Bathroom Renovation | Anything I'm Missing?

VolvoHeretic said:

Easy enough to test. Next time you take a hot steamy shower, put a small 6" fan on your vanity counter top aimed at the mirror vs not using a fan and check out for yourself how long it takes to dry out the bathroom. I will admit that my fan is a pretty nice 6" fan. Moisture condenses on the coldest surfaces most like the mirror, but it covers every surface to some extent.

I've been thinking about this, and it's not sitting exactly right with me.  My opinion (no actual science )...

An extra fan is increasing the movement. No disagreement. 
 

The actual drying is only improved by making the air dryer, not just moving it.  A properly sized exhaust fan is actually drying the air, because it is creating negative pressure and drawing air into the room from the rest of the house (which is dryer air).

An IMPROPERLY sized exhaust fan still draws dry air in, with insufficient movement.  Most houses have improperly sized exhaust fans.  The 2nd fan improves the drying when used in conjunction with the exhaust fan because it is moving air around the room which is dryer (introduced by the inadequate exhaust fan)

I suspect a small fan pointed directly at the mirror with no additional exhaust fan would do very little.

Movement alone doesn't dry the room.  If we move moist air around the room WITHOUT introducing dryer air, it won't dry the room.  The combination of both fans would be an improvement over the inadequate exhaust fan, but a properly sized and placed exhaust fan should be adequate by itself.

Since almost no residential exhaust fans are well designed, I'll agree with your 2nd fan.  But it's not just movement of air. It's movement of dryer air.

My $0.02.

In reply to SV reX :

I think the issue could also be dead spots in the flow, and not insufficient flow.  The auxiliary fan may be creating better mixing to enable the exhaust fan to do its job properly.

As an example, my shower has the fan integrated with the shower light. When showering the mirror doesn't fog, and no steam build up in the shower. If I don't prop the shower door open a small amount (1/4" is enough) then even with the fan running the shower won't dry. Prop the door open slightly (sponge in the opening) and the shower will dry effectively, including the floor, with the fan running for approx 20 minutes (at least I think that's what the timer is set for).

In reply to No Time :

Exactly. 
 

Part of the issue with the dead spots in the flow is bad design (or completely non-existent design).  Exhaust fans are often called "fart fans" and people's perception of them is that their purpose is odor control. So the placement is near the toilet, or "symmetrically" laid out for appearance.  Which is improper placement for air flow.

No one ever calculates the CFMs on an exhaust fan, they buy inexpensive and undersized units, then often fail to vent them to the outdoors.
 

 It's the least considered mechanical device in the entire home.

Upper cabinets installed. Makes for a slightly limited mirror space, but still usable. The bathroom in our last house had a similar setup and we found the extra storage space to be worth it. Now that those are up my wife will have to pick what kinda of mirror and lights, etc she wants there. 

Otherwise I didn't have much time to do a lot last night besides mounting the uppers. I cleaned up a lot in the other room, as you have to do every so often. Next big step will be placing the show pan, unlikely for tonight or tomorrow as I have things in the evenings. I do still need to cut in the floor vent, so I may get that done tonight. 

In our remodel I went with top down lighting and side lighting for the vanity mirror. 

They are on separate dimmer switches to enable adjustment and minimize shadows, not critical for brushing teeth, but could be nice for doing makeup. 

Interesting...

Ive never installed upper cabinets over the mirror. Learned something. 
 

Looking good!

SV reX said:

Interesting...

Ive never installed upper cabinets over the mirror. Learned something. 
 

Looking good!

I haven't seen it done very much, but we like storage!

No Time said:

In our remodel I went with top down lighting and side lighting for the vanity mirror. 

They are on separate dimmer switches to enable adjustment and minimize shadows, not critical for brushing teeth, but could be nice for doing makeup. 

Lighting will be dimmable for sure!

As expected I didn't have time Monday or Tuesday to get anything done. Kinda frustrating, but you can only do so much. Last night at least I was able to get some work done. I got the shower pan installed, which honestly was one of the things I was most nervous about. Setting it in a bed of thinset, while also gluing my PVC seemed like a lot at once. It wasn't too bad in the end, just took some time and a few dry fitments to make sure everything would set into place nicely. Pretty sure I got it installed properly, or properly enough. :) Also got my floor vent location cut in. 

PROGRESS!

Friday night I got the uncoupling membrane down. 

Saturday I got the heat wire in, and figured out my center line, etc, and started tiling. 

Sunday/yesterday, I finished tiling the floor!

A couple notes. 

-Everything takes longed than you think. (Recurring note, hahaha)

-Mixing thinset is dumb sometimes. Mixed a whole bag for when I laid the membrane, and had at least a third leftover that was waste. Couldn't start filling in anything or laying tile because the heat wire wasn't in yet. Then when I finished the tile Sunday one bag got everything but two tiles, so I had to attempt a partial mix. Full bag mix in a bucket is best since they have the easy measurement for water. Always too much or to little mixed up. 🤷‍♂️

-Pattern figuring out is tricky. I based everything off the center row of tiles that I got done Saturday night that way it would be centered on the door, etc. I like how I set that up, but it it was a struggle to keep things lined up right when there wasn't anything to push against. Once that was set, finishing the rest to that row wasn't bad. 

-These tiles are a ~18"x18" tile with that look like 4 smaller tiles. The fake grout line is 1/16", the listing said suggested grout line 3/16", but I thought that would be too much, so I went with 1/8". We'll see once grout is in, but I think it'll look pretty good, and not too noticeable. It's tile leveling clips helped, but weren't perfect everywhere, so there will be a couple lips, and a couple imperfect grout gaps, but overall I think it'll look ok. The marble pattern should help distract from any unevenness. 

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

Good progress!

Mixing too much thinset isn't really a problem. It doesn't store well, so the reality is that you were gonna waste it anyway. You're just saving yourself the time and shelf space to try and store it. 😉

There's a trick to mixing small batches. . I'll show you later… I'm driving for the next few hours.

SV reX said:

There's a trick to mixing small batches. . I'll show you later… I'm driving for the next few hours.

Looking forward to it. 

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

For small batches, I use a mixer like this. It's usually in the paint aisle or with the drywall tools. 
 

The only difference is that I've cut the end off mine to make it short enough that I can chick it in a cordless drill and still handle it easily.

Don't mix in a bucket. The bottom is too big. I mix in a drywall mud pan. Like this:

Its super easy, and it's simple to clean the tools with a wet rag. You can make 10 batches in no time. It's especially good when using the hot mud. 

Worst part about tiling your own bathroom is you get sentenced with sitting and looking at your mistakes..

OHSCrifle said:

Worst part about tiling your own bathroom is you get sentenced with sitting and looking at your mistakes..

🤣 Yup, sounds correct!

In reply to SV reX :

Gotcha. I have seen similar to that before, especially for hot mud. How do you clean the mixer head after each batch? And for thinset, how do you get the water/mix ration right? It's still an eyeball I guess. 

BTW, the Schulter thinset said mix for 5 minutes, wait 10, then mix for 3 minutes. So that's what I've been doing for my full batches. Sped up a little bit for those last two tiles, but it should be fine. 

When I was young, I worked with an old world Italian finish carpenter. He taught me how to trim. At one point he said to me (in his thick Italian accent), "I always do my best work in the toilet. It's the only place people sit and look at what I've done!"

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

Clean the mixer head... a bucket of water (warm if you can) and a rag. Terry cloth works best.  It wipes off very quickly- much quicker than running water.  (You're right- small batches the issue is cleaning easily and quickly). 
 

Ratio: yeah, it's mostly by eyeball.  Measuring doesn't work too well because you never know the actual moisture content of the product, and it changes with the humidity.

Monday my brother in law bought a house, so that evening naturally we started tearing it apart. Hahaha. He's got plenty of work ahead of him now too. Bathroom/Laundry/Kitchen all getting rearranged and redone. I'm sure I'll be back to help more, but I need to get my bathroom finished too. 

Yesterday I got the vanity top glued, and faucet set. 

I added valves for each fixture. There is a shutoff in the basement for the entire 3/4" PEX going up to the bathroom, but I felt like it would be worth having individual shutoffs as well. These are in the ceiling of the downstairs bathroom which will be a drop ceiling once finished, so fairly easy access. This also allowed me to turn water on for the sink, and I officially have 1 out of 4 bathroom fixtures complete!

(Going to add labels to the valves tonight.)

I have to show off my faucet as well. I had a thought a while back and wondered if this was a thing, so I googled it and it turns out it does exist, and was only $100. Kinda dumb, but I love it. 

Next steps will be finalizing my pattern for the wall tile, and picking a transition trim to the drywall, and then grout. Then I can have a toilet upstairs again. I wasn't sure if I should prioritize the toilet or the shower next, but my wife said toilet, so I shall oblige! 

AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) said:

Monday my brother in law bought a house, so that evening naturally we started tearing it apart. Hahaha. He's got plenty of work ahead of him now too. Bathroom/Laundry/Kitchen all getting rearranged and redone. I'm sure I'll be back to help more, but I need to get my bathroom finished too. 

 

Yesterday I got the vanity top glued, and faucet set. 

 

I added valves for each fixture. There is a shutoff in the basement for the entire 3/4" PEX going up to the bathroom, but I felt like it would be worth having individual shutoffs as well. These are in the ceiling of the downstairs bathroom which will be a drop ceiling once finished, so fairly easy access. This also allowed me to turn water on for the sink, and I officially have 1 out of 4 bathroom fixtures complete!

(Going to add labels to the valves tonight.)

 

I have to show off my faucet as well. I had a thought a while back and wondered if this was a thing, so I googled it and it turns out it does exist, and was only $100. Kinda dumb, but I love it. 

I sure reminds me of all those Grecian statues of little boys peeing!

In reply to SV reX :

lol. I already had one friend comment that they were going to put a certain appendage on it so the water comes out of it... 

Got some progress on the wall tile over the weekend. The corner for the toilet is up, just need to grout now. Hoping to get that area grouted tonight so the toilet can go in Tuesday. As always, tile takes so much longer than you would think. Even having all the cut pieces prepped, it takes a long time to put up. My knees will be happy once all that is done, that's for sure. And as usual, the tile is far from perfect, but it'll do I think. It's all a learning experience. I do like how smooth the wall tiles are, they should be easily cleaned which is good since they'll be in the shower as well.

Looking good!