Thursday, August 17, 2017
How to Add a Bathroom to your Mountain Cottage in 10 Not-so-easy Steps
We bought Park’s Peak last Fall. It is Dave’s next great reno project. Immediately we decided we needed to convert the powder room on the 2nd floor to a complete bathroom so that guests would not have to use the master bath downstairs. NINE MONTHS LATER, just in time for the Eclipse, we have a new bathroom! Dave did this virtually all by himself – using his skills at carpentry, electrical logistics, plumbing and tile work along the way (and living by his motto “never pass up the opportunity to buy a new tool!”). He became a master in details and logistics!! And he did it in just 10 not-so-easy steps!!
Step 1 – Design the bathroom
This involved at least 100 hours of plotting the house on Sketch Up. Why so long? He had to learn the program along the way! But by careful planning he figured out what would fit and what wouldn’t! Then came the first distraction: putting the hot tub he bought before we even closed on the 2nd story deck! This became a major engineering feat! However his plan of using the hot tub to soothe tired muscles during construction proved a good choice.
 |
| Scaffolding to get the hot tub to the deck |
 |
| Success! |
Step 2 - Remove the floor
The original powder room was raised 6 inches to allow the plumbing to be added to the post and beam construction. Dave decided early on that this was architecturally and aesthetically unsound – not to mention our friends going to the bathroom at 2 AM after multiple bottles of wine would have to remember there was a step both up AND down.
 |
| The old powder room |
 |
| The Floor is Removed! |
Removing the floor proved to be a muscle-busting task. The hot tub proved its worth! As the floor came off he realized he had both plumbing and electrical “issues”. How could he add a trap to the tub without the extra 6 inches underneath it? Where could the new electrical wires go? But all of this would have to wait until after second distraction: digging out and pouring concrete in the basement. I mean, a man has to have a place to store his tools!! And the master plan (see step 1) included a wine cellar/chacutery cellar. There are priorities!! And now after 15 cubic yards of concrete he had a good place to set up his saw in the basement or on the new “faux” slate patio. Of course his tools in the basement began to “migrate” to the 2nd floor – all except the one tool he needed at the time. But this was good for his leg muscles!
 |
| Digging out the Floor |
 |
| Pouring concrete |
Step 3 - Go shopping
Shopping is not usually a man’s forte, but when it involved at least a dozen trips to Home Depot and the tile shop, and at least 20 internet searches, it could be endured. Always a fan of the extra room curved shower curtains provide, Dave found a tub with a curved shower door. Then it took a second trip to Home Depot to show it to Deb. He wanted to use the same tile he used in this renovation in Charlotte. “This will give us design continuity between the two houses,” he said. Of course having 2 boxes of tile left over from that project had nothing to do with it (but fed his frugality!). It only took 5 trips to the tile shop, and a consultation with Pat Kelly, to pick out wall tile to go with the left over floor tile. The tile was picked out on the first trip, then there was the second trip to re-think the edges, and three more trips to get the order right. During the design process, he figured he would need a wall hung toilet because there was no place for a bottom outlet. That took at least 20 internet searches, and at this point, the vanity was still not settled. Deb just couldn't make up her mind whether to go “cottagy”, or contemporary. And then there was the third distraction: trying to find firewood so that he and Deb could be at the house when it’s cold and dream and plan some more. One would think that finding wood delivery in the mountains would not be a big deal. Craig’s List yielded at least 15 folks advertising in our area. Unfortunately 14 of them were the same guy with different phone numbers!! You know you are dealing with a red neck when the 5th excuse for not showing up was “I didn’t know they would tow a truck from the WalMart parking lot!” Dave found a small amount of cherry wood he was able to haul in his truck. His plans were to mix it in with the other hardwood as soon as it is delivered. It got burned in the fireplace before this happened.
Step 4 – Redesign
Now that he had the tub and toilet picked out, it was back to Sketch up. He figured out how to enlarge the bathroom by 9 inches and gave Deb the number of inches she had to work with to find a vanity. She began her own endless internet search and on any of the countless trips to Home Depot, she could always be found in the bath department, pondering. Which leads to the fourth distraction: picking out carpet. This has been a “must do” since buying the house. The orange carpet upstairs is straight out of the 80’s and what were they thinking using hunter green in the master bedroom? Between the age of the carpet, and the mice – dirty doesn’t begin to describe it!! David said, “You know the perfect carpet for this place? That carpet we chose back in 1975 in our first house!” Deb actually found the carpet sample in the “keep forever box” but one more internet search confirmed that it was both discontinued and not replaced with anything remotely similar. Plus all of our friends looked at and said, “That looks so 70’s!” (Isn’t retro in?) Now Dave had to be dragged to at least 5 carpet stores in Hendersonville and Asheville only to discover that “baby sh*t beige” and gray are the only colors being sold under $50 a square yard. Deb continued to search on her own, but finally gave up and choose the first carpet she looked at on Trip #27 to Home Depot.
 |
| Orange carpet in the upstairs bedroom |
 |
| Green carpet in the master bedroom |
Step 5 – Scheduling and Logistics
Dave ordered the curved tub, but soon figured out that he cannot get it, the sheetrock he needs, doors, and all of the plumbing supplies in Bert, the truck, AND Bob, the Jeep, with Deb as the 2nd driver. And Home Depot kept calling to say they are “in”! Then there was the problem of getting the tub to the second floor. He guilted his son Clay into contributing a weekend of slave labor and the use of his truck to haul the needed items from the Home Depot in Hendersonville and then up to the second floor. Scheduling Clay and the pick up at Home Depot became a logistical nightmare, and on the appointed weekend, it rained. They beat the worst of it up the mountain by just a few minutes and got the sheetrock under cover just in time. The tub took at least a six pack of beer to get it up the stairs and in place.
 |
| Curved bath David found shopping at Home Depot on line |
Which leads to the 5th distraction: discovering Hickory Nut nano brewery. This happened on the weekend before Clay came to see us (see Step #4: multiple trips into town looking for carpet). Of course we had to show it to Clay and have him meet the British brewer.
Step 6 - Figuring out the plumbing
Dave’s design (see steps 1 and 4!) had the plumbing going through the wall and out of the adjacent closet to keep everything off the floor. But the trap for the tub has David stumped – he knew what needed to be done but couldn’t figure out how to do it by himself. He continued with the carpentry and continued to research the internet until the 6th distraction brought some serendipitous results. The skylight in the loft had failed “many moons ago” and was both leaky and inoperable. Dave bought the biggest replacement possible and to accommodate his short wife (and granddaughters!) he decided to move it down the roof about a foot. Weighing in at over 400 lbs. this was going to require more muscle than the hot tub could soothe! AND Deb continued to lay down the law about NOT getting on the roof or using the chain saw when he was by himself. It was time to contract it out to younger professionals. Rob and Jeffery were employed for 3 days plus all of the hamburgers, steak and beer they could eat and drink. Dave knew he had made a good choice when Jeff picked up 2 sheets of plywood and hauled it to the porch with very little effort. Dave’s jaw was dropping. So what did this have to do with figuring out the plumbing? Jeffery’s first love is plumbing. Not only did he confirm that Dave’s plan would work, but he helped him align all of the pipes, a job impossible for one person alone.
 |
| Jeffry and Rob in the new skylight |
Step 7 – The tile
Having tiled the kitchen and bathroom in Charlotte, Dave was feeling pretty confident about this part, except he had never done vertical tile on walls. Again, the internet and youtube became his best friends and he measured and re-measured. These resulted in Deb making one more trip to the tile shop for some “insurance tiles” that ultimately went back. Clay was using Rob and Jeffrey to re-do his bathroom and sent his dad pictures of their tile job and his displeasure with the way the tile aligned. His dad confirmed that it should align properly, and Rob and Jeffrey agreed to fix it and then highlighted it on their Facebook page. But now the pressure was on. Dave’s tiling better meet these higher standards. But then came distraction #7: staining and varnishing the doors in the newly built vestibule at the top of the stairs to give the loft, bedroom and bathroom some separation and privacy. To accomplish this, Dave tapped into some more slave labor: from his wife and daughter this time. Deb had stained the door frames and then she kept the granddaughters so that Emily could have some special father-daughter time while she stained the doors and consulted with her dad on the cutting and placement of the wall tiles. He predicts that MLE will tile a bath or at least a new backsplash in the next 5 years. She became an excellent apprentice.
Step 8 – Seal, grout, and seal some more!
With the tile in place, it was time to finish it by sealing it, grouting it, and sealing it yet again. Dave worked on this while Deb moved into painting mode. It was time to set a deadline so that this project would actually get finished. Originally, we were supposed to go out West for the Eclipse, but those plans were replaced when we sold our RV. We decided instead to have an Eclipse party at Park’s Peak since we are not far from Zone of Totality. But, of course there was distraction #8: a call from the Wassums upon their return from California. “Are you home? Want to play bridge Saturday night?” Absolutely! At lunch on Saturday, Dave justified our sudden departure this way: “the grout really needs to dry some more and I’d be rushing to clean it and seal it.” Translation: “I’ve been at this for 2 weeks and need a break and some good cards and good wine!” (We had both – depending who you ask about the cards!)
Step 9 – The first flush!
Before the first flush comes distraction #9: a cord of wood and a new mountain view. Having given up on the first 14 wood guys (who were all the same redneck!), Dave got a call back from #15. Yes, he could deliver wood and while he was there Dave asked him if he could also limb up a few trees to improve our view. Our long view suddenly became even longer and we think we are seeing Russia! Or at least Tennessee! In between gawking at our new view, Dave slowly got the tile finished and all the tile and plumbing ready to accept the new wall hung toilet. Between varnish coats on the 3 doors, Deb painted the wall behind where the vanity and toilet would be hung. Clay donated his old vanity (design problem solved! See step #3) and we discovered it is the same color as the stain of the doors. Things were falling into place. However, a slow drip leak was noticed in the rough toilet plumbing. Dave predicted that it will cure itself with the minerals in our water, but it continued for several weeks. Maybe a few flushes would cure it. The toilet was hung and the leak continued, though it did not get worse. A call to the manufacturer resulted in the shipment of a newly threaded and better valve. We decide NOT to complete the sheetrock on the bedroom side of the wall until the bath gets a thorough test run over the Eclipse weekend. Meanwhile Deb had been painting her arms off before the carpet came and we kept tripping over the 7, yes SEVEN!, beds in the loft and bedroom. This provided distraction #9A: a trip to the dump and a surprise visitor. With much effort, the extra mattresses were loaded in Bert and Deb set off to the landfill on the other side of Asheville. While painting, she had stripped the walls of the former owner’s pictures and had made a large Goodwill pile. She also laid down the law that the 2 recliners must go! We had not in 9 months reclined in them. On the way to the dump she called the Hickory Nut Community Center in Lake Lure and they put her in touch with a recent house fire victim. Before she could even make the round trip, they arrived and Dave gave them not only the recliners and some “antique” dining chairs, but some box springs that were destined for a 2nd landfill trip and several pictures and lamps from the Goodwill pile (actually anything they wanted or could use!). Deb was especially glad the ship’s wheel had found a new home, but she did notice that between the time she called Dave and told him folks were heading up Park’s Peak (and he might want to get dressed!!) and the time they got there, Dave had removed the framed peanut feed sack picture and it now holds a place of prominence in the basement rafters!
 |
| Feed sack picture and ship's wheel in stairway |
Which brings us finally to…
Step 10 – finishes, finishes!
Dave had been nervous about installing the shower door. Measurements and re-measurements indicated that the tolerance may interfere with the edge of the tiling. It would be close. Meanwhile there was distraction #10: the carpet was ready to install and before that could happen, a list of at least a dozen items had to be completed. Deb’s painting clothes now looked like a Jackson Pollack masterpiece and the old carpet complemented her attire. Since the plumbing was now behind the closet, we had decided to put vinyl rather than carpet there. This meant we need at least 2 more trips to Home Depot. Plus Dave had to put up a “cheat wall” of sheetrock in the bedroom, so that the carpet people will know where to start and stop the carpet. While spray painting a chair for the bedroom, Deb not only got paint on her clothes but walked barefooted through the overspray. David earned his “hubby halo” helping her scrub her gloss black feet with mineral spirits. As he was about half way through he said, “Remember this when you get ticked off at me next time!” The day before the carpet came; the doors were installed in the shower and fit perfectly. Deb’s wine cork framed mirror got an earthquake hanger to MAKE SURE it stayed in place and she and Dave brainstormed on how to complete her 3rd idea for a towel rack! Without the screens in place the door to the loft sort of "hangs out there". The carpet installers had a good time trying to make sense of it! With folks arriving in just a few days, the carpet was in, and the bathroom was finished, but the well was running dry! There is always something!!
 |
| THE FINISHED BATHROOM!! |
Now to start planning the kitchen renovation: I wonder what event I can cook up to get THAT completed. They say there won’t be another eclipse like this for 300 years!!!
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
How to Add a Bathroom to your Mountain Cottage in 10 Not-so-easy Steps
We bought Park’s Peak last Fall. It is Dave’s next great reno project. Immediately we decided we needed to convert the powder room on th...
We bought Park’s Peak last Fall. It is Dave’s next great reno project. Immediately we decided we needed to convert the powder room on th...
No comments:
Post a Comment