02-20-2022, 12:19 AM
I'm just doing a quick remodel/upgrade for a tiny bathroom at my Church that had some water damage. A new sink, touchless faucet and dispensers, grab bars, and although it can't be ADA compliant; a larger door. You pay for materials, I'll cover the labor.
So when the particle board vanity and top went away, I see that the drain goes straight down thru the floor to a drum trap. The water supplies aren't in the wall either, so that wall gets opened up. The toilet has to be rotated to accommodate the larger door. Move the drain, another wall gets opened for the supply, and now I need a new floor. Re-framing for the larger door in the center is another wall (both sides), and the last one needed help before we started. Did I mention the baseboard heat needed to be replaced too? So four sheets of drywall for "repairs" and two days later, the heat is working, the compound is dry and a new floor is down. Let's get this sanded, primed, and painted. (Which, by the way, has to be sand textured to match the existing.) While that's happening, I measure, cut, and cope all the baseboard with the four at the doorway left long. Now, seeing it's an outswing, I start the door installation.
So I had posted on another thread that I was lucky to find a pre-hung 3/0 x 6/8, 6 panel pine door unit in stock at the blue box store. I pulled the cardboard and discovered a dozen staples were long enough to keep the split jamb from coming apart. By now the casing is coming loose at the bottom; no biggie, I've got a 1/4" stapler right here. The casing used to be glued and stapled, now they just put enough staples to get it out the door; not necessarily to the jobsite. An unacceptable level of workmanship is when the head casings are are 1" too short and they staple them on anyway! Only after I unwrapped the door unit did I see that all four side casings not only overlapped the jambs (reveal was gone about a foot from the top) but were actually covering part of the door. The door gets re-packaged and loaded in the truck. Let's get the rest of this done!
While the grab bars are being installed, I'm prepping the sink. Several trips to the truck and four tries later the faucet is finally mounted. On to the drain. It's just a " heavy duty" strainer (no trip assembly with the touchless faucet) going on a Kohler wall mount sink. A little putty on top. A rubber grommet, plastic washer and nut on the bottom. No problem. Except there's only one thread exposed. Two men, ten minutes later, and that's in the truck to be returned! The toilet works and the sink is operational too but there's nothing connecting it to the P-trap, so the power is disconnected. At least it looks like a bathroom now.
When I get an acceptable door unit I'll go back to install it and the last four pieces of baseboard. The soap and paper dispensers will go in if I remember to bring hollow wall fasteners this time.
Even with all these aggravations, my biggest problem with this project was that it's a basic "Builders Quality" half bath. There's no "WOW factor". It's neat and clean, and a little better, yet there's still several thousand dollars of materials and labor invested. Then I realized I never really needed a pat on the back. Being called to serve gods Kingdom is a gift in itself.
So when the particle board vanity and top went away, I see that the drain goes straight down thru the floor to a drum trap. The water supplies aren't in the wall either, so that wall gets opened up. The toilet has to be rotated to accommodate the larger door. Move the drain, another wall gets opened for the supply, and now I need a new floor. Re-framing for the larger door in the center is another wall (both sides), and the last one needed help before we started. Did I mention the baseboard heat needed to be replaced too? So four sheets of drywall for "repairs" and two days later, the heat is working, the compound is dry and a new floor is down. Let's get this sanded, primed, and painted. (Which, by the way, has to be sand textured to match the existing.) While that's happening, I measure, cut, and cope all the baseboard with the four at the doorway left long. Now, seeing it's an outswing, I start the door installation.
So I had posted on another thread that I was lucky to find a pre-hung 3/0 x 6/8, 6 panel pine door unit in stock at the blue box store. I pulled the cardboard and discovered a dozen staples were long enough to keep the split jamb from coming apart. By now the casing is coming loose at the bottom; no biggie, I've got a 1/4" stapler right here. The casing used to be glued and stapled, now they just put enough staples to get it out the door; not necessarily to the jobsite. An unacceptable level of workmanship is when the head casings are are 1" too short and they staple them on anyway! Only after I unwrapped the door unit did I see that all four side casings not only overlapped the jambs (reveal was gone about a foot from the top) but were actually covering part of the door. The door gets re-packaged and loaded in the truck. Let's get the rest of this done!
While the grab bars are being installed, I'm prepping the sink. Several trips to the truck and four tries later the faucet is finally mounted. On to the drain. It's just a " heavy duty" strainer (no trip assembly with the touchless faucet) going on a Kohler wall mount sink. A little putty on top. A rubber grommet, plastic washer and nut on the bottom. No problem. Except there's only one thread exposed. Two men, ten minutes later, and that's in the truck to be returned! The toilet works and the sink is operational too but there's nothing connecting it to the P-trap, so the power is disconnected. At least it looks like a bathroom now.
When I get an acceptable door unit I'll go back to install it and the last four pieces of baseboard. The soap and paper dispensers will go in if I remember to bring hollow wall fasteners this time.
Even with all these aggravations, my biggest problem with this project was that it's a basic "Builders Quality" half bath. There's no "WOW factor". It's neat and clean, and a little better, yet there's still several thousand dollars of materials and labor invested. Then I realized I never really needed a pat on the back. Being called to serve gods Kingdom is a gift in itself.
Sign at N.E. Vocational School Cabinetmaking Shop 1976, "Free knowledge given daily... Bring your own container"
