My bathroom repair project

[Zanne]

I discovered that there is some slightly exposed tape but it is on pretty securely. However, I will be mindful to avoid applying adhesive over those spots when I install the surround. The instructions say to caulk around the holes and I was trying to figure out how to get that done without dry fitting the surround, drilling the holes, and hoping it lines up when adhesive is on. Then I decided what I will do is put the adhesive on the surround as instructed, but put the adhesive caulk stuff around where I marked for holes to be drilled. I'll give it some extra space so it's not tight around and drilling through will not cause it to hid any adhesive. I've already put foam board on toothpicks over the spot for the controls. Shouldn't be too hard to mark the area for the tub spout as well. Once the walls are secured & the adhesive is cured, I will drill holes. First pilot holes from the closet side and then the full size holes from surround side. I will probably put tape around the cutting area.

Found some more filters for my shop vac so will get that changed out & vacuum up before installation. Really need to do some major cleaning in there. Will have water, sponges, and shop towels on hand in case any adhesive falls off somehow.

Meanwhile, I need to touch up and re-do the repair stuff. I should test the different colors available and see which one matches the tub the best as the on I chose (enameled steel) was too bright. However, when sitting on the toilet it is hard to see the messup and its not visible from across the room. Looks like spilled paint up close. Dremel tool should help. I found that the stuff doesn't solidify/dry without using the blue light. I'm going to try to spread it with a brush this time and feather the edges before I put try to cure it with the blue light.
As a reminder, this is before:


This is after:


Once I clean it up I'll try to take pics from a more similar angle to the first pic. Although, I had a different camera for that as well.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

Meanwhile, I need to touch up and re-do the repair stuff. I should test the different colors available and see which one matches the tub the best as the on I chose (enameled steel) was too bright. However, when sitting on the toilet it is hard to see the messup and its not visible from across the room. Looks like spilled paint up close. Dremel tool should help. I found that the stuff doesn't solidify/dry without using the blue light. I'm going to try to spread it with a brush this time and feather the edges before I put try to cure it with the blue light.

I have several spots on my tub that I've tried to repair over the years with always less-than-ideal results. I've trained myself not to look at the spots anymore. That and never EVER use those suction cup stick on holders for any reason because the hold fails and the tub finish gets damaged!

 

[Zanne]

I think if I can get the areas smoothed down and polished it won't bother me much. It's still a lot better than exposed black steel though. Less chance of rusting.

I've never had much luck with the suction cup stuff. We tried suction cup grab bar for Mom & it kept falling off. Although, the one I got at Walmart for my friend's shower was pretty decent. I also got a nonslip mat for the tub floor. My friend said its saved him from falling on his behind a few times. I want to get the shampoo/soap dispenser that can be attached to the wall with adhesive tape but I'm worried my brother might knock it down. In Mom's bathroom there is some sort of shower caddy shelf thing screwed to the wall above the shower-- which is fine for my brother but I have to climb up on the tub rim to reach stuff. I wonder if I can rig something that hangs down and hold the dispenser up from above the shower where I can drill something in and then run something down to it and screw the dispenser to it, but that might look awful. LOL.

I'm already planning to put a slim 2nd tension rod horizontally on the back wall to add hooks to hold loofas & bath brushes/back scrubbers. I found a bunch of these on clearance:



Got gray and blue. I had one over at my friend's house but he started using it and really liked it so I got another. My brother used that one. So I got a 3rd one. LOL. I have enough for Mom, my brother, and myself now. I got some waterproof rope to put through the loop on the end to make it easier to hang the brushes up. I do want to get those foot scrubber thingies that have suction cups on the bottom and bristles. We had one before- not sure what happened to it. Much easier to clean my toes without falling over. Mom can't use it because she's got neuropathy & it makes her feet extra sensitive. My brother on the other hand has neuropathy and has numb spots on his feet.

As an aside, the finish on my tub is pretty damn sturdy. I was dropping tools and all sorts of stuff in it and didn't damage it. They don't make stuff like that anymore.

 

[Zanne]

Still bumpy but the color is better.
I'm going to sand it and polish it later. Might have to do a little bit of grinding but hope not.
Still looks better than the big ugly exposed black steel.
I also discovered a bump on the thinset in the corner so I dremeled it off.

 

[Zanne]

I got the PVC boards primed & painted. Got the corner trim primed. Need to go down and paint the corner trim in a bit.
This picture is from before the boards were painted but after they were primed. They are still white.


Sanded and attempted to polish the repair on the tub. Looks a little better and is smoother to the touch. Still needs some more work. I'm going to use a better polishing kit. At least the texture is better and its not a big black spot so I'm satisfied.

 

[Zanne]

I ended up falling asleep at my keyboard before I could post.
Got my friend over to get the surround up. I called for 4 tubes of caulk. I got 5. We used them all. Used it in more places to make sure hose panels stuck. There are some imperfections that I will have to address.
For one, the side panels would not go back as far as they did when glued when I used them to figure out where the L bead should go. So the L bead sticks out about 3/4" past the edge in some spots. I can fix that with some flat trim.
I'm going to leave the calk to cure overnight before I start aggressively cleaning everything and try to polish the repair.

I'll have to be creative with the PVC trim. In order to not have the pvc boards stick out too much on the right side I will have to trim a leg of the corner trim (which is 1-1/2" wide x 1/4" thick). I will have to put the boards (or templates of the boards) on the wall to get the correct angle for the miters. I plan to carve up the box the surround came in to use as templates.
My crappy sketch of the plan:

The notch to go in to the tub will only happen on the right side as the left side I got the trim closer in.

I screwed up with that l-bead but lesson learned.

I'm going to put instatrim around the tub perimeter because it will be prettier than caulk. Although, the center panel does bump out a bit so that makes it look a bit awkward. I will figure something out for that. Or I may save the instatrim for something else. We'll see after the pvc boards and stuff go up.

This is what it looks like now:


If you look closely, on the right corner you can see the exposed edge of the printed plywood panel. The other panel didn't overlap it so there is an ugly edge there. I got the corner trim to cover that. It will go from floor to ceiling.

I'm not sure when my friend will be available again but hopefully it will be soon.

 

[havasu]

Looks good so far. I believe you had mentioned it, but make sure you use either aluminum or PVC for those end caps so as not to wick up any moisture.

 

[Zanne]

Thanks, havasu. I sealed the ends of the cement board with aquadefense but put that PVC trim over as well. The trim ended up sticking out a bit too far so I've ordered some flexible pvc flat trim to cover the gap. I will be putting up PVC boards (that are already painted) on the sides.

My friend got bored when putting the caulk on the right side wall.

I actually did the circle around the valve area but I was standing outside the tub and my hand started cramping. Since the cementboard doesn't go all the way to the bottom in some spots we decided it would be best to put the adhesive on the cementboard instead of the wall panels. Also meant that we wouldn't accidentally rub adhesive off on other stuff while moving wall panels around. The roller worked pretty well for it.

I'm waiting for my back to stop aching so much and for my nose to unstuff a little so I can stop sneezing long enough to take measurements and do a template out of cardboard. Got a heating massage pad on my back for now.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

I can see My Pillow Mike coming through the medicine cabinet saying "Looking good! I knew you would!"

Coming together nicely!

 

[Zanne]

LOL. No medicine cabinet. I wish I had one. Not with these walls though. I was going to make one, but I will stick to just framing out a mirror for it.
I'm gong to see if the cabinet lifts/holder thingies will brace the walls while I drill through the other side after I take Mom to DMV to renew her license and renew registration on the truck.

I've decided to get smaller trim from Lowes for the side pieces. No cutting on one and less cutting on the others. I measured last night/this morning and it's 1.75" from the side of the tub to the end of the wall panel and its 1.25" from the edge of the L-bead to the wall panel end. I can get a 1.5" PVC board. I'd already planned on putting quarter round in that corner anyway. Or I could do cove molding. I'll see how it looks.

 

[Zanne]

I got cove molding, quarter round, etc and will see how that looks once the trim is in place. I had to go out to Pineville to get the stuff, but it was worth it. They have a pretty good selection of PVC trim but nothing was in the right spot. The one thing I wanted most was not out on the shelves at all. An employee had to go to the back to find some.

From what my friend determined it's about 94.5" (leaving very small gap at the bottom) for the corner trim to go from floor to ceiling. Tub is about 16"H with the exposed wood underneath it. So L-bead bottom is about that height. I will doublecheck measurements later to be sure. The surround goes up about 58". Trim above that another 5.5". I think there is a 1/8" gap with L-bead trim on top. So, it is roughly 79.5" plus the 1/8", but again, I will doublecheck. If I cut something too long I can trim it. Not sure if I'll be able to get miter cuts with how thin the side trim is though.

I primed some of the trim this morning. The side pieces and the one that will go on the front of the tub. Got some brad nails and doublesided tape for them all.

Tried to fit the hole saw bit and large drill bit into my Matrix but they are just a hair too large. I could have sworn it can fit 3/8 shank and those said they were 3/8". Went back down to the workshop and dug around until I found this:

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

I've been know to seek the assistance of a drill like that after eating too much cheese.

 

[havasu]

Nice clean cuts!

 

[Zanne]

Nice clean cuts!

Thanks! I was happy with how it turned out. I did wallow the bottom hole just a little to give more room just in case its too tight of a fit for the copper, but so long as it goes through it should be good. Having it tight is actually good for holding it still more. I'm trying to figure out what I want to use to seal up the rough edges inside the holes now. I'm thinking either some caulk or some kind of flex seal or something. Maybe even aquadefense-- I can glove up, put it on my finger, and spread it around in the smaller hole and then use a brush for the larger hole. I already put tape over the holes from the shower side. I'm paranoid and want water seals.

 

[havasu]

Don't add any sealant or caulking until you have the pipe installed and rigid.

 

[Wrench]

That looks like a big project. I do like the striped walls.

 

[Zanne]

Havasu, I was thinking of thin sealant just to seal up the edge of the exposed cementboard so it won't get any moisture into it, but you have a good point. I was going to do the sealant and then put piles in and then caulk around that.

Wrench, I used to dislike them but they have grown on me. Not sure where the builders got them. I think they are from the 60s or 70s. I guess they had some sort of factory that printed that pattern on wood panels. The adjacent bathroom has the same pattern in green.

 

[Zanne]

Got the vertical trim and the corner trim up. The adhesive smell made my friend nauseous. I didn't even smell it. I had cleaned up quite a bit-- swept, vacuumed, moved stuff out of the way, etc. Made it easier to work with the area. The left vertical trim board went up after my friend was feeling sick so he measured wrong for cutting. First cut was too short by an inch. 2nd was still too short by about 1/8" but the very first board he'd cut had been 1/8" too long and he cut off 1/8" so I have that piece to fill in the gap.

The very back board goes in quite a bit and leaves a gap, but the L-bead trim is on to of it so it is ok. Hoping caulk will fill the gaps and not look too ugly. We had to shim behind all of the boards at their tops to make them more even so that means the corner trim did not need to be ripped to get the trim to fit flush with the wall panel.
Left:

Center:

Right:

Corner trim goes all the way to the board on the ceiling with very small gaps at top and bottom for expansion. It had to be taped because the wall bows and we wanted the trim tight to the wall. Fortunately PVC has some flex.

Gap on the left wall trim

Dry fit of cut of filler (I couldn't get it to stay in place while holding the other trim up)


PEX is hooked up in the closet to valve and tub spout but stuff is not secured yet. Waiting for adhesive to cure to drill for shower arm and secure it.

The trim still needs to be nailed as extra reinforcement and it will need a lot of caulking. I should be able to get the side trim pieces up by myself once my body recovers a bit more.

 

[Zanne]

I found my copper pipe cutter, unboxed it, and put it on the stub out.
Today I did more shimming (as I mentioned in another thread) because I want the trim to come out about even with the surround. I filled in some spots on the right side so the trim will sit more evenly and did minor shimming. I tested out some cove molding cut to size but I think I will try to get the table saw up and running to rip a piece of trim because the cove molding bumps the trim out a bit and leaves awkward gaps.
I spliced a piece of PVC board on to the end that was cut slightly too short on the left wall to fill the gap, but it was crooked because the miter saw was off a hair (due to a defect with it moving when the knob is tightened).
I cut up a wooden slat into pieces and hot glued them in a stack to make a filler piece between the trim and the tub on the left wall. I will still have to cover it with something else, but I wanted to have something caulk could grab. I may see if I can use some of the pvc tear-away strip and glue it to the front once the trim is all set in place.
I used my electric stapler (which only allows up to 1/2" brad nails or staples) to secure some shims.
The baseboard (PVC) that I found for the front of the tub looks very nice. I'm quite pleased with it.
Testing out the cove molding and deciding it would be better to use the same size trim board and rip it. (I had to use my foot to hold the side trim in place)

The baseboard is so pretty. It was the only one I could find in the store too. Its a pity because I am inclined to use that on the rest of the bathroom. LOL. Although I may need to find something taller.

Patch on the end of the board. This was before I used staples.

I had to shim on this wall to try to get the trim even with the surround so the flexible trim will fit over the gap better. The green on the bottom is aquadefense. I used that stick to stir it an figured I might as well use it rather than throw it away. I hammered the staples in tighter afterward.

this is the gap in which I put some more filler stuff but I didn't take a picture yet. You can also see the spot on the floor where a damn mouse chewed it. I'm thinking of finding a scrap piece of the flooring, trying to find that matching tile piece, and tape it under there and glue over it to hold it tight and then caulk. I'm not sure if caulk would cover that far.

Once everything is installed I'm going to do major cleanup. I'm stlil trying to figure out how to get out the red stain. I haven't yet tried bleach. I'm thinking I should dilute it with hot water or something.

 

[Zanne]

I need to take a picture without the tape. There is still a bit of a gap but I will figure something out to cover it. The gap with the L-bead trim will be covered by some flexible trim.

I got the hole for the shower arm drilled and did a dry fit. You can also see that there is a gap above the wrap around of the side panels. The center panel is taller than the side panels and it has a ridge that overlaps on the top. That left a gap between the L-bead trim & the wrap arounds.


The difference is subtle but I used caulk and some the tear-away strips from the L-bead trim to cover the gaps. I also scraped the "mud" off of the exposed L-bead trim.

My friend messed up when putting up the left top board-- it slipped askew-- but I didn't see it until I was standing on the top of the tub to look at something and then noticed. I thought about ripping it down, but it would ruin the walls. So, I'm going to fill the gap and make do.
As an aside, there was adhesive and some paper from a stupid sticker the packers stuck on the center panel and some adhesive from tape on the left panel. I followed their instructions to use mineral spirits and it worked well. Some of the construction adhesive got on the tub (probably from an empty tube touching it). I used the chisel to shove away the thicker stuff and then the mineral spirits to clear the rest of it up.