Thursday, November 22nd, 2007
The tile guy came over at 8AM this morning to finish up the tiling. All he had to do was the grout.
I must’ve gotten up about eight times last night for various reasons. I do this all the time when I am expecting someone to come over early in the morning. I heard a bump at about 6:30AM and I hopped out of bed. It wasn’t him, but I just stayed awake.
He did a really nice job. We both put the toilet back in (of which I bought the correct bolts). Then, after he left, I put the vanity back in and hooked up the plumbing.
All I have to do now is to hang the door moulding and installed the threshhold moulding on the floor in the doorway. It should look nice. After that, THE KITCHEN!!!
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Thursday, November 15th, 2007
If you starting seeing my hand in magazines, don’t be surprised. As you can see, my hand is model quality and I hope you appreciate it.
Back when I was taking up the tile in the bathroom, I noticed that the sub-floor to the side of the toilet was a little wet. I thought this could be caused by two things…the water that shoots out of the shower because of having a lousy shower curtain setup or from the toilet tank sweating. I have recently come to the conclusion that most of the moisture is coming from the shower, so when we put the tile in, I will make sure things are nice and caulked back there.
I did notice a small ring mark around the toilet tank feed pipe as well. This leads me to believe that during the summer, that pipe (and maybe the toilet tank) sweats due to the heat and humidity. There are a few ways one can deal with this type of issue. You can insulate the inside of the toilet tank, insulate the feed pipe, run hot water into the toilet or install a tempering valve. I think the best thing to do is to purchase a pre-insulated toilet tank and wrap some pipe insulation around the feed pipe. There are mixed views on the tempering valve.
Mr. Paul was kind enough to give me a tempering valve that he was not using. I think he said he changed the size of his piping, or something like that. That’s fine with me, because I wouldn’t mind giving the tempering valve route a try.
Some people have claimed that after installing a tempering valve, they didn’t notice any difference and their tank still sweat. I hear that more often than not and I think it is because of the length of pipe from the hot water heater and the toilet tank. By the time the warm water gets to the tank, it’s already full. What’s the way around that? I would guess it would be to hook the hot water up directly to the toilet tank. That way, when the toilet is flushed, the cold water in the pipe will partially fill the tank and then the rest will be filled by the hot water. I am not sure if I have ever heard of anyone recommending that, so don’t do it. Actually, you can do it and then leave a comment here letting us know how it worked out. Just don’t yell at me if it turns out bad.
When I get a chance, I am going to install the tempering valve. I think that having it is better than not and I also want to use my new torch again.
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Monday, November 5th, 2007
I just got back from Home Depot. I bought a “Super Ring” to place over the exisiting closet flange (part of the toilet drain pipe). I am not sure I needed this part, but I wanted to have it on hand, just in case I notice a problem when I remove/replace the toilet after the tiling is done. As I mentioned before, when I was unscrewing one of the mounting nuts, the bolt kept on turning. I am thinking that perhaps the closet flange is cracked in that area. Someone most likely tried to over-tighten the toilet mounting bolts.
Along with the “Super Ring,” I also bought some brass mounting bolts. It’s my understanding that the steel mounting bolts decay due to moisture and the brass ones don’t. In the package were traditional mounting bolts as well as bolts that have half machine threads and half wood threads. So basically, these are about 2 1/2 inch rods. I am still at a loss of why I can’t just drill holes through the floor and slide bolts right through the whole thing. I mean, everything is easily accessible down in the basement and there is just a piece of plywood between floors. This stuff isn’t rocket science.
I suppose I will just use the wood threads and tap into the plywood sub-floor. That is probably the easiest route.
It is becoming apparent to me that many things having to do with household repairs make no sense. People make products that are way too complicated for what needs to be done.
Oh, by the way, I also saw flexible sink drain hose. It just clamps on. Someone out there is thinking.
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Friday, November 2nd, 2007
Here is an exciting post. It’s about the new medicine chest and shower rod we bought last night.
We had to go down to Sam’s Club anyway, so we decided to hit Lowes first. We needed a few things, with the medicine chest being the most important. The shower rod and the little chrome thing that goes around the shower spout came in second and third.
Since we decided to stay with the white vanity, the shopping was easier. It’s much easier to match white than woodgrain. The only thing you have to keep your eye on is the bevel designs. Everything is so damn cheap anyway, I’m not sure it even matters.
So, here are some pics -
As you can see, we decided to keep the current lighting (it has a bulb out). I just unhooked it from the wall and cleaned it up a bit. Then, I reinstalled it slightly higher, to accomodate the longer medicine chest. I like this new chest because it is more “classic” than the old tri-pane one.
Here is the new shower rod. I know, how exciting can shower rods be? Well, when your old one tore the paint off the wall and fell down all the time, a new one can be kind of fun. This new one is nice and heavy and screwed into the wall.
In other news, I ran down to the tile place in town again today and picked out the tile. We ordered it. They are going to give me a call with the availability for installation. I met the owner…he is a nice guy. I am glad I decided not to “Home Depot” this job.
I also ran over to the hardware store and picked up one of those big wax sealer things for the toilet. We need to temporarily remove it for the tile installation. The tile dude told me to get the biggest one I can find, to accomodate the new height of the floor.
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