Ongoing Master Bedroom/Bathroom Remodel Thread

42,758 Views | 297 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by The Fife
The Fife
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It's been just under a year since I finished the last big project so it's time to take on another one. This time it's the corner of the house with the master bedroom/bathroom/closet, server closet and half bath.

I'm trying to make as many changes to the bedroom as possible before getting to the part where it's uninhabitable so for now that means wiring. The old entrance to the bedroom (shown) is where the light switch is + an overstuffed box that would give UnderoosAg nightmares. The light switch needs to be moved to the entrance to the bedroom (+ running wiring for lights to around the perimeter of the room and one for downlighting for the bed.

This is where the initial run from the breaker panel leads to and I don't want to do another one so I'm going to have a junction box facing the other side of the wall with the soundproofing (server closet) that will branch off to the outlets and the new switch location. One of the gray wires has to stay because it runs to the light in the server closet. Not sure which one it is yet.

Anyway it's off to a slow start but the wiring should be done by the end of the weekend and hopefully the new bedroom ceiling light will also be in. It's really heavy so there may be some framing work involved too.

What I could figure out with the multimeter...


Previous owners might have owned a badger.


Definitely a badger.


The wiring mess


All done for the day, at least I know where everything goes!

Aggietaco
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AG
Is that an interior door? That thing is sweet.

Wiring like that is what makes me want to demo my house down to the studs.
The Fife
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I'm not sure if it's the original front door or a replacement from the late 1960s, with the original between the den and garage with a huge dog door cut sloppily into it. It makes a lousy interior door because it's too small for the opening. Either way this doorway will be closed off now that the entrance to the master bedroom is from the family room. This is the view out the door right now.



They made this hallway 12 years ago when the addition went up by taking about 18" from the bedroom to the right (moving its doorway to the hall), deleting its closet, deleting built ins in the other hallway and removing a built in hamper from the bathroom. All to not have the doorway to the master bedroom be from the family room (also part of the addition), which a little corner of the bedroom was already set aside for anyway. These people hated storage.

One yellow wire from the ugly box and a gray one go to the light+switch in the hallway. Three wires go down from the box, into the crawlspace and back up to the fan and light switches to the right of the doorway. There's also one inside the box that isn't connected to anything at all and is not live. These I can remove or abandon entirely. It's unclear whether this was something the previous owner did after the electrical inspection or not because other electrical work from the addition is generally good. I've spotted other work they did because they reused 1960s romex with a tiny ground in the addition. Bad as it is, it's still better than the ungrounded, undersized, chewed up stuff that I found when I redid the kitchen.
Gary79Ag
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AG
quote:
Is that an interior door? That thing is sweet.

Wiring like that is what makes me want to demo my house down to the studs.
Yep, after having rennovated 4 homes to date, it's just amazing what you can find whenever you open a wall during the demo phase. Particulatly when it comes to electrical and I've seen all kinds of No-Nos!.

Just recently helped my son and DIL renovate their home and found numerous terminations and/or connections within the walls (not within junction boxes), plus the real kicker was having accidentally finding a plastic J-box in the attic near the A/C unit that had no cover plate on it.

The AT&T guy needed a power receptacle outlet in the attic near the attic ladder so I went up there to find a hot run that I could tap into to install aJ- box and receptacle. There was a receptacle near the A/C unit that I planned to tap into and wanted to see where the wires ran to that were covered up in insulation on the attic floor. When I pulled up on the wires, there was a bright flash before my eyes that came out of the insulation. Turned out the open plastic J-box under the insulation was half melted from havng over heated over time and the wires arced and shorted out. Had the guy not needed a power source, it would have been left undiscovered and eventually led to a house fire started in the attic at that J-box.
Maximus_Meridius
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AG
Oy. That wiring. I'm currently house hunting in PA, and I've seen some bad stuff, but that right there is going to give me nightmares.

Adding this to the watchlist, I always enjoy following your projects. I'm assuming you've already devloped a plan?
The Fife
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Yeah we've been playing around with three plans in Sketchup before finally settling on one. The closet and bathroom weren't allocated enough space to begin with but we're enlarging the closet some and reorganizing things to be able to have a dedicated water closet and laundry area in there. Not an ideal solution but it beats having the toilet out there in the open and the washer/dryer in the garage.

I should still be done with the electrical wiring by the end of the weekend I think. Then I need to bite the bullet and tear up the floor and joists. That's where the real commitment begins.

edit: The unknowns at this point are the design of the built in hamper, specifics for the vanity, bathtub model and exact tile/stone to be used. I wanted these to be figured out before the project started but these won't be huge research projects like I ran into with the last one. There will also be no delays for waiting for contractors this time.
Gary79Ag
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AG

quote:
There will also be no delays for waiting for contractors this time.
Famous last words!
The Fife
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This weekend I was actually able to take care of everything that I planned on doing. All of the wiring in the ugly wall box has been reworked and unnecessary wire and the actual box deleted, the new switchbox and main light switch is in and the new bedroom ceiling light is installed. The work underneath the house was pretty straightforward and boring, but the old ceiling box the fan/light was installed in was a real disaster. It was one of the lightweight ones with the thin metal arms that extend out that is not rated for fans. It was also installed with romex staples instead of nails. Either the builder or previous owner's workaround was to put a piece of wood above the ceiling joists and some scrap wire to tie the arms of the ceiling box together and keep it from drooping. I had to redo the whole thing.

Entering the area above the master bedroom...


Box attached to the wood with four subfloor screws I had lying around, wood attached to the ceiling joists with four nails per side.


New light installed, which by itself was a massive PITA. It weighs easily 60lbs because the shades are thick blown glass. It was already dark by the time I got done so this is the best picture I could get.



Next up, finalizing the size and location of the bedroom closet door (I'm thinking 2 24" doors here), cutting that in and then moving on to all the joist rework.
TxAG-010
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AG
In. Good work so far and nice choice on the fixture! Fife, what do you do for a living if you don't mind me asking?
sts7049
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The Fife
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In. Good work so far and nice choice on the fixture! Fife, what do you do for a living if you don't mind me asking?
I'm an engineering lead at a large airplane company.

Mrs Fife and I decided on a couple of minor details about the side closet to go in the bedroom today so tomorrow I can go ahead with that. I'm not quite sure how to install the door jamb though because the drywall on that side of the bedroom is two layers thick. Probably needs a filler on the closet side. Also not sure on casing vs nothing but will probably put it in to be consistent with the rest of the house.

Tomorrow evening is also when large scale destruction of the bedroom floor begins since trash day is Wednesday. That's when the fun begins.
TxAG-010
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AG
From following your kitchen/living build and now this, Mrs Fife and you have good taste! Keep up the good work!
dubi
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dubi
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AG
I hate to ask, but what is up with the ruined house?
The Fife
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From following your kitchen/living build and now this, Mrs Fife and you have good taste! Keep up the good work!
Thanks!

@dubi - the other place is caught up in back and forth bureaucracy between the state historic preservation office and me. It's in income producing building so I'm eligible for 30% tax credits between state and federal on qualifying expenses. For this kind of cash I'll jump through their hoops. Basically it involves me describing in great detail all of the various things to be done during this remodel, materials used, construction techniques, pictures, ... I expect it to be about a 30 page packet by the time it's all said and done.

Long story short I'm doing the trim carpentry and painting on this one, not much else. It's well beyond any kind of reasonable DIY adventure.
The Fife
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All quiet so far... I've had to take care of a wheel bearing on Mrs Fife's car that sounded like it was going to fail immediately and the last parts for my project car came in so I've been distracted with that. Tomorrow the circular saw comes out to play and the floor will start to disappear.
UnderoosAg
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AG
quote:
an overstuffed box that would give UnderoosAg nightmares.



Pssh. Ain't scared.
1. Romex laying directly on ceiling tiles all over in a classroom.
2. Ceiling grid at a different middle school was biting guys trying to demo the grid. Four different rooms and they were getting hit with 277V. Also had light switches rated for only 250V.
3. Two panels and a lighting contactor in the vehicle wash bay at a USPS vehicle maintenance facility. Like automatic car wash bay. Juuust a bit corroded.

And my personal favorite
4. Copper thieves hit an office building. Among many other things, they got the multiple feeders from the utility transformer to the main gear in the building. They were either really, really smart or really really stupid. And lucky. They got the wire pulled free from the lugs at the 480V side while the transformer was energized, and managed to not hit any of the 15KV terminations.

The building had been vacated a month or two before. Not sure how they discovered the theft initially. We got hired by the insurance company. When I went to look at it, I found the cabinet doors to the ~1000KVA utility transformer wide open and everything still energized. It'd been sitting like that for at least a week or two.
The Fife
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Ok I'm not down for #2, 3 and 4!

This weekend I started on the next phase of the project, getting down to the subfloor and joists. I started in the closet that will be divided in two first since it's the least disruptive. The joist lumber is in better shape than I thought it was. This is moving towards the southwest corner of the house where humidity and dry rot levels were a lot lower, but joists are still overspanned and weren't installed correctly. (2x10x14, notched to 2x8 size to sit on a ledger board with no joist hangers used)

Before yesterday the plan was to remove and replace all of them with doubles like I did in areas where the lumber was rotten. Now the plan is to pull out the floor and subfloor like I would have anyway, level the joists and install them correctly with actual hangers and then sister in 2x8s for rigidity before putting new subfloor lumber in. Overall it saves about $300 and a bit of time since I trade manufacturing double 2x8 joists for sistering in lumber. The leveling process and joist hangers would be the same either way.

This closet will be divided in two with the new entrance from the left (master bedroom side)


Looking the other way, this will be the server closet. I will need to add a circuit + two wall boxes with 2 pairs of outlets each. The cable (internet) and TV antenna line in will also be along this wall - previously it was just drilled up through a hole in the floor. At some point I will also need to run 6 sets of speaker wire to this area for the surround sound since absolutely all electronics are going in here along with games, DVD and Blu Ray discs. Obviously I'm going to need some kind of shelving or a rack but details are TBD. The subfloor here was solid and does not need to be removed.

The Fife
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Things are coming along ok and there have even been a couple of pleasant surprises along the way. The subfloor section below the wall separating the bedroom and closet is in good shape so I don't need to replace it. Really I don't think I'd need to at all in this area if it wasn't for problems with undersized/overspanned joists that weren't installed correctly.

Mrs. Fife volunteered to host a Christmas party next Wednesday. Brilliant move, our family room looks like this at the moment and I have to be done with the bedroom floor work and have new plywood in + move everything back in there by then.


Flooring coming out... same old thing here. Set the circular saw to 3/4", cut strips about 3' wide and get out the pry bars. Right now it's 40% out and I'll do the rest this evening.


The Fife
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I forgot to post 'before' pictures before getting started so here are a few. I didn't clean up before taking them so they're a little more real this time around.

View from new bedroom door location looking in.


View from current bathroom door


Showing old bedroom door location, behind the bed is the closet that will be divided in two.


Looking back towards the family room that was part of the last huge project. The cord for the lamp and clock has been a tripping problem ever since then.


View looking the other way. The left side window will probably become a doorway to a patio out there, but not during this project.


View from the old doorway looking towards the bathroom.

Marvin_Zindler
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AG
I spy rule 1 compliance.
Gary79Ag
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AG

quote:
Mrs. Fife volunteered to host a Christmas party next Wednesday. Brilliant move, our family room looks like this at the moment and I have to be done with the bedroom floor work and have new plywood in + move everything back in there by then.
Looks like you've got your work cut out for you Fife. So, what the heck you doing taking pics and posting them here on TexAgs...you've got no stinkin time for that!
The Fife
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quote:
I spy rule 1 compliance.
I'll do better sometime later. Pic won't be current because she's about 4 months pregnant.
The Fife
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quote:

quote:
Mrs. Fife volunteered to host a Christmas party next Wednesday. Brilliant move, our family room looks like this at the moment and I have to be done with the bedroom floor work and have new plywood in + move everything back in there by then.
Looks like you've got your work cut out for you Fife. So, what the heck you doing taking pics and posting them here on TexAgs...you've got no stinkin time for that!
I made the planned schedule yesterday. The rest of the flooring that needed to come out is gone and everything taken out to the street. Cutting strips with a circular saw and using one pry bar in each hand makes this sort of work go as fast as it can.

After work today I'm going to start with the subfloor. The goal is to get it all out today so I can start working on the joists. I think it's doable and if I'm lucky I'll be able to reset a few of them. This is where things should really start to look different.


Marvin_Zindler
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AG
quote:
Pic won't be current because she's about 4 months pregnant.
Congrats!
dubi
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AG
quote:
quote:
I spy rule 1 compliance.
I'll do better sometime later. Pic won't be current because she's about 4 months pregnant.
Holy crap.

You need to finish this darn house and darn car before the baby comes! Congrats!
The Fife
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quote:
quote:
quote:
I spy rule 1 compliance.
I'll do better sometime later. Pic won't be current because she's about 4 months pregnant.
Holy crap.

You need to finish this darn house and darn car before the baby comes! Congrats!
Thanks!

The car is done FWIW. It's my daily driver now.

This project is the last of the major DIY ones but not the last big one. Next up after this is the dining room and den (office). Since that one will involve rebuilding a fireplace, terrazzo flooring, opening up an exterior wall to put in sliding glass doors and possibly a pool my involvement will be limited. There are also 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms left to do but it's easy to close those areas off and they aren't very big.

Believe it or not I am actually looking forward to being lazy again...
The Fife
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I'm actually still on schedule with all of this...

Today's lesson on fine homebuilding comes from Dr. Snow (aka Snowy). His friendly reminder is, if your builder wants to hang joists on a ledger board instead of using hangers you should probably fire them. If they want to attach the joists with only three nails you should fire them, then bite them on their way out.

The floor always had a noticeable hump here with a strip of hardwood separating. This is why.



Joists were end nailed three times each and cutouts for the ledger board were imprecise, so they settled until they had contact with something solid. What else would you expect to happen?



All the subfloor is out now. Rot is was not an issue in this portion of the house. Even the plywood can be reused, but will not be for this room because there are too many nails and hardwood staples to pick out. I'm going to keep it around for areas with no foot traffic later. Today's plan is to get all the joists level and install them with actual hangers, then firm up the beam seen running through the middle of the room. Maybe do electrical mods too.

Tomorrow I sister in new wood, get blocking in place and put down new subfloor.


Dr. Doctor
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AG
So you have 4 months and then everything stops for 3 years.

Just fyi.

~egon
The Fife
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Possibly so, but I'll continue to be blissfully ignorant of that until the time has come.

FWIW I'm somehow still on schedule minus three joist hangers. They used so few nails that a floor jack from the garage did a great job of bringing joists back up to level so I could put the hangers on. If I can do those, level the beam I built underneath the place and do the electrical work I'll consider today a success. The bigger goal is to have subfloor in the bedroom installed by the end of Monday so I can shove the furniture back in along with the contents of the closet the next day, clean up and be ready for the party on Wednesday.
Throwout
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AG
quote:
So you have 4 months and then everything stops for 3 years.

The Doc is 100% correct on this. Better get it in gear.
Dr. Doctor
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AG
I know I'm right because I'm living it.


It gets better when they get to about 2 years old. Then they want to help you. My dad told me that stays until about 10-12.

Plus, unless you have the baby from "Parks and Rec", sawing and hammering might wake the child. Then wife gets mad.

~egon
The Fife
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They'll love the next project then. That involves taking the dining room floor down to its original height (1' down from where it currently is), replacing the fireplace in the den and opening the exterior wall in there to the outside + putting in a swimming pool. I think it's about 600 sq ft altogether but it's at the far end of the house.

My involvement for that project will basically be to rewire the dining room (simple!) and put in a fixture + putting in the flooring in there and stone of some sort along one wall. I can't do fireplaces, terrazzo or exterior wall stuff.

With the current one I'm running a little behind. Someone from the Auto board here came to Charleston so we met up on Sunday so I didn't get a lot done then. I had a slack day built into this part of the schedule though so things are ok for being done in time for the Christmas party and having the place cleaned up and decorated. Right now I'm ready to start sistering in new wood for the joists, putting in the blocking and closing up the bedroom floor after work today.

In the medium term we have about a 10 day break coming up and between then and Christmas it's time to do the server closet utilities, surround sound wiring and close up the floor in there. Next is splitting the server closet in half, deleting the old bedroom doorway, new bedroom perimeter lighting and drywall work. That'll be about all for the bedroom and after that we have some decisions to make about the bathroom/closet and that's the next big step.
Aggietaco
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AG
Your work ethic around the house is inspiring.

Not so much that I actually start anything, but I sure day dream like a mofo.
The Fife
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Thanks, but don't get me wrong, the project is in real danger of stalling in January. We haven't designed the hamper or vanity yet and only have a general sort of color scheme for the bathroom. Fixtures are 99% settled though.

I'd be a lot more gung ho about doing the bathroom if these things were settled.
 
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