November 6, 2012

Starting On The Hall Bathroom

Now that the kitchen is done, what's next on our remodeling radar? The hall bathroom. And with winter right around the corner, we'll likely commence with this project pretty soon, starting with the floor.

One of the problems we've had with our old house (93 years next year), has been a construction problem, the floor joists. When the house was built, the joists were placed 24 inches on center, i.e. the center of one joist is 24 inches from its neighbors. Nowadays, joists which span the length of a room are usually placed 16 inches on center, which makes for a sturdier floor. Because our floor joists are farther apart, we've had to deal with a lot of sag and bounce in our floors. We've worked on this problem room by room:


Now it's the bathroom's turn, which will actually be part of our larger master suite project. The first thing Dan will do is to run a carrying beam (or girder) the length of the house under the bathroom and both bedrooms (floor plan here.) In addition, he will add bridging between the existing joists to stabilize them even more. All these rooms need floor support eventually, especially the front bedroom which has a pretty bad sag. Might as well get it all done now.


That will be the first step.

The other problem with this floor, is water damage from the old toilet. We discovered this when we pulled everything out of the room. It was hidden by the old vinyl flooring, though the floor always felt mushy there and the toilet leaned a bit.

Hall bathroom floor. Water damage was under the old vinyl flooring

Repairing the floor will be step two, click here to see that.

Weather permitting  we'll still work on our next outdoor projects: more fencing and a new chicken coop. Winter time though, is house project time.

Starting On The Hall Bathroom © November 2012 

18 comments:

Christina said...

You don't let the grass grow under your feet! The kitchen looks wonderful and I'm eager to see how the bathroom progresses.

Theresa said...

While useful, bathroom remodels are just so much hidden stuff. The kitchen though, it looks MARVELOUS!
What a beautiful job you both did and it so reflects who you two are.

Leigh said...

Christina, well, part of that has to do with Dan's work schedule. He's an over the road truck driver, so he's gone for 3 and 4 days at a time. He's hates the inactivity of just driving. When he's home, he usually has 2 or 3 days before the next load out. He's a project person anyway, so when he's home, he's happiest if he's working on something. :)

Theresa, that's exactly right. About the bathroom I mean. :) We need to do the repairs and make the room more energy efficient, definitely. I can't help but want to make it aesthetic. :p. But mostly it's going to be simple. I say that now, but who knows what we'll find when we tear into that outer wall to replace the window!

Renee Nefe said...

now you are going to have me wanting to tear out and redo our bathroom. I'm always irritated by the terrible tile job that was done for our shower. And since we don't use the jetted tub, I would like to just get rid of it...but that would totally change the bathroom. sigh!

Best of luck with your project. I hope that you don't find too many surprises when you get in there.

DebbieB said...

I'm excited to see this project get started, because when it's done, you can excavate your LOOOOOM! :)

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to follow this adventure as redoing my master bath is on next year's project list and I too have to strip it down to the joists and studs as it has water damage. But with winter coming I won't be doing that till late spring! -- Sherry in MT

Florida Farm Girl said...

Totally off the subject here but I've just learned of a dairy about 50 miles from here which is permitted to sell to the public. Their milk is pasteurized but not ultra-pasteurized so it can be used for making cheese!!
Jersey cows, too.

Leigh said...

Renee, it's funny how personal bathrooms actually are. The rage is big luxury baths for that personal "retreat". Personally, I would not be interested in hiding away in the bathroom! Ours is small, 5.5 by 7.5 feet, but it will do, especially once it has a proper toilet and functioning shower!

Debbie, LOL. Well see how long this takes. We think it will be quick, but I've learned never to count on that!

FFG, That's wonderful news! Jersey milk is the absolute best cows have to offer too. Good find. :)

CaliforniaGrammy said...

And Leigh and Dan are off to the next project! A small room like 5x7 should be a piece of cake, right? TeeHeeee!

Mama Pea said...

I know we all like to keep our blogs on the upbeat side and don't hang our "dirty laundry" out in public. But you and Dan seem to work so well together . . . even though they say remodeling a home often leads to divorce! (And I can sure see how in many instances, that's true!) So what I'm wondering is do you and Dan ever have "serious" disagreements involving the remodeling? Or is it easy for you to work through the plans and construction?

Ngo Family Farm said...

"Mushy floor." Ew. Lol ;) Can't wait to see how it comes along!
-Jaime

Leigh said...

Janice, if it hadn't taken so long to get the kitchen done we wouldn't be starting this one seemingly so soon. :) Ordinarily we would take the summer off from the house to do outdoor projects. The kitchen though, had to be done, so we pressed on in spite of summer. A bunch of things like the garden were neglected, but it was worth it.

Mama Pea, good question. Before we ever lifted the first hammer back in 2009, we laid some ground rules. We agreed that in the planning stages anything goes. We could suggest absolutely anything, no matter how wild, without criticism. That rule is fun and lets us feel free to share our visions. We can pick out the best of both and then try to work out how to make it happen.

The other rule is that unless both of us likes an idea, it's out. If we disagree on what we want, we drop it until we find something we agree upon. I think this is where most couples have problems. Neither one is willing to let go of what they want. With Dan and I, we each want the other to be happy with the end result. Not agreeing on ideas makes us dig deeper into the realm of possibilities. Because of that, we often end up something better than what either one first thought s/he wanted.

Sometimes one of us has a strong opinion and the other is neutral, in which case we go with the other's ideas. We do have very different tastes, so the result is a tad eclectic, but somehow it works!

Jaime, yeah, it's a bit unnerving to have the floor feel soft and give under your feet. After seeing what's there, I'm surprised the toilet never fell through the floor!

Susan said...

If you two keep this up, we'll ALL be moving in when you're finished!

* Crystal * said...

You're such a go-getter!! Making awesome progress on the house!

Leigh said...

Susan, LOL. Naw, it's supposed to motivate you to get going on your own abodes. :)

Crystal, well, at our age we have a lot to catch up on and less time to do it in. :)

Thistle Cove Farm said...

I hate bathroom remodels the most and love the results the most...go figure. s

Julene said...

If the bathroom turns out as well as the kitchen you can use it as a guest room! Amazing....simple and true..just amazing all that you have accomplished. I want to walk right in and have a cup of tea to celebrate!!

Leigh said...

Sandra, they're a lot of work in a smaller space!

Julene, thanks! It would be great to celebrate with friends and tea.