No, the door that is in the closet is the original door into the bathroom. I just haven't closed it up yet. The new one is the one in the middle ( to the right looking from the bedroom). So in the last panoramic I posted is kinda the view from walking in the new doorway.

Hey, so I'm trying to get my shower pan ready to be inspected on Friday and just discovered that neither lowes nor home depot carry them in the store and even Amazon wont get them to me until next week. Does anyone know where I might be able to pick up two dam corners in a store so I can put them in by Thursday night?

Call Universal Plumbing Supply
2301 Congress Ave, Houston, TX 77003
(713) 225-2800

1st, this is long overdue but thanks for the tip RtT, was able to run over there and get the corners so I could have them in, just in time for the inspection.

It's been awhile so this will be another long update, but it will include lots of pictures too for those who don't like reading, so here we go:
So now that rough-in electrical is done, and rough in plumbing is fixed, it was time to get the rest of the "rough-in" type inspections done so that we could start closing things up. Step 1 in this process was to build the shower pan. I've never done a custom shower pan but I feel like it went pretty well all things considered:
Thin set going down to anchor the mudpack to the slab


Finished preslope


As an aside,while doing that pre-slope, I very nearly re-taught myself a very valuable/expensive lesson in buying more material than you need. I had bought just the amount of sand topper to mix deck mud I had calculated I needed, and very nearly got myself in a pickle by running out. It was midnight, 2 days before inspection (as in the liner has to go in the next day, and I don't have an extra day to get more, finish tomorrow, and let it dry before putting in the liner and filling the pan with water). I got lucky though and was able to scrape the wheelbarrow clean with a trowel and get just enough extra to finish. To say I cut it close doesn't quite do it justice though, I scraped the wheelbarrow clean enough to get a little extra that it didn't require cleaning when I was done

Anyway, here is the liner most of the way in, forgot to get a finished picture:


Then came putting in insulation for the inspection


and cutting the hole in the house and running the vent lines for the exhaust fans which again I forgot to get pictures of (When I work until late night or early morning I almost always forget to get pictures because when I'm done the only thing on my mind is getting into bed). But got all of that done and scheduled all 4 inspections for that Friday (Electrical rough-in, mechanical cover, plumbing shower pan and re-rough-in, insulation). It was kind of stressful that day at work waiting to hear from these 4 inspections, especially knowing that every bit of it was my work this time. Except the electrical of course, that was a licensed electrician. But, by just a little after lunch I had the good news that we passed all 4 inspections and could start closing things up!

So we took 1 day off to help and friend move and then assembled a team to start the drywall going up. Here are some progress pictures (sorry the lighting sucks, finished electrical should help)




The crew helped me getting the ceiling up Sunday and monday and then I spent the rest of the week doing the walls myself







Funny side story though, one night I was working late after my wife had gone to bed and she woke up at midnight realizing I was still at it so she came in to tell me to stop for the night. She couldn't see me so when I told her I needed to finish the step I was on before stopping, she was irate (that's always my line, I rarely
actually "need" to finish, and it always takes another hour) and came storming in to yell at me. Well at this point in the process I was dry walling the inside wall that will hold the door to the water closet, and not wanting seems I had used a single sheet and had just drywalled myself into the room, sealing myself in. she walked in, looked around confused when she didn't see me, realized where I was, and just sat down and laughed. Dodged a bullet there J. Here is a picture of our temporary "French doors" in to the water closet I cut to get myself out once I was done


Getting thatdrywall up was a huge relief. Then came the shower waterproofing, which I did with kerdi-board, and thanks again to RtT for the tip on where to get it (competition flooring). Here is the product:


For thosewho have never worked with the stuff, it's awesome. Cuts like drywall but easier, is extremely light (weight wise I had no problem carrying 6 - 4'x8' sheets), and hangs like drywall with screws. Also once the screw holes are patched it is completely water proof and is designed to be a tile substrate. For those considering though, it apparently isn't a mainstream product yet so it is kinda pricey, I paid 119/sheet for the 4x8 sheets (4 of them) and 77 per sheet for 64"x8' sheets (2 of them). And then like $30 in their special screw/washer sets. That being said, I was able to water proof the whole shower in a day by myself, so I call it a win, what is a budget at this point anyways right well here it is going up:

The dog wanted me to stop working and play with him

Here you can see the screw holes being sealed


Now it is starting to be finishing pieces going in. Here is the vanity ready for marble


And the slab for our counter top, bench seat, and caps for the shower curb and kneeling wall



And at this point the drywall is taped and bedded and ready for texture, the shower floor is re-tiled (first time we didn't check to make sure it was smooth before laying the tile and had to bust it out, smooth the mudpack with thinset so there wouldn't be humps and dips in the tile floor, and relay the tile), tile has started going up on the shower ceiling, speaker cable is run for the mini bathroom sound system (splurged because the wife likes to jam out while getting ready) and the wiring is done for all but the vanity light fixture and one outlet left to go in. forgot to get pictures this week while I got it to that point because I worked until 2 am Monday night, 11 pm Tuesday, 3 am Wednesday, and 330 last night (this morning?) so pictures weren't the first thing on my
mind. I'll try to get some good ones tonight or tomorrow to put up. Also, apparently I am still capable of pulling a "finals week" sleep schedule to get stuff done when I need to.

And to wrap up with one lesson learned, if you don't have one, get a good work light before starting any projects indoors or at night (or both). The one I just got this week was $30 (utilitech LED floor stand) and if I had had it from the beginning would have been invaluable and saved many headaches, like not realizing the shower floor wasn't smooth before tiling because it was too dark in there once the drywall went up and started
blocking light from adjacent rooms. I spent way more replacing the tile than I would have for a really nice work light, much less the cheap but useful one I got.

Sorry for the novel thanks for reading if you got this far

Looking good! And welcome to the Rule #1 on the wife club.

I thought you had given up.

haha not quite. There have been points I wanted to give up but then remembered that if I did that then I would still be left with a construction zone on one end of the house.

Finally Actually read through this thread. Man, the before pics could have easily been my master bathroom before we remodeled. We went with an easier configuration though that didn't require moving much plumbing (only had to move the shower drain a foot or 2 to make it a shower drain). Still had to move walls etc to give a big shower that takes up the spot where the tub and linen closet were previously.

We had a lot of the same permitting issues, one stop saying you couldn't get a plumbing/mechanical permit, etc.

I also had the same feelings about the framing inspections. The guy didn't spend much time looking at it, but when talking to him he saidyou just get a feel for who does good work from just a glance a few items, especially compared to the many shoddy jobs he sees everyday. Not one inspector for any trade spent more than 60 seconds in my work area looking at items. The only guy who spent any extra time was the plumbing inspector, but that was because he was planning a remodel on a similar bathroom and was picking my brain for ideas as he liked what I was doing.

Good luck on the rest, it takes forever but it really is worth it when you finally get done.

And one more thing no one ever told us. Apparently when you open any building permit, you are technically supposed to bring the entire house's fire alarms up to current code. That is fire alarms in every room, hardwired together, etc.

No one mentioned anything until the final inspection and the lady asked where the fire alarms where... oops.

She let it slide after acting like a hard ass for a minute and said to just get battery powered ones at all the locations they were supposed to be.

I actually wouldn't have had a problem putting in a updated system, but I never was told about it and it never even crossed my mind.
Relevant code is IRC R314.3.1

quote:

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And one more thing no one ever told us. Apparently when you open any building permit, you are technically supposed to bring the entire house's fire alarms up to current code. That is fire alarms in every room, hardwired together, etc.

No one mentioned anything until the final inspection and the lady asked where the fire alarms where... oops.

She let it slide after acting like a hard ass for a minute and said to just get battery powered ones at all the locations they were supposed to be.

I actually wouldn't have had a problem putting in a updated system, but I never was told about it and it never even crossed my mind.
Relevant code is IRC R314.3.1

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Who told you this? That is not true.

quote:

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quote:

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And one more thing no one ever told us. Apparently when you open any building permit, you are technically supposed to bring the entire house's fire alarms up to current code. That is fire alarms in every room, hardwired together, etc.

No one mentioned anything until the final inspection and the lady asked where the fire alarms where... oops.

She let it slide after acting like a hard ass for a minute and said to just get battery powered ones at all the locations they were supposed to be.

I actually wouldn't have had a problem putting in a updated system, but I never was told about it and it never even crossed my mind.
Relevant code is IRC R314.3.1

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Who told you this? That is not true.

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The final closeout inspection. She didn't fail me for it but acted like she was going to. I don't remember her name, I'll have to look at the signature to see if it's legible from the closeout.

She referenced the IRC code that states it. The code says that plumbing/electrical work only is exempt, but we moved walls, etc.

Thanks for that info, I will look into it because I believe our alarms are up to date but I'll have to check. Also, does anyone know a good drywall crew they would recommend to come in and finish out the tape, mud and texture on the drywall, there is a current push to have the job done faster than I can do it well and am considering paying for just that piece?
Thanks

Also tiling a shower...

I'm talking with Ryan in a pm, the fire alarm thing is not true unless you have a huge remodel, >50% of house value.

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Total width at that front wall of the shower/water closet is 88-3/4". inside edge to inside edge of the framed wc is 36" leaving 49-1/4" for the shower.

and Aggietaco, I get that, but what ever happened to a little professional courtesy, If you aren't going to work a full day on my project, then don't tell me that I am the only project for the day and that it can be done in a single day. My time is just as valuable as theirs.

and update: the plumber just called and said "we had to finish up another job from yesterday and will be there lat this morning/early afternoon. We'll call you 30 minutes ahead to let you know we are coming." another instance of, clearly you knew you were going to have to go back to that job when you wrapped up yesterday, why not call me then so I schedule my morning accordingly and not anticipate you first thing in the morning as originally promised. Again, professional courtesy. I'm about to just fire them and do the job myself, they already did the hard part i didn't want to do, jacking through the foundation.

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Ha. Ha. You're just not used to working with contractors. Get used to it, and to do that begin by dropping any quaint notions you have of "professional courtesy." They just don't operate that way. Stuff happens and things can come up, but, simply put, your priority (efficient utilization of your time) is not their priority. Heck, it isn't even a consideration; that thought never crosses their minds. To get the level of service you're expecting you'd have to write it up in your own contract, which I doubt very few would agree to. Or, maybe they would at a much higher price. My favorite is "first thing in the morning", which is code for somewhere between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM in the afternoon.

Yea, and those frustrations and that realization is why I decided to finish the plumbing without them, since I can plumb myself, I just didn't want to.

Update from the weekend, and this one is mostly pictures for those tired of reading my ramblings:
drywall taped and mudded, shower fully waterproofed, and floor tile re done













texture up:







primed and painted:










unfortunately once the paint dried and the sun came up the next day, the brighter light form the sun revealed that some of our tape and bed job (about 1/4 of it) sucks:




so latest update is rather than try to fix it myself, I'm gonna hire a sub-contractor to fix those spots that look bad, b/c i figure they will do it in a fourth of the time it will take me, and if this remodel drags on much longer, there will be some building tension in my household. will continue to keep y'all posted, and thanks for the clarification Brad06ag, if I got to the end and they didn't pass me because of that, I would be a kind of pissed I usually reserved for Franchione coaching decisions.

quote:

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I'm talking with Ryan in a pm, the fire alarm thing is not true unless you have a huge remodel, >50% of house value.

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I learn something new everyday. It appears the Residential Building Code indeed requires smoke detectors to be hardwired and interlocked when any building permit is issued. However, in Houston, it is only required when the remodel value exceeds $5,000. An exception exists if non of the interior structure is opened or moved (i.e. walls or ceiling).

Do they have to be hardwired or can they be networked together wirelessly through a router? Because my project is definitely over 5k and it would be hard to argue that the ceilings and walls weren't opened...

Code says "hard wired"

I didn't think you could have an operable window inside a shower, especially below the shower head. Also, did you think about replacing the window with something more current? I know it's too late for it now but just wondering...I'm enjoying all the pics, keep us updated!

I quickly learned that taping and floating is a job (and blame) best left to others. It's almost impossible to tell if you've got everything floated well until that first coat of color goes on. Then you've got to swallow your pride and slap some mud on that fresh paint, prime and paint again. Throw in new texture as well in your case.

As to the window, I have not seen anything prohibiting an operable window, but if someone knows better and could point me to the relevant code that would be great. All I have seen is that it needs to be tempered glass, which since I didn't touch the window wall, I'm hoping to get away with just leaving the original window. WE looked at replacing it but just didn't have the time to get a new one put in, and didn't want to hassle with it, so we may just replace it when we do all the windows in the house.

And I have learned that mudding lesson as well, and watching the pro do it for about 10 minutes completely validated my decision to pay him. Especially for the small amount he wanted to do the job. It's already coming along nicely and I'll try to get some pictures up later today.

RtT, any chance you have a link to where the code talks about that smoke detector requirement? Or if it is just in the IRC building code, the location/item number of it in the code? Thanks

Nevermind, I found it, and here it is for those interested:

http://edocs.publicworks.houstontx.gov/documents/divisions/planning/enforcement/06_irc_amendments.pdf

page 15

"R313.2.1 Alterations, repairs and additions. When alterations, repairs or additions
requiring a permit occur, or when one or more sleeping rooms are added or created in
existing dwellings, the individual dwelling unit shall be equipped with smoke alarms located
as required for new dwellings.; When the cost of the alteration, repair, or addition exceeds
$5000.00, the smoke alarms shall be interconnected and hard wired.
Exceptions:
1. Inter connection and hard-wiring of smoke alarms in existing areas shall not be
required where the alterations or repairs do not result in the removal of interior wall
or ceiling finishes exposing the structure., unless there is an attic, crawl space or
basement available which could provide access for hard wiring and interconnection
without the removal of interior finishes.
2. Work involving the exterior surfaces of dwellings, such as the replacement of roofing
or siding, or the addition or replacement of windows or doors, or the addition of a
porch or deck, are exempt from the requirements of this section.
3. Permits involving only mechanical or plumbing work are exempt from the
requirements of this section."

Pictures from the end of yesterday:

drywall halfway fixed:




shower tile going up and marble got installed yesterday:




there is a chance at the end of this week all that't left is waiting on shower glass....

re-floated drywall seams getting primed:


shower getting closer:

Looking good!

Don't use white grout, whatever you do.

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Don't use white grout, whatever you do.

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Why not? That is what I currently have purchased and sitting at the house but could probably swap it out if needed.

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quote:

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Don't use white grout, whatever you do.

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Why not? That is what I currently have purchased and sitting at the house but could probably swap it out if needed.

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PITA to keep white. Grays are much easier and would match your stone selection. If you absolutely have to use white, use a product like spectralock or keep on top of your grout cleaning and sealing schedule.

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks for the advice, we'll see if I can talk the Mrs. out of white...

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Ok, that makes sense. Thanks for the advice, we'll see if I can talk the Mrs. out of white...

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That can be a hard sell. If she absolutely wants white, seal it after it has cured (before you begin using it) and then again a few weeks later. From them on, you need to seal it at least every year to keep cleaning reasonable. The biggest problem is that no one (myself included) wants to seal grout regularly, like you should.

Well, no dice on the non-white grout, but we do have a commitment to properly maintain and care for it to keep it white.
Also, won't be done tomorrow but making good progress:

Inspection question:
Anyone know if I can do all final inspections on the same day, or do I have to get the final electrical, final plumbing, and final mechanical done first and then bring in the building/structural inspector separately to check off his final and close out the permit?

Ryan might correct me on this, but I don't think you can because you can't schedule them to ensure they arrive in the right order.

Building has to be last anyway, so everyone else should be able to be closed out while other things our going on.

As soon as walls are painted, you should be able to finish electrical.

Finish the tiling/grouting, then install all the plumbing in the shower and have the sinks finished out, then call plumbing inspection while glass is getting scheduled and you are working on trim out/etc. Probably call in the mechanical inspection the same day since you should be complete with the vent fan after the electrical is closed out

Then when all the final trim out work is done, call in the for the closeout.

quote:

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Ryan might correct me on this, but I don't think you can because you can't schedule them to ensure they arrive in the right order.

Building has to be last anyway, so everyone else should be able to be closed out while other things our going on.

As soon as walls are painted, you should be able to finish electrical.

Finish the tiling/grouting, then install all the plumbing in the shower and have the sinks finished out, then call plumbing inspection while glass is getting scheduled and you are working on trim out/etc. Probably call in the mechanical inspection the same day since you should be complete with the vent fan after the electrical is closed out

Then when all the final trim out work is done, call in the for the closeout.

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Sorry for the delay. I'm on vacation

This is pretty good advice. At the very least, you want to schedule the structural final last. I've found that if you call for the inspection at least two days in advance, you will land very early on the inspector's schedule. In theory, if you called for the trades 2-3 days out, but then called for structural the day before, you could end up with the structural inspection after everything else. You can also contact the inspector the morning of the inspection to get a ballpark idea of where you are in the queue.

We did white grout once 20 years ago in a small bathroom. Within a year, we removed white grout (which was now yellow) with a dremel and subsequently used gray.