Category Plumbing

Despite the pool excavation being a little more involved than anticipated, the project to install the pool managed to roll on mostly on schedule. The Patio Pleasures team arrived, and started installing the pool walls and setting up the pump, filter, and heater.

Next, the plumbing went in, along with the liner, and we could start filling the pool. For the initial filling, we used a vacuum system to keep the liner tight along the walls and floor before the weight of the water took over. The installers also had to wait to cut the liner for the stairs until enough water had filled at the bottom of the pool.

While the pool started to fill, the electricians got to work wiring the pump and heater, running circuits for the pool lighting, and installing a grounding ring around the pool that grounds all metal and prevents us from getting electrocuting, which is a good thing.

We still had to wait for the pool to fill with enough water before moving on to the next step. I installed a WiFi smart faucet that allowed me to control filling remotely, since the pool could only be filled during daylight (so the liner could properly stretch) and needed around five days to fully fill.

After the water levels got high enough, the installers came back to cut in the liner around the stairs:

With the stairs cut in, the pool could start filling again. While that happened, the gas installers from Consumers Coop came and ran LP lines from our primary propane tank to the pool’s heater.

As the pool finished filling, I took care of some ancillary tasks like installing outdoor security cameras from Arlo and buying furniture for the pool deck.

With the pool full, I added chemicals and for the first time, we were able to use the pool!

After putting in new flooring and painting three of the bathrooms in the house, the last steps were to install new counters (plus fixtures and sinks), and update the mirrors with mirror frames. Here were the original counters:

I orders the same countertop material that I used in the master bathroom remodel, along with the same sinks and fixtures.

After the counters were installed and the plumbing was reconnected, I painted the vanity cabinet in the basement bathroom to match the master and guest bathrooms.

After installing the bar cabinetry and sink, there wasn’t a whole lot left to do. I glued the countertops in place and anchored the lower cabinets into the walls, and plumbed the sink.

I then put bottles into place, and added a bunch of cool glassware and other bar tools. I also hung a small TV behind the bar for watching sports while sitting at the bar.

That weekend, I put the bar through its paces by making cocktails for my wife and I, including a round of Boulevardiers. It was definitely a success!

Another late-winter / early-spring project I wanted to work on was remodeling the bar. The first phase of this project was driving to Indianapolis and picking up a new bar, and ordering new bar cabinets. The second phase was putting in new flooring. And the third phase was actually installing the bar cabinets and the associated plumbing. As noted in this post, I ordered cabinets from a California company called New Age Cabinetry. Due to pandemic-related supply chain issues, I had to order some of the cabinets from Costco and some from Amazon. After about a month of shipping drama, they arrived at my house.

They came fully assembled, but they were fairly light and easy to carry down to the bar area to begin installing. The lower cabinets and counters were really simply, since they just had to be set in place.

One initial challenge was creating the corner joint, which required some creativity with a couple of pieces of oak trip and some dark oil-based wood stain.

After the lower cabinets were taken care of, I finally assembled the bar itself.

The upper wall cabinets and floating shelves were more complicated. I had never installed cabinets before and so I assumed it would be pretty easy since I was just following the ceiling, but I quickly learned that was not the case: because the ceiling wasn’t perfectly level and because the corner line between the back wall of the bar and the ceiling wasn’t completely straight, getting all of the cabinets to line up correctly was a challenge. I essentially ended up hanging all of them twice, but I was pretty proud of how well I was able to get them to line up!

The next day, I installed the sink, which included cutting out drywall to allow access to the hot water, cold water, and drainage lines from the guest bathroom, and cutting out the back of one of the cabinets along with a hole in the counter top.

The final result looks amazing, now it just needs glassware and liquor!

When the master bathroom remodel was wrapped up in December, there was one remaining task that I didn’t get around to completing until recently: replacing the cabinet in the powder room that covered the shower’s complex plumbing. With the previous steam shower, the steam apparatus was pretty short and was covered by an oak cabinet that could be lifted off for easy access. This cabinet was too short to cover the full thermostatic valve system for the new shower, but it could sit next to it and cover the copper piping, which was a fine interim solution. For a more permanent solution, I bought an inexpensive dresser from Walmart and modified it such that it perfectly covered the new thermostatic valve, while looking reasonably attractive and and giving my wife a useful counter surface in the powder room.

For an improvised and cheap solution, I was very happy with how it turned out!

After the drywall repair that was done in mid-January, I repainted the walls and put all of the rooms back together, which was one of the last steps before all of my winter flooring work could begin.

After that, I worked to get everything cleared out for the new flooring. Most of this simply involved moving furniture off of the floors, but I to take apart the old bar and donate all of the old shelving. Thankfully, I was able to find good homes for everything. After the floors were cleared, I finished hauling in the rest of the flooring.

The very last step was to have Midwest Billiards come over and take apart the pool table, and move it plus the shuffleboard table to the guest house garage so that they were out of the way.

Prior to the next round of flooring installation, I had various parts of the house (and especially the guest house) that needed to have drywall repaired. In the main house, there was a piece of drywall that had been damaged near the bar, and in the sunroom a corner near the ceiling had sustained water damage due to a roof leak.

After repairing and replacing the drywall, it looks good as new (aside from repainting).

The more complicated repair was in the guest house, specifically the guest house bathroom. When I originally built the bathroom, I used the existing drywall from the guest house garage which was not in great shape, and also had to be cut to install new electrical lines.

That drywall needed to be repaired, and then skim-coated to smooth the surface. First, I removed the trim and moved the toilet and vanity + sink out of the bathroom.

After that, the drywall repair and skim coating could take place.

The end result turned out really well, with a nice, even texture and perfectly smooth walls.

Next week, the walls will be painted and I’ll re-install all the plumbing and light fixtures, and the guest house will be ready for new flooring in February!

At long last, the new shower door has finally arrived and was installed today by Monroe Glass. It looks great, and completes the master bathroom remodel.

It’s going to take 24 hours for the calk to set, but once that’s done I’m looking forward to taking it for a spin!

After two long weeks of work, the master bathroom remodel is almost done. All that’s left is a new door for the shower, which will take several weeks to be fabricated. Now that the tile is done on both the floor and the shower itself, it’s striking how good it looks!

The last touch I added for now was to add some faux plants to add greenery to the countertop and tie the decor back to the master bedroom.

After the demolition work was completed, we’ve been cruising along with tiling the master bathroom. Before the tiling could start, PermaBase UltraBacker underlayerment had to go in overtop of the old vinyl on the floor.

For the shower, we used the Schluter KERDI-BOARD system to waterproof the shower walls and basin and provide a backing for the shower tile.

After that was done, the tiling could start. The flooring has gone fairly quickly, since the tiles are large (12 x 24 inches) and the room is fairly rectangular.

The more complicated and dramatic tiling work was the shower itself, which involved a shinier version of the same 12 x 24 inch tiles, along with an accent stripe on the back wall and in the back of the KERDI-BOARD alcove shelves.

The tiling work should be done by the end of this week, and then all that will be left will be finishing the plumbing fixture installation, installing the new toilet, and getting the glass door measured, ordered, and installed.