Why Aren't You Doing The Plumbing, Too?

Last night, Ariane asked me "So why don't you feel like you can do the plumbing, too?"  She said that with every other aspect of the bathroom remodel, whatever I didn't know, I just learned how to do it and went along my merry way.  If I couldn't figure something out, I'd research it until I felt comfortable and then I'd move forward with it.  I'd even planned to hire an electrician but after some coercion from friends, I've decided to take that on as well.  I've even decided that I can replace the main breaker box!

So why is it that I still feel like I can't do the plumbing?   My response was this: electrical is like math.  There is one answer.  It's either right, or it's wrong.  Plumbing is more like poetry explication to me.  It seems like there are about 1000 ways to screw it up and have a different answer or way of doing things with it!  Even if it seems right to you and actually works well, in 5-10 years when there's a leak, you know that it actually wasn't 100% right. 

New electrical panel

But electricity doesn't do that, really.  If it's done right, it'll spark or short or trip immediately when you turn on the power.  Oh yeah -- it'll let you know if you did it wrong. Then you can do it again until you get it right! 

With plumbing, you could solder some copper on and think you covered it all when in fact you missed a tiny little spot on the underside of that union.  It's fine for awhile, but when the pressure starts really flowing ... it's gonna leak.  Slowly, slowly, slowly ... until you notice a bulge in the ceiling below!  Yuck.

That's why I feel OK with hiring and paying a qualified, experienced plumber to do his work.  He knows what he's doing and he knows that he has to do it right.  As long as the plumber is an honest, hard-working person, then he's good.  Sure there are worthless "plumbers" who want to charge you $60 to push the button on the pilot light, but we don't have to hire them. 

I'll gladly pay someone to just explain that poem to me.  Yuck.

Lots of movement ...

Since the window, there has been some good progress.  First and foremost, we got our tub!  We were really excited and surprised when it showed up on our doorstep.  I was about to go downstairs to start working (from home) and Ariane was about to leave for work when the doorbell rang.  I, of course, thought 'WTF' and opened it to see a delivery guy and a Ferguson truck outside.  He said he had a bathtub delivery!  I was surprised because I had planned to pick it up from Aurora that evening and didn't expect a delivery at all ... Ferguson was just being nice!

So, the guy helped me carry it upstairs and put it in the bedroom -- and it looks great!  It'd probably look better in its final resting place, but it is still a nice big tub!  Ariane especially likes it and that's what's important here, right?

Here's some pics of the new plumbing job.  After watching a very experienced plumber spend all day doing this, I am pretty glad I had someone else do it!

Before:

Old heater.	Old shower drain.
Old stupid vent pipe.	Capped off shower lines.
Vanity wall.	Shower view.

That same day, the plumber was coming to move all the plumbing for the vanity and bathtub.  He arrived at about 9:30 and didn't leave until about 6 so you can imagine the cost.  However, everything is just about ready for the tub and THAT is great!   The only thing left to do before installing the tub is to have the city do an underground plumbing inspection (under-floor) and for me to add some plywood to the floor under the tub.  That plywood should add about 1.5" which will allow for the drain to go over the floor joist to connect to the overflow instead of run right into it, which wouldn't work.

After:

SO glad I didn't have to do this part.  Ugh.

New Window!

Last weekend, John and I put in a new window!  Since the bathroom is still pretty small, the thinking was that ANY light is a good thing. The new window definitely proves that to be true!

I spent a good amount of time trying to find a small window that would look good and fit the space that we had, but couldn't find anything.  Several trips to Home Depot, looking all around online, and even a trip to the local ReStore were unsuccessful.  I talked with Home Depot about ordering a window for the space, but it would take a few weeks and cost about $150 for just the window.

Finally, Ariane and I decided that a fixed window we found at Home Depot would work just fine.  The window was 31" x 19", already frosted, and low-E.  AND, it was only $57!  Deal!  It was so cheap because someone had ordered it months ago but decided they didn't want it. 

When John came over to help he explained that I should probably use the full 2"x10" header.  That required another trip to Home Depot but was definitely worth it.  The framing looked a lot better and I'm sure the inspector will like it:

We cut the hole in the side of the wall with the reciprocating saw, then John went out and cut the siding off using the circular saw.  After some adjustments, we put the window in.  He screwed it in, put the flashing up, and put the siding and trim up around it.  On the inside, I wasted about an hour putting in then trying to take out a shim that I had slammed in there!  Good job, John.

Ariane was kind enough to take a bunch of pics of the window in the morning with the sun shining through.  It's awesome. Take a look at that light!

Bagster is pretty cool

Prior to starting the remodel, I was thinking in my head 'what to do with all the crap?'  However, I must have seen one of these Bagster things from Waste Management somewhere - either on TV or in front of someone's house - and put it in the back of my mind.

One nice lil' Saturday at Home Depot, I picked one up for $29.99, still unsure of it's AWESOME POTENTIAL.

Sunday Demo

I think it's full.

More demo in the bathroom today.  This morning, I thought I would start in the bathroom by trying to clean up a bit.  I tried ... but it's hard!  I vacummed a little bit and tried to make some piles of drywall and dust, but gave up quick enough.  It's really gonna be a pain when I decide that it HAS to all be cleaned up!

The grandparents came over today and helped, which was great!  Grandma with the little one, and Big John helped in the bathroom.

DEMOLITION MAN

Well. Today was one helluva day.

Great movie.  Great.

Our little boy has been sick, and he definitely woke up this morning feeling bad. Unfortunately, Ariane also had a stomach bug today and felt like crapola too! And since I started filling up the Bagster bag-dumpster thing last week, it's been just sitting out there since then. Doesn't look great for the house next door that will be on the market soon!

So that meant that I had to continue demo today. Luckily Ariane and the boy were able to take it easy and avoid most of the racket I was making!