Back with Bathrooms

It's been a while since I've posted here; in that time, we've had to fix our front porch (leaking and rotting wood). Aside from painting the porch ceilings "haint blue", there really wasn't much interesting about that project, so I didn't document it on the blog.

We are now on to another huge project, remodeling all three bathrooms at once. Well, technically not all at the exact same time---we have to have at least one working toilet, sink, and shower in the house, so for now, that is the master bath. The powder room and boy's bathroom are completely gutted. While taking on all three at once is a major undertaking, we figured it is better to get it over with!

Our reasons for tackling the bathrooms are many. First, they were last renovated about 20-30+ years ago (aside from perhaps a new faucet or toilet, but the tile work, tubs, sinks, floors, and countertops are at least that old if not older). Second, both the master and the powder room have seriously defects in layout; you could fit three toilets in the WC portion of the master, and the powder room was just wrong in one very major way I will explain below. Third, we are making some changes in amenities that will increase the utility of the spaces; right now we have a lot of cavernous, impossible to organize cabinets in all three bathrooms; poor water flow and pressure; one tiny sink for three growing boys; poor lighting, etc.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take "before" pictures of the powder room and boy's bathroom (PR and  BB henceforth) pre-demo; I will see if I can dig some up for a later post. Here are some photos of the work done so far--a lot in one week!

from hallway into BB

where BB bathtub used to be (toilet moved there after removal)

some fun wallpaper that was uncovered

more groovy wallpaper where the sink used to be

In these next photos you will see our biggest issue with the powder room:

the entrance to the PR is in the dining room. this is awkward.

at least only the corner sink was visible from the doorway, and not the toilet

here is the front hallway where we want to move the entrance

new doorway is cut!

it's always so interesting to see the guts of this old house

door frame of new foyer entrance

old dining room door and trim removed, looking through to new doorway

new dining room wall! all old chair rail and baseboards from foyer were carefully removed and  saved for reuse on new  DR wall

The new section of wall is also being insulated to hopefully provide some kind of sound barrier. We are also reusing the original door, albeit with a new or repaired doorknob---that thing hasn't worked right since we moved in.

Thanks for reading!

No more oil!

It is now official--we are no longer dependent on oil. The furnace is dismantled, the hydronic baseboards have been drained, and the hot water now comes from a new 80-gallon electric tank. The actual heating/cooling unit has also been installed in the basement and hooked up to the wells. Monday the crew returns to cut vents in the family room floor (this was left to the end as it is over a tiny crawl space and running the ducting will be difficult); the kitchen (these will be toekicks due to our cabinet configuration and the fact that we have radiant floor heating there); and the foyer (the old baseboard must be removed first). Then once the ducts are connected, I believe we will be in business!

It is a bonus for us that this company will not only be removing and carting away the old furnace but also removing all of the hydronic and electric baseboards and all of the old thermostats too.

Here are a few more photos:

Old furnace, no longer in use

Where the old hot water tank used to be

Big guy is the 80-gal water heater; smaller guy is a 50-gal holding tank for pre-heated water from the geo system.

Our new WaterFurnace Synergy unit

Where the unit hooks up to the wells

We had our first 80+ degree day today and it has been pretty humid--this change is coming just in time!

Geothermal/Insulation Update

Wow, it has been a while! Work has progressed the past few weeks, albeit in fits and starts. Holes have been cut in ceilings, ductwork hooked up, wells drilled, insulation blown on the attic floor....Here are some photos:

Creative ducting in the basement

Duct through dining room closet--and we will still have some storage!

Radon system had to be shifted over to make room

Second floor guest room closet, heading up to the attic

Well driller--this is well #1 of 5. Well #5 was difficult--first attempt now has a $2000 drill bit buried at the bottom! Try #2 was fortunately successful.

It's messy work, though the birds have been enjoying our new mud pit.

Feeding in the pipe

Ceiling vent in master bathroom

All the wells are finished and have flexible tubes sticking out of them.

Digging the trench towards the house

The trench, almost to the basement

Attic--the pink is thick insulating foam board, the silver is a duct, and the fluff is cellulose.

A sea of cellulose

Our storage area at the top of the attic stairs

New cover for the attic hatch keeping us cozy!

Today the new electric water heater and the desuperheater tank are going in; the unit itself should be here and installed tomorrow or Monday. I'll try to post more photos/news soon!