Bedroom Update

Before moving in to the master bedroom I wanted to update it so we wouldn't have to move out of it again later. This meant updating the trim, doors, paint, and fixtures. I started by painting a corner of the room with some sample colors from Sherwin Williams.

Poised taupe and linen.

With the colors agreed upon I started to remove all of the moulding. This meant pulling the baseboard, shoe moulding, door trim, and window trim. We'll be putting up a new trim that will have a more detailed profile than the simple curved design that was installed. By removing the moulding before painting I won't have to be as precise when I cover the walls since the trim will cover and bad lines around the windows and doors and floor. We will be changing out the ceiling fan as well so I will be painting the ceiling later, too.

Bare window. 

Door trim gone, baseboard is next.

I just started removing moulding in a corner and worked my way around the room, working on the windows as I got to them. The work went quickly but now I'm left with a lot of trim full of nails that is stacked in the basement. I'll address that later since my workshop isn't put together yet and I will have to chop that debris up and bend in all the nails before discarding. I started putting up the trim I built from flat stock I picked up at Lowe's. Some 1x2 and 1x3 lumber is all it took.

Removed moulding.

New moulding style.

The new moulding is a craftsman style and will be painted white when it is all installed. I also caulked any gaps and where the moulding met the wall giving a nice clean finish.

Painted and caulked.

As part of this update I also changed all of the almond colored outlets and switches to white which helps clean up the look of the room and makes it all match. The doors are still the hollow core oak but will be replaced with white three panel doors in the future. Despite the darker accent wall, the overall look is much brighter than it was before we moved in. The refinished floors certain help and are a welcome change from the dark maroon carpets that were there.

Proper Poopers

One of the things that has bothered me since we got the house has been the very old toilets that don't quite flush right. They are also quite low for someone of my height so I wanted to upgrade them. The one in the lower bath also had a crack in the wooden seat and this finally gave way during our holiday party. The seat split totally in half and I decided it was time to just swap out both commodes. The downstairs bath was much easier than the upstairs and you'll see why below. But let's start with the simpler replacement first. It starts by turning of the supply and draining the tank and bowl then removing the supply connection and closet bolts holding the bowl to the floor.

The original pooper with tank top removed.

Using a small putty knife I removed the old wax ring from the closet flange and removed the old closet bolts. I also scraped off the caulking that was around the base of the old toilet. Then I installed the new bolts and applied the new wax ring to the bottom of the new bowl. When installing the new bowl you need to set it down flat using even pressure to ensure the wax ring makes a proper seal. Align the closet bolts and set the bowl down over the flange. Using the provided washers and nuts I tightened down the bowl snugly but not too tight as the porcelain can easily crack. Then it was just a matter of attaching the tank and new supply and filling it up.

New toilet installed.

The upstairs toilet wasn't quite so straightforward. Unfortunately the base of the new toilet is much larger which interfered with the existing supply line that come up through the floor. So in order to install the new toilet I had to move the supply line and I started by using my oscillating tool to cut the floor open. There were several layers to cut through: top vinyl, 1/4" plywood, more vinyl, 3/4" plywood, and then the 2x6 flooring over the joists.

Notice the supply location and starting cutout.

More flooring removed down to the 2x6 base layer.

After removing all of the flooring I cut the pipe below the floor and removed the above floor portion. I dry fit a length of pipe with a straight joint to get the length I need the supply moved over. I also capped a straight bit of pipe and attached an elbow for that will turn the pipe to come above the floor. This section I soldered separately since the elbow is very close to a joist in the floor and I wouldn't have enough room to solder when in the joist cavity. The only joint I needed to solder in the floor was the straight joint and I used a piece of fire cloth to protect the wood in the floor from catching fire from the plumber's torch.

Moved supply.

After all of the connections were made I turned the water back on to test the joints and everything held strong. I then proceeded to rebuild the floor back to the height of the rest of the bathroom with the pieces I removed. I bored a new hole for the moved supply line with a 3/4" paddle bit in my drill. I fastened the flooring down with some 1 5/8" screws. After the flooring was put back in place I turned the water back off so I could install the new valve for the supply line. I used a compression fitting so I wouldn't have to solder any more.

Flooring replaced.

I didn't bother gluing down the vinyl since we will replace all of the flooring when the bathroom remodel happens. The toilet covers most of the cuts anyway so nobody will really notice it.

Installed.

After all that was done I could actually install the toilet like I did downstairs. This went very smoothly from this point forward and only took a few minutes to do. If you don't have to move a water line, a toilet upgrade is actually very simple.

New Laundry Supplies

More plumbing work this time as the supply shutoffs for the washing machine were leaking just a bit. I noticed a bit of dampness behind the washer, on the new concrete around the edge of the basement slab. The cold supply was slowly dripping water and the fittings looked rather corroded so I decided to swap out both faucets with new fixtures.

Old leaky.

New shutoffs.

I started by cutting off the old fittings with a pipe cutter after turning off the water and draining the lines. Then, using a wire brush, cleaned the outside of the pipe and inside of the new fitting. This helps prepare both surfaces for bonding and removes any debris that may weaken the joint.

Neat tool for cleaning pipe.

After applying flux I heated the fittings with the torch to solder the connections. I made sure to keep the valves open while I did this so I would lessen the chance of melting the rubber gasket that is inside. After soldering I poured water over the brass fittings to cool them enough so I could close the faucets without that rubber gasket melting.

Fluxed the outside of the pipe and inside of the fitting.

Soldered on.

Steel braided supply lines attached.

I took this opportunity to upgrade the supply lines to steel braided hose instead of the regular rubber hoses. This should help them last longer as they won't dry out and crack over time. The only thing I think I would have done differently here is to put in some elbows like the original fittings had to bring the rear shutoff away from the wall to make it easier to use. It is fine as it is though since I don't expect to have to shut off the washing machine all that often.

A New Sump Pump

When we had the house inspected we found that there are high levels of radon in the basement. In order to have a mitigation system installed we needed to replace the pedestal style sump pump with a submersible so the crock could be properly sealed. My colleague recently replaced his and recommended a combination sump pump with a back up. This will be great for if the power goes out and gives us peace of mind when we travel. The installation started with removal of the old unit.

The old pedestal style.

Removed from the crock.

The new pump is a submersible style with a built in battery backup unit attached. It came preassembled with a wye and check valves. It was very nearly a drop in replacement.

New combo unit.

The only modifications I had to make were to extend the outlet pipe by coupling a new section of PVC onto the existing pipe to add about 10" to the reach. PVC is easy to work with and is cut easily with a hacksaw. I joined the pieces with PVC glue after first cleaning the parts with the purple cleaning solvent.

Modified outlet pipe.

Before dropping the pump into the crock I cleaned its new home out with the shop vac and a shovel. There was a lot of dirt, stones, and broken concrete in the pit, some of which had been there for a while and some of which was from the drain tile work we had done several weeks ago. So that the pumps would sit level and not get clogged or damaged, all of that material had to come out. Several buckets of mud later and the pit was cleared.

New pump in place.

And covered!

The sump pump even allows me to close up the concrete covers, at least until the radon mitigation system is installed. I poured several gallons of water into the crock to to test the new pump and it works great. It is even quieter than the old one, not that we could even hear that one. I still have to order a deep cycle battery for the backup pump but that will drop in to the included charging case easily and isn't needed before the radon system installation.

Drain Tile and New Floors

When we bought the new house we knew that drain tile and some beams were needed in the basement. Thankfully with the split level design of the building the basement is smaller than what you would find on a ranch home. This helped to reduce costs for the work.

We got several estimates and had the work done over the course of 4 days. Siri and I took turn working from home while the crew was there and I tried to concentrate on the first day as they jack hammered the slab and drilled weep holes. The work was loud and dusty but they got most of it done in one day. They also tuck pointed the cracks in the west wall and excavated the old drains. The next day the beams went in with the new drain tile. They also poured the new concrete which they let harden the next day before they finished their work. The cat took it upon himself to step in the soft concrete so now there are kitty prints in the basement in several locations.

The basement work finished on Thursday and we next had the wood floors refinished on Friday. When we were looking at the house I noted that the upstairs closets all had oak floors but the bedrooms, hallway, and stairs were carpeted. I pulled up corners of carpet in each area and found they all had white oak floors underneath. Why people cover wood with carpeting still confuses me.

Such beautiful carpet. Bless the 70s.

The small bedroom was beige.

The second bedroom was blue/white.

And the master was a glorious red.

Wood in the closets was a good sign.

Siri and I spent many evenings after work pulling up carpet and pad and then removing the hundreds of staples, tack strips, and nails. There was a lot of mud under the carpet pad which made for dirty work as I removed it. The tack strips were a pain to remove but a small pry bar helped a lot. I had to be careful so as to not damage the wood floors.

Mud under the pad. 

All the staples, pad, and tack strips gone.

After a good mopping.

The stairs had hundreds of staples.

The floor crew was able to get the job done in one day as we only had about 580 square feet of space to do. They did note that they didn't find any staples as they worked which was a good sign. We had to let the top coat dry for a day before walking on it and longer before moving furniture. I didn't move the bed upstairs until the following Monday just to make sure the floor was ready.

Sanding in progress.

All cleaned up!

The cleaned up floors really open up the bedrooms and lighten the entire upper floor which is great since the windows are a bit small and don't receive much natural light. The sanding process did produce a bit of dust even though the equipment was attached to a good vacuum unit so we had some dusting and vacuuming to do after they left. I made a temporary wall of wrapping paper to keep the animals off the floor while it dried so when it was done we opened it up like a Christmas present. New floors, Santa knew just what I wanted!

New House, New Problems, More Explosions (Almost)

Siri and I finally found our new place and moved in the other weekend. Immediately we smelled a bit of gas in the kitchen so I turned off the valve for ancient stove that is there. This thing is from the 60s or so and is in fairly good shape.

The dated stove.

After we finished moving everything in on the following Sunday we still smelled a bit of gas. As this was an old valve like we had in the St. Francis house I figured it was probably leaking around the threads. So we went to Lowe's to pick up a few things including a new valve and flex line for connecting the stove. When I moved the stove out to get better access to the valve and flex line the hose broke off from the valve and I heard gas coming out of the shut valve. I ran outside with my biggest pliers and shut off gas to the house.

Moving the stove out. 

Flex line broke off.

After ventilating the area for a while I returned to work on it and removed the old valve and flex line. I used the yellow thread tape for gas lines and attached the new valve. I also attached the new flex line but found that the stove has larger fittings than what is standard today. A return trip to the store and a bunch of testing connections in the plumbing aisle later I found the adapter I needed. This was fit to the stove near the back left burner where the supply is connected.

Old valve and hose.

A new valve for fewer explosions.

Adapter for connecting the supply line.

New flex supply connected.

After all this was done I turned on the new valve and tested all of the connections with soapy water. No bubbles meant that the connections were sealed and I could use the stove again...or maybe not. Being an older stove I didn't realize that I needed to relight the pilot lights for the burners. I lit the pilots and burners with a lighter and everything seemed okay at first. After turning off all the burners the back left one wouldn't relight. After letting it set for a while I smelled gas again. So I shut my fancy new valve and we haven't been able to use the stove since but we also haven't smelled gas at all and we haven't exploded. We've been shopping for new appliances now so that we can actually cook a meal in something other than our rice cooker and Crock Pot.

A Very Busy Weekend

This weekend was quite busy and allowed me to check several items off of my home repairs TODO list. With the nice weather on Saturday I did some work outside on the garage. The brickmold around the door has been rotted and was falling out over winter. I had initially only wanted to replace the brickmold but ended up replacing the jamb and door stop.

New vinyl.

The new jamb and weatherstop.

Attached with finish nails.

All of the old material removed.

I also managed to complete a few smaller projects indoors. Since painting the main bathroom I noticed the grout and caulk needed attention. I used a grout cleaner and a scrub brush to whiten up the grout lines in the shower surround. I also took a razor scraper to the caulking around the tub and did my best to replace it with a new bead. It was a bit messy but I'm glad mineral spirits cleans it up well enough!

Cleaning the old caulking out.

Cleaning all of the mold out.

Scraping it all is hard work.

And messy.

This was under the window and caused leaking into the wall and basement. I have plans for this later.

New caulking.

Sealed up for now. Tiles later.

The main bath is nearly complete but I still have one project left for it. Since the thinset behind the wall tiles where it meets the sill is cracked and probably causing water damage I want to put some new tile to seal it properly. I found a matching bullnose tile and will have to find a few days for installation as the adhesive and grout will need that much time to set before coming into contact with water on a daily basis.

I next tackled a small job in the kitchen. Since installing the cabinets some time ago there's been a small gap around where it meets the uneven plaster of the old walls. In order to cover this I picked up some quarter round moulding a while back from HOBO. I installed this around the cabinets with a few finish nails.

A small gap around the cabinets.

Nicely finished.

Also in the kitchen there was a broken up seam in the vinyl floor and several other seams with accumulated dirt on the glue surrounding floor. The dirty glue was easily cleaned up with mineral spirits but I had to be careful not to use too much so as to avoid ruining the glue holding the floor down. The broken seam was simply covered with a flat surface transition strip.

It matches the transition strips on the stairs.

Lastly, we painted the upstairs bathroom an interested hue of pink that Siri had chosen. It took a few coats since it is such a light color and was covering the darker tan that was all over. I also had to patch a few holes and place new anchors for the fixtures since most of the existing ones had been pulled loose by the previous residents.

Quaint peche, an interesting color.

With some more fair weather in forecast I plan to do a bit more work outside. I have the front stairs to repair and some painting to do on the hand rails. A couple of the window sills outside also need a bit of repair as the stone had broken up and is very weathered.