From Open Concept to Some Privacy

For ages, the bathroom has been open concept and was looking like this:

 

With no contractor I could trust, or that was of a reasonable cost, I finally broke down and decided to do the job in stages and hire the trades as needed. The decision was fortuitous as I have encountered unexpected large bills the last 2 months, so now I can draw out this project as I have the funds to complete it. So, this was the week I chose to take a couple of days vacation so that the following could  happen:

• Tear out the shower and cap off the plumbing below floor level
• Tear out the framing of the wall the bathroom shares with the hallway
• Frame in a new wall with a pocket door and with the door moved from the corner closest to the bedroom to more central in the wall. additionally, a wall need be built for the "free" end of the tub (next to the toilet).
• At the same time as the wall removal/reframe, disconnect electricals (hall light switch, air conditioner thermostat, bathroom light and fan switches).
• once the wall was reframed, install electricals in compatible locations.
• Install bathtub and surround where the former shower was and run new plumbing.

Wednesday evening the plumber showed up and did his thing. Once he was done, I tore out the sheetrock that was behind the shower and pried up the linoleum tiles that would be in the path of new framing. The next morning I uhhooked the plumbing to the vanity and slid it into the craft room to get it out of the way.

Thursday morning the electrician showed up and the carpenter wasn't far behind. After they consulted each other, the electrician disconnected hook ups but the wires had to stay in place (very restricted access thru the attic), so the breakers were kept off while the carpenter tore out the old wall. The delivery of sheetrock and lumber arrived about 10 so I had plenty of willing hands to help unload it (not much - 10 sheets water resistant sheet rock, 2 sheets of regular sheet rock, 8-2x4's and a sheet of plywood). Since I was paying the electrician for the whole day, I had him replace the hall and office lights with ceiling mount lights also. Once the carpenter was to the point he needed the electrician to help line up the wires, and then everything was hooked up in its new place. By the time the both of them left, it looked like this.

And since the electrician had a lot of down time that I was paying for, I asked him to help me hang sheet rock in the basement work room (before pictures from September):

 Friday was a carpenter only day; he built in the pocket door and framed the third wall for the bathtub (and got the tub set up so it was level). In the process, we decided to go ahead and sheet rock the ceiling over the tub prior to building the third wall - it made for easier sheet rocking and worked out great using one 4x8 piece of rock, only needing a cutout for the fan. He also got the hallway side of the wall sheet rocked, so it was no longer open concept:

Note there is no hanging light in the hallway. A good thing as it would have been a pinata while he was getting the sheet rock set!

This morning the plumber came in, got the plumbing situated, installed the surround and installed the hardware. He also ran a new drain line for the vanity as the old one was a mickey mouse job.

Monday the carpenter will return to install the sheet rock on the inside of the bathroom wall so he can install the trim for the door. He'll also sheet rock above the surround and then do a coat of tape/mud (I will do the rest). That will be it for a while as I probably won't put in the vanity and linoleum until next spring. I want to wait until the rest of the ceiling is sheet rocked, then the rest of the walls can be sheet rocked and all can be painted prior to installing the other new stuff.

Oh, and Home Dep*t delivered the replacement vanity on Friday as well as taking the damaged one away. So it now resides in the basement. Funny thing is that the finish on it is much better than any of the original pieces, so I may not do any extra polyurethane on it (or may, who knows what whims will posses me?)

I think it will be great taking a shower in the morning - haven't had one since Wednesday and washcloths can only do so much :)

Comments

[Ruth]

yay! Glad you were able to get that all in. I worried a bit at your first paragraph about having to draw it out and having only the one bathroom. That'd suck. That sort of thing was a HUGE part of why I insisted that our house have at least a 1/2bath in addition to the main bathroom when we were house hunting.

[Cop Car]

What a great job of planning you had to have done to get from "then" to "now". Wonderful!

Hmmm...back when the earth was cooling, we had no indoor bathroom, no shower, and the "bathtub" was a galvanized steel wash tub that sat on the kitchen floor (so we could pour hot water into it from its having been heated on the coal oil cook stove). We have all gotten so spoiled - and I love it!! Just think what people have put up with historically.

You are doing a wonderful job. Carry on!