Bathroom remodel gone awry!

[sbboudreau]

So everything that I touch needs repair or replacement. This weekend project has turned into a nightmare. I started working in the full bath to replace the vanity. Saturday we(wife and I) mutually agreed to do the floor to. Well, two water shutoff valves weren't shutting off the water, disassembled and repaired. Uneven floor, unsecured floor(very bouncy) repaired, rotted floor repaired. Two full wax seals under the toilet! WHAT THE HECK WERE THEY THINKING. So four days in, yes I took yesterday and last Thursday off(I have every Friday off) and still fixing the messed up floor. SHEESH! No toilet or vanity in yet and I'm not working on my club restoration projects either. Not happy. Stupid people shouldn't try and fix their houses. Damn I'm tired.

Actually I didn't do a whole lot on Thursday but Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday I was really busy and made to many trips to Ace Hardware and Lowes. And I almost broke my left hand white hitting the wonder bar trying to remove flooring on Saturday, still swollen and hurts. I'm getting to old for this crap.

[onlyomar]

I feel you. I routinely turn 45 minute projects into an all day affair with multiple trips to Home Depot.

[sbboudreau]

I feel you. I routinely turn 45 minute projects into an all day affair with multiple trips to Home Depot.

Me to. I'm to damned fussy. But my projects are always done right. My OCD again. LOL My loving wife is so patient, but if I didn't take the time to get it just so it would drive me crazy, so she just allows me to do it my way and try's making valid suggestions, sometimes I do it her way. She is right a lot of times.

[Imp]

So happy my flooring is all original wood. :lol:

 

We re-did our bathroom a couple weeks ago. Were mad when I found out the plumbing fittings and PEX were a very specific type of pex called Viega. I mean, it's good stuff, but you can't just go to HD or Lowes and get replacement fittings/parts/tools. Very specific pipe. Very specific diameters and crimp tools. Sharkbite fittings just didn't work. This delayed things for a few days, thinking I could bang it out on a sunday... no plumbing supply stores are open on Sundays. :unamused: Then I had to find one that actually had the fittings in stock or even had Viega at all. Had to call in a favor to a plumbing friend to borrow his crimp tool (vs buying the set for $500).

 

That said, plumbers must be loving life with PEX. Makes working with bends/joins/pipes 10x easier instead of having to soldier stiff copper.

 

--kC

[poops]

www.angieslist.com :taunt:

[AppAlum]

So everything that I touch needs repair or replacement. This weekend project has turned into a nightmare. I started working in the full bath to replace the vanity. Saturday we(wife and I) mutually agreed to do the floor to. Well, two water shutoff valves weren't shutting off the water, disassembled and repaired. Uneven floor, unsecured floor(very bouncy) repaired, rotted floor repaired. Two full wax seals under the toilet! WHAT THE HECK WERE THEY THINKING. So four days in, yes I took yesterday and last Thursday off(I have every Friday off) and still fixing the messed up floor. SHEESH! No toilet or vanity in yet and I'm not working on my club restoration projects either. Not happy. Stupid people shouldn't try and fix their houses. Damn I'm tired.

Actually I didn't do a whole lot on Thursday but Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday I was really busy and made to many trips to Ace Hardware and Lowes. And I almost broke my left hand white hitting the wonder bar trying to remove flooring on Saturday, still swollen and hurts. I'm getting to old for this crap.

 

Can certainly relate. In the process of replacing our bathroom floor. Did one in our rental house last year that should have taken a day but turned into 3. Once I get this one finished we are going to tackle 2 vanities. I'm going to fight hard with the Mrs. to hire out the vanity project. Wish me luck.

[sbboudreau]

So everything that I touch needs repair or replacement. This weekend project has turned into a nightmare. I started working in the full bath to replace the vanity. Saturday we(wife and I) mutually agreed to do the floor to. Well, two water shutoff valves weren't shutting off the water, disassembled and repaired. Uneven floor, unsecured floor(very bouncy) repaired, rotted floor repaired. Two full wax seals under the toilet! WHAT THE HECK WERE THEY THINKING. So four days in, yes I took yesterday and last Thursday off(I have every Friday off) and still fixing the messed up floor. SHEESH! No toilet or vanity in yet and I'm not working on my club restoration projects either. Not happy. Stupid people shouldn't try and fix their houses. Damn I'm tired.

Actually I didn't do a whole lot on Thursday but Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday I was really busy and made to many trips to Ace Hardware and Lowes. And I almost broke my left hand white hitting the wonder bar trying to remove flooring on Saturday, still swollen and hurts. I'm getting to old for this crap.

 

Can certainly relate. In the process of replacing our bathroom floor. Did one in our rental house last year that should have taken a day but turned into 3. Once I get this one finished we are going to tackle 2 vanities. I'm going to fight hard with the Mrs. to hire out the vanity project. Wish me luck.

GOOD LUCK! LOL

[sbboudreau]

So happy my flooring is all original wood. :lol:

 

We re-did our bathroom a couple weeks ago. Were mad when I found out the plumbing fittings and PEX were a very specific type of pex called Viega. I mean, it's good stuff, but you can't just go to HD or Lowes and get replacement fittings/parts/tools. Very specific pipe. Very specific diameters and crimp tools. Sharkbite fittings just didn't work. This delayed things for a few days, thinking I could bang it out on a sunday... no plumbing supply stores are open on Sundays. :unamused: Then I had to find one that actually had the fittings in stock or even had Viega at all. Had to call in a favor to a plumbing friend to borrow his crimp tool (vs buying the set for $500).

 

That said, plumbers must be loving life with PEX. Makes working with bends/joins/pipes 10x easier instead of having to soldier stiff copper.

 

--kC

I love PEX it;s so easy to use, bought everything needed to install all the sizes.

[JackpotJohnny]

I learned the extent of my capacities a long time ago.

I'm fine doing anything and everything except finish work, won't even attempt it anymore.

Texturing walls, precision cut baseboards or crown mouldings, tile, flooring.

I don't even like to paint. I'm too critical of work I do, and even if nobody else can notice one of my screw ups, I will always know it's there.

[sbboudreau]

It really isn't the extent of my capabilities that are in question. It's just everything is so dragged out even when I try really hard to work quickly and proficiently. For example, wife wanted Vinyl tiles, were at lowe's and the flooring person working there says, are you using a certain kind of glue, I'm like no the tiles are peel and apply, she's like no that won't be very permanent. So we get this glue that has to set up for at least a half hour before applying the tile. WTF! and if you get it on your fingers, everything sticks to you. Grrrr I wish I installed ceramic tiles, I've done two floors in the past and even though there's more work it's so much easier. I finally installed the toilet yesterday, yep that's like a week and a half with one toilet and it's in my room, I'm a second shifter so they have to come in my room while I'm sleeping to go pee or no 2. I'm taking thursday off to hopefully finish this weekend, until I tackle the tub and shower refinish. Wife wants the tub boxed in and new hardware for the ub, new walls and refinish the old tub. Oh and that's not including the four rooms she want's painted before my son's graduation the weekend of Memorial day. :cry: no golf for me for a while.

[scomac2002]

I think a person has to pick and choose their projects when it comes to do-it-yourself. I know guys that are absolutely convinced they can do anything themselves. Oh sure, they get the work done, but most often it looks like an amateur has done it. That maybe fine for some things, but others not so much.

 

I gave up on doing any sort of major home repairs/renovations on my own many years ago. I helped a friend who was building his own house. It took him over a year to get the thing to the point that they could move in. Years later it still wasn't done inside. I never understood why he would have chosen to go about it that way rather than have hired out a builder to actually build and finish a more modest house that they could afford. The whole notion just seemed daft as on more than one day it felt like the blind leading the blind.

 

Now that was an extreme example, but the results weren't a lot different when we built a deck on our first house. Simple rectangular plan with one flight of stairs that came as a kit from the lumber yard. My house building buddy and I took the project on over the course of a long weekend. Oh sure we got it done and it was even square and level, but it still looked pretty amateurish compared to some of the decks that our friends had built by contractors. We lacked the tools and the skillset to give it that finished look.

 

From that point forward, I've hired out all the construction jobs without even a hint from my wife to do it any other way. It helps that I know a lot of tradesmen with excellent reputations. I know that there are a lot of fly-by-night operators out there that have to be sorted through and that task isn't always easy. I've never found it all that difficult to get good value for money.

 

At any rate, don't feel bad about your bathroom reno taking over a week and a half to complete. Three years ago, we completely redid our main bath. We had it done when we were south and had hoped that it would largely be done over the course of the three weeks we were away. It was five weeks from start to finish due to fixing a structural problem and delays with the glass installers. Sure it was inconvenient. In fact, we went to the neighbour's a couple of times to shower, but the finished product was well worth the wait.

[Go_Blue!]

I just had my full bath remodeled. Not fun. Was supposed to be done in a week. Ya that week turned into almost 3. I wasn't happy. It turned out pretty cool, but if I learned you take much more care if it yours versus it being just another job for someone.

[sbboudreau]

Still no golf. :-( But making progress. Half the floor, toilet and most of the wanes coating are in. Need to be done REALLY soon. I need to golf.

[The Pearl]

Google "planning fallacy"

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_fallacy

[sbboudreau]

Almost done, floor 98% down, walls 80% painted and vanity almost in. This is only phase one. Next week we start the Tub/Shower area, pulling old shower walls down and installing new walls, resurfacing the Tub(yippy), installing new Faucet and Shower head and boxing in the face of the Tub. When it is 100% done I will post pictures.

[sbboudreau]

I just had my full bath remodeled. Not fun. Was supposed to be done in a week. Ya that week turned into almost 3. I wasn't happy. It turned out pretty cool, but if I learned you take much more care if it yours versus it being just another job for someone.

Can you tell me what you had done and how much it cost you? Can you add pictures? We did all our own work kept the toilet with new seat, replaced the vanity and faucet, bead board installed below chair rail, new vinyl flooring(old floor stripped completely with new subfloor), new lighting, new curtains and painted all surfaces. This is the third full weekend minus the running around for three days. When we're done pictures will follow.