Cool! Never thought about using hardboard to mask off the floor. Other side is just a nasty vinyl floor I'm going to pull up and replace with probably laminate or stick-em-down vinyl tiles. Haven't decided yet. I may just cut it down enough to put some nice finished wood on top, and use molding to round off the edges.

Thanks for the tip!

Sam

 

Hey dude, don't use the stick-em tiles. I made that mistake once. Sure, it looked nice for a couple weeks, but when the foot traffic starts working on it, those tiles will shift. Not pretty; looking at gaps in the stick down tiles. Since I've used laminate flooring, I would use that stuff on EVERYTHING! Cheap and easy.

 

I'm going to have some "bob vila" nametags sent your way...

 

I would still love to meet the home improvement genius that did work on my house over the years.
The tile in the kitchen is all uneven, so you step on a raised corner with the ball of your foot and that hurts, and the bathrooms are carpeted .
Oh, and when I looked at the house before I bought it, the basement jack was nothing more than a 4x4 with a giant knot right in the middle of it. It was straight out of the lumber yard's seconds pile. Mind you, I live in a 3 level townhome, so the entire weight of my house was being supported by this 4x4. When I looked at the house, that 4x4 was bowed about 2", and was starting to twist. I pointed this out to the realtor, who said, "Oh, that's not load bearing."
I looked at him and said "really?" I knocked on the 4x4 and it resonated like a piano string. It was replaced by the owner immediately.
So far the only "improvements" I've done to this place have been to paint the kitchen maroon and build a monster workbench in the laundry room .
BDV

 

You're not by yourself BDV. I'm renting an older (1920's) home and some of the "improvements" are really a joke. The bathroom used to have a wall hung sink and some idiot replaced it with a double vanity that has 2 sinks- you have to turn sideways to get into the tub because the front of the toilet is only about 8 inches from the front of the cabinet. Then of course, there is no mirror over the second sink. Pure genius at work! There is a brass "chandelier" in the dining room that hangs 9 inches from the ceiling and 5 feet from the dining room table. Either it came out of a mobile home or they were concerned about a basketball player hitting their head on the light. My vote goes for the mobile home theory. They put in a second one in the living room (same set up) and spray painted it silver- color coordination at it's finest! Then there are the kitchen cabinets (not custom-Lowe's or Home Depot off the shelf type). They purchaced the wrong size for one wall, but rather than return the cabinets, some one came up with the brilliant idea to mount the two cabinets and have the 13" gap in the center. To make it look "custom" they took quarter round moulding, nailed it onto the sides of the cabinets, stuck in some (stained) plywood planks and lo and behold -- instant shelves.

 

I really believe HGTV and DIY cable/satelite channels have ruined more nice homes than they have made look or perform better. I feel if you are not comfortable doing what ever task don't do it. Ever notice they don't have those channels for health care? I wonder why?

 

Just a heads up for all the do-it-yourselfers. Be very careful removing linoleum / vinyl flooring that has been down for awhile. The older stuff may contain asbestos. This stuff is a health hazard if it becomes airborne. There are labs that will test a sample for you if you are determined to pull it up. My kitchen had some old flooring that tested positive for asbestos so I laid the wood floor over the top of it to keep from stirring up a "problem". It wasn't my first choice, but it seemed to be the safest way to deal with the issue!

PS - The local lab that I took my sample to charged about $20-25 and tested it while I waited there.

 

Thanks for the tip, Joe. Didn't think about that. Well, I guess laminate it is!

If anybody is wondering, that sucking sound is this house, emptying my wallet!

 

Go watch The Money Pit. You'll either feel better, or relate too closely.

 

Well, I got the bathroom sink in and plumbed in. What a PITA. Had to put a 1x4 up to have somewhere to mount the sink. Then I had to take it down and measure again because it was too low, lol. Finally had a functioning powder room on Saturday at about 3:00, but now, the shut off to the toilet is leaking through the valve seals.

So, now I have to shut the main house valve off, drain the water out of the toilet, and remove the leaker and solder on a new one. I've never done any plumbing soldering before, but a plumber buddy of mine gave me step by step instructions on how to do it. Should be good for a laugh or two.

Anyway, the floor looks nice, my wife had a baby shower for her sister yesterday, and lots of family and friends were over, including my mom and sister, complimenting my wife on the new dining room floor, and semi-finished bathroom. Being a guy, I wasn't invited, so I went snowboarding with my brother instead.

The guests were happy to see the baby as well.

Still remaining for the bathroom is to hide the plumbing behind a sort of enclosure, install some baseboard mouldings, and put up some wall paper. (her idea)

I'll let you know how the toilet shut off procedure goes.

 

i had a house that i sold a year ago well the toilet was so old in the one bathroom that we decided to just replace it. Of course then the floor looked funny cause the bases didnt match SO we decided to change the floor. On starting that we realized the sink cabinet was rotted SO we ripped that out. To put that in the marlite was stained So we said to heck with it and ripped out the ceiling and walls and put new in a hundred dollar toilet turned into a $1000 bathroom. Thank god i know what im doin so it only cost me the parts i did labor myself now i hide when the old lady wants me ti fix something during the playoffs

 

Geez, I just about had a heart attack!

I got the new valve on good and tight, so I hook up all the fittings back to the toilet, go downstairs and turn the water back on. Back upstairs in the bathroom, the valve is leaking!

Thoughts running through my mind: Bad solder joint, faulty new valve, fitting to toilet not tight enough.

So, back down the stairs I go to shut the water off again, and there's a puddle on the floor under the main shut off!

In the bathroom, I drain the water out of the toilet again and take a closer look at the new valve, and check out the old valve. The new valve seal nut came off in half a turn, the old valve seal nut needed a wrench to take off, so I put the new nut back on and tightened it up real good, reconnected the toilet and tried again.

Downstairs, I turned the water back on, and threw a towel on the puddle. In the bathroom, I checked the valve, and good for me, no leak yet (it's been about an hour since). Back in the basement, I fiddled with the main valve, and found a "sweet spot" of sorts where the valve won't leak. So, that's where it's going to stay.

My next project, is to find the city shutoff outside, and get a seal kit for my main shutoff inside, instead of changing the valve. Probably what I should have done with the toilet shutoff, but I didn't know they made that sort of thing. The ball valves I use at work are throw away items, so if they leak, they are replaced, not rebuilt.

 

Compression fittings.. Much easier, no mess, easier to remove if needed. I hate soldering joints...but do it if I have to....