Nope, still have the metal tub upstairs but I do use my outdoor urinals frequently.

Superspeck stopped by to help chip up the SLC (again) and do some repairs on the shower floor around the drain.

We found moisture under the SLC we chipped up, so the theory is that moisture is coming up through the foundation which would melt the SLC primer and cause the SLC not to adhere to the slab.

We are running moisture tests for the next 12-24 hours (see below):

If you find a moisture problem, have you thought about using Redguard on top of the slab, then putting down SLC?

That's the plan (and hopefully the fix).

I can't believe this picture has never been posted but here was our "finishing touches" schedule from LAST March. We got a little behind...



Tiling of the shower is officially done (aside from LOTS of cleaning)! We had to redo the floor mosaic around the drain for better drainage, finish the last row on the side under the fixtures and tile the top of the curb (while keeping it level and angling it into the shower).

Shower drain redo with fancy tile cutting:





Top of the shower curb:





Last niche was completed quickly with repair mortar:



All that's left in the shower is cleaning, selling, grout and installing fixtures and curved shower curtain rod.

Our moisture tests showed moisture, so we are going to rough up the floor with a grinder, then apply Redguard. We are also looking into other brands of SLC. If that all works fine, then floor tile goes in and superspeck can finally take his tile saw home.

I was just wondering what happened to all of the renno threads from last year...

Heeeeeyyyyyy yyyyyoooouuuu gggguuuyyyyssss

Yep, this thread is still going. But I have updates.

Brought in some tile guys for the floor, but the slab needed sealed with RedGard before the work could be done. I didn't bother taping the walls before rolling on the RedGard since baseboards will be put up eventually:



The floor tile was laid in about an hour and the spacing looks great. They will be back Monday to grout with SpectraLOCK:

Holy crap dude, get it done already! I thought I took forever with mine that started a year after yours and finished back in June(finished a few days under a year)...

Reminds me that I still need to make a thread about it...

Nice but, we should race. My kitchen vs your bathroom.

My master bathroom remodel is on the 2.5 year mark. I did finish a separate bathroom this summer!

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Nice but, we should race. My kitchen vs your bathroom.

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What's the status of your kitchen?

End of January if I'm really lucky?

I need to pour a footing and build a pier this week, then early next week if everything all comes together I'll be able to have framers come in and remove the wall and ceiling in the family room. After that, what... replace a dozen joists on the family room side of the now-gone wall, put it all back together and I'm free to do the plumbing, finish the electrical, frame in the pantry and center support for the peninsula, then put in flooring and actually build the kitchen back up.

I think you'd win if it were a race.

Man, I'd hope so but only for my sake. That's a lot of work you're taking on.

My kitchen will most likely be done sometime in December. It's going to be the full deal...gut, cabinets, tile, countertops, etc. but I'm subbing almost everything out. I don't exactly have the fastest turn-around time for projects.

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I did finish a separate bathroom this summer!

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Doesn't count until you finish the first one.

I'd be farther along on my bathroom had my fiancée not put her hand between a heavy barbell and it's rack last week, requiring a lot of panicking and running around like crazy.

A sawzall and duct tape outta take care of that hand. No pain no gain in DIY!

I keep telling her that there's plenty of heavy stuff to lift at my place, but she insists on having a gym membership...

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she insists on having a gym membership

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Ain't nothing wrong with looking good for her man!

...and we're grouted!

Cool but, where are the cabinets?

One step at a time. I still have to grout the shower and paint before I worry about cabinets.

I hate to ask but did you ever get your bathroom finished?

He had a tile guy look at it in the process of getting the floor for the family room ground down.

We are making plans to build a vanity (if drummer follows up on them, because I'm out of my house in another month and won't have a workshop after that.) but there's some work that needs to be done to the floor of the shower and the niches before grouting can happen, and that's going to require either effort or money. I think Drummer's out of money at the moment.

Starting a hallway bathroom remodel in a few weeks. Really hoping it doesn't take me even a fraction of how long this is taking!

Great thread though!

Bathroom renos take a lot of time to do right if you do anything except really basic tile and paint.

If you're doing a shower in that bathroom, make sure that you have your waterproofing figured out.

It's got a tub and I'm leaving it there, thank God (it's not original to the house and in good shape). I'm taking out two soffits above the vanity and tub, likely replacing some of the plumbing for the tub/shower, removing a halfwall and linen closet, replacing the vanity, tile for floor and shower, and adding some lighting and relocating some plugs and switches.

Shouldn't be overly complicated unless I run into some snags, which is entirely possible since it's a 45 year old house.

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Shouldn't be overly complicated unless I run into some snags

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I've heard that before.

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I hate to ask but did you ever get your bathroom finished?

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Not yet. It's close though.

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We are making plans to build a vanity (if drummer follows up on them, because I'm out of my house in another month and won't have a workshop after that.) but there's some work that needs to be done to the floor of the shower and the niches before grouting can happen, and that's going to require either effort or money. I think Drummer's out of money at the moment.

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I'm a little in the hole after floors and kitchen, but it's mostly the effort. Crouching in that tiny room for hours to clean up old thinset does NOT sound like fun. I am considering hiring it out, just to get it done, plus I'm considering redoing the shower floor. Stay tuned for updates (I hope).

Glad to hear the bathroom is close! I was hoping to see finished pictures after I read through the thread, but I understand running low on funds since renovations always seem to cost more than you can anticipate.

I had thought about purchasing an older home and doing some renovations, but it seems much easier to follow the renovating journeys online.

Keep up the good work!

Newer homes can have just as many problems. My fiancée previously owned a D.R. Horton house in south CS that had the worst plumbing, electrical, and finish work I'd seen in a house priced at that level. Nothing that would show up on inspections, but the kind of annoying things (clunking plumbing, GFCIs constantly tripping, leaky windows, cracking drywall tape) that comes from the way most builders do things in Texas now. Part of the reason I renovate is because that stuff drives me nuts and I get all itchy if I can't fix it.

If you're going to have to fix a lot of it anyway, might as well pay less for the place and get a location with a better commute. That's been our line of reasoning anyway.

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AgDrumma07
posted 10:42a, 02/17/14



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Shouldn't be overly complicated unless I run into some snags
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I've heard that before.

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Yeah, I know. It worries me a little, but hopefully the worst I find is a roach nest and an unsquare wall or two. It wouldn't be fun if it wasn't a challenge.

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If you're going to have to fix a lot of it anyway, might as well pay less for the place and get a location with a better commute. That's been our line of reasoning anyway.

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Ding ding ding. EXACTLY why I bought the house I'm in. Purchased it as a foreclosure at ~$35k under market and a 5-8 minute commute to the office.

The main reason I didn't buy an older house is that as a single gal I found the amount of work overwhelming and I know my limitations. I admire everyone that can do these massive projects.

So I really enjoy this thread and the kitchen thread because I am learning so much! Keep up the good work! I have to give you props for sticking with it and doing so much of the labor.

Thanks

The reason I got into this whole mess was watching my parents get around to redoing their place after talking about it for only 20 years. I'm talking red/orange shag carpeting still... in 2005. It was over cost, way over schedule and the quality - they kept having to have people come out and redo stuff like tile where you could see all the different mosaic sheets.

I figured with looking things up online and taking it slow I could probably match what they did and still beat them on cost. That was a couple of houses though, there's no way I'd jump straight into what we're doing now.

Drumma, you're light-years ahead of my bathroom remodel, which is now approaching THREE years.