Guest Bathroom — Part 3

This post should really be part of the new water supply system string, but the last post I did on that was a long time ago, so I didn't know what part number to give it.  Instead, I'm lumping this post in with the guest bathroom paraphernalia.  A triumph for expediency!

So with the guest toilet gone and the wall behind laid bare, I ripped out the extraneous copper pipes, leaving one elongated stub leading to the backyard water faucets (a.k.a. "hose bibs" in the arcane lexicon of plumbers).

Transitioning to PEX requires a brass adapter, which must be soldered to the copper pipe.  I dislike soldering.  The heavy brass takes forever to heat up with a regular propane torch, so I bought a spiffy auto-lighting model that uses hotter-burning MAP gas.  I put a piece of steel flashing behind the work to keep the house from catching fire, and proceeded to play the flame back and forth from thick brass adapter to thinner copper pipe.

The problem with this is the copper heated up quickly, getting hot enough to melt the solder, while the brass was still not hot enough.  So the joint was bad.  I unsoldered and cleaned everything up and tried again, this time putting the flame only on the brass, letting the heat go from there to the copper.  That worked. 

Lots up studs under the bathroom window.  Lots of studs that needed holes drilled in them for the two new PEX pipes (a white 3/4" for backyard faucets and the blue 1/2" for the toilet water supply).  The issue was how close the studs were together.  Even with my two right-angle drills, it took at least two hours to drill the holes, using every adapter and contrivance I could find, but finally success.  After that, joining the PEX was a pleasure. 

From here, the pipes go up into the attic.  The outdoor faucet line crosses to the front of the house and was connected to the ex-irrigation shut-off valve.  This line is the full town pressure, which I just measured as 100 pounds-per-square-inch (psi).  Very high, that is.  So there is a pressure reduction valve, as I mentioned in a previous post, to bring the domestic in-house pressure down to a level that will not harm the plumbing or water heater.  I measured that to be 68 psi, which is still too high.  I read that "standard" domestic pressure should nominally be 50 psi.  I am going to try to lower my domestic pressure from 68 down to 55 psi (assuming the pressure reduction valve holds up).  With the high mineral content of the water, it's quite possible that the inside of the valve might be clogged with calcium and magnesium salts after 30 years.  But I digress.

So the other end of the white PEX line started out at the front of the garage at the old irrigation system shut-off valve.  There was already a threaded adapter soldered to the copper pipe — to join to threaded PVC irrigation system pipe; I used a female pipe-thread to PEX adapter, then an elbow to take the PEX vertical, a "tee" to a new front yard faucet, and then up to the attic for the run to the back of the house, like this: 

Here's a look at the new front faucet.  It's fastened to a plywood spacer, because when the garage gets its six-foot extension, the wall (now fake masonite shingles nailed directly to studs) will be covered with plywood and stucco.  The new valve is a quarter-turn ball valve.

The other PEX line leaving the guest bathroom was the supply line for the toilet.  That went up into the attic and thence to the new cold water distribution manifold.

The white 3/4" line (from the right, from the water softener) feeds the manifold, which has six half-inch outlets.  The two outlets without lines connected will eventually feed cold water to (1) the washing machine (now connected into the old copper pipe network), and (2) a separate outdoor faucet for washing the car (softened water that doesn't leave white mineral spots).  The 3/4" white line continues through the manifold to feed the hot water heater.  You can see the separate quarter-turn ball shut-off valve for the water heater, just to the left of the manifold. 

Here's a photo of the PEX water lines coming from (1) the sinks in the pottery studio, kitchen, and master bathroom, and (2) the master bathroom shower.  All of the PEX lines in the attic will have no insulation underneath, and at least 10" of insulation on top (in addition to the regular black foam pipe insulation).  The idea is for them to be as close to ambient room temperature throughout the year, rather than the winter-summer extremes of the attic (40˚ - 130˚ F, 4˚ - 54˚ C).

The new high-efficiency water heater has been connected into the new PEX supply system (but is not yet operational pending completion of the new system, especially the water softener, so as not to fill the water heater with damaging mineral scale).  This is what it looks like from the laundry room:

That cylindrical container on the left is the expansion tank, required to prevent damage to the water heater and plumbing.  When cold water is heated, it expands, which can result in a damaging pressure rise.  This is because the pressure reduction valve (where water comes into the house) acts as a check valve (water cannot flow back out into the municipal system).  If no faucet is open to relieve the pressure, the excessive pressure can damage components in the water system.  The expansion tank is connected to the water heater supply line, and is half-full of air, which easily compresses, giving the excess water volume someplace to go.

My house did not have an expansion tank when I moved in.  They are now required in most places, but I guess not 30 years ago here.  This is a photo of the PEX piping servicing the water heater, above the ceiling:

The cold water manifold is in the upper right of the photo; the shut-off valve for the water heater is just to the left of that.  The white PEX line continues left until it hits a "tee."  The side line runs to the expansion tank; the main line runs to the cold water inlet for the water heater (left upper, going down through the ceiling).  Just below that in the photo, the hot water outlet line comes up through the ceiling, goes to the right to the hot water distribution manifold (out of view).  That manifold distributes hot water via half-inch lines.  At the very right of the photo, you can see a "tee" that will send hot water via a 3/4" line to the new soaking tub in the guest bathroom.  The larger diameter line gives a better flow rate, so the tub fills faster.

I'm now working on both bathrooms, so the next post will be on one of them. 

Master Bathroom — Part 7

Last time I was working in the guest bathroom and needed to replace some plumbing that was behind the toilet — my only functional toilet.  For a few minutes I contemplated pulling the toilet and then working very quickly, lest I end up using a bucket.  I quickly came to my senses after realizing there was probably a week's worth of work behind that toilet.  The silver lining in that quandary was motivation — something that had been lacking in my quest to make progress tiling the master bathroom.

The solution, of course, was to bring the master bathroom toilet into operational status.  To do that I merely had to tile the bathroom floor, as well as the wall behind the toilet (at least the bottom half of that wall), which is what I did.

Part 6 of the master bathroom saga left off with the shower floor tiled and grouted; after that, work languished.  I think the problem was that I was having trouble finding the necessary cove base tiles, and then knowing I would have to measure and cut each tile before mortaring it in place, found something else to do.  Much of the shower floor was neither straight nor level, and if the wall tile was to be applied successfully, the base row of tile would have to compensate for that lack of order, so the tile above would go on straight and level.  So the process was tedious, but the only way to get past that was to plod through it.

The cove base tile (lowest row of wall tile) flares out and overlaps the floor tile, so the floor tile needed to go down first.  Like the shower, the bathroom floor tile is a satin-white 2" hex mosaic tile that came in foot-square sheets.  The individual tiles around the periphery of the floor had to be cut to fit (although mostly while they were still attached to the mesh backing).  Also, the sheets would not always align precisely, so some single tiles had to be pulled off the mesh and slightly moved to split the difference in the uneven gaps.

Here's with all the tile down, but not yet grouted.  I would have liked to have glued the marble threshold down first (across the doorway), so to run the tile up against that edge, but no threshold yet, so I tiled up to a line on the floor.

With the floor tile finished in both the shower and main floor, I started on the cove base in the shower, and then moved to the bathroom proper.  The blue tape is supposed to keep the mortar off the finished floor.

Once the cove base was installed, I moved to putting the 3" x 6" subway tile on the wall, using plastic spacers to keep it even.  I did this in small batches, because the process was somewhat tedious — marking and cutting tiles, mixing mortar, putting tiles on the wall, cleaning tools, and then coming back and cleaning the excess mortar that often squeezed through the gaps and otherwise stuck to the surface.  Then I would let the mortar harden overnight and repeat the process the next day.

This next photo a bit further along, showing the temporary spacers.  I want to mention an issue with doing a bathroom in white.  There are many colors of "white."  I bought the subway wall tile from Home Depot and some of the trim tile from Lowe's, because Home Depot didn't carry all the types of trim tile I needed (e.g. the cove base tile).  The small "white" hex floor tile was ordered from HomeDepot.com (not carried in the stores); it turned out that tile was "whiter" than the wall tile, which skewed to off-white, although you could not tell looking at either one separately.  At first, the difference was distracting, but I'm getting used to it and don't notice any more.  Things to consider.

You may have noticed the 4" black pipe jutting up from the floor.  That's the drain for the toilet.  I left it long so I could tile and grout right up against it.  Once the floor was finished, I cut it off flush with the top of the tile, using a special compact hack saw.  Then the ABS toilet flange could be cemented into the pipe, so the bottom of the flange was flush with the floor.

Although the flange was a nominal 4" and so was the pipe, the fit was apparently a little too tight.  Ordinarily the dry fit is a little tight when joining ABS or PVC drain/vent pipe, but when you apply the cement to both halves, it dissolves the upper layer of plastic and the joint slips together cleanly before the cement bonds the two together (within a very few seconds).  Unfortunately, when I applied the cement to the flange and pressed it into the pipe, expecting it to go to the floor, it only made it halfway there and stopped.  I immediately yanked it out of the pipe before it had the chance to become one.  It took a couple of hours of scraping, sanding, and filing before the two would readily slide together.  Had I not managed to pull them apart, it would have taken a day, at least, and the flange would have been destroyed.  Counting my blessings.

Grouting was uneventful, as it usually is.  Here three-quarters of the wall is done (having exhausted the batch of grout I mixed).  White grout for the walls (and a very light grey for the floor). 

You've undoubtedly noticed that the tile (and cement backer board) only goes halfway up the wall.  Yes, odd.  I still need to finish the plumbing inside the wall before closing it up, and then I will add the rest of the tile (which only will go up another 8"; above that will be painted drywall).  That will be Part 8.  Remember, the point of this was to do enough to be able to install the toilet.

And here it is, fully operational, with the temporary toilet supply lines rerouted in the attic.

I also got some more wall tile up in the shower, whenever I had leftover mortar from a batch for the bathroom wall tile.  The rest of the job will fill another post, at least; a complex job, it is.

With the new toilet operational, I pulled the guest bathroom toilet out and started work running the new PEX water supply lines for that toilet and the two outside faucets.  When that's done, some drywall will go up, the new window trimmed out, etc.  Those tasks will be the subject of the next two posts . . . probably.

Guest Bathroom — Part 2

I don't think there was actually a Guest Bathroom — Part 1, but I did previously move a wall, insert a pocket door, and replace the window over the tub in that room, so it didn't seem right to call this Part 1.  And why am I working on the guest bathroom anyway, when I once (or twice) said it would be the last project in the house remodel? 

First, I guess because it's the only working bathroom in the house, so it's not like I can ignore its primitive condition.  Second, because I started to work on the new water supply system (again), and felt the need to run the new water supply lines to that water-intensive room.  Third, I wanted to get the last of the heat/AC ducting installed in the guest bathroom—a prerequisite to getting the new heat pump and air handler.  That bathroom register is going in a soffit above the future vanity, and the temporary water line to the toilet (hanging through the ceiling) prevented that installation.

These are the sorts of motivations and hurdles that one encounters in a whole-house remodel.  Sigh.

So I needed to replace the temporary water line to the toilet with a more permanent one run down through a wall.  Because the current water line to the toilet also services the backyard water spigot/faucet, and the latter needs to be separate from the softened water supply, I also needed to run a separate un-softened water supply line from the main water line coming into the house.  To wit:

This is the new wall I built separating the new guest bathroom from the new laundry room, built about 1.7 years ago.  The piece of plywood on the wall is actually what the electrical sub-panel is mounted on (the other side), recessed into the wall.  On the left, you can see the new hot and cold water lines that will feed the new sink; they are covered with pipe insulation, except at the bottom (red and blue PEX).  Hanging down in front of the wall are two electrical cables (to the switch for the overhead light, and to a future GFCI receptacle), and the offending white PEX temporary water supply line feeding the toilet (covered with black insulation toward the bottom). 

And here's a photo of the wall to the right of that.  Note the newly installed casement window (replacing the old, flimsy, single-pane double-hung window).  The major required plumbing work lies mainly behind the toilet, where the supply line for the toilet emerges (on the inside), and where the same line continues to the outside of the wall for the hose faucet.  This is totally inaccessible without removing the toilet, which is not difficult, but hmmn, time is a consideration.  Lines need to be cut, PEX-to-copper adapters need to be soldered, the wall insulated, and then drywall hung, joint compound applied, and the wall painted — all while the toilet is sitting elsewhere.  Did I mention that it's currently the only operational toilet in the house?  I need a plan — a good, fast plan.

This photo shows where the temporary PEX line was connected into the old copper, so long ago.  Now I need to run TWO lines down through the same bay.

And this is the copper behind the toilet — to be replaced:

Here's where the water comes into the house (in the garage).  Since the irrigation system was defunct when I bought the house, and its supply branch line has its own shutoff valve, I am going to use this line to supply the hose faucets in the front and back yards.  The water for the house's domestic/inside supply will be pressure regulated and softened.

Regarding water pressure, I'm assuming the neighborhood system pressure is too high, hence the pressure regulator.  I just bought a pressure gauge; the "regulated" (reduced) pressure measures 68 psi.  That's high; I've read that optimal/normal household pressure should be about 55 psi, so my pressure regulator may be broken.  If not, I can adjust the pressure with the regulator; of course, there will be some pressure drop through the water softener, so that will also be a factor.  Once I run the new "outdoor" lines, I can measure the pressure upstream from the pressure reducer to get a better idea what's going on.  (The gauge I have screws onto a hose faucet.)

Hard water, soft water?  The water here is hard, very hard.  I recently read that water in the San Diego area is the hardest in the country.  Mineral deposits ruin water heaters and other appliances, inhibit soap suds, make the water taste bad (although I'm now used to it), make clothes and hair scratchy, etc.  Calcium and magnesium.

Water hardness is measured in various units.  Water softeners are typically programmed using the archaic water hardness measure of "grains per gallon" (gpg).  "Grains" are a measure of weight, like "stone" used by the Brits for body weight.  Hmmm.  "Gallons" are less archaic, but still baffling.  Water authorities tend to use milligrams per liter (mg/l).  But I digress.  Soft water is defined as having a mineral content of 0 - 3.5 gpg, moderately hard water: 3.6 - 7.0, hard: 7.1 - 10.5, and very hard: 10.6 or higher.  I just bought a water hardness test kit and measured my water: 26 gpg!  Yikes!

I'll have a whole post on the water softener later.

I just received a new shipment of PEX fittings, so no excuse for no progress.

This post is a mish-mash.  Here's some of the mish and the mash.  The outside of the new Andersen window, before I applied the stucco around the outside:

While I was waiting for the PEX parts to come, I worked on vanity carcasses.  This photo shows the one for the guest bathroom, just sitting there (not leveled or fastened); it can't be installed until the pipes go in the wall and the drywall goes up behind the toilet (that wall).  And when the drywall goes up (wall on right side of the photo), I can also finish the soffit and install the heater duct.

And here is the vanity carcass in the master bathroom, fastened to the base and wall, with supply lines and drain pipe in place.  The front will be trimmed with mahogany — with one door where the cubby is painted white; everywhere else will have drawers.  Like the vanity in the guest bathroom, this master vanity will get a white Corian countertop with integral sink and backsplash.  Once I get those, I can make the sink cut-outs in the vanity cabinet tops.

So, near-term, I'll be working on the water supply system, and also hope to resume work on the master bathroom shower tile. 

Living Room — Part 2

This is the sequel to The Fireplace Must Go!  With the inside part of the fireplace gone, I rebuilt the west living room wall, adding the missing 3.5" of thickness.  After removing more of the old drywall, I discovered there indeed was a stud wall underneath (not just the chimney).

But first, some updates.  I managed to trim out the new windows in the master bedroom:

And I applied the elastomeric stucco paint to the new outside wall.  Here is a photo of the front of the house when I bought it (summer 2013):

And here is what the new stucco looked like before the two coats of paint:

I sort of liked that look, but the paint nevertheless went on:

Clearly a different look.  New tan shingles will replace the reddish ones, and there eventually will be a small covered porch protecting the front door.

And now back to the new living room wall.  This is what I saw as the old drywall came off:

I also found some severe insect damage, but it was confined to one board (replaced), and there was no sign of insects.

With all the old drywall removed from the recessed section of wall, I built a new 2x4 stud wall flush against the existing wall, and attached to it.  I had to chip away some more fireplace brick that protruded a little too far, and cut and chisel part of the warped header that was over the old fireplace for the same reason.  The whole process was relatively straightforward.

I tacked the wall bracket for the TV onto the studs to show the doublers I had to add so the ends of the wall mounting plate could be lag screwed into solid wood.  It was designed to be attached to two studs, but as it turned out, the center of the base fell squarely on a stud, and it wasn't quite wide enough to span three studs.  While the wall was open, I also wired two new electrical receptacles (obviously there was none in the fireplace, where the TV will now go).  I also ran speaker wire (inside the wall) to where the two surround speakers will go.  They should ideally be mounted on the side wall (or rear wall), but the left wall was crowded and inaccessible, and there was no right wall (open to the kitchen and foyer for the bottom eight feet).  The ceiling is twelve feet high at the right end of the living room, but there is a "wall" between eight and twelve feet.  Because of the difficulties, I chose to mount the surround speakers on the front wall, aimed to bounce their sound off the side walls, such as they are.  A compromise, to be sure, but the living room TV is for casual viewing only, so no biggie.

Moving along.

Walls are for insulation.  Here it's almost all installed, and showing the fireplace underneath.  Later, when I take down the chimney, I will fill in the fireplace opening with studs and insulate, for a total of seven inches. 

The drywall went up.

The corners around the sliding glass door got the bullnose treatment.

The seams and screw heads were filled in with joint compound.

And here is the finished wall (save for a couple of details).

The 52" (for scale) TV is operational, although the main left-right and center-channel speakers are not in place in the photo, and I need to build a suitable low cabinet to house the receiver, blu-ray/CD player, and center-channel speaker.

This is the first time I have wall-mounted a TV.  I used a simple fixed unit, that installed easily.  The wall bracket lag-screwed into the studs.

Two hanging brackets screwed into the back of the TV.

The TV just hangs onto the wall bracket, and a locking bar slides in from the side to keep it in place.

At this point, I would have liked to put down the bamboo flooring in the living room, added baseboard, and called it done.  But before that can happen, the bamboo in the long main hallway has to go in, after all that ceramic tile blasted away.  Not ready to do that.

I've started work on the guest bathroom infrastructure — water supply lines, heating duct, electrical — with the vanity cabinet and adjacent shelves coming along for the ride.  I just bought the new casement window for that bathroom (final new window in the house, except for the garage); that should go in soon.  The back yard's water supply now comes off the same line as the guest bathroom toilet water supply.  I need to run a separate line for that when the wall is open; outdoor water will not go through the water softener (when that is installed).

And work on the master bathroom shower tile continues in fits.

Sigh.

The Fireplace Must Go!

But why?  Doesn’t everyone like a crackling log fire to take the chill off a cold winter’s night?  Never mind that the fire is sucking all the warm air in the house up the chimney, and to replace that air, sucking in frigid outside air through all the little leaks in the rest of the house.  Never mind having to haul out the ashes.  Never mind that the extra carbon dioxide produced contributes to global climate change.  And never mind that the smoke rising up through the chimney pollutes the air, so on those (mild) southern California winter nights when I take my dog for her bedtime walk in a neighborhood full of fireplaces, I feel like I’m sitting on the downwind side of a campfire. 

But no.  My fireplace is big and ugly, and with its big hearth, occupies a lot of space — space I’d rather use for something else.  And then there’s that strange 3.5” jog in the living room wall, next to the fireplace.

I wanted to make that wall flush across the room (a novel idea?), making the wall thicker in the process for added insulation.  Seems like whoever did the plans didn’t intend such a strange thing.  Seems like the builder might have sensed the opportunity for a short-cut, a chance to save a few more bucks on each of the matching tract houses on the street (3.5” is the width of a 2x4 stud wall).  Whatever the reason that odd jog was there, I was determined from the day I bought the house to make it straight! 

I had not intended to get rid of the fireplace until after more of the higher priority projects had been completed (bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, etc.), but it just sat there in front of me every day — the elephant in the room — taunting me with mocking sarcasm — for years.  Tons of solid brick and mortar, a veritable bastion, always the only thing standing after fire razes a house — it let me know it was not threatened by mere flesh and blood.

An exquisite challenge?  The Berlin Wall was taken down with hammers and cold chisels.  And I had a Makita electric demolition hammer.  Ha!

Still, a daunting task. 

I started thinking I could just remove the front of the fireplace and fill in a short stud wall where that had been, extending down from the wall that must be just above the mantle.  Then insulate and put up drywall and add paint.  Tearing out the back of the fireplace (the base for the chimney) could wait for another time.  But after getting started, I discovered there was no wall back there.  There was just drywall slapped on to the chimney, probably with construction adhesive.  The missing 3.5”?  And so much for insulation.

I continued on, pulling off the bricks that had protruded into the living room, until I could look under and see the damper — jammed open, probably jammed open since the house was built.  It did not close easily, its mechanism clogged with decades worth of crud.  So essentially there has been a big hole in my house during the heat of summer and cold of winter.   Hmmm.

Seemed like a good place to stop.  Probably not wise to remove the base of the chimney while the the part above that was still up there. 

The Chimney Must Also Go

The base from the outside:

The part above:

So up on the roof I went.  The top of the chimney was pretty strong, resisting my attack with hand tools, but my little electric jack hammer made quick work of it.  After a couple of rows of brick were gone, the part below came apart pretty easily.  I was a little surprised to find there was nothing behind the chimney (other than the inside of the house) — no plywood/sheathing, but that was consistent with there being nothing behind the stucco.  Sigh.

With the chimney out of the way, there was a pretty big hole in the edge of the roof that needed filling.  I installed backing lumber to give continuity to the upper and lower sections of the roof edge, and then added some plywood and the missing fascia.

Add shingles and paint, and some badly needed plywood to the wall below:

At this point, I stopped due to two days of rare rain on the way (the Omega Block had moved on and El Niño was again taking control), and covered the open wall with plastic.  Removing the remainder of the chimney will take some planning, since there is no existing wall to separate my living room from the outdoors, once the bricks are gone.

So what’s next?  I’m working on trimming the new windows in the master bedroom.  Running water supply lines to the guest bathroom is also coming up; that will require some other work in the guest bathroom (which had been planned for the end of the remodel).  My structured six-month master plan has fallen apart, but I’m now good with that.  Ad lib is the new plan. 

Master Bathroom — Part 6

 Yes, here it is, finally!  (although yes, it’s a small post, but I wanted to get it off the table, as it were, because it might be some time before there’s more to show) 

When last we left the subject, the master bathroom shower had been lined with cement backerboard, and was waiting for the Kerdi waterproof membrane to go on.

The corners are the most vulnerable places where water can infiltrate into the wall (where planes intersect: two planes or three).  Where two planes intersect (two walls, or wall and floor, etc.), a band of waterproof membrane is applied, using a thin layer of mortar.  Then a sheet of the membrane goes on the wall (or floor), overlapping the corner bands.  In the three-plane corner, there is a pre-formed piece that is mortared in, overlapped by the bands and then the sheets.

So, after the walls were covered, the drain depression in the molded plastic foam shower pan was filled with mortar, then the black plastic ABS drain part was cemented to the underlying 2” ABS drain pipe, while pressing it into the mortar bed—a critical operation.  All good, fortunately.

The 2” hex mosaic floor tile then went down, using thin-set mortar.  The tile came in square-foot sheets, held together with a thin mesh.  There was yet another, smaller drain fitting that had to be installed at the same time.  A little tricky, and the small tiles had to be individually cut to fit properly around the 4” square stainless steel drain cover.

After letting the mortar cure for three days, I grouted the tile with a light platinum gray unsanded grout.  Ordinarily I would have preferred sanded grout for 1/8” spacing between tiles, but the gap between some of the tiles ended up being a little less.  Sanded grout is recommended for gaps 1/8” and larger; unsanded grout is used for 1/8” and smaller gaps.  I tend to leave 1/8” gaps, where either type should work.  (The sand makes the grout stronger; the unsanded is more easily pressed into narrow gaps.)

The floor in the rest of the bathroom will get the same tile and grout color.  I expect to alternate between putting tile on the shower walls, and tile on the bathroom floor.  Probably not logical, but the change is nice.