Fixing up the house

Alright, now the entire room is ready to be transformed. If you’re keeping the original tub then you have less work to do. Maybe you’re thinking of tiles or a tub surround (unless you have one of those one or two piece fiberglass tub/shower units) to change the looks of the tub/shower area. We can work with anything here.

Now is where the creativity begins. Take a look at your plans for the room and decide where you want to start. With just a light remodel you will have a toilet and vanity/sink combo to change and with complete gut and replace everything you will have a good amount of work on your hands.

With this article I’m going all the way for the gut and replace. I will also have details for the light remodel but I want to cover the complete picture so as not to leave anyone out.

I’ve told you how to remove all of the items in the room except the cabinets on the wall. Maybe a built in medicine cabinet or a wall mount one with a mirror on it. These generally are removable with screws. Be cautious that you don’t pull out the last screw with nothing holding up the cabinet. When they fall they don’t do well. There are also towel racks to remove. Most of these have a little screw under the bottom edge of the wall ring that holds them to a bracket. No need to pull the screw all the way out. Just a little ways to get the plate off the bracket.

Ok, here we go. To gut the whole place you will have to remove all of the drywall/plaster and discard it. No sense in reusing drywall if you are gutting a room. once you have all of the drywall pried off the wall you pull out all of the screws and or nails and get clean studs. The outside wall needs to have insulation when you put the new drywall on. So if there is none there now plan on getting some.

This is the perfect time to add new outlets, move plumbing or move a wall. You can make a raised deck if you have the room and you can install a sky lite. Maybe a new quieter and more powerful exhaust fan and/or recessed lighting. It’s your call.

If you are thinking of moving plumbing and not sure if you can do the work then hire a plumber to come move it for you. That way it will be done correctly. You aren’t looking for a complete re plumb of the house so you shouldn’t have to pay a huge price. A true plumber will be fair and get the work done fast and to code.

You can do the same with electrical or just get one of those electrical books from the library and do it yourself. This is not a good platform for me to go into how to wire and how to plumb. There are many books available for that.

Now when everything is where you want it it’s time to start putting the drywall on. This is not a hard task to perform. It is awkward and a little heavy and you may want to have someone else do it for you. This is fine and I would hire a drywall company to hang and tape it to paint ready. This will be the easiest way by far but if you are ready to tackle it yourself then I’ll walk you through it.

First thing is the ceiling, otherwise known as the “lid” in drywall terms. Get a friend or two and keep the beer away from them till the drywall is up. This way you will get a better product with less damage of the drywall. In the ceiling there are going to be cutouts for the lighting and ventilation. The easiest way to make these holes is with a drywall saw. You will need to locate the spot on the drywall for the hole before you hang it on the ceiling. This takes two measurements, one from the side and one from the end. The drywall is designed to run across the ceiling joists not with them for it’s best strength. Now get your measurement from the end and make a pencil mark on the drywall. Then take the other one from the side. If it is the light box then the measurements are of the center and if the exhaust fan then you will get each side. A drywall T-square is handy here.

Once the drywall is marked out with the holes try to visualize if you grabbed the sheet and rolled it upside down over your head if the holes will be on the correct spots. If it seems backwards then the measurements could be from the wrong side on the sheet. When you are satisfied they are in the right places it is time to saw the holes out. The round hole for the light box needs to be cut out round and close to the size of the box so you don’t have to fix it with taping. So just big enough to slip over the box edge and same with the fan box. Now get the sheet lifted up and screw or nail it into place. You will need screws at each point available around the perimeter and then along each ceiling joist in the middle you will need at least 3 screws evenly spaced across the sheet. This will make a permanent application.

Now it is time for the next sheet. Follow the same steps as before and take all of the side measurements from the side of the drywall you just hung till you have covered the whole ceiling.

Now comes the walls. There are three way to hang the walls. You can stand the sheets up from the floor to the ceiling or you hang from side to side which is the professional way. There are two ways to hang from side to side. One way is to hang the top sheet first and then the bottom and the other way is hand the bottom first and stack the top on it. When you pick out the way you like you will be ready to get started.

Let’s say you will be stacking with the bottom first. Measure the length of the wall. If the wall is longer than the drywall then measure to the nearest length but not longer and you will cut the sheet to the middle of the stud. If there are holes to be made in the sheet then the same methods as before should be used. This time you will measure from the floor up and from one of the sides. Tackle the water wall first to get it out of the way. Once that is done you should be able to tackle the rest of the room from what you have learned so far.

See you on the next post. Where I will go over the taping of the drywall you just hung.

For a comprehensive guide to bathroom remodeling

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I got very busy the last couple months and haven’t had much time for posting here. But I am back now and here we go. The last thing we were on was the taping of the drywall in the bathroom. If you have already done taping in the past you have a good idea of the basics for doing a good job.

The desired result you are looking for is not being able to see where the taping joints are and a smooth wall. The wall can be textured any way you prefer or it can be left smooth. Smooth wall finish is the most work of all the ways to finish. First thing is to get all of the tools you will need together. Also you are going to need taping compound, enough drywall tape to cover the seams in the whole room, corner metal for any outside corners and some method of getting up to the ceiling and high seams (ladder, bench or plank across buckets). You will also need a few different taping knives, such as a 4″, 6″, 8″, 10″ and a 12″ should be enough for the job. Also a inside corner knife would make the corner taping easier. A mud tray for holding the joint compound, sanding pole and strips of sand paper that are made to fit it. 100 grit paper for the rough sanding and then the 150 grit for the finish sanding.

Now you should be ready to go. Make sure there is nothing in the room that doesn’t need to be there so you are free to move around without having to look for obstacles on every step. Using the 4″ knife you will scoop a portion of mud (joint compound) and you spread a thin layer on each side of the seam you are going to cover. The mud goes on the wall first and then the tape is placed over it. Then you take the 4″ knife and pressing firmly on top of the tape you drag the knife across the tape to push the excess mud from underneath the tape, this is called “wiping”. If you use too much mud it will fall out and splatter on the floor as you go. So try to be a bit sparing as you go to avoid a huge mess but you also have to make sure there are no air pockets under the tape. Play around with the amount you put on to see what works best for you. This is where a second person can be of help. You place the mud and tape and they help you hold up the tape for long lengths. When you are doing an inside corner you will use the corner knife to wipe the mud from the taped seam and this will give you a nice clean corner. When you are wiping the tape it is a good idea to carry the mud tray so you can put the excess mud in it as you go. Wipe a foot or two and then clean the knife on the edge of the tray so the mud goes back in the tray.

Any mud you put on the seams needs to be wiped down before you take any breaks. If it hardens in lumps on the wall it is more work than you want to get it off. Likewise with the mud tray. If you are going to take a break then take a wet rag and lay it over the mud tray and scrape the knife off so it is clean. Then take your break. After you have taped every seam in the room and wiped every seam so there is no excess mud on the walls and ceiling it is time to let it dry completely.

What I have found over the years is best for me is to make sure I have no large amounts of mud left on any part of the job. This will pay off in the end as you will have far less sanding to do. I really dislike too much sanding.

Now when the first layer is dry it is time to apply a first coat over all of the seams. This is done with the 6″ knife so you are spreading out wider than the 4″ you did in the beginning. Make as smooth a coat as you can and try to keep the edges tapered as thin as possible. This will pay off in the next step by cutting down on the sanding. Once every seam now has a second coat and there are no excess lumps of mud it is time to clean the tools and tray. The unused mud can be returned to the bucket to be kept from drying out and can be used again later. Get all of the tools cleaned of all the mud and then get them dry.

If they are not stainless steel they will get a fine layer of rust and this will get on your taping job and look ugly. Of course it wont hurt anything but I personally don’t like my good work looking dirty.

Now when the joints are dry again it is time to put on another thin coat and to make it wider than the last one. You are getting close to finishing. When the third coat is all dry you will sand it all smooth and look for imperfections like lines and gouges or dimples. Fill these and let them dry then a light sanding again. Look for the imperfections again and when you are satisfied that you did a good job it is time to paint on the primer. Once the primer is on and dried look the job over again to see if there were any missed imperfections that show up nicely when the primer is there. If you find any then take some mud and fill them and let them dry.

Now smooth the repairs out if there are any and it is time for the texture. Texturing is not a difficult job but it does need you to pay attention to what area you have sprayed and to keep the spraying as even as possible. You can rent a texture hopper and air pump to do the job with If you don’t own a hopper and a compressor or have access to them then rental is the best way. If you don’t intend to do more texturing then don’t go and buy any equipment.

Try to spray as evenly as you can so when the paint is on the whole wall and ceiling are uniform. Try to stand back as far as you can from the wall so you can have better control of the amount of texture you get on the wall. Remember that texture sprayed on too heavily will run just like paint and the only way to fix it is to scrap it off the wall and spray again. The best way I have found to mix texture is to use the taping compound and mix more water in to it. This will thin it out so it can be sprayed easily. you need it like thick pea soup, not runny but it will slump when scooped in a pile. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

For a comprehensive guide to bathroom remodeling

Cheers for now

Glenn

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