what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Oh good! I have never done a big remodel like this before and I am pretty overwhelmed at the moment. I was just measuring my master bedroom to see if they could carve into that for some room for the shower. I would still have room for my bed, but not much else. If they need to enlarge the other bathroom instead, that would mean sacrificing my barely 9'x9' office and turning the house into a supposed 2 bedroom instead of 3 bedroom. Just finding out what tile is both suited to a highly watery environment like a wet shower floor, and has a high enough friction coefficient to prevent slipping, and is in stock locally has kept me busy this morning. Oh, and it has to be in the brown/tan range, and the little 1" tiles (in sheets) float my boat. I think I want to use the same tile for the shower floor and the bathroom floors. I will probably want a bigger tile for the shower surround. And then, the present "vanity" (cabinet that the sink is in), is 43" wide which is an uncommon size and I haven't found any that size in stock locally. But it can't be even an inch bigger, and smaller ones often seem to lack drawers. I won't even BEGIN to vent about what I am reading online concerning the effectiveness of the new low flow toilets that are apparently all that is available today. And good luck on yours, too! Are you choosing all these things yourself, or do you have a designer?

I guess DW is the designer and I'm the contractor. She bought the tile already. Unlike you, I don't plan on taking out our tub/shower enclosure. I'm just going to rip out the toilet, vanity, wallpaper, mirror, flooring, shower door, lighting and replace with new. My BIL is excellent with tile and will help me with that. I may build my own vanity and install wainscoting if I get ambitious.

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I am starting to think that maybe I was too optimistic about my remodel when I first posted above. Actually, all that is going to happen is that this week my handyman/contractor is going to bring a plumber over to help us to figure out if this remodel is even feasible and what would be the best approach, if any. Getting cold feet... Maybe there is some simpler solution that hasn't occurred to me yet. Thanks for all the suggestions and tips, everyone.

Don't get cold feet unless you here bad news from the plumber and contractor. But generally these people have encountered almost every situation and know how to handle them.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R ....I won't even BEGIN to vent about what I am reading online concerning the effectiveness of the new low flow toilets that are apparently all that is available today.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R ....My largest bathroom has a tub up against an exterior wall with the toilet right next to it (slab foundation, so I think moving a toilet is not ideal). See below for the photo. I planned to ask if I could remove the tub and use that area for the shower.... Of course, this would mean a house with no tub, and two bathrooms with showers, supposedly a killer for any possible future resale in a slow market like ours. Nothing is easy, right? Oh well.

We bought pretty generic toilets from Home Depot for our build and are fine with them. They have an economy flush (for urine only) and another flush that uses more water for the more dense stuff.

It is very possible to replace the tub with a shower. My mom has that in Florida and I know they make shower bases for such remodels.

I don't think not having a tub is a big deal. I much prefer showers.

[ls99]

There was this 60' tree, dead, maybe 10 feet from the 14 KV powerline, leaning towards the line. I figured if I hooked up my 7000lb suburban and 4600lb pickup truck, I could pull it down once I notched the base, then cut the opposite side.

Weeeell, it stubbornly refused to budge. So I sent a "Tree Problem" report to the power company describing the situation. Within a half hour they showed up with a bucket truck capable of extending to 70 feet. They attached an additional line from higher up on the trunk to my suburban for added stability. In short order reduced the tree to horizontal pieces.

I'm not sure if I will get billed for the effort. If I do, whatever they will charge will be cheap, compared to several tree service outfits, who after looking at it were highly doubtful of taking it down without sparks.

The tree crew made it look easy. From my experience in Ju-jutsu, when things look easy, there is many years of superb practice, with quite a few screwups as learning experinece. I thanked the crew, they were awsome.

[seraphim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huston55 Perhaps this will give him some ideas. Plus, think of all the time this will save you. Attachment 19550

That looks like the wet bath in our RV, except it's much larger, tiled, and isn't constructed of abs plastic lol


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

[gardenfun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by powerplay You should look at the Toto toilets. They get pretty good ratings. I've had one for about 5 years now and am happy with it.

+1 I've remodeled a few bathrooms since they first became available in the late 90's and have always used Totos. They're great--check out the "one-piece" () design where the bowl goes to the floor, avoiding those nooks and crannies that are so hard to clean.

oooo, how about the bidet option too??

[splitwdw]

W2R, Why a 6' X 4' shower? If you go with a slightly smaller shower you could have shelves or shelves and a closet on 1 end. You could put a half wall by the toilet to keep water splashing on it. Are you going to get rid of the window in the shower area? Windows can be a problem in a shower area due to water getting on them unless properly sealed. Take your time looking online at bathroom designs, ask friends/family for suggestions, stop in showrooms (home depot, lowes, plumbing fixture showrooms). Do not depend on your handyman or plumber for design ideas. They might only do what they know not necessarily what's new. There are toilets that have different flush features not just the low water flushes that can't take away toilet paper.
You have to live with it so take your time and get what you want.

[ls99]

Got a scam call. A Pakistani or Indian accent dude on the line:

Mr ls99 I am calling about your computer problem.

Me: Wow, does your mother know about this call?

He hung up.

[MBAustin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls99 Got a scam call. A Pakistani or Indian accent dude on the line: Mr ls99 I am calling about your computer problem. Me: Wow, does your mother know about this call? He hung up.

Love it! Can't wait to try it on the next scammer!

[ls99]

It was not pre-meditated. I was listening to an ABBA CD, the song had something about "does your mother know that you are out?"

I love those moments.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls99 I'm not sure if I will get billed for the effort. If I do, whatever they will charge will be cheap, compared to several tree service outfits, who after looking at it were highly doubtful of taking it down without sparks.

I would guess not. By calling, you saved them an outage and replacing some (probably expensive) components.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls99 I'm not sure if I will get billed for the effort. If I do, whatever they will charge will be cheap, compared to several tree service outfits, who after looking at it were highly doubtful of taking it down without sparks.

Several years ago, I had a very large tree die in my yard. It was slightly leaning over the power line, and I worried about it. If it fell, it would not only take down the power line but also hit the house.

I called a highly regarded tree company about taking it down. They came out and gave me a quote of $1,600 to top it below the power line or $2,500 to completely remove it. I must have looked shell-shocked, because before the estimator left, he said "I'm not really supposed to tell you this, but there is a good chance the power company will do it for free. I'd call them before deciding."

So I called them, they came out and topped the tree below the line with an enormous bucket truck like you had. No charge, and I got at least two year's worth of firewood out of it.

[MRG]

We got checked out. Female ruby throated hummingbird was at the feeder while we were sitting close to it. She proceeds to fly right up to my face, about 18" away, hovers for 30 seconds looking right at me. Then she went to DW and repeated the observation. Been a good year for hummers around here.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

[Walt34]

First time back at the gym since the stent was put in. Doc's instructions were half weights and light on the other stuff, but go.

DW's niece brought a visitor over for a while.

[pb4uski]

Installed ~400 sf of laminate flooring in the attic loft of our new garage. I'm sure my back will be telling be about it tomorrow. It came out nice though.

[seraphim]

Spent the day messing with camera gear outside - new camera, old lenses, seeing how they work together. Walked around a nearby town with a historic train, snapping test shots.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls99 There was this 60' tree, dead, maybe 10 feet from the 14 KV powerline, leaning towards the line. I figured if I hooked up my 7000lb suburban and 4600lb pickup truck, I could pull it down once I notched the base, then cut the opposite side. Weeeell, it stubbornly refused to budge...

Was it like dis?

Note that the guy in the video used too short a rope or chain. Good thing the tree did not fall over and gave his pickup a karate chop like in another video that I have not found again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD1SPpxgKII

[NW-Bound]

You may not believe it, but people have been successful in using an East German Trabant (remember those?) to pull down trees.


Skeptical? Just watch the following video. Look how the driver gave the Trabant a running start when it failed the 1st time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwC96t_aR98

[Avalon]

Safety first when it comes to tree trimming around my place.

[chris66]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I am starting to think that maybe I was too optimistic about my remodel when I first posted above. Actually, all that is going to happen is that this week my handyman/contractor is going to bring a plumber over to help us to figure out if this remodel is even feasible and what would be the best approach, if any. Getting cold feet... Maybe there is some simpler solution that hasn't occurred to me yet. Thanks for all the suggestions and tips, everyone.

I'm a little late to the conversation, as I've been working on my own total home remodel. I've remodeled bathrooms that included moving plumbing several times. A wet room might actually be harder to accomplish than moving plumbing on a slab (since the wet area has to have the correct slope). We just finished a remodel of a bathroom in our lower level (concrete foundation), and moved the shower and plumbing into an adjacent closet (moved drain in concrete, but not toilet). Basically, we had a shower at the end of the bathroom that was too tiny. We also had 2 closets next to the bathroom, between the bathroom and the bedroom: a walk-in closet in the hall, and a walk-in closet in a bedroom. We turned the bedroom closet into a large shower and moved the bedroom door about 5 feet down the hall, which put the hall walk-in closet in the bedroom. This made the bathroom footprint much bigger, and created a small foyer to the bedroom with a closet there (instead of the previous closet door at the end of a bedroom wall -- which would hit a nightstand). The shower enters from the bath, and requires no doors or shower curtain. I came up with this idea myself, but design is a passion of mine. I also get a lot of inspiration on houzz.com. You might get some great ideas on houzz, especially if you post a question including not only a picture of your bathroom, but also the floor plan of it and nearby rooms. I do think a 4 x 6 shower may be unrealistic in the existing footprint, and a loss of a bedroom is probably a bigger deal for resale than loss of a bathtub. A smaller shower, in the space of the current tub, might be large enough for you. If not, you might knock out thru the exterior wall and add on a couple of feet just for added shower space (think like a box window, but instead big enough for part of the shower). This small bump-out might give you the size shower you want, with a hopefully reasonable cost and not as bad an impact to resale value. I don't know if that's doable for your house, either, but it might be something to think about.

We also recommend Toto, or American Standard. DH usually researches the toilets, and I think he prefers a 1.6 gallon high flush. We also always get right height toilets, as we are tall.

Best of luck. I hope you'll post pics of your progress.

[ls99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Was it like dis? Note that the guy in the video used too short a rope or chain. Good thing the tree did not fall over and gave his pickup a karate chop like in another video that I have not found again.

That is funny. The word schmuck does come to mind.

I had two 100' lines, and both were tied to the front towing hooks. You know, the heavy end with that hunk metal under the hood. Though my suburban has a nearly 50/50 weight distribution. The pickup is front heavy.

Add: As for the Trabant, I actually drove one back in the old country. They had big crank like handle coming out of the dashboard, the gearshift.