Thursday, May 2, 2013

RENOVATION IS IN FULL SWING

Week of April 29 – RV makes for good replacement bathroom during construction! With Paul remodeling the bathroom we need a place to take our showers. The 5th wheel fits the bill to a tee.

We are doing the remodel in a couple stages so we are not entirely without use of the toilet and sink. As a matter of fact, we are moving the toilet location so the new toilet will be installed before the old one is removed.....that's a relief.

Before the remodeling.
bathroom

So with the bathroom facilities covered, Paul began removing the handicap shower. He first shut off the water to the control valve, cut the supply lines, removed the drain lines, and began tearing down the walls. He will be removing everything back to the stud walls.

The handicap shower was installed by a local bathroom remodeling company and it looked quite nice with a professional looking finish. Underneath the finish, Paul did not find any glaring examples of poor workmanship. All-in-all it was a pretty good remodeling job.

removing wall

removing floor of shower

One thing he did find that was disappointing was no insulation in the walls. He'll take care of that before drywalling. They did install a vapor barrier but it would have made sense to install insulation in this cold climate.

With everything stripped down to the bare studs (boy, the room sure looks bigger!), Paul patched the floor, screwed the floor to the joists to eliminate some squeaks, checked everything for plumb and level, and began framing the walls for the bathtub surround.

shower removed

Paul only has to build two walls for the bathtub but they must be plumb and meet the requirements illustrated in the installation manual. Not much room for an error in this construction project.

building wall

Once the framing was complete, Paul tackled the copper supply lines and the waste lines. Again, this must be installed to the exact requirements of the installation manual. Nothing too tricky here but it's been awhile since Paul did any copper line installation.

Paul then insulated the wall behind the tub/shower for some soundproofing benefits since the back wall of the bathroom is a common wall with the living room. Should help keep it warm in the bathroom too.

insulation

While Paul is busy inside, Marsha is busy outside. She cleaned 3,737 pine needles. Now, multiple that by 3 and she now has 11,211 needles to add to her collection. She is going to dye the majority of them.

marsha cleaning pine needles

This is what 11,211 needles look like.
11,211 needles

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!