibility of moving the vent from the floor to the wall or ceiling? We have two separate central air systems in our house. The handler for the first floor is in the basement so all of the ducts run through the basement and up through floor vents. Then the handler for the second floor is in the attic so the ducts run to ceiling vents.

 

[NDRock]

Well thanks for scaring the sh!t out of me. Wish I could help you out - good luck. I hope you can get a claim to help with the cost.

What type of flooring is in the hallway? Is it wood? Do they meet up or is there a big transition? When I built my house, I used cement board partly so I could build up the tiled area and meet flush with my wood floor. I'm not a big fan of transitional pieces.

 

[phgreek]

I'm hearing that's only a necessity if you're tiling a shower/tub, and if you remove the old floor tiles/thinset and it's smooth and level - you can just tile right over the floor.

Is putting down cement board something "You'd suggest" or is it a "must do" even if the floor below can be smoothed and leveled?

FWIW I use Hardie backer board...screw it down like a mad man...no hollow spots. Make sure no screw heads are above the backer board. Anywhere there is a seem in the backer board, I use joint tape (mesh) and then run mortar over the tape, and force mortar into the seems...makes for one hell of a monolithic floor. I've done about 5 since I bought my current house...not a single tile popped, or grout joint cracked.

I've tiled stairs, bathrooms, foyers...pretty simple...no movement in whats beneath the tile...tile holds up forever.

 

[RDU Irish]

Got it. How do your ducts work where you have the flexibility of moving the vent from the floor to the wall or ceiling? We have two separate central air systems in our house. The handler for the first floor is in the basement so all of the ducts run through the basement and up through floor vents. Then the handler for the second floor is in the attic so the ducts run to ceiling vents.

Exactly how ours is set up. Our walls are connected to our floors so re-routing the floor vent to the wall is not that big of a deal beyond boring a hole to fish the duct. Since we are replacing flooring the patching of the old vent is easy peasy.

 

[NDVirginia19]

A little project I whipped up last summer. I'm about to (attempt to) make a coffee table out of a traffic light that my roommate's and I have had as a room decoration for the pst two years and I thought about this other table and this thread

 

[koonja]

Tile guy just quoted me in my bathroom floor job (40 square feet). He quoted me at $15 per square feet, or $600 total. That is ridiculously high, right?

Keep in mind, I'm removing the old tile and thinset myself, and doing the grouting myself after everything dries.

 

[woolybug25]

Tile guy just quoted me in my bathroom floor job (40 square feet). He quoted me at $15 per square feet, or $600 total. That is ridiculously high, right?

Keep in mind, I'm removing the old tile and thinset myself, and doing the grouting myself after everything dries.

Haha....

 

[Rack Em]

Tile guy just quoted me in my bathroom floor job (40 square feet). He quoted me at $15 per square feet, or $600 total. That is ridiculously high, right?

Keep in mind, I'm removing the old tile and thinset myself, and doing the grouting myself after everything dries.

Depends. Do you want to buy a tile saw and are you comfortable using it?

 

[koonja]

Depends. Do you want to buy a tile saw and are you comfortable using it?

I'm ok buying a tile saw and comfortable using it. I rented one and did a tile backsplash myself. But this flooring project will be more difficult and my first shot, so I'm leaning towards hiring for that reason.

 

[Wild Bill]

I'm ok buying a tile saw and comfortable using it. I rented one and did a tile backsplash myself. But this flooring project will be more difficult and my first shot, so I'm leaning towards hiring for that reason.

All the cuts should be concealed by the trim, vanity and toilet so you could just buy a blade for a 4 inch angle grinder. I prefer using an angle grinder over a shitty tile saw, to be honest.

If you can lay a backsplash you can lay the floor. Just lay the project out first to make sure you have whole tiles in the most visible places, like the entry way. Then work your way towards the part that will be concealed, like behind the toilet.

You can lay down a concrete backer board for a subfloor. It's easy to install.

Notch your door jambs and casing to make sure a tile slides perfectly underneath. I hate when the tile is cut around the wood.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Tile guy just quoted me in my bathroom floor job (40 square feet). He quoted me at $15 per square feet, or $600 total. That is ridiculously high, right?

Keep in mind, I'm removing the old tile and thinset myself, and doing the grouting myself after everything dries.

Buy your shit at a big box store. A lot of times you can purchase the install thru them for a very reasonable price.

 

[Cackalacky]

I posted a while ago about a small bathroom remodel I'm doing, and I've become brave in one area, but am getting worried about another.

I've read up enough that I'm comfortable removing the old vanity, mirror, medicine cabinet myself, as well as the old tile. I'm also comfortable installing the new vanity and toilet when the new tile floor is in.

However - what I'm reading about 'prepping the floor' for tile is scaring me out of doing the tile myself too (which, if I could do, would allow me to do the entire thing myself). i'm comfortable laying the actual tile, but have no idea what type of 'sub floor' will be down there, or if I need to lay any type of tile membrane, or if I can simply scrape the old off and lay the new.

I do not know what type of material is below the current tile, but my guess would be wood. I keep reading/watching videos that say you don't have to place anything special down, and some that say you do before putting the new tile in.

Any advice on prepping the floor would really be appreciated.

Side note - this is the vanity/mirror combo I purchased. Going to go with a white/multi color floor, white trim, and light grey wall color. I got this when on sale for $90.

Glacier Bay Stancliff 24.5 in. W Vanity in Elm Sky with Cultured Marble Vanity Top in White with White Basin and Mirror-ST24P3-EK - The Home Depot

I would advise laying down a thin layer of backerboard ontop of your floor substrate.

$80 will cover your 40 square feet. It will provide you with a level surface to tile on. If you tile on wood subfloor it is/ can be not level or mositure damaged. Glue the backerboard to the subfloor then apply tile mastic on top of backeeboard and you good to go. Tiles are usually $1-3 per sf. Start tiling. It should take less than a day and certainly less than $15 per sf.

 

[NDVirginia19]

So I know I mentioned something a week back or so about a traffic light table...

Here's a pic of the light by itself from my freshman year. I was tasked with cleaning out the garage in Pasquerilla Center and an Ensign who was stashed awaiting BUDS told me to go take the traffic light to the dumpster, so I hid it behind it until I could take it all the way across campus to my dorm room where it was used as a decoration (only red/yellow operating) for the past two school years.

I decided that my room this year could use a nice coffee table, and what better to use as the basis for the table than a traffic light.

Glad I had my dad to point me in the direction of gluing pieces together in addition of just nails

Added some outlets for phone charging and a more aesthetically pleasing light switching pannel

Added a coat of dark copper paint to the exterior

And here she is in all of her glory in the common room to my quad. Don't mind the smudges on the plexiglass

 

[koonja]

Ran into a bit of a puzzle already on my vanity/toilet removal.

So the vanity and toilet sit next to one another, and there is a shut off valve for the toilet. There is no shut off valve for the vanity in plain sight, however. I thought for a minute the shut off valve for the toilet might control the vanity too (because the water pressure is poor in that bathroom), but when I turn off the one next to toilet, vanity faucet runs find, toilet stops running.

Where is the most logical place they'd have hidden the shut off for the vanity? I've gone into my crawl space already believe it or not, which is directly below the bathroom. There's no shut off there.

It's possible it's burried in the wall behind the vanity/bathroom, because there's a closet there. However, I can't imagine someone would be so stupid as to put shut off valves inside of a wall.

Anyone have any ideas where this shut off may be?

This bathroom was an addition to the original house, and my guess it was done ~30 years ago. Is it possible they didn't give the vanity a shutoff at all?

 

[koonja]

Then as a follow up, if there is no shutoff valve, and I have to shut off the main line, can I shut off the main line, remove the vanity, and turn on the main line afterwards so I can use other things (kitchen, other bathroom, etc.)?

Or if I have the vanity removed during this, do I need to keep the valve off for good so water doesn't spring out? This may sound stupid, but I'm trying this DIY and don't want to chance anything with plumbing.

 

[ulukinatme]

And here she is in all of her glory in the common room to my quad. Don't mind the smudges on the plexiglass

This was awesome!

 

[ulukinatme]

Then as a follow up, if there is no shutoff valve, and I have to shut off the main line, can I shut off the main line, remove the vanity, and turn on the main line afterwards so I can use other things (kitchen, other bathroom, etc.)?

Or if I have the vanity removed during this, do I need to keep the valve off for good so water doesn't spring out? This may sound stupid, but I'm trying this DIY and don't want to chance anything with plumbing.

Can you not shut off the water to the entire house, or is this a long term project? I'm guessing the lines for the vanity/sink are on the other side of the wall if they're not exposed underneath:

The water supply lines usually come in through the rear of the sink basin, so plumbers often install the cutoffs on the other side of the wall to avoid ruining the sleek lines of the sink.

Alternatively you can probably go to Home Depot and add a few new shutoffs yourself to avoid taking a guess and ripping into the wall.

[EDIT] Ha, when I went to reply this second post wasn't up yet. I refreshed and then hit the Quote button on the last post having not read the second post that had just come in. To add to this, no, you can't turn the main water back on without stopping the water somehow where the sink/vanity would have been. If it was me I would just add new shutoffs to avoid the problem in the future.

 

[koonja]

Can you not shut off the water to the entire house, or is this a long term project? I'm guessing the lines for the vanity/sink are on the other side of the wall if they're not exposed underneath:



Alternatively you can probably go to Home Depot and add a few new shutoffs yourself to avoid taking a guess and ripping into the wall.

I can't shut it off for good - this won't be complete til ~Saturday. Installing new shutoff valves? That would work I suppose. I'll look up how to do that.

 

[ulukinatme]

I can't shut it off for good - this won't be complete til ~Saturday. Installing new shutoff valves? That would work I suppose. I'll look up how to do that.

I don't sweat or mess with copper personally. When I did work on my toilets years ago I replaced the supply lines with flexible tube lines that had shutoffs preinstalled. Maybe the copper looks nicer, but fuck it, I prefer not having to mess with copper. The flexible lines work much easier for me. I'm sure you can find some at your local Home Depot/Lowes.

Something like this (With a cold water marked buddy), or you can get just the flexible line and add a shut off valve by itself:

 

[wizards8507]

I have no idea what the permitting rules are in your state, but you're looking to sell this house immediately, right? The first thing a realtor or real estate attorney does here in Connecticut when they see a newly refurbished kitchen/bathroom/basement/fireplace is ask for all of the permit information from the town and proof that the work was done by a licensed professional. DIY is fine when you're going to keep the property but be careful that you don't do anything to jeopardize your ability to sell.