Vanity cabinet doors

Powder room is now functional and basically useable, missing only a mirror, wall cabinet and accessory hardware. Total cost from scratch is $2,688. I figure no more than $300 for total completion, keeping this project under 3k. The splurge items were toilet, skylight, exhaust system and cabinet doors.

New toilet

Kohler Rialto is the shortest front-to-back unit I found, which is critical for the tight space. It's a very quiet gravity-flush type. The supply line cannot be higher than 7 inches from the floor if it's behind the unit. Mine, at 5.5 inches, was perfect. I got lucky while worrying it was too low to not clear the baseboard.

Cost = $328

Counter magnets

For pocket door...

Invisible once painted over:

Glued into mortise:

Aligned for polarity:

No shoe moulding

I use caulk instead of shoe moulding to cover the gap between the baseboard and an uneven floor. The trick for a clean smooth finish is first masking the floor with blue painter's tape, then "spreading" the bead with a putty knife held tight against the baseboard. Take off all excess for a flush finish. No touching with fingers needed. No wetting with water needed. Let dry overnight before building it up if required.

New inner door sill

Solid birch door sill is stained cherry to match new hardwood floor, glued to outer oak sill (clamped overnight to dry), attached with deck screws and galvanized 6d to new subfloor, sandwiching 30# roofing felt that's used as shim (instead of cardboard as thought earlier) and vapor barrier in entry hall. New aluminum threshold has factory screw holes that align directly over the glued seam!

Wooden air diffuser

Custom made from same material as flooring...

Bedroom 4

Cable for Bed4

From attic to underfloor through the "Gastite" stud bay, three quad-shield RG6 coax cables provide aerial, cable and surveillance feed.

Underlayment

Removed terrazzo tile at Entry hall, added 1 1/8" and 3/4" plywood (1 13/16" combined) using deck screws and some screw-shank nails matching adjacent floor level as close as possible, laid 5mm luan plywood using adhesive and staples (1/4" combined) in Bedroom 4 and PowdRm.Minor differences in floor level will have to be shimmed up with cardboard and sanded down to match (therefore plywood better than OSB). Combined cost = $305.

Extra-deep stool

Interior jambs were attached with minimal shims to maximize opening. Window stool is extra deep for bonus surface area. The Carolina style casing sold at Home Depot is now a cheap radiused version.
4040 at Bedroom 4

Floor outlets

Use adjustable box, cut hole to align with floor joist, bend ear flaps, flatten top flange, cut curved notches at hole corners, press down from above, attach to joist underneath first, then onto subfloor above.

Bedroom 4

Lavatory

ABS trap is super cheap and attaches tightly and positively. It helps to have an extra long stubout for cutting back to length -- or a super short one onto which to attach a coupling sleeve. 7/16" lap at ABS joints.

No leaks so far (knock on wood)...

$53 faucet +
$150 integral sink and side splashes +
$100 marble cutting +
$35 connector hoses, valves and plumbing =
$338 subtotal in Powder room

4040 painted

$314 Anderson window +
$76 Tru-board PVC and redwood exterior +
$69 pine interior casing, stool, apron +
$25 paint and miscellaneous =
$484 total cost

Bedroom 4

4040 window trim

Bedroom 4

Andersen 4040 window

Bedroom 4

Pocket door magnet

Pocket door is now held "open" by a powerful rare-earth magnet mortised into the door frame. It pulls on the metal upgrights of the pocket frame for now. I might add a counter-magnet to bolster the attraction force. This will all be invisible once painted over.

Vanity base cabinet

Just sitting loose for now, waiting for the vanity top and cabinet doors. Birch plywood. Powder room.

PG&E saga continues

PG&E now wants the *riser pipe* relocated, not just the meter swung around to connect to the new stub-out (click on photo to backtrack). It has taken three months of haggling just to get their technician to come out to do the swing-around, which they had already approved! This was all triggered by their proximity rule to the electric meter (apparently not part of their rules when the house was originally built and meters first installed in the 60's). All this hassle just to upgrade the overhead wires!But having lost so much time over the summer and fall (they don't return calls, repeatedly handing off to somebody else who delays again and again not returning calls, etc., etc.), the good news now is that they'll do all the work at their expense, including concrete breaking and trenching. Or so they say.

After so many broken promises, I don't know what to believe. The saga continues...

Obscure glazed doors

Feather River 36" door (left) to Bedroom4 purchased as basic slab $349, while 24" in-swing door to Powder room (right) pre-hung at $389 (plus tax, Home Depot). Pocket door kit was $130 with shipping from Johnson Hardware.

Total cost installed =$930. Casing to come after hardwood floor.

Splurge item I think is worthwhile at the main entry hall.

Bed4 closet fluorescent

Fixture uses a 21W-T5 34" tube with electronic ballast. Cost was $43.97 plus tax from Home Depot. Mounted on 1/2" plywood to cover junction box, which would be on the left in the photo. Bedroom 4.

Powder room switches

From left to right:

- Standard, for fluorescent, $2.00 (in 10-pack)
- Dimmer, illuminated, for halogen, $24.97 (Lutron)
- Timer, for exhaust fan, $19.97
- GFCI outlet, $2.92 (Commercial Electric, in 6-pack)

Plus tax. All from Home Depot.

Fantech exhaust grill

The ceiling grill for the Fantech inline exhaust is a simple piece of plastic with four metal prongs. Disappointing though, is the tight continuous-friction type of attachment. In fact, short of having somebody stand in the attic to push down on the housing while somebody pushes the grill up from below, that residual gap shown is the best closure possible. It's a poor industrial design, unlike the Panasonic exhaust grill and all the recessed light trims that snap into place snugly.

The halogen bulb also twists loosely into the socket, dangling from it, instead of being held by it -- a sign of poor quality control during assembly.

At least it works. And virtually silent. The halogen is for night-light.
Powder room.

Lights over lavatory

This stepped soffit design hides an electronic ballast, double 15W-T8 18" fluorescent (although just one tube seems bright enough) with curved reflector in the rear, and the round Suntunnel aperture trim, which got a clear lens, in the front. Diffuser frames are held up by countersunk screws. Was not preconceived! Crown moulding also looks better, I think, coming straight across.

Powder room.

Bedroom #4 lights

These recessed lights are slightly different from the other rooms'.

$10.86 Halo 5" housing (Home Depot)
$9.80 Halo basic trim (Home Depot)
$2.88 Feit 15W CFL (in a Costco 6-pack)
$24 subtotal per light, plus tax. I've installed four.

They're not dimmable, being compact fluorescents, but this room doesn't need dimmable anyway. The 3,000K color temperature (not advertised on merchandise box) is slightly warmer (yellower) than ideal.

Crown moulding procedure

This common crown moulding profile is not "isosceles" -- the ceiling leg is not equal to the wall leg. It affects the miter cuts. The correct angle can be measured graphically. Fortunately, the manufacturer displays an accurate isometric diagram. An overlay sketch shows it to have angles of about 38° and 52° (for a right triangle).

When using a radial-arm saw, two jigs are needed: a thick durable right triangle having the above two angles (I made mine from a piece of half-inch OSB); and what I'll call a bevel support bar tilted at the same angles (explained further below).
The right triangle jig is for cutting the mounting blocks. Flipping it over is easier than swinging the saw arm back and forth. Some contractors don't even bother with mounting blocks for crown moulding, but I find it to help for both precise fitting and time savings working at the ceiling. Cutting the blocks may take time. But that's again where this jig comes in handy.

Orientation of grain for such small wood pieces is important to prevent splitting, so I use 2x3 lumber and cut across the more difficult wider dimension. One good block becomes a template.Each moulding piece needs at least two mounting blocks, one at each end. But since I want to maximize the ease of point-and-shoot installation working solo with an air gun, I'm installing as many as five blocks for some walls, depending on their length. It's easy to precut all the blocks at one time.The bevel support bar jig (shown above between the stock and a 45° triangle) is simply two mounting blocks attached to some flat base. I hold the stock against it and against the 45° triangle to make the miter cut. That large 45° triangle is actually an architectural drafting tool sandwiched between pressboards for dedicated shop use. It assures a perfect 45° miter because it's much more precise and consistent than any shop tool calibration. The hand-held coping saw procedure follows as usual, resting on the same jig flipped 90°.When using jigs like these and a radial-arm saw, the best strategy is to attach the moulding from left to right in the room. The first piece should go on the longest wall and have simple square cuts. Subsequent pieces then get a miter/coped end on the left to join the previous piece (placing the stock on the left side of the saw table so the motor housing doesn't have to travel over it) -- and a square cut at the progressive end for easier fine-tune trimming. That's probably the only limitation (thus, the workaround) when using a radial-arm saw for tall-profile crown mouldings. Profiles taller than your blade's radius is obviously not possible. The last piece should then be the shortest because it requires a coping/miter cut at both ends. Measuring with a laser device helps.

Revised wiring

The new powder room electrical is tapped into the kitchen lighting circuit. (Thank goodness I had this diagram! See previous version) The garage lights and outlets got separated into their own new circuit. Both stayed at 15 amps because of existing 14 gauge wires.

Corner rear yard

2nd year Brisbane Box (left), Wild Lilac (center), and 3rd year Lemonwood (right, which no longer needs regular water). Note that Brisbane Box has surpassed Lemonwood in size. New growth stem length seems to be controllable by frequency and amount of watering!

Lophostemon confertus
Ceanothus griseus "Louis Edmunds"
Pittosporum Tarata

Trunk diameters in January 2007

3rd year Photinia (tree)

This one really likes moist soil. In fact, I think cutting back a bit on water has slowed its growth. The leaves have been maintained, but there wasn't much reddish new stuff over the summer. Trunk diameter also remains small.

Photinia fraseri

Trunk diameters in January 2007

3rd year Tenuifolium

This tree is not happy. I'm not sure what is wrong. I'm giving it the same reduced water as the other side yard trees. I don't think the drainage is much different either. There's adequate sun. It was growing vigorously the first year. I'll have to try increasing water frequency.

Pittosporum Tenuifolium

Trunk diameters in January 2007

3rd year Strawberry

Looks okay even though it didn't get much water over the summer. Interesting!

Arbutus Marina

Trunk diameters in January 2007

3rd year Lemonwood var.

This season I've drastically reduced water to these side yard trees, trying not to drown them.

The occasional water may have caused "growing spurts," resulting in that upper ball. Looks weird when compared to last year (click on photo to backtrack).

Pittosporum tarata variegated

Trunk diameters in January 2007

5th year Cheesewood

It has produced a lot of berries, but still not much growth. I've been hand-watering it deep and wide once a month. Click on photo to backtrack.Pittosporum undulatum or Victorian box or Cheesewood

5th year Euonymus

Now fully established, these Euonymus shrubs are finally thriving with just two waterings over the summer. I believe they were near drowning before. Click on photo to backtrack.

Emerald Gaiety Euonymus.

Drywall complete

Powder room and rear addition now have walls ready for paint.

Quantity of new drywall in the powder room was 352 square feet (gross). Quantity in rear addition was 1920 square feet.

Powder room costs are kept separate, as I'm doing all the work myself.

Rear addition drywall costs, including materials, came to a total of $3,613.

Drywall hung

The standard AEC (Architectural, Engineering, Construction) term is gypsum wallboard. Common term is drywall. Name brand often used for the generic is Sheetrock by USG. This room, in fact, has mostly Toughrock by Georgia-Pacific. Total cost of materials = $595. Labor costs to be posted later, as the same contractor is doing the taping and texturing here.Hanging crew is often different from finishing crew. Inspection of nailing or screws comes in between (tomorrow for me). Then it's mud, tape, more mud, sanding, skim coat, texture, etc. -- depending on how fancy you want it... and how much money you want to spend.

Ceiling in powder room

Powder room Suntunnel (see how it looks on the roof) is now roughed in, ceiling drywall fastened, and rigid insulation pressed between flat studs against brick veneer.

Blocking for future grab bars are positioned about 33 inches from the floor, on the left side wall and chamfer corner wall only.