A Bathroom Remodel--Day-by-Day--Day Three

A Bathroom Remodel--Day-by-Day

Day Three

Wednesday, Feb. 11th.

    Another day, another dollar. It's 4:00 a.m. and I step outside once more. It's 33-degrees and clear--I see several planets and many stars--and best of all, there's no breeze. When it's sunny and there's no wind, working outside is enjoyable, even when the temperature is in the thirties and forties. Of course, most of our work today is inside, but on a bathroom job, the workers must often go back and forth, from inside to outside, and vice versa, so having it temperate outside helps speed up the work.

    Okay--let's cut to the chase. My list for the bathroom crew:

1. Make curb and pour sloped bed.

2. Install insulation, all wood backing for seat and grab bars, and tile backer board.

3. Prime cabinets.

4. Stay out of electrician's way. The electrician is due to install fan/light today. 

    Yesterday we got approval from the customer on the vanity top and the medicine cabinet. The medicine cabinet can hang on the outside of the wall or be inset--the customer chooses inset, which the crew and I agree with.

 Steve cuts deadwood. These guys all have sawhorses, yet Steve prefers cutting on a saw table made out of a trashcan and a piece of plywood.

Kirk installs the deadwood.

    My other list: T.G. asked for the next three days off to pursue refinishing some furniture, and with a light work-load, I said, "Okay." Of course, the work-load picked up immediately afterwards. I received two rolls of screen spline via UPS that I've been waiting for, so need to send someone to repair some screen doors, we have a glass shower door due in that must be hung as soon as it arrives, and we picked up a job replacing a plywood sub-floor in a house up for sale--the kind of work that the customer needs done ASAP. Plus, I have two estimates to work up-- a large commercial job for a beauty salon and another bathroom remodel. On the commercial job I must draw up plans and get them to my electrician, who will be on our bathroom job today. My list seems endless.

Okay--and here's the way the day went. It's now 5:00 p.m.

Kirk and Steve called me at 11:00. The drain for the shower was off-center. "By how much?" I asked. "Four inches." Oh, great. I had been there yesterday when Steve laid it out for the plumber. We made certain the center point was off the inside of the curb, not the outside, as the plumber's helper was trying to make it. I guess we all walked out of the bathroom to discuss another matter, because when we went back, no one noticed the drain was off-center. Without the curb up, it's difficult to tell. As soon as Kirk and Steve built the curb today, they noticed it. They insisted it wasn't their fault.

A good shot of the two molds for the niches--a double and a single--and deadwood for one grab bar on the wall, and the fold-up seat on the back wall.

Blaming others is a time-honored tradition in remodeling, It's never anyone's fault who is on the job, it's always the fault of someone who isn't around at the time. I told them I didn't care whose fault it was--were they going to fix it? Or, had they called the plumber? They had done neither.

I called Mike-the-Plumber and told him the problem. He immediately told me it wasn't his man's fault.

See what I mean?

I told Mike I didn't care whose fault it was, we needed it fixed or we were in trouble. "Whose fault it was is now totally irrelevant--it just has to be fixed!" I said, in as urgent a voice as I could without yelling. He understood, and 30 minutes later the drain was centered. It was a whole lotta fuss over a simple fix-it-up-and-go-back-to-work solution.

This shows Kirk and Steve after the plumber has relocated the drain. Kirk is covering the drain with cement.

It does put us behind, however. Now Steve and Kirk--or someone--has to work over the weekend if we are to finish on time. So be it.

The guys did get all the deadwood in--for the seat and the grab bars--and installed the niches, and got the tile board up. Which is good, but not great. Tomorrow, I expect great.

My other list went like this: we got the screens installed; Wesley has just about finished at my house; the glass door didn't come in; the plywood floor customer didn't bring the signed contract or the down payment by, so it;s not a priority yet; the table Mechelle and I took to the flea market yesterday sold today; I wrote two pages in my book; I finished figuring and e-mailed the bathroom price; and I almost finished the drawings for the hair salon.

You can easily see the curb in these pictures--where Kirk rests his left hand, above. There is tile backer board on the shower walls, and you can see where they have cemented the joints and the niche forms with thin-set to stop leaks. 

Whew. It was a busy, and yet, to me, a fulfilling day. We overcame what Kirk said in his message to me, was "a terrible problem." Nuts. A problem--any problem--is just something waiting for a solution. We persevered--we hung in there and we lived to remodel another day.
Until tomorrow,
Earl.

A Bathroom Remodel--Day-by-Day--Day Two

A Bathroom Remodel--Day-by-Day

Day Two

Tuesday, Feb. 10th

    Good morning, world! 

    Yesterday we began a new job--a bathroom remodel--and I started the day with a weather check and a list or two. Today will begin in the same manner. It's 3:50 a.m., and I walk out back to check my thermometer. It's cooler today--47 degrees, and the sky is cloudy--I can't see any stars. I prefer the early morning sky to be clear, but at least it's not raining. Forty-seven is not bad for this time of year, so it looks like it'll be a good day to work.

    My first list will be what I hope for Kirk and Steve to accomplish this morning on the bathroom job. I love lists, by the way. Here's the first one.

    Bathroom job: 

    1. Plumber: Mike Smith. He said he'd be on the job by 8:45. I'll let you know what time he does arrive. Today Mike must start and finish his rough-in (have all the valves and new pipes run behind the walls.). He must run the new supply lines--we're converting from a tub and shower to only a shower; install two valves--one for the shower and a second one that operates the hand-held sprayer; re-work the drain, moving it from the end of the shower to the center, so water will flow down and out the drain; replace the commode flange--we took up the dressing area tile and now the old commode flange is too high; replace the commode water supply--the shutoff leaks.
     I like for my men to work with the plumber and the electrician when they arrive. This accomplishes several goals. By having Kirk and Steve at his beck and call, Mike can accomplish his work faster. This means he knows before he arrives that the job will move quickly, and he can finish in a timely manner and move on to his next job. For me, this means my men will make certain Mike does everything we need him to do, we can correct any problems he runs into at once (and there are always problems in remodeling--always!), and the homeowner isn't left by himself or herself with a subcontractor he or she doesn't know.
     Also, if the homeowner has a problem--of any kind--he knows he can go to Kirk or Steve and one of them will address the problem. A few examples of actual problems we've had in the past are: The subcontractor parks on the customers' front lawn; he smokes in the house; he brings in dirt and mud; he drops a wrench and damages a brand new tub; and the one we have to take care of, regardless who the subcontractor is--he leaves all his trash on the floor where he drops it. Most subcontractors work as if every job is in a new house, where the general contractor has a clean-up crew. Our clean up crew is Kirk and Steve. If they aren't on the job to clean up, when Mike leaves there will probably be a mess. It's in his blood.

Here are photos of what the plumber did. It may not seem like much to anyone else, yet it took him almost five hours.

    2. After the plumber leaves, Kirk and Steve have their work cut out for them. They must build the curb and pour a concrete bed that slopes from all four corners to the central drain. If they don't do this step correctly, the entire shower floor is messed up because water will stand on it. This is the one problem that drives customers berserk. Knowing this, it's my job to make certain the floor has good slope. Kirk and Steve probably tire of me always checking after them, but they aren't the ones who pay to get a floor redone if the water stands on it. And it doesn't need to stand ankle deep--just one or two square-inches of tile with water that won't drain will cause a customer to get upset. Hey--I don't blame them--it's just as easy to do the floor right as it is to do it wrong. And if I don't have the time to double check the floor--I deserve what I get, too. I'm sure you all agree.

More photos of plumbing. As you can see, there are two valves--the main one that controls the shower, and the one above, which allows the customer to switch from shower head to hand-held, or he can choose to open both at the same time. Fancy, huh? The red line on the upper-left is for the hand-held.

    Those are the only items that have to be done today. I want more, though. I found out yesterday that our "finish day" of Friday, February the 20th, was wrong. That's the day my customers leave town. The finish day is Thursday, the nineteenth. Yikes! We've gotta get a move-on. Today I'd like to see the guys finish installing the backing for the seat and the grab bars, insulate the shower walls (for sound control), put up all the sheetrock needed and apply a first coat of mud, prime the vanity and the cabinet, and install the foam niche forms. We use forms on the niches because when you install tile niches, they become the weak point--the place you'll most likely have a water leak, and the foam forms help guarantee you'll have no leaks,. They're expensive--about $75.00 each--but in the end well worth the cost. Without one, making a tile niche waterproofed is nearly impossible. 

    And that's probably about all we can do on this job today. But my lists go on. I cannot rest.

   Earl's list:

    1. Check with customer on upcoming job about refinishing her front door and sidelights. Confirm start date and down payment. Does she also want us to fill in under the threshold with cement where the house has separated from the foundation? 

    2. Gather items for the Expo that I didn't get to yesterday. Purchase 12 two-foot by three-foot poster frames for the photos I had enlarged. Pick up large display boards from storage house. Gather aluminum deck samples from storage (We installed our first large aluminum deck last summer--we loved it! My next blog--in three to four weeks--will be about aluminum decks.). 

    3. Finish touch-ups on a chest-of-drawers, a dining table, and two end tables, then take them to my booth--Earl's Pearls--at Memories Flea An-Tique Mall.

    4. Write five new pages in my children's book, There Once Was a Boy Named Bobby (Who Slayed Dragons for His Hobby.).

    5. See that Wesley and T.G. finish the job they're on--at my house. Yes--we contractors actually do try to keep up our own houses. They've installed three new PVC windows and are now painting four inside doors. The doors are going from white to red, and after two coats, need two more. They're bright, but my wife loves them. Wes and T.G. still have to finish the inside trim, paint the outside trim, hang the blinds, paint the doors, clean up, and move the furniture back. They have a full day because they also need to go to bathroom job and haul the trash to the dump, since they couldn't move it yesterday. 

    The photos above are of the windows Wes and T.G. are doing. When finished, they'll not only cut my heating and cooling bills drastically, they'll look 100 times better than the old windows did. I'll hunt up a photo of them. I'm sure I have one somewhere. 

On the right is the color my wife chose for our doors. I love it! Wild! Sorry for the mess, but we're housing six additional family members for a year--it's a long story.

    I'll be back this evening and let you know how much on these lists I was able to accomplish.

    7:oo p.m. Well--some days we get a lot done, and others we don't. Today the plumbers had problems. They arrived on time--before we did, as a matter of fact. But the original plumbers had not installed their drain pipes low in the concrete, so when the plumber went to drop the commode flange and the new drain line to the center of the shower, he had to jackhammer a deeper hole and replace more pipe than we'd figured. They weren't done until 1:30, and all Kirk and Steve had time to do was fill in and smooth the concrete after them. Oh, well. Steve and Kirk promised me we'd be back on schedule tomorrow. I sure hope so.
 
    My personal list didn't go much better. T.G. and Wes almost finished at my house--they have one more coat of paint to put on the red doors. I didn't contact my customer about her door. I didn't gather any materials for the Expo. I only wrote one page on my book. But--Mechelle, my indispensable office manager, helped me finish working on the dining table and we took it to the flea-market booth. I also looked at two new jobs, both of which I need to price out tomorrow, so tomorrow will run at an even fiercer pace. I need a few 34-hour days to catch up.
   Until tomorrow!
Earl. 

A Bathroom Remodel--Day by Day--Day One

A Bathroom Remodel--Day by Day

Day One

    It's 4:00 am, Monday morning, February ninth. "Start" day is here. I walk outside and check the thermometer--it's a balmy 60 degrees, with clouds, but the air feels dry. I hope it doesn't rain. The next thing I do is check the list of items I've written up that the guys need to take with them to the job.

    Believe me--without a written list, someone would have to come back to the office and gather up what was left behind. 

    Here's the list: carpet and hard-floor protective runners, dust masks, wet/dry vacuum cleaners, both hammer drills, flat shovels, tile scrapers, wheelbarrow, wrecking bars, trashcans, 5-gallon buckets, 3" wall insulation, dusters and floor mops, and last but not least, a yard sign and my camera. (They're both already loaded. I put them in my SUV yesterday.).

Wesley loading his truck at our office (my house). That's a rain barrel on the right, for watering my front-porch plants during the summer. Notice how wet the driveway looks?

Steve looking cool.

Steve and Kirk loaded up.

    We put up yard signs on jobs, with our name, logo, and phone number for various reasons. Advertising being the main one. But we also use the yard signs to help subcontractors find the job and to let the homeowners know that we are not hiding from anyone--that we are proud of our work. Plus, Montgomery and Prattville require "signage," meaning all trucks on job sites must have the company name and phone number written on them. I believe this is done for two reasons--number one, so the city inspector can drive around and be certain we have our city license, and number two, to keep what I call "the bad elements" from driving up to someone's house and emptying it of its contents. If local cops see a pickup parked in front of a house, they have the right, because of the law, to stop and ask the driver what he's doing there. If he claims to be working at the house, he's supposed to have his name and phone number on his truck. 

    Working on today's job will be the supervisor, Kirk, along with Wesley, Steve, and T.G. Wesley and T.G. will only stay until the demolition is over. Then they will carry the trash to the dump and go to another job, leaving Kirk and Steve to finish out the day. 

 Here are some "before" photos of  the bathroom. This is how the room looked at 8:30 this morning.

    Our goal today is: install protective runners on carpet and hard floors; use a vacuum to suck the water out of the commode and relocate the commode to the home owner's back yard; take out the tub; remove all wall and floor tile, remove damaged sheetrock; remove vanity top and medicine cabinet; take all trash to the city dump before it rains; pick up tile and some other materials at Lowe's and bring them back to the job-site; jackhammer a trench in the concrete so the plumber can move the drain from a tub-based bath to a shower-based bath, meaning from one end of the wall to the center of the new shower; search for any leaks that could have gone undetected; open up the ceiling and the wall for the electrician (By doing this ourselves, we can make sure the ceiling and the wall are ready to be closed up properly and quickly.); check new medicine cabinet and make inset for it; install backing for the teak seat and three grab bars (they must have solid wood that we can screw to); lay out where the new curb for the shower will be (We are enlarging the shower by coming as close to the commode as we can--the minimum we can go is 15-inches from the wall to the center of the commode); install backing for the new towel bar, since it's also a grab bar; re-hang any damaged sheetrock that won't be in the plumber's way with new mold and water-resistant rock (When we remove the wall tile, the sheetrock is usually easier to replace than to repair); and last, but not least--make a list and gather materials for tomorrow.

Wesley applying clear carpet protection.

My personal goals for the day are: start the job and check on it several times; order the glass partition; take lots of photos; get customer approval on the new medicine cabinet (I picked it out while customer was out of town); have customer decide on paint colors; gather items we'll need for the Greater Montgomery Remodeling Expo that starts on Friday, Feb. 20th.

Our yard sign.

Wesley and T.G. dismantling tub. 

Above are pictures of the job when we started.

Below are some shots after the demo, as Steve and Kirk jackhammer the trench for our new drain.

The wet spot on the floor is because the shutoff to the commode won't close properly. We'll have to replace the shutoff valve.








And there you have it--Day One on a new bathroom job. We didn't accomplish everything we set out to do. The main thing we didn't accomplish was to take the trash to the dump. We had to pile it in the customer's back yard because of the rain. When the road into the dump becomes wet, Wesley can't back out, and he didn't want to be stuck in the Prattville Dump all day. If it doesn't rain tonight, Wesley will load up and take the trash tomorrow .
    How many items on my own "To-Do list were accomplished? Most, but not all. I always give myself more to do than I can, so not accomplishing everything on my list isn't a big deal. I did order the glass side panel today, and I went to Noland Company and hunted up Faith--who was with another customer, as usual--and picked up the two shower valves for the plumber (Mike Smith of B & S Plumbing). I also called Mike to verify that he'd be on the job in the morning. He said he would, and Mike has hardly ever let us down. He does outstanding work at reasonable prices, and he always shows up when he's supposed to show up. I can't ask for more than that.
    I also checked on the job several times, took tons of photos, and got the customer's approval on the medicine cabinet. I didn't gather anything for the upcoming Expo, and I didn't get the customer to choose the paint colors.
    All in all, I think we had a pretty good day. In fact, I believe the job is going great! But, as always, there's lots more to do. I'll be back tomorrow for Day Two! Are we having fun, or what?!

Earl.

A Bathroom Remodel--Day by Day

A Bathroom Remodel--Day by Day. 

Day--Minus Two

The job: Remodel a hallway bathroom--making it as accessible as possible--and complete the job in two weeks. Will remove a tub and tiled walls and install a tiled shower. 

Room size: 5' x 10'.  

Approximate cost: $8,000. 

     The year is off to a great start, and we have a bathroom remodel job starting this coming Monday , the 9th of February. Often, when we take on a bathroom, we're asked, "How long will it take?" When I tell customers two-to four weeks, they're appalled. They think it should go much faster--and it could--if we didn't do things as we should. This particular job has a deadline--it must  be done in a two-week span. We have from the 9th until the 20th to complete the job. Our customers leave town on the 21st, so it's do or die for us on this project. It'll be tough, but we don't foresee any problems as long as we plan ahead.
    I started ordering materials that will be needed two days before we received the down payment. I usually wait until after we get the money down, but felt I needed to get my act in gear and I was pretty sure we would get the job. One item the customer wanted was a fold-up type of seat, rather than a built-in, tiled, corner seat, so I ordered a really nice teak, fold-up seat with a backrest. I figured I could use it as a sales sample, if the job didn't proceed, but we got the go-ahead, and the seat will be used as intended.

Here's the teak seat, towel bar, and paper holder.

 As we start the job, we'll post ample photos, so you can see exactly how a job is done, from start to finish. I think it will take the entire two weeks to accomplish--we won't have a day to spare, and may have to work through the weekend. Let's see how accurate I am.

 The towel bar and the paper holder are unique--each is also a grab bar. You can't tell their relative size from the photos because of the angle I used to take the pictures. The towel bar is twice the size of the paper holder.

The fold-up teak seat with back--some assembly required!

  

  Today is Saturday, Feb. 7th, and I have ordered the following:

1. Teak seat. It arrived three days ago.
2. Tile. Ordered all of it. It arrived two days ago.
3. Towel bar and paper holder. They arrived yesterday.
4. Grab bars--I purchased them last week.
5. New light over medicine cabinet. I purchased it a week ago.
6. New medicine cabinet. I purchased it three days ago.
7. New granite vanity top, with under-mount bowl, from Lowe's. I purchased it three days ago.
8. Commode: we are re-using the existing one.

Another view of the teak seat--notice the large spring assembly at the top of the photo--this baby should last a long, long time.

9. Tempered glass wing wall--NOT ordered yet. Must do soon! Waiting for the supervisor, Kirk, to get a price. Come on, Kirk! The glass will take a week to get in, and though it's one of the last items we'll install, I want to have it in our hands. (It's now Saturday afternoon and Kirk says he's got the price coming but he still doesn't know it, and the glass has NOT been ordered. Will this cause us to fail to finish in time?!?!?

10. New shower valve, shower head, and spray handle. I ordered them from Faith at Noland Company a week ago. Wow! Faith got them in within two days. We have to have the valve in our hands or we can't proceed after we demo the bathroom. Knowing the valve and shower parts are in takes a load off my mind.

11. Vanity faucet. At first, I was using an in-stock Corian top from Lowe's, and it had a 4" faucet spread already drilled. Faith at Noland had the faucet in stock. As I was looking around, though, I saw a granite vanity top for only $20.00 more, and it was in the same color-scheme as the Corian top. I made an executive decision and bought the granite top. There was one problem--it was pre-drilled for an 8" faucet spread. I called Faith and told her I needed to make an adjustment. She laughed. Making changes is part of our business, and Faith is understanding when I tell her things have changed. The only problem is that the new faucet wasn't in stock, and needed to be ordered, but Faith acted immediately. I'm sure the faucet will arrive before we need it.

Now--if only we had the glass.

    So that's where we stand this morning, Saturday, the 7th of February, two days before the job begins. Everything we need, except for two items--the glass wing wall and the lavatory faucet--is in our hands. We're as ready as we can be.

Next Post--Monday, Feb. 9th--or tomorrow, if I get more news on the glass wall!

 

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall.

A type of job we're doing more and more these days, is that of "making old mirrors look new." I'm sure that if your home is twenty-years old, or more, you've got mirrors that are looking their age, especially around the outside edges.
When mirrors age, they tend to lose silvering around the outside edge, and they can look awful.There are several fixes for this problem. One, you can replace the mirror. Two, you can install faceted glass around the outside of the mirror. Or, three, you can have trim run around the outside of the mirror.
I like the look of faceted glass, but many people want something more elegant. For these people we can trim the outside of the mirror, and once it's put up and painted--a nice-looking trim will give your mirrors "WOW!" appeal.

Here are some pictures of a mirror job we accomplished recently.

Before.

Before

Before

Before

Before

I get a little dizzy looking at these pictures because the reflections of the mirrors in the mirrors make it difficult to tell what I'm looking at.

 Here are some photos of Wes as he gets ready to install trim around some mirrors.

H

 It's much easier to nail the trim together, and then hang it.

There's Wesley, installing the trim. Looks great, doesn't it?

 The mirror trim is up and now the men are patching the walls a final time before the final coat of paint.

 These were all taken before the final coat of paint, on the walls and the trim. The job isn't finished yet, and I'll come back and add the "final" shots when it is.

Just before the final application of paint. 

I think that these photos show how much nicer, how much more elegant mirrors look after they're trimmed out.
So if you have any old mirrors that are losing their "Wow!" factor--give us a call. In fact, why not let us give your entire bathroom a "WOW!" makeover? Just call Earl at 365-5333. Or e-mail me at earlwrite@gmail.com.
And if you enjoyed this photo essay, please let me know that, too.