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We are doing a lot of recycling in the closet office. Here is a progress shot of the current state of affairs.
The deck is salvaged from the old bedroom where the current office is. The shelving unit upper is the old closet shelf. The dividers are scrap 2×4′s from the Storage Project
The shelving unit bottom is salvaged from the old storage room. A note about the cubbys. They are 11” deep and 9” inside. the 2×4 dividers are 10” deep. This allows the client to store various papers in them as well as having easy access either from the top or either edge.
The arrival of the paperless office is a premature announcement.
The deck is shorter than the space available, by design. Home offices have a lot of cords, plugs, and paraphernalia around them. The cleats for the deck look like this.
The back cleat is screwed into the studs with 3” deck screws. The arms are screwed into the front and rear cleats even with our opening. This allows a space on the left for running our phone, internet, and networking cables as well as the various boxes they connect to. The right side will have a small shelving unit made from left over material from another project and will have a slot with a trash can underneath for trash and shredder materials.
Here is our closet office with the light on.
The light is deliberately placed so that the desk area has task lighting and the wall between the cubby unit and the deck does not have direct light. This translates into no glare on the monitor and soft reflected light on the walls. Which is why we painted this BEHR Ultra White. The down side to this is all the White outlets and plugs look grey. I am not an advocate of painting cover plates or outlets.
Quick note on the cubbys. The next person who paints them will swear a lot. Me, I painted before assembly.
But no day on this project would be complete without a trip into the attic. But we have a fax line and pre wire for a phone line.
After moving the stuff out of the ‘storage’ unit demo commences. Here is that wall with the drywall removed.
This offends me on so many levels. To call this shitty construction would give shitty a bad name. Notice that the header has no trimmer, nor are there any cripple studs above the ‘header’. This is not a load bearing wall, but it is just poor construction. Notice that the drywall on the inside of the wall is intact. This is because when they installed the pocket door they did not attach the drywall to the door stretchers. No screw holes! They had three nails holding the top of the frame attached to the header and two cut nails attaching it to the concrete. Basically the drywall and trim boards held this in place.
This home was a premium house when it was built. Block construction, large rooms, full baths, pool, blah, blah, blah. If this is how little home builders care about the details just because it is a garage, think about where else they cut corners. Better yet don’t .
10 foot Living in an 8 foot world
I mentioned that I had a 10′wide opening to frame in. I have 8 foot material. The bottom plate would be cut open later for my door. So I measured and installed the bottom plate with PowerGrab and Drive anchors. The guy who takes this out will swear a lot. I put the ‘seam’ in the middle of my doorway.
Since this is not a load bearing wall I will not be using a double top plate. Nor is there room to frame it up as a wall section and horse it in place. I measured and cut my material to get the length I needed. To get it up in one piece I screwed a piece of material to hold it together while I installed it. I screwed it in because I will be removing it later.
I cut my two end studs and angled them next to the wall to give me room to install the top plate. I glued the top of the plate with PowerGrab, installed one end and snugged up the end stud. I went to the other corner and snugged up that stud. I then framed in my wall.
Because the door is a prehung exterior unit I did not build a double header, but I did cripple it.
No remodeling project no matter how small is complete without a surprise. Where the new wall meets the old lurks the first one. The old corner was bent in about a half inch. I had to cut it to straighten it. I screwed the new stud to the old one to maintain its integrity. Figure 2 is where the original framer had to cut the wall stud to drywall.
I framed in the old pocket door opening and installed cripples above(not shown) and started the wiring for the various utilities.
Here is today’s Arizona construction tip. In the summer do the work in the attic early. It may be a dry heat outside, but in the attic it is not.
Note; This is probably one of the most dangerous techniques that I have posted. Unless you are comfortable with all of the suggestions and tools and techniques, farm this out to a professional.
Found a cracked truss at in a clients house. This is not normally a concern as engineered trusses are built pretty well. But things happen. This truss is underneath a HVAC roof unit. It was probably a combination of heat as temperatures in Arizona get insanely hot in attics, and vibrations from the heating unit.
The open crack tells us that the top chord of the truss has bent due to drying out and the extra weight of the HVAC unit. To repair we need to close up the crack and add some reinforcements. We will need to jack this up.
To straighten this I am using a 2 ton bottle jack found at the auto parts store. Any more than this, the risk of damage and or injury goes up.You don’t need any more power than this.
You need to be sure that you have a secure platform for doing this. I used a piece of 3/4” plywood spanning two joists to give me a solid jack point. If you do not do this, you run the risk of bowing the bottom truss chord and causing nail pops on the ceiling below.
You want to perform a straight lift. It will also take some time. You need to jack slowly, let it rest before attaching the plywood reinforcements, and allowing time for the glue to set before releasing the pressure from the jack.
The diagram below shows the jack resting on the plywood, the jack, the temporary post, and a block of wood screwed to the rafter portion to prevent the jack post from sliding out while jacking. To help my repair I am using PowerGrab in the crack before I jack it closed. Checking it with a level upon contact and before jacking will keep the jack and post from tipping over.
The left side of the photo below shows the wood post that is sitting on top of the jack for straightening and closing the crack. Notice that I cut an angle on the jack post so that it will contact my block and not tip the jack and post. Having jacked up my truss, I glued the back sides of my plywood and am using quick clamps to hold them in place before I screw them to the truss.
To repair this I cut 2 pieces of 5/8” 5 ply plywood, 3”x72” as reinforcements for either side. I am using 1 – 1/4” Deck Screws spaced about 8” apart staggered to attach them, taking care not to screw into the crack area we just fixed.
After about 30 mins., we slowly release the pressure on the jack, (it will sag a bit) and remove our jack and tools and materials. All Done.
Like I say, this is a dangerous repair due to being awkward, and is being presented for information only. You probably want to farm this out to a professional. This is only one method and I disclaim any responsibility for injury or damage.
Yeah it really is that dangerous.
I run across a lot of weird things in remodeling. Occasionally something appears that reinforces my long held belief that architects and designers should be required to serve an internship and residency like doctors before they get a license to practice. Like vaulted ceilings. Heating and cooling spaces you cannot possibly use because you are not 10 feet tall.
A lot of other things that gripe me is the lack of thought on maintenance down the road.
A recent paint job brings this home. Here are two bathrooms in the same house.
Never mind the counter material choice, think about having to replace the guts of these toilets. There is enough room to remove the top, but that is about it. You can almost replace the flapper, but if you have to replace the fill valve, you literally have to disconnect the toilet and drag it out from the wall. In addition to the fill valve, you will need a new wax ring, and have to go through the dance to reseal it properly.
those darn designers.
The LSB is in the history books. Here is a recap.
Before
Here is the view from the doorway into the bath from the master bedroom. Note on the left is the hinged door. In the case where someone might be using the toilet and someone else rushed in, it would give kneecapping a new meaning.
The tile is tired and the ‘tub’ is a sunken nightmare. Notice the window (single pane double thick tempered) in the back wall that looks out into the storage area that the client had enclosed sometime ago. That outside door faces east and the long wall faces south. It made this room hotter than hell most of the year and cold the rest.
After
Here is the view from the same spot.
We removed the tile, filled in the sunken tub area, installed a new glass block window, insulated, skim coated, installed a jacuzzi tub, surrounded it with solid surface, installed a Jeeves Heated Towel Bar,(which was the only item not obtained locally in either the Orange or Blue stores) installed grab bars in the shower/tub area, and with the extra space on the front side of the tub created built in shelving and a magazine rack for parking pleasure. Also with the installation of a pocket door, ‘kneecapping’ is a thing of the past. We also installed a tall mirror for last minute inspections. Just to the left of the tall mirror are two switches. These are to shut off the power to the jacuzzi when not in use. The controls are way too convenient to small children.
 Jacuzzi, Solid Surface and New Glass Block.
Back wall and storage area
Before
We also had the door to the sort of storage/dog area to address. Since the bathroom had so little storage and we knew early on that we would be installing a water heater for this room and the bath on this end of the house, we decided to parcel this space, insulate, drywall and tile it.
After
We installed a bi-fold door that closely matched the existing doors in the rest of the house.
Vanity Area Before
The only change to the vanity area was the replacement of the light fixtures, installing new faucets to match the brushed nickle finish of the new shower toys, and replacement of the cabinet pulls.
After
There it is.
The LSB is down to the bits. Major work is complete. We are down to the details.
Toilet
The glass block although only a 6×6” unit adds enough light so you can find it without needing a flashlight.
 New Throne with Light and reading rack The toilet is an American Standard Cadet model. It is a low flush, comfort height, extended bowl with one of the fastest flushes I have seen.
Pocket Door. Adds much usable space to the room.
Shower Front
Here we opted for a shower massage shower over the simple head provided by the manufacturer.
Also we installed a curved shower curtain rod.
Shower Back
On the left or long wall is a 24” grab bar. On the right side of the window is a 12” grab bar. On the right is a 54” high Jeeves Heated Towel Bar.
Early Morning
Since the long wall faces east and gets the morning sun, here is a sample of the glass block display.
 Morning Light through Glass Blocks
Before and After
Here is where we started and here is where we are finishing.
 Before and After
In our last episode I was working on the access panel for the jacuzzi. Having sorted that out, I spent time finishing up the skim coating and priming and painting in anticipation of the solid surface.
Tuesday Morning.
 Morning Light Painting is done on the soffit ceilings and the walls up to a few inches behind where the solid surface will go.
Here are a couple of the lads from Pro Tops Inc. setup and cutting the large side panel.
 ProTops lads assembling walls On the left is a portable swamp cooler as the temperature was over 100. With the canopy it is a pleasant place to work if you have to work outdoors in Arizona in the summer.
The big panel has been installed and they are building the template for the back panel. They built the sides of the three glass block openings and attached them to the panel before installing it. Slid Right In.
 Long Wall installed. The lads are building the template for the back wall. The templating system that they use consists of 1/8” luan ply and hot melt glue to measure for the panels. Works slick. When you are working on material that has no room for error, it is important to get it right.
Here is the finished product.
 Finished and done
Here is the access panel for whoever may have to work on this in the future.
 Finish Access Panel It is mechanical and all mechanical things break down eventually. The guy who will have to fix this years down the road will thank me. So will the client not having to tear up the bathroom to fix a pump or leak.
The tub we have installed is a 36” Jacuzzi Espree model. This presented a number of challenges such as planning and sizing the
finish materials to trim out this unit. The walls are going to be covered completely with solid surface material from the top of the tub
deck to the bottom of the soffit. The soffit was built wide enough so that we will have a clean vertical line between the tub and the soffit.
It is designed as a drop in tub for those having bathrooms the size of 2 car garages and want to build platforms to display it. Why the hell you want to have steps to get into a bathtub, whose primary claim to fame is the therapeutic bubbling is beyond me, but hey, it keeps folks employed building displays for them. Now most of my visitors do not have bathrooms that large and in some cases like me, have houses that are barely larger than two car garages.
By now if you are following along, we have mounted it in a more traditional manner, (being surrounded by three walls.)
One of the things that I have learned in doing remodeling is thinking about working on things later. Electric tubs are a poster child for this thinking. Stuff breaks and requires access to repair it.
So for this project we are framing in an access panel. I talked with the solid surface guys and we had decided to put a panel across the whole thing with screws to be able to access the pump and motor down the road. Later that night I was thinking about it. Putting an access panel all the way across would mean that I would have an unfinished base trim detail in this area. So I made the panel surface smaller, providing blocking for the screws for the panel, the gap for the upper trim piece, and enough space at the bottom to be able to run the baseboard in this area. This allows the panel to be removed woithout damaging either the walls or the floors.
This is the front view. The back side is an ugly mess as I had to trim the track to clear the hoses and pipes on the top, and the stand, bracket and plumbing on the bottom.
Here is the left side showing the gap across the top for the reveal piece of solid surface. This also shows the pump housing that sticks out enough so the solid surface guys will have to router out the back side of the panel for clearance. This is one of those details that let you know that the product was designed for ease in manufacturing rather than ease in installation. sigh… another remodeling surprise!
I also provided a space to get into the back of the tub should it be necessary for servicing the jets or lines on the wall side.
The key to any successful remodeling project is planning. Once you have your parts selected, and have made the various choices and tradeoffs, especially for DIY’ers, before you start the rebuilding process, review what you have and where it is going. This will help you to have a successful project.
One of the most important aspects of any project is providing blocking for the various things that will be attached to your finished walls. Bathrooms are probably the most involved rooms in providing blocking for towel bars, grab bars, backing for various things that will be mounted on the walls. There are amazing anchors made for hollow walls, but since you have the walls open, providing solid blocking takes little extra time and will pay big dividends later.
Let’s take a quick tour around the LSB project.
This is the wet wall for the control valve, spout, and shower head. As I mentioned in Episode 6 I designed this wall to fit the new tub, and to get as much storage into it as possible. The studs are on either side of the water center-line to allow the plumber an easy way for connecting the shower. The fiberglass insulation in this wall was recycled from the long wall as it has been replaced with the foam board that you can see on the right side of the photo. It is a sound control measure, as bathrooms are second to your kitchen in noise.
The left side of the wall has a built up corner so that there is solid backing for the shower curtain rod that will be attached to the solid surface after it is installed. The outlet on the wall is for two switches we are installing to shut off power to the tub when not in use. One is for the pump, the other is for the inline heater. Despite the tub having a dry pump feature and the inline heater not operating when there is no water present, it is cheap insurance as the controls for the tub are at little hands grab height.
Moving along to the long wall, I left the original 2×2′s in place, because they were solid, and worked around them. The glass block frame I made out of 3/4” plywood and added a 2×2 to the top and bottom to act as a stop for the assembly and to provide nailing for the drywall. I added blocking below it horizontally to have an attachment surface for the drywall and to stiffen the wall so the solid surface does not come down in a few years.
That’s the top half. Let’s look at the bottom half. Here we provided blocking for the grab bars that we are installing on this wall. They seem high now but will be at a convenient height when the tub is installed. These blocks are attached to the vertical studs with 3” screws drilled in at an angle top and bottom. when the drywall is glued and screwed, the solid surface applied and the mounting brackets for the bars are installed, you will not be pulling these off the wall without a come along or a shot of adrenaline to the heart.
The framing on the glass block side is different as the two openings are made for specific purposes. The lower one will allow access tto the back side of the tub should it ever becomes necessary, The upper one is a future shelf unit for the other side of the wall.
Moving along. to the glass block wall. We are installing a Jeeves Heated Towel Bar. This requires an electric outlet and solid blocking for the unit itself. The outlet for the heater is bleow this photo. The electric box you see is for the timer to turn the warmer on and off.
Everything that will attach to the walls will have a solid surface to attach to. A little planning now and you won’t have to investigate the wonderful world of hollow wall anchors.
Most Arizona houses are slab on grade. This means that changing plumbing is challenging or expensive. Slab on Grade houses are laid out, and the plumbing, both waste and supply lines are buried in the ground before the slab is poured. You see some interesting bottom plates here. On the remodeling end, this means that you either get creative or you get to spend really large amounts of money time and noise to move things around. (Nothing screams remodeling to the neighbors like someone with a concrete slab saw in your bathroom.)
The LSB is a case in point. This was the wall where the plumbing came up. Now I knew that I had space to fool with as the new tub was a foot
shorter than this opening. Plus the fixtures were going to be replaced
and mounted much higher.
Shower valves are all different. Whether it is a two control or a single valve, the width and depth varies. The height of the spout and the shower head will vary as well. This is the point where you can get that shower head up high enough so you do not have to scrunch to get your hair wet.
The first order of business was to build the new wall for the tub and
the fixtures. If you look at the new wall closely, you will note that
the two studs in the middle are spaced about 12” apart. The center
ones are actually 6” away from the tub centerline. This is on purpose.
Plumbers like this. This is where you precut a couple of blocks for the plumber to install as backing as needed. They can plan the layout and put together your water lines quickly. If you are paying one by the hour, you will like this too.
Because there was going to be space between these two walls, I talked with the plumber so we could reroute the vent lines so I could get as much free space in this wall as possible. Vern from Exclusively Plumbing made that happen.
On the left side of this photo you can see where I rebuilt the old wall corner. I ended up rebuilding the entire wall to frame for the storage units.
He then came back and installed the rough in for the shower.
Notice that I put a 1/2 plywood sheath on the end of this double wall. This is to provide backing for anything they may want to put on it.
Storage.
The upper unit will be roughly 24x36x 10” deep. With 2 shelves. The drywall screwed to the back of the front wall will act as the cabinet back with a coat of paint. The shelving unit will be made of stock pre drilled shelving material, with pre finished poly shelving. Much cheaper than building a custom unit.
Below is a magazine rack using studs as the framing and a piece of drywall screwed to the back of the studs. A little mud, some corner bead, paint and a bit of trim.
The electrical outlet on the wall is for controlling the power to the jacuzzi and the inline heater. The bad thing about the jacuzzi is having the controls at a convenient grab height for small children.
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