Main Bathroom Renovation - Part Eight

Initial framing of main shower. including blue styrospan 1.5 inch placed against exterior end wall. To save wasted space, the end wall was built with 2x4 and 2x6 strapped flat against the wall, rather then built on edge. the shower gets a slightly raised floor built over 2x4 laid flat over the 3/4" subfloor.

A 3/4" rigid foam foil board was then laid crosswise over ther framed and styrospanned wall. The foil board itself is a vapour barrier, and does not need additional poly.

The end wall of the shower, showing a small portion of the completed and insulated long wall. The ABS pipe is a 1-1/2 vent that extends from the 45 degree stub shown several posts ago. I had more room available, so the end wall actually is two walls thick, an outer and an inner 2x4 wall both filled with Roxul, with the same foil backed 3/4" foam laid on top. The vent as can be seen is located essentially between both of the walls (look at the bottom plate)

Main Bathroom Renovation - Part Seven

Three gang box for the water closet switches, which include switches for ceileing light, exhaust fan, and vanity light. Note the proper support for a three gang box, and proper spacing from the door trim.

Octagon box location for vanity light in the water closet. Three wires lead to it, incoming supply, outgoing two wire to the GFCI receptacle, and outgoing three wire supply and switched return to the vanity light itself.

Large box for the Ditra heat thermostat controller, and three gang box for the main bathroom switches. The thermostat can be seen parked on the upper support, and the main bathroom door is visible in the left of the photograph.

Rough in wiring completed on the main bath wall, from L to R Shluter Ditra Heat thermostat box, three gang box for switched ceiling lights, exhaust fan, and vanity lights respectively, 1-1/2 inch ABS vent for the main bath vanity, supply lines with stub Tees for the main vanity, with supplies then leading to a future attic bath, GFCI outlet over vanity, and finally switch for recessed ceiling light in walk in shower.

Main Bathroom Renovation - Part Six

Supply and drain for the small vanity in the watercloset at the guest bedroom end of the bathroom.

A view from the walk in shower end to the watercloset. The main door to the bathroom from the landing is on the right of this picture, the exterior wall on the left. Directly ahead is the inside of the former closet door of the guest bedroom, which will now be secondary access to the water closet

Continuing to plane and level the joists. The most any were out was about an eighth of an inch, so there wasn't a huge amount of planing required. the three pieces of blocking (the plane sitting on the first) are in place to support the wall that will partition the main part of the bathroom from the water closet.

Another view of the watercloset vanity with the 3/4 ply subfloor installed. These pex supply lines also serve the toilet located roughly where the photo was taken, and the clawfoot tub located in the main bathroom. They will then run back to a pex manifold located in the basement.

A view showing the main vanity plumbing, and the pex serving the walk in shower. The shower supplies run directly down the wall underneath, to the basement, and make a home run direct to the pex manifold. The vanity supplies do the same, but will further supply a rough in for a two piece attic bathroom directly above this bath.

Main Bathroom Renovation - Part Five

Interior and exterior walls respectively, looking toward the shower end of the main bathroom.  Note the interesting 45 degree area completely lacking plaster keys, where the staircase to the attic is located.

Looking (left photo) toward the guest bedroom end of the main bath, which used to be a closet for that bedroom, but will be turned into a seperate water closet containing a toilet and small vanity. Turned around (right photo) looking to the exterior end wall, where the walk in shower will be located

The three quarter ply subfloor laid down glued and screwed at the shower end. The markings are measurements for stud, dense foam, and 1/2 inch cement board that will make up the shower wall.

The last of the old floor to be removed, revealing the complicated mess off original construction joists and blocks that would have supported a pot bellied stove in the bathroom in the 1880s onward, as well as possibly a flur from a kitchen stove below.

Main Bathroom Renovation - Part Four

Repaired and restructrured floor joists, looking toward the exterior wall. The ABS is the future drain from the walk in shower.

Turning around 180 degrees, a view of the repaired and restructured floor joists, looking from the exterior wall to the interior wall. The new twinned joists are hung on a three ply ledger plate that sits on top of a load bearing wall.

Notch to accommodate the 1-1/2 inch ABS drain from the proposed main bath vanity. The old reno had 'S-traps' that went through the floor, they are no longer permitted by code, so the new bathroom will get 'P-traps' that go into the wall, join a vertical vent and drain down the wall, then under the floor. Second photo is ABS drain in place. Who can tell me what is wrong with the photographs!

Looking toward the exterior wall, any high spots in the joists are being carefully planed with my fancy fancy Makita electric planer!

Vier of the 2" ABS drain from the proposed walk in shower. the 45 degree stub to the right is the vent. Interestingly, the former renocatastrophe bathroom had an 8 inch horizontal section of vent prior to the vertical, rendering it pretty much useless.

Main Bathroom Renovation - Part Three

Much cleaner! All the debris left under the floor from the previous renomassacre has been vacuumed up.  Joist hangers added to the additional blocking I added.

A view of the first 'twinned joist' installed, a 2x6 that runs from the blocking at the parged exterior wall, to a ledger plate (not in the picture) at the other side of the room.

Three of the twinned joists installed, the level was used to keep the tops of the added joists level with the existing joists. Span is about 6'6", so 2x6 are above code, and with joists now at 8" centers, floor will be virtually indestructible.

At the far end of the room was the solitary joist that was not butchered, as a wall had to be added, a 'blocked out' cantilevered 2x6 joist was added to support the five inch floor overhang past the last joist.

Main Bathroom Renovation - Part Two

A view of some of the notched Joists. Joists are 1-7/8 x 8-3/4, and these were notched about four inches deep.  The two by four was possibly added as a means of providing additional bracing? If that was the thinking, it would not have made any difference.

Close up of one of the notches... Acccck!

Amazing what one finds when tearing out bad renovations. A very slightly damp, and oily IKEA style floor mat, vintage 1984? And some otherwise unidentifiable fabric...

One of the more severely butchered joists, about 6-1/2 inches removed, to accommodate 2" waste, plus hot and cold supply, plus 5 inch HVAC pipe... Acccck!

Beginning to fix up the disaster... 3/4 thick ply braces (about 6" x 24" or so were glued and screwed to 'clamp' the butchered joists in their current (thankfully they had hardly deflected) position. Then 2x6 blocking was installed between each sandwiched joist, about an inch from the parged interior wall.

A view of the beginning of the repair job, all joists sandwiched by 3/4" ply plates, and then blocks installed between all joists.

Main Bathroom Renovation - Part One Of About Ten... Make That Twenty!

Sadly, the only two photographs of the old main bathroom, in early stages of demolition. Vinyl floors, sheet hardboard false tile on the walls, and an atrociously 'eighties 3 piece combination tub and shower. Accck!

A common discovery after peeling up the vinyl floor. Old hardwood wainscot used to piece together where the floor was pulle out to.... yes you guessed it, install plumbing and Hvac by notching out the floor joists! Acccck!

Another view of the atrociously appalling job done roughly thirty years ago... And yes, that is a joist that has been notched out to accommodate a 5 inch diameter heating vent! Acccck!

Fixing Things

A couple of years back I picked up one of those garden benches someone had put out at the curb, with the intention of fixing it up. The wooden slats were rotted and covered in fungus, and the fasteners had all corroded through.

 

My dad had a friend wanting to get rid of some wood in his garage, so on a trip to Toronto I picked it all up. It included some thick cedar tongue and groove, which Rudi and I cut down into strips to rebuild the seat.

 

Finally, the fasteners used were all stainless, as opposed to black painted steel, so they won't rust away over the years. I think our project should outlast a store bought bench by about a decade, or more.

 

Zoh Jee Roo Shee - The New Bread Machine

Recently the baking pan of our Cuisinart bread machine finally bit the biscuit, the seal finally broken, and the pan rotted around the opening for the paddle. It would take about a week to replace, or I could replace it with a new machine, and take the existing one (with pan to arrive later) up to the cottage.

 

I looked online, and found the ultimate bread machine, one I had been thinking about five or six years back when we were given the Cuisinart. The Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme is pretty much state of the art, the finest bread machine made. And because we put well over 80 loaves and close to 30 batches of pizza dough a year through the Cuisinart, we figured it would be a worthwhile investment.

 

 

 

The Zojirush has a longer baking pan, and is the only bread machine with two paddles.

 

A view of the inside, with pan removed. It is actually a little smaller than the Cuisinart it replaces, but has a slightly larger pan.

 

Ingredients in for a three pound whole wheat loaf, in the first two minutes of kneading.

 

A more close up view.

 

And sorry, the battery on my Nikon died, so you will have to wait for pictures of a completed loaf of bread! We have had it just under three weeks now, and it has produced seven perfect loaves of bread, and one batch of pizza dough.