Bathroom Boogaloo: Days 17 & 18, Eureka!

Monday and Tuesday of this week were Day 17 and 18, on which the professionals finished their work (nearly...they were back yesterday for trash collection).  And behold!  We have a working second bathroom:

Outside of the new room. To the left you can see the door to the small storage closet.
The lighted doorway leads into the bathroom itself.

Beautiful new toilet, sink, and light, now in their proper places.  The toilet is like the one in our existing bath.
How about that sink?

Laundry area, with sconces, new window, and vents for dryer and exhaust fan.

Shower stall, with open door.

Another view of the sink, light, and exhaust fan.

If you looked carefully at the photos, you may have noticed that the bathroom doesn't exactly look ready to use.  The basement around it is still a mess (floor needs to be cleaned and repainted, studio things moved back in). There are no towels or soap.  There's no mirror over the sink.  And there's nowhere to put anything.  All items that are on the agenda, starting right this minute!

Bathroom Boogaloo: Day 16

Day 16 has been a bit unusual, in that it is a Saturday.  The crew was here for a few hours to finish the tiling, install baseboards, and a few other things.

Finished tile, including marble shelf and threshold, in the shower stall (will be grouted on Monday).

Finished tile backsplash behind toilet and sink spots.

Washer and dryer in place!! And just in time, because our laundry is piling up.

The new bathroom from outside, looking towards the back door.  Baseboards have been installed.
 Looks like it was meant to be there, doesn't it?

Bathroom Boogaloo: Day 15

Day 15 was a kind of step forward, step back kind of day.  The main components—sink, P-trap, toilet, faucet, shower head, etc.—finally showed up, but they caused quite a bit of rethinking and redoing to happen.  The sink and P-trap were more adjustable in height than we had originally understood.  That's a good thing, because the sink (really meant to be a low-slung mop sink) can be placed at a more standard height on the wall.  However, this adjustment requires some other shifts elsewhere, namely in the tile on the wall.  Two more rows will be added.

Our big, beautiful utility sink.

The sink's special supportive P-trap, which has caused us much thinking and consternation at different points.

Some tile has to come off before more can go on.

Sconces above the laundry area are in; they match the 3-bulb vanity light.

Since the professionals are so close to being done, they plan to work a few hours tomorrow (Saturday) so that they will (fingers crossed) finish up on Monday.

Bathroom Boogaloo: Day 14

Day 14 was another day of waiting for some important components (sink, toilet, etc.) to show up.  Even though these things themselves don't take much time to install, they are important for figuring out spacing, finishing one wall in the shower, etc.  So, some odds and ends, painting, and more tiling, happened on this day.

Smart looking tile.  We went with an oversized subway tile; I think it's about 4"x8".

The tile chair rail ends here because the washer & dryer will go into this corner.  Seemed like overkill to take the tile behind them, never to be seen again.

On the morning of Day 15, the components arrived!  Having these items present, particularly the sink, has caused a few changes (wall tile needs to go up another couple of rows).  But, as the pictures above show, it's coming together.

Bathroom Boogaloo: Days 12 & 13

Full days of work have continued this week, despite some items being on the slow delivery boat.  However, the progress has been a bit hard to photograph, because of its nature (painting things white) and the current lack of light.  But here's a summary anyway.

Outside walls painted, tiling of shower stall and chair rail begun.

Subway tile in shower and on wall.

Wall around window and vents complete.

Painting done and shelving installed in storage closet (this closet opens into the rest of the basement and will replace the cruddy, left-behind armoire we were using for tool storage.  I'm looking forward to doing some super organizing in here!).

Bathroom Boogaloo: Day 11

Tiling began yesterday.  Now the bathroom proper and the shower stall (not pictured, but it has 2"x2" gray tile on its floor) both have a floor.  I couldn't walk on it last night, so pictures are limited.  These tiles are a medium gray and have a slightly rough surface texture, so they won't be slick or slippery.

We've also got a new, small window (that opens!) and the beginnings of proper, non-makeshift venting for our clothes dryer and future exhaust fan.

Tiling is continuing today. Rumor has it that that bathroom will be complete by the end of the week.  Time will tell!

Bathroom Boogaloo: Day 10

This past Friday was Day 10, and we got walls!

New bathroom from the outside -- a neat little box!

The shower, sorry about the fuzziness.

As you can see, the drywall-ing is nearly complete.  Tiling may begin as early as tomorrow (Day 11)!

Bathroom Boogaloo: Days 8 & 9

Hello readers, sorry for the lag time between posts!  While I've been not-posting, progress continues nonetheless.  And oh, plumbing inspection passed!

On Day 8, the hole got filled in, new electrical wires were run, and some framing was done.

The former hole!

Second, smaller hole for washer drainage. Now not a hole.

Electrical stuff.

More electrical stuff.

On Day 9, the shower stall and closet got framed out, and some drywall preparations were made.

Looking into the new room from outside.  The shower stall is right in front.

Inside looking out.  The white bucket marks the toilet's spot.  The two rods jutting out of the green wall are the supply lines for the sink.

The exterior wall got insulated.

I am writing this from Day 10.  I believe drywall is going up as I type.  I'm excited to see it this evening!

Bathroom Boogaloo: Days 6 & 7

On Day 6, the waste plumbing was completed and the space was framed out.  The new, rerouted supply lines were partially in place too.  On Day 7, after most of a day with the water turned off, the supply lines were in place and hooked up.  It was really nice to see the first indications of our future room taking shape.

Outside the new bathroom.

Inside the new bathroom, looking towards where the washer and dryer will go.

New water supply lines routed outside the space.

New connecting to old.

New washer hookups.

Now we wait for the plumbing inspection, coming up in a couple of days.

Bathroom Boogaloo, Day 5

Yesterday, Day 5, I was out of the house.  I came home to find more refined waste plumbing.  Drains for the sink and washer had been added.  The big pile of dirt had been moved too.

Overview

Big pile of dirt, now more neatly piled.

Detail of waste plumbing.  The line shooting up to the upper right corner of the picture is for the sink.  In the lower left, capped in blue, is the shower drain. The toilet is in the middle.

Waste line for washer.

Bathroom Boogaloo, Days 3 & 4

Yesterday, Day 3, sounded pretty easy-going in comparison with Day 2's jackhammering.  From what I could tell, the hole was refined, waterproofing paint (Drylock) was applied to the brick, and the back wall of the room was framed up.

Future plumbing parts...these look exciting!

Day 4 saw (heard?) a lot more action.  Lots of power saw noises, and various times at which I could not use the water.  The result is fancy new bathroom guts!

The small line in bath is the new shower drain; the larger one in front is for the new toilet.  

Bathroom Boogaloo, Day 2

Friday, July 5, was Day 2 of our bathroom project.  And what a day it was.  Behold the hole in the basement floor:

Pile of dirt from underneath the floor

The hole!

The main sewer line that runs under the house is visible here.  Finding this was the goal of the hole.

A secondary hole to expose one of the waste stacks.

Our permit! Posted in the front window of our house.  

Now we are well into the morning of the third day.  I'm hearing hand saw noises down below, and the occasional banging of pipes.  We'll see what today's work brings.  In the meantime, admire the cucumbers growing in my garden: