Stage 3.7 The Bathroom and Hallway

After getting the kitchen basically finished, I was ready for a major break from the construction, but of course, that wasn't to be.  My brother Rick and his family were on their way Friday night with their Daughter-in-Law and and grand baby.  It was going to be a couple of very long nights again...oh joy!

It was pretty quick to get the old flooring pulled up. I first had to remove the engineered hardwood that was remaining from the original flooring that was damaged in the great flood.  That came up pretty easy once I pulled the pedestal sink and the toilet (oh how I love a good toilet pulling!).  The linoleum that was still under the engineered hardwood came out next.  I love the way they install it these days with only perimeter gluing.  That makes pulling it out so much easier.  I put the toilet into the front dining room on the carpet.  I know what you are thinking..."why in the world would you put a toilet in the front room?  It will ruin the carpet".  Now I can understand your concern, but keep in mind the carpet is being yanked out as well to receive hardwood and the extra seating in the dining room is always nice (that will sink in).

 

The next chore was to start installing the hardwood. This was a small area compared to the kitchen and family room, but it turns out that putting flooring in a hallway and into an adjoining room is quite difficult with all of the doorways cuts and cuts along the walls.  You see when you starting installing the flooring you have to cut around each door opening with a piece.  Then you have to continue to floor into the bathroom and then install flooring behind the course you are on to fill in the gap between the piece that was fitted into the doorway and the wall.  That required ensuring that everything was perfectly straight and ripping down a set of boards to the width of the gap, which in this case was almost exactly 2 inches.  Those pieces then need to be fit,  but not secured before you continue the course at the doorway.  Once the doorway course is in straight, you then ensure that ripped down coarse fits into the groove correctly and secure both courses before continuing on.  Then on the other wall you have to rip down boards to fit the margin left from the last full course on that wall.  Oh, and you also need to use your jig saw to cut the boards that will fit around the toilet flange.  By the way, teak is very hard, so a regular wood blade in your jig say may not be adequate to cut it correctly.  Having a variable speed jig saw and using a metal blade (more teeth in a finer pattern) is your best option.

With the flooring in, it was time to reset the sink and the toilet.  Let's start with the easiest (or so it would seem) the sink.  I relocated the pedestal sink brackets up as the flooring thickness would make the sink about 1/2 inch higher on the wall.  These brackets hold the bulk of the weight of the sink along with a large screw on each side of the sink that goes into a stud.  There is also a piece that goes from the base of the sink to the floor. With the weight of the sink being carried by the brackets this piece is merely camouflage for the hoses and drain pipes.  I placed the sink onto the brackets and secured it to the wall while making sure that the sink drain met up with the P-trap pipes when installing.  All looks good so far!  I then re-attached the hot water line to the water valve...no problem.  I then went to attach the cold water line only to find that it was about 1/4 too short and all the grunting in the world wasn't going to solve that problem, but of course I had to try!  I yanked and I pulled and I grunted, and I nearly broke out in tears as I finally came to the realization that it wasn't going to happen...so off to Home Depot I went (trip number 1)!

I returned from Home Depot with an extension hose and connected the sink. After tightening all of the fittings, I turned on the water and looked for leaks. I saw a hint of water around the hot water fitting and with the yank of water pumps it was finished! The sink was done!

I now turned my attention to the toilet.  I cleaned up the remaining wax from around the toilet flange and the base of the toilet.  I went into the dining area and heaved the toilet base and tank and carried it into the bathroom. I placed the new wax ring purchased weeks earlier and set the toilet in place, and of course sat on it to ensure the wax ring was evenly distributed.  Wow, was this all going to be easy!  I grabbed the cap spacer, washer and nut and began to install the nuts onto the bolts that are inserted into the channels in the toilet flange.  Using my ratchet box wrench I began to tighten the nuts.  A little on this side...a little on that side to ensure that it was going down level. I was almost done when I took a turn on the wrench and all of a sudden I felt the pressure on the bolt relieve.  Ugh!  I would have to remove the toilet and figure out what had happened.  With disgust I loosened the nuts, removed the washers and pulled the toilet.  To my horror, I could instantly see that the plastic toilet flange had broken.  Now what was I going to do. I would have to replace the flange, or at least do something to repair it, so off to Home Depot I went (trip number 2)!

I arrived at Home Depot and began searching for a solution to my problem. I found that I could purchase a new toilet flange that had a metal ring rather than plastic, so that is what I decided to do. Now what size.  It seems they come in 3" and 4"...of course I didn't measure before I left the house!  I wasn't about to drive home to measure so up to the counter I went with a 3" and a 4" flange and a new wax ring.  I got home with my new purchase and got to work.  This would be easy, just remove the screws holding the flange in place and viola I would be done.  Not so fast big boy!  That flange is not only secured to the floor with screws, it is also secured to the waste pipe with PVC epoxy.  Man, I hate pluming!  I was in the basement surveying the waste pipe and trying to figure out what I would need from the store to replace the pipe as I thought I would have to cut the waste pipe and rebuild the top of the stack.  I had just finished my measurements when I sat there looking at the new flange with the metal and realized that I could easily remove the metal ring an fit it to the existing toilet flange.  With a snip here and a pry there I had the metal flange off and attached it to the floor and existing flange with the original screws that secured it to the floor.  Problem solved!  

I once again heaved the toilet back into the bathroom, and set it.  I carefully tightened the nuts and this time everything held!  Whew!  The next step was to reattach the water line and make sure everything was tight before turning on the water.  I gave the valve a turn and listened as the tank filled with water...flush! But wait, where is that water coming from. After verifying that it wasn't the water line, I looked under the tank and to my horror there was water coming out around the bottom of the tank. Way too much water to just be a loose connection between the tank and the bowl.  I looked into the top of the tank and could see a crack in the tank that went from one bolt that held the tank to the bowl to the bolt on the other side.  The tank had cracked!  I don't know how or when, but it was certainly cracked!  I would be headed to Home Depot again (trip number 3), but this time I measured the triangular bolt pattern for the tank to ensure that I had the measurements before I got to the store.

I got back to Home Depot and found the toilet aisle.  I was excited to find that I could just buy a toilet tank. I looked at the tank and was disappointed to see that there was no way to see the bottom of the tank without removing the packaging for the tank.  I couldn't open the package in the store because that would be wrong, so I purchased the tank and an upgraded handle (brushed stainless) and headed out of the store. Now this is where an intelligent home improvement expert would have done things totally differently.  An intelligent person would have opened the tank packaging in the back of the Jeep before driving off from Home Depot.  I am not that intelligent person, so like a Lemming headed for a cliff, off I went with a song in my head toward my next disaster!

I pulled the tank off the bowl base and carried it outside to the ever growing pile of debris on the side of the house.  I then opened the packaging that was around the toilet bowl only to discover that the bowl only had two holes, and not three as the old toilet, which meant that the new tank would not align to the old bowl. I couldn't believe it!  I was off to Home Depot again (trip number 4).  I can only imagine what the people of the store thought each time I returned..."Oh here he comes again...we sure are getting our money's worth out of the Copeland household today"!  I purchased the bowl base that went with the tank purchased earlier and now a third wax ring and headed home.  Surely this would be my last trip of the day (I ran through a $60 tank of gas doing all this)!  

I pulled the old bowl and added it to the garbage heap.  I then assembled the new toilet and wax ring, and heaved it into place.  I gingerly tightened the bolts; attached the water line; and turned on the water supply.  What do you know everything worked without leaks!  Finally, what should have been an easy job turned into a two-day ordeal with one night going into the wee hours of the morning.  I really hate plumbing!

We have now completed all of the work associated with the flood damage.  That should be all that is needed to get the inspection done for the bank.  I plan to call them this week and see if they can come inspect so I can get them to release their death grip on the insurance money. We then will only have the dining room and living room left to complete the flooring.  I can finally see the horizon....stay tuned!

Stage 3.6 - The Stacked Stone Backsplash

It is hard to believe that we are in the final stages of getting our kitchen back in order.  We still have a ton of work left to get the hardwood floors installed in the hallway, bathroom and two front rooms, but it is finally looking like our kitchen is nearly complete.  With that said, I was very worried about this next stage of the project. I have installed floors before.  I have helped with cabinetry in the past as a laborer.  The one part of this entire job I had never attempted before was stone masonry.  If I messed this up, everyone would see it immediately and it would be totally obvious that we had messed up.

The Vision - Can we Create it?

We had purchased our Centurion Stone over a month ago and it has sat in the garage.  I had passed it many times thinking about how in the world I was going to be able to successfully install it.  I had read that I should lay out the pattern first before attempting to put it on the wall. I took a large cardboard box and laid it out on the garage floor.  I measured and outlined the shape of the vent hood onto the cardboard using painters tape. I had cut the box to be the same size as the wall behind the cook top.  I then spent a couple of hours fitting pieces of stone onto the cardboard to look as natural as possible.  It is very difficult to get a natural looking layout and to keep it level when none of the pieces are uniform.  I finally got something that looked like it was going to work.  I was trying to ensure that I had very few pieces to cut as I felt they would not look good in the mosaic that I was creating.

The first step in the process of installing the stone is to do a scratch coat.  A scratch coat is a thin layer of mortar that gets applied with a trowel to the wall.  This coat enables the stone to adhere to the wall when the pieces of stone are buttered with mortar.  I pulled out an 80 lb bag of mortar mix and placed it in a 5 gal bucket.  I added the 4.5 quarts of water the instructions called for and then used a long beater I purchased at the big box store to begin mixing the mortar.  I used my drill to turn the beater, but it was more than the drill could handle and with a puff of smoke the drill gave its life for the renovation.  I loved that drill!

I used a drop cloth to cover the cook top and floor, and then used a roll of tape with plastic attached to cover the cabinet that is adjacent to the wall and to cover the range hood.  Putting on the scratch coat is a messy job and I was glad that I covered everything.  One piece of advice I can give you if you are ever going to do this is that you need to give the scratch coat plenty of time to dry.  I didn't do that and my stone kept falling off.  Oh, and a second piece of advice is that your mud needs to be just the right consistency. Too wet and the stone won't stay attached.  Too dry and it won't adhere to the wall at all.

I started bringing in the stone and placing it in the same pattern on the drop cloth.  I was able to get a couple of courses at a time onto the drop cloth.  I would use my trowel to butter the backside of each piece of stone and then press it onto the wall. I would use the level to make sure that I was staying as level as you can be using random sized pieces.  I was able to get about 6 courses installed when I noticed that some were coming loose.  This was due to the fact that I hadn't given enough time for the scratch coat to dry and my mortar was way too dry.  The bottom half of the scratch coat was not drying fast enough. I left that alone and moved to the area above the range hood.  I would need to cut angled cuts on the stone to match the contour of the hood.  I was able to do this because I had an angle finder in my toolbox.  It is always good when you have the right tool for the job.  I used a wet saw to make all of the cuts.  What an awesome tool to have available.  Thanks to our neighbor Dave for letting us use it!  I finished the top on both sides, and then waited for the bottom to dry.  

 

Cassandra came down, took a look at my progress, and made a face and tried to act as though it was OK, but I could tell something was wrong.  She pointed out that The left side of the bottom courses of stone were sticking too far out.  I hate it when she is right!  After loosing my cool and acting like a big baby, I removed the stones, and she went back upstairs.  Of course, she was right, but I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that!  I went and sat on the couch hoping that the scratch coat would dry so I could finish the job that night. At 1 AM the scratch coat was still not dry so I went to bed.  I kissed my "right" wife goodnight and went to sleep.

The next morning Cassandra and I had early appointments for a health screening.  I was sure that my Cholesterol and blood pressure were going to be terrible, but I was surprised to find that both were in the normal range.  Small miracle!  We grabbed coffee at the store and headed back to the house.  I was ready to get going and get this finished. I mixed up a half a bag of mortar and began the journey.  It only took about an hour to finish up the bottom section.  When I reached the bottom of the range hood, it was a great feeling to have a perfect margin between the top of the stacked stone and the bottom of the hood.  It was level!  I stepped back from my work and took a look.  Wow! It looks awesome! It was exactly as I imagined it would be and had rendered in the drawing.  I was very happy at this point that God had graciously helped make this project a success. 

It is nice to finally have the part of the vision I most worried about implemented.  The rest should be smooth sailing...or at least I can hope!

Stage 3.3 - The Granite Arrives!

Wow! Four months without any counter tops, a kitchen sink, a stove top, and a dishwasher (not a big deal for Cassandra and I, but the girls are hating that part!). The date has finally arrived for the Granite to be delivered!  What an exciting day this is! 

Just a couple of weeks ago Cassandra and I went to the stone yard to pick out two slabs of Granite that would become our counter tops.  We arrived at KBR to meet with our stone consultant.  They had us dawn some very stylish safety gear and out to the yard we went.  I was hoping to get a tour of the factory, but all we did was walk through a part of it to the back lot where rows and rows of stone slabs were set up and organized by material and color. After having finding the first slab that we liked and having them use a fork lift to remove a second, we finally had our stone!  We found a special slab that had a ton of character in it.  The veining was beautiful and there was a lot of variation in the material (e.g. quarts deposits in the Granite).  The consultant marked where we preferred to have the peninsula cut from and what to avoid on the slab.  It was such a rewarding day.

I woke up this morning with a lot of anticipation. The installer had called and said they were on their way!  They arrived at the house at around 8:30.  It is always comical to see delivery people when they get their first gaze at the mountain that is our driveway.  They were unable to get their truck up the drive without scraping so they parked at the bottom of the drive and began their work.  They lugged the stone up the drive and into the house.  They would bring the main counters into the house in three pieces.  The hole for the sink was already in the stone as it had a complex curve in it.  They hadn't cut the hole for the stove top as the slab would have surely broken during transportation. They had pre-cut four small holes at the corners of the cook top, from which the installers would complete the cuts to expose the remainder of the opening. 

        

The installers set the stones in place, and then used some shims to make sure it was absolutely level before mixing up some special epoxy that would join the stone pieces.  It was an awful smell!  They got everything perfectly level, and then pulled the pieces apart to squeeze the epoxy between the joints.  They then pushed the pieces back together and adjusted until they could run a razor blade across the seam without catching.  One of the workers used markers to color the epoxy with the pattern of the stone around the seams.  He made the seam appear to be a natural part of the stone.  It was interesting to watch him grab one color and put a spot here, and another to match a color there.  

The next thing to go in was the sink. They put some fast drying epoxy on the rim of the sink and pulled it up from under the sink hole and held it with clamps.  They placed some braces under the sink for support and it was done. The under counter mount Granite composite sink was in place.  I would have to wait at least two hours before plumbing and installing the garbage disposal.

The installers then placed the other slabs on the coffee station and the butler's pantry. The last task for them was to cut the hole for the cook top and drill the holes for the faucet and soap dispenser.  They pulled out a water cooled stone cutter and went to town.  In just a few minutes they were done!  They placed the stove top in the opening and packed their equipment.  It seemed like only an hour or so.  They were fast and very meticulous!  Great job KBR!

Cassandra and I just stared in awe!  We had counters!  I was working so I had to try and keep track of them while coding fixes to software.  I was dying to get the plumbing in and wire the cook top, but I had to wait.  At lunch time, I connected the wiring for the stove top.  It was awesome to see the lights on the cook top for the first time in months!  I also placed the faucet in the hole and connected the water lines.  The drain plumbing; however, would have to wait until after church. I needed a electrical connector (not included) for the garbage disposal and I had conference calls right up until 5p when I needed to pick up the girls.  It was killing me to wait!

After church I got right after it.  I wired the garbage disposal and connected it to the flange that I had installed earlier.  I connected a series of PVC pieces that when correctly connected is supposed to drain water.  It was like putting a jig saw puzzle together.  I finally got all of the pieces in the correct configuration and tightened it all down.  Now was the moment of truth.  Turn on the water and look for leaks.  I turned the Hot and Cold water one and waited for water to fly...nothing...no way! That can't be...there is no way I put this together without leaks the first time. That just doesn't happen.  And of course I was right!  Under the dishwasher I could see the slightest drop of water forming on the connection.  I turned off the water; removed the fittings; re-wrapped them with plumbers tape; reconnected the fittings; and tightened but not too tight (causes leaks).  Then I turned on the water again.  Viola!  No leaks!  

It was time to check the water.  I turned on the faucet! What a beautiful site! The water looked awesome flowing from the spray nozzle into the deep basin sink.  There were no drain leaks either.  The garbage disposal worked like a champ too.  Another small victory on this journey!  It was then time to check the dishwasher.  I turned it on for a normal cycle and started it going.  In the mean time I just wanted to see that faucet go one more time... 

I pulled up on the handle and heard the horrible sound of water spraying under the sink!  Ugh!  What have I done?!?!?!?  I crawled under the sink to see that the sprayer hose had become disconnected.  Hmmm....i must have missed something.  A quick review of the install guide revealed that I had forgotten to attach a little clip that kept the sprayer hose from disconnecting from the water supply under pressure.  I placed that part in the right position and all was good.  The dishwasher had completed it cycle with no leaks. I buttoned up the cover on the bottom of the dishwasher and declared that job done...what a long day...time for bed!

We still have a lot of flooring to complete and the stone work behind the cook top so stay tuned!