Adding a new Bath Room - Need help

[D J]

Folks,

I have a 40 year old house (just bought) and there is only one bath room. I am planning to build another bathroom upstairs.

I am planning to subcontract the plumbing and may be electric to licensed people. But, the rest I want to do myself.

From scale 1 - 5, 5 being highest, My woodworking skill is at 2.5.

I have table saw, circular, jib, reciprocating,drills, clamps etc basic things.

Is there any good web site or book I can refer who can give me step by step instructions on how to go about this? Never have done this before soo...

I will need to put -

- framing for the door, tub, walls

- put dry wall, tile it up

- put shower, toilet

- build subfloors etc.

- put cabinets and sinks connect to the plumbing

- etc not listed

Thanks, D J

[Joe]

If your honest appraisal of your skills is 2.5 out of 5, then tackling almost all of the project segments leave you open to costly and time consuming mistakes. Skills are a combination of knowledge and practice, so first acquire the knowledge (public library, trips to building sites) then start small by volunteering your help with a knowledgeable friend or a community service group (Habitat for Humanity, for example). It will take time, so don't rush it. A combination of book 'larnin' and seeing a pro do a job is the sure way to a quality result for your own project. Once you have the basics in hand, offer to help out friends with interesting projects to hone your skills. And always keep safety in mind constantly, even if it means not popping the top until the work is done for the day. HTH

Joe

[Bill]

Hi, D J. I like to do things myself, too, but this is a pretty ambitious undertaking for your first big project, and will require some experience with a number of skills. Any errors you make are going to cascade and the final product, which you will have to live with every day, might not be as pretty as you hoped. What I mean is that if the framing/subfloor construction is a little off (out of square or out of plumb) it will be hard to get the drywall to look right. If the drywall is off, it will be hard to get the tiling job to look good. (Even if the drywall is perfect, it will be tough to get your first tiling job looking really good.) It is also going to take much, much longer than you think to get it done. Are you prepared to live with an ongoing construction project for a long time?

If you still want to have a go at it yourself, try your local library for books on basic remodelling,.

[Pat]

Hey, a friend of mine is demo'ing a house this summer. It has a bathroom that was installed in 1959 when the room was added on and not touched since. He's got the complete thing: tub, sink, toilet, lights, medicine cabinet, towel bar. they are all in good shape. The location is outside of Buffalo, NY which is driveable to NYC, Philly, Pittsburg, Cleveland, etc.

If you want to make him an offer, let me know through a posting here. You could get vintage stuff that matches the age of your house. All are white.

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The order is just like everything else.

Obviously, start with the subfloor so you don't fall through the joists ;-0

Then frame everything out. Then rough in electrical and plumbing and exhaust fan.

Then sheetrock. Green board behind the tub.

Then the flooring. Then set your fixtures. (although some people set the tub for the flooring) Then put in electric, plumbing, etc. but leave faces off 'cause you haven't painted.

Then the painting or tile.

the the face plates, etc.

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Just a couple of thoughts.

Instead of towel bars, some people install grab bars. They don't rip off the wall if you need to grab them.

Look at "universal design". Making the bathroom a big larger than normal and carefully arranging it can make it handicap accessible. You might not need it now but you might need it later.

[DK]

Thousands of books and web sites. What you really need to do is quit your fiddling around and start the job. When you run into a problem that needs a tool, then purchase or rent the tool.

[Max]

On Wed, 16 May 2007 21:53:01 -0500, DK graced this newsgroup with:

..and don't forget that most municipalities require a building permit.