It didn't vent anywhere.

I'm confused as to why the air return is in the bathroom, unless someone was really into having the pleasant aroma of deuce dispersed throughout the rest of the house.

Is there somethign I'm not seeing there?

Ryan - normally the soffet is covered in drywall, so there's no direct way for smells from the bathroom to get recirculated. They would have to travel out the door and in through the vent just outside the door.

quote:

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They would have to travel out the door and in through the vent just outside the door

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i'm up for that challenge.

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It didn't vent anywhere.

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That's probably the reason you're finding so many moisture related problems in the drywall. The fan needs to be able to vent humid air to the outside of the structure via a rigid duct line.

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That's probably the reason you're finding so many moisture related problems in the drywall. The fan needs to be able to vent humid air to the outside of the structure via a rigid duct line.

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Is there another way to do that besides the vent or can I run the humid air into the garage? The bathroom is in the dead center of the house. There's no room between the joists and the second floor to rent a vent. Worst case, I guess I could move the fan right by the door closest to the outside of the house.

You could run the *vent pipe* for the humid air into the garage and then up and out, or to the far side of the garage wall or something ... I wouldn't just dump the humid air into the garage unless you also ventilated the garage somehow.

Looks like it's been awhile...I've been traveling a lot recently for vacation so the project is on hold. But we're back in action with a few updates:

I finally got my shower trim and valve, which came from http://www.plumbersurplus.com. I got these:

http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Prod/Delta-T17253-Vero-Monitor-17-Series-Shower-Trim-Chrome/211085/Cat/851
http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Prod/Delta-R10000-UNBX-Universal-MultiChoice-Valve/31487/Cat/281



I also got a new toilet, for once everything is done. I picked up an American Standard Cadet 3. I don't know anything about toilets, but it fit my budget and was a popular model at HD:



I've been waiting on the shower valve to come in so the plumber can do the pipes. I ordered the valve and trim on Monday and it arrived today with free shipping! Tomorrow I will schedule for the plumbing work to get done.

I'm also waiting on a quote on moving the return air vent out of the bathroom so I can remove the soffet.

Running the vent out through the soffit is an easy and economical solution. You could probably do it yourself, but you might need to remove a section of the soffit to get access room to pull the pipe. You might try rigid flexible tubing to make the run. Something like this, but in 3"http://www.lowes.com/pd_328911-131-L3000_0__?productId=3261525&Ntt=4%22+vent&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3D4%2522%2Bvent&facetInfo=. Or you could go the rigid route, but it is harder to work with, and more likely to have leaks when forcing it into tight places with lots of contours.

how much was that toilet? we sell them for $70 including the seat...free shipping

Just curious?

[This message has been edited by HERKIMER80 (edited 7/17/2011 8:52p).]

looks like you could have saved about $125 on the delta shower set-up as well...

Plumbers surplus is a joke...they buy half their stuff from normal stocking wholesalers in town

If you can return it...send me a PM

HERK - the toilet was about $145 at Home Depot after tax. I can still return it.

PlumbersSurplus was a referral to me. I cannot return it, but I still have other fixtures to buy.

I don't have PMs, but you are more than welcome to email me: EDITED

[This message has been edited by AgDrumma07 (edited 7/17/2011 9:13p).]

sent u an email...

Herkimer--what's your website?

AgDrumma07 - Your tile choices look great. When you do the layout in the shower you may want to consider putting some corner shelves in the design. I added them to all of our bathrooms and they are great. The link below is the option they have at floor and decor. I got mine at the Home Depot. They are a little more ornate, but probably not real travertine.

When my cousin remodeled his shower he added a little shadow box for putting shampoo, soap etc... in as well as the shelves. Just some ideas to consider.

http://www.flooranddecoroutlets.com/s22503405.html#



[This message has been edited by ArcticAg98 (edited 7/19/2011 2:36p).]

Artic - thanks for the link, especially with the match in tile. However, I'm going to put a niche in the wall vs. shelves. This shower is very small so space is at a premium.

Plumber comes tomorrow for the PEX.

PEX is done. Anybody know what I need to do with this floor now? I want to get this filled and floated ASAP.

My plumber found out the old drain trap was 1.5" and code is 2", so we installed a new 2" U-pipe that condenses down the 1.5" T to the toilet. I'm not getting the work inspected so once they cover it with concrete, nobody will notice.

Here is the torn up floor with a new, centered shower drain:


New, centered and raised, shower head:


Here are the connections to the galvanized in the garage:


New connections under the tub upstairs:


Properly set U-pipe for the sink and quarter-turn shut-off valves for the sink:

AgDrumma07 and I met up today and got some work done to his place. The shower was an old-skool mud pan; they tiled over drywall all the way down to the sunken shower drain area, then they used lathe and mud pack to form a sloped shower drain and tiled over the mudpack. There was no waterproof drain pan or any waterproofing behind the walls, although I did find signs of some sort of plastic vapor barrier in the concrete. It had long since been pulled out. The lathe had also rusted away into nothing. Important note: No tile or masonry, no matter how well sealed, is waterproof. You MUST have a waterproof barrier of some sort in the wall behind your shower. Be it CBU backed by 6 mil plastic, a Kerdi or ProVa system, or at very worst CBU covered in RedGuard... you MUST have it waterproofed, or it will ruin the rest of your house.

Interestingly, they built the drain area deeper into the bathroom than it needed to be. There was a brick curb two bricks wide and an amazing three bricks deep.

We rented a Makita electric demo hammer from Home Depot, broke out all of the curb and mud pan all the way down to foundation concrete, cut the improper drain pipe out since AgDrummer is planning on using a ProVa slope and drain system, bought a bag of high-strength patching compound and filled the part of the slab that was cut (having pre-primed the area with a slurry of concrete dust and concrete additive/primer) for the plumbing access, and built a form for where we're filling the curb in ... but we ran out of concrete at that point and AgDrummer is going to have to buy some more concrete and mix it himself. He's also going to replace the rotten sill plate himself.

Pop Homeowner quiz: In the drain pipes that AgDrummer07's plumber installed in the above pictures, what's missing from all of (clue) the glue joints?

Super...you rock!

We got a lot done today. If super hadn't been there to show me the ropes, my house would be covered in soggy concrete and cheap power tools. Here are some pics of what we got done today:

Super doing some demo on the floor:


The demo hammer made quick work of the floor and old mud pan:


We couldn't believe how many bricks were in the curb:


No more "bumps" on the slab where the vanity used to be:


Here's the form that super setup to rebuild the curb and fill where the plumber had dug out for the new drain. Obviously we ran out of concrete:


Not sure if you can tell from this picture, but we hammered out all the way to the aggregate:


Underneath some of the old floor tiles:


[This message has been edited by AgDrumma07 (edited 8/15/2011 11:19a).]

Action pictures!

We're filing in with concrete what was bricks to keep the shower the same size. That's what the form is there for.

Then the whole pan will get a layer of self-leveling concrete, a styrofoam curb and sloped pan system, and a drain that matches it (which is why the drain that Drumma had to get put in had to come out, and there's just a pipe in it's place.)

Here's the shower system I'm going to install. It comes with its own drain, hence we had to cut out the one I just paid my plumber to install.

http://www.indianafloorsllc.com/tileunderlayment.aspx

We do need to get the drain before the next work weekend. Everything else is in email.

Best part about making progress on a project like this: We even know what needs to get done NEXT on it!

I'm 100% in on the next work weekend. Let's put my on hold...or in slow motion...and knock yours out. I feel so overwhelmed and trying not to get the "in over my head" feeling. A step back and learning from your project will help. Labor Day weekend is it?

I think that's what we talked about. As of now, I don't have any plans that weekend, except this and watching us btho SMU.

Great job! Keep it up. Wish y'all lived closer to Midland to show me the ropes on some of this, but I am learning a lot just from watching all the projects going on in this forum.

jw: Just remember to keep your momentum up. AgDrumma's and Mike's problems are more related to the fact that they hit a question point and stopped ... which is why I'm right now shooting AggieMike the hairy eyeball about slowing down on his at all. Seeing as we didn't get anything done on it at all in August.

AgDrumma, is it going to be too big of a problem for you to get the waterproofing kit so that we can read the directions and make sure we put all the right stuff in? Toilet out, SLC and drain will probably be one day, the little bit of electrical and anything we need to do to prep for the shower system will be another, and the drywall will part of that day and maybe a few parts of a third day.

Mike has a trailer ... if he's willing to bring it we can use that to pick up the drywall.

speck - what exactly are you trying to figure out beforehand? I have no problem picking it up first, but I could get our questions answered by my co-worker who just installed the Prova in his house a few months ago.

I need to call the company anyways, to make sure I order the right system, so I could ask then too.

The video on their site lists off what kinds of thinset, tools, etc. to get. I believe the whole system just gets installed on backerboard like a regular shower, except the moisture barrier (orange stuff) goes on top, instead of behind the walls. We could use waterproof backerboard as an added feature. I do need to see if the flooring sections can go straight on concrete first or if we need to put something like plywood down first.

Actually, I can answer most of those questions. We can use blueboard with the ProVa over it for the entire room, so no need to work with cement backer board. The styrofoam pan gets applied right to the self leveling compound inside the shower tray.

The reason we need to get the kit is that I'm 99% sure I'll have to install the drain before/as we install the self-leveling concrete, but I won't know until I get a really good look at it and see how it fits on top of the pipe that we left sticking up out of the ground. Doubt your coworker could explain it -- the company might be able to if you ask if it slips inside or fits on the outside of a 2" diameter pipe, or if it needs a collar fitting.

So, like I said in the email -- we need to get the kit drain at the very least to your house, we need to get the rest of the vinyl up and get the slab scrubbed, and you need to get the concrete in the form that I left so that it has time to set up before we come in and poor the SLC.

[This message has been edited by superspeck (edited 8/16/2011 6:47p).]

Alright no problem. I'll do the concrete this weekend as well as look at the shower systems.

Do we need the concrete to level with the current foundation by the toilet?

I know I have been hitting this one hard on the forums, but have you contacted a marble place? I did for my tub surround, and I am so happy with the result, the speed of completion, and the true waterproof performance. Having it done by a pro wasn't near as costly as I had imagined, only about twice what it would have cost me to do a decent tile job, and about the same as one of the nicer surrounds that home Depot sells, that is DIY.

I have looked at the surrounds and I'll probably go with one for the upstairs bathroom. I really want the master bathroom to "pop" and I feel like the tile I've picked out will get me there.

Keep in mind...I've never used the shower I'm remodeling and I've owned the house for 2 years!

If you are tiling, use the Kerdi system. A little pricey, but well worth it. Put up green board, no need to tape, use their drain (very expensive, but worth it), you can build the whole thing in one day, and grout the next, just make sure there is no flex in your drywall (that's why I went with the marble rather than tile).

I'm going with Prova instead of Kerdi. It is their top competitor, but will be worth the money.

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"The reason we need to get the kit is that I'm 99% sure I'll have to install the drain before/as we install the self-leveling concrete, but I won't know until I get a really good look at it and see how it fits on top of the pipe that we left sticking up out of the ground. Doubt your coworker could explain it -- the company might be able to if you ask if it slips inside or fits on the outside of a 2" diameter pipe, or if it needs a collar fitting. "

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"

If it is similar to the Kerdi drain...It fits on the outside of the pipe. I just finished redoing my shower with the kerdi drain set in a mortar pan about a month ago, and I think I remember it needing to fit over 1" of pipe, and being 3-3/4" inches tall in all..I actually had to go down below foundation level to attach to prevent myself from having a shower pan 3-4" higher than I desired. If I wern't a rookie, I would post pictures.

[This message has been edited by joeag09 (edited 8/19/2011 7:13a).]