Fixing up the house

Now that the toilet has been loosened and you are ready to take it out you need to know that there is a wax ring at the bottom of it that makes the seal to the plumbing and it sticks down under the toilet. This will need to be covered with plastic (like one of those grocery bags) or paper or removed so it wont make a mess if you set it down on the floor. I don’t think you are going to want to clean the wax off the floor.

Maybe you should get some help carrying the toilet out of the house. They are very awkward to carry alone. Now plug the hole in the floor so you don’t have to smell the sewer gases while you take the vanity apart. You can stuff an old rag in the hole or there are plastic plugs you can get from the hardware store that are made just for the floor flange.

If you have an old house that has the lead toilet plumbing you will need to upgrade this. I have gone and purchased a new flange that will slip down into the lead and then sealed it between the flange and the lead with the wax ring and then screwed the new flange to the floor. Use a new wax ring for this. The one that is just wax with no plastic in it. This is a little messy but it makes a seal that will last as long as the plumbing will.

If you can get to the main drain from under the toilet without tearing out your ceiling then it is better to change the lead to ABS and glue it together. You can get rubber grommets that hook the ABS to the cast iron sewer pipe and make a very tight seal.

Now back to the vanity. You should have the water supply lines disconnected now but if not go ahead and remove them. (turn off the valves so you don’t get a shower under the sink. Usually a clockwise rotation to turn them off.)

Remove the drain P-trap. Now it is time to get the top off the vanity. You will have a few different possible ways to get the sink off. If it is a one piece top with molded sink then it will be glued somehow to the vanity so you will need a putty knife to wedge under the top between the vanity and top to get it cut loose. If the screws holding the vanity to the wall can be accessed when the top is in place and you can get them out then the top can just remain on the vanity and the screws removed and the vanity carried away complete.

The other way of getting the sink off is a drop in sink that is simply glued with adhesive caulk to the top. Once again the putty knife comes into play and you wedge it under the sink edge and cut it loose. (Caution here, if you are reusing the sink be careful and gentle when cutting it loose so you don’t chip the edge and make it ugly.)

Now the counter top pulled loose and the screws or nails that hold the vanity to the wall are removed and the vanity carried out.

Now you should be down to the bathtub on a simple bathroom.

You will have already made the decision on whether or not to keep the tub. If you are keeping it then maybe you want to cover it up to protect it. You can purchase a thin plastic tub liner-protector from the Home Depot or Lowes that will work great. They are cheap and worth it.

For a comprehensive guide to bathroom remodeling

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Many a home owner can save tons of money by doing the work themselves. All they need is a little guidance in the right areas.

Maybe you have a  sagging floor for instance. You might look at the floor as a fixed immovable object but in reality it is generally suspended in the air atop posts and beams.

If you floor is a concrete floor this post can’t help you. This is for suspended wooden floors.

Under the floor is either a crawl space or maybe a basement and you would need to determine where the floor is sunken to be able to find the support member that needs to be repaired. This is pretty easy to do with a level.

Go to the room that has the most noticeable lean in the floor and lay the level on it to see which direction the floor falls. You will need to lay the level all around the room and in different directions to find the lowest point. You may find the lowest point is in a different room or on an outside wall but it is pointing to where the repair needs to take place.

Some reasons for sinking are rotted wooden members that support the floor, the concrete or stone pier has sunken into soft earth possibly from having the soil under the pier being disturbed during excavation and not getting it compacted before placing the pier or there was a shift in the earth below and it cause an area of the house to sink.

These things can all be fixed rather easily.

The main tools and supplies you will need are;

* 25 ton or bigger jacks (you should have two of them. You can get away with 12 ton jacks but it is harder to pump them.) Or house screw jacks.
* Pressure treated lumber for new posts like 4X4 or 4X6 to go under the beam and down to the concrete pier.
* Some 2X4 pieces to nail the posts to the beams when done or metal straps if you like.
* A hammer,
* A sledge hammer,
* 4 two foot pieces of 2X6
* 2 pieces of 1′X1′ 3/4″ plywood for the jacks to stand on.
* A good 4′ or longer level
* clean plastic sheet to lay on under the house

Now it’s time to get to work. You’ll want to be close to the post when you jack up the beam. That way you are only lifting the low end of the beam and not trying to lift the whole beam from the middle.

Generally two beams meet over a post and you will need two jacks to safely lift each beams weight off of the post. Once. To place the jacks properly you first lay down the 2X6 pieces side by side (2 of them) and then you lay the 3/4″ plywood on top of  them in the middle then the jack goes on top of that. This gives you a nice big footing to lift from. Make sure the platform you build is level. The jack has to be pointing straight up and down to work safely.

You don’t want a leaning jack with a bunch of house weight sitting on it and it decides to fall over. Work safe and you will have a good time fixing the sunken floor.

Now begin lifting the beam or beams up If two beam ends are being lifted they need to go up at the same rate and height. Now go and check the floor periodically to make sure you are getting it level. You may hear some loud popping and creaking sounds. This is natural so don’t be alarmed.

If you have to lift the floor up more than 1/2 to 1″ you may get some cracks in the walls and they are just cosmetic so they can be patched without too much difficulty. Doors may also not fit their openings if you had to lift a wall with a doorway in it.

When you have the floor level again give it a pump or two more on the jack and cut yourself a new post to fit the new gap from the beam to the concrete pier. You’ll want to place a piece of tar paper on top of the concrete pier and then the new post on top of the tar paper so the wood cannot touch the concrete. This will prevent the wood from rotting due to moisture that wicks up through the concrete. Even though the wood is pressure treated it can and will still rot.

If there are two beams make sure the joint lands in the center of the new post and then lower the beams to the post. After you verify that the floor is still level when you lower the beam back onto the post then take the 2X4 pieces and lay them against the beam sides and down each side of the post and nail them together. You could also use metal plates for gang nailing.

That completes the leveling. You are now experienced in floor leveling.

If you are lifting beams in a basement you would use pole jacks for safety and ease of use. You still want to build the wooden base for the jacks to stand on so you don’t take a chance of cracking the concrete floor.

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