Guest Bathroom Progress

I don't have any pretty pictures of the new bathroom yet but good progress is being made.

If you're new to the blog--or need a refresher--this new bathroom is being carved from

space in the center of my house that was a hallway, a closet, the dining room and kitchen.

It's the space outlined in yellow in the floor plan above.  I already have a bathroom

on the first floor but by moving it, I can get kitchen that's larger and laid out much better.

The bathroom and pantry (that are highlighted in green) will be demoed in the next phase.

These are the two doors you can see in the photo above.

Here you can see the new floor plan.  The new bathroom again is

outlined in yellow.   And the space I'll be gaining in the kitchen is in green.

There's still an issue with the plumbing chase to the bathroom upstairs

(just to the left of the kitchen sink in the new floor plan) but

I'll talk about that when we get to it. 

So the wall that separates the bathroom from the dining room is the 

continuation of a load-breaking wall with a major beam underneath it

in the basement.  To get plumbing in and out of the space, the pipes enter

on the floor and then turn into the wall cavity.  Some of the plumbing will

be hidden by the bed for the floor tile and the shelf in the vanity table

will hide anything else that protrudes.

The floor was also really out of level with the low point being right 

where the sink sits.  Before pouring a floor leveler, all the cracks around the edges 

of the subfloor and holes where pipes go in and out need to be filled with foam

insulation.  With even the tiniest hole or crack and the leveler will leak into the basement.

Here's Sam moving around the floor leveler just after pouring it.

I found this process really scary...but it all held.

While I think of it, three different inspectors had to come to sign off on the job.  

One for building, one for electric and one for plumbing.  When the plumbing

inspector came early on to see how the project was going, he asked for all

the approval codes for my plumbing fixtures.  Remember the toilet that I couldn't

get because it wasn't approved for use in Massachusetts?  I guess, every piece of

equipment sold goes through an approval process and has an approval code for the state.

The inspector was saying that a lot of people are buying things on the internet that

aren't approved for use in Massachusetts.  I was able to call the store I purchased

all the fixtures from to get the approval codes but it's just a warning about 

buying things on the internet if you're doing a project that's being inspected.

To abate any noise coming from the bathroom, we used green glue to apply

the sheetrock on the dining room side of the wall.  Once the inspections were

complete,  the walls were filled with denim insulation for additional insurance.

There's no telling how well it will work but I'll find out.

And then the walls were closed up.  Wonderboard around the tub and

moisture and mildew resistant sheetrock on the walls and ceiling.

The room was about three inches larger than a standard tub so instead

of making the room a little smaller, I opted to fill the space at the back

of the tub to make a little shelf.  It's small but I'll cap it with a slightly

larger piece of marble and it will be a great place for a few extra bottles

of shampoo and shower gel for guests.

The horizontal planking will be made from Southern yellow pine.

Sam made me a few samples of moisture resistent MDF with various sliplap joints

but they seemed too smooth.  So I opted to use pine so it's texture will show.

And that's where we are today.

* * * * *

Zephirine Drouhin rose, thornless and will tolerate some shade.

Rosalind, just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you.

I'm sending you some roses from my garden.  They're an old

bourbon rose and their scent is from heaven.