Part 2 of Unintended Projects: Basement bathroom.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

As we last left off, I unintentionally started working on the basement bathroom.  It has somehow turned into a big project for such a tiny and mostly unused room.

This was to be Hailey's bathroom actually, where she would get baths because it has a large stand up tiled shower.  It worked out well the time or two that we did give her a bath in there.  But now with her being a tripedal and the stairs to the basement are done in the slipperiest tile known to man, and the whole basement is tiled, we can't get her down there and back up easily.  She's 81 pounds of squirmy spitfire if we try to pick her up.  So we don't.  Heh.

slippery tiled basement stair

Lookie there, three different types of tile in the stair.  Go figure.  And of course they put the slipperiest one smack in the middle.  Great logic, right?!  Someday I will do something about these stairs as they are mighty scary even for just a human.  Actually, I was thinking about cutting strips of that Tee Time stuff from Menards which comes in black, and taping it down.  Who knows if it'll stick though.  Tearing out that tile sounds highly unappealing at this juncture.  At any juncture really.

Anyway....

So when I was working on the bathroom, I felt like I was on a roll and should try to get the wall mount sink installed since I was there.  I opted for a wall mount so that we'd have easy access to the water shut off.  This sink is pretty basic, the uh, Glacier Bay wall mount sink from Home Depot.  Good deal and not horrible looking.

Opened the box, found the instructions and hey, not so tough.  Although I'm glad I read the instructions first last fall when I bought the sink.  I knew in advance I'd have to, heh, open up the wall yay and get a 2x in there to support it.  This is not something that can hang off of drywall with a few wall anchors.

Menards has a little section of their store where there are short pieces of lumber, cut off leftovers, so I had picked up a piece of 2x6 several weeks back in anticipation.

I did some measuring, tried to figure out how high up the sink ends up being based on their instructions and it's not clear.  I could have done some measuring of the bracket and the back of the sink, but the height isn't critical to me here and it just seemed like too much measuring and math.  I vaguely went with a suggested height in the directions.

tracing bracket onto wall

I measured a height which I can't remember and drew a straight line across with my level.  Those vertical lines are about where the studs are.  I traced the bracket on the wall.  Then I stood back and thought a good while about how to do this, how to get the 2x in the wall, attach it to the studs....

Out came the drywall knife.  I winced then went for it.

cutting a hole in wall

Oh and hey, what did I find!  It's always a surprise around here, I'm realizing.  This threw me for a loop -- how was I going to squish in the 2x with the copper and pvc pipes right there.  Luckily there was just enough depth for the 2x but that meant the drywall couldn't go back on over it.  No biggie.

adding 2x6 into wall

I pilot drilled the holes for the screws, except for the screw I put in on edge on the top.  And I knew as I was putting in that screw that the 2x would split but it was a day of hands doing one thing, brain another.  I trimmed the piece of drywall that had come out and placed the pieces in there, taping them with the fiberglass tape since I couldn't screw them to anything.

I traced the bracket onto the 2x and pilot drilled holes for the lag bolts that hold the bracket.  Oop's, chose a bit too big so I had to move the bracket.

attaching bracket to 2x6 in wall

Ok!  Moving right along I was!  This was great!  And so easy!  Nice!  I hang the sink off the bracket next.  And it stayed!!  Holy cats and dogs, people!  I was proud.  Next up was to secure the sink to the wall.

view under sink of bracket

Ooooooohhhh.  Wait.  Ok.  I screwed up.  See those holes in the sink, above that piece of blue tape?  Yeah, those are what you're supposed to put other bolts through into the wall to secure the sink.  But I can't.  'Cuz, remember, that piece of filler drywall I put back in is loose behind it.  Crap.

Crappity crap crap poop.  I could take it all off and cut a larger hole, put in another piece of 2x above the first piece.  Or I can get some legs for the sink.  I haven't decided.

floating sink on wall

Isn't it funny how the paint color changes in every photo?!  What is this color?!?!  I think the official title of it is Awful and Wrong.

The towel is stuffed in the drain temporarily to keep the smellies at bay.  Bleech.

I attached the faucet that I got from a defunct Hobo store for $15 which looks really not bad at all for a utilitarian no need to be stylish bathroom, turned off the lights and walked away.  I didn't attach the water lines in case the sink fell down but I haven't heard any major crashing noises so I think I'm still good.

laundry tub faucet on sink

The guy at Hobo practically yelled at me about this faucet too.  "Do not install this anywhere other than a utility sink, ok, it's not meant for anything else, you got that?  Don't do it," he said threateningly as he walked away.  He must have somehow known that I was going to put it on something other than a utility sink.  Pffft, snap snap, I do what I want, Buster.

So that's where I'm at with this business.  The walls need a ton more work.  Gotta make a hole for the water shut off.  The sink, I haven't decided yet.  I'd prefer no legs, hence buying a wall mount to begin with, but legs are probably safest.  Although now I'm leaning towards more 2x, no legs.

I'm not sure what's on tap for me today.  It was chemo day number three for Hailey.  Poor girl is all pooped out from going over there.  Vets stress her out big time.  Hopefully this round will be complication-free.  Getting there, only one or two more rounds to go.  They said she's in great shape, keep doing what we're doing.  That made me feel really good.

Maybe I'll look into painting cabinets.  The kitchen.  The one room I have not yet mentioned.

Jump to part three here!

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