Thursday, November 8, 2012

From Closet to Bathroom

It was time for Dad to move in with one of his daughters since he was unable to live alone, but not in need of nursing home or assisted living.  So, I was called to do the work, and  it was decided to take out a closet and insert a bathroom for his use.  He now has his own bath, bedroom and living area.  He can, as the son-in-law said, "finish strong" in his own space.

This is the closet before the remodel.  It was 2 feet deep and 8 feet wide.



The slats on the wall were for additional shelves.

Behind the closet was a storage/utility/furnace room where the heating furnace and water heater were located.  To make room for the bath, the door from the hallway into the room and the exterior door had to be moved over.
Before:








 It's kind of hard to see, but there is a hose bib to the left of the door, between the door facing and the board.  That had to be moved as well.

These are after the doors were moved, and the hose bib is to the right of the door.


 Both doors were moved about 18 inches or so.

I was able to enlist the plumbing expertise of Chris Troupe Plumbing services.  He and his crew had to cut trenches in the concrete slab to lay the drain pipes, and since the septic tank was uphill from the new bath, they had to install a pump to move the waste water into the drain lines that ran under the house.  I highly recommend Chris.  He does excellent work and is very reasonable in his prices.

They laid the pipes and set the pump, ran the water lines and set the shower stall in place and left me to set the toilet and sink after the walls were finished and the tile was set.  We had originally planned to use the "peel and stick" tile, but after the trenching and concrete repair, the floor was too rough for that type to stick, so we changed to a nice ceramic tile.

After some electrical work, and such, the bath now has two lights, one with a lighted switch for easier location in the dark, a GFCI outlet, an exhaust vent and AC vent, shower, assist pull bars to help off the throne and to hold while entering and exiting the shower, and so on.  The bath is about 4 by 8, with a 4 foot shower stall, medicine cabinet, etc.

Here are some pictures of the finished product.


I turned the toilet just a little to the left
since it was so tight a space, and that
makes it easier to sit down and
get back up.







This is the pump, placed in front of the water tank, but
the piping can easily be moved to access the tank,
if needed.


This was a fun job to do, especially for the folks and the kind gentleman who will be using it.  They were extremely happy with the finished product and the entire process.