OCDFabworks Shop Projects: Anything Worth Doing is Worth Overdoing

[95riosnake]

4 hours ago, RedTwilight said:

That's pretty cool!  

If copyright's and such weren't a nightmare, I bet you could make a damned good chunk of change selling those thrones.

 

Yea I actually briefly pondered it, but the copyright technicalities would limit things too much. And any kind of official licensing would eat up pretty much any profit to be had

 

4 hours ago, Prokiller said:

that's awesome Dan.  i only saw the throne on her IG and i knew there had to be more to the story.  loved the post-its.  i totally want to get those dragon egg book ends too 

 

Thanks man, yea those things are beasts. They weigh probably 10lbs+ each lol.

 

46 minutes ago, Tabres said:

That's a really clever idea.  Nice work.

 

Has your wife gotten through the book yet?  I've heard it is really, really arduous content, like listing out family lineages, physical descriptions, location descriptions... a very similar experience to reading the Silmarillion.  I've always been curious about it as I've been a fan of the books since way before the series came out, but after I'd heard that from multiple people I haven't been able to get myself to read it.

 

Nah she hasn't yet, but she loves to go super in depth into anything she's interested in so we'll see. It may sound childish, but just flipping through the book I loved the artwork, that alone justifies the cover price to me but I hope she doesn't lose interest reading it.

[RedTwilight]

26 minutes ago, 95riosnake said:

It may sound childish, but just flipping through the book I loved the artwork, that alone justifies the cover price to me but I hope she doesn't lose interest reading it.

 

I buy books just for the artwork all the time.  I guess it's my artistic side.  And it's nice to have different styles and designs for reference and inspiration.  I even used to get a few "Magic: The Gathering" cards.  Not because I played but because I like the artwork.

[Tabres]

On 7/6/2016 at 11:46 AM, 95riosnake said:

 

[Tabres]

So... it's been 5 months since an update.  You must have something to share, right?

[95riosnake]

I've been trying to find time to post something. Not a whole lot of progress has been made in the garage, but the powder room is done, fence is done, and we just installed a huge french door with sidelites from the dining room to the patio last weekend. I don't have any major tasks ahead of me for the upcoming weekend so I will force myself to sit down and do an update!

[95riosnake]

To clarify, some progress has been made in the garage so it hasn't been all house stuff, just mostly house stuff lol.

[GTTRacing91PGT]

30 minutes ago, 95riosnake said:

I've been trying to find time to post something. Not a whole lot of progress has been made in the garage, but the powder room is done, fence is done, and we just installed a huge french door with sidelites from the dining room to the patio last weekend. I don't have any major tasks ahead of me for the upcoming weekend so I will force myself to sit down and do an update!

 

About time!

[95riosnake]

As promised, here's an update. I know this isn't remotely shop-related but oh well. This post covers the bathroom renovation, I'll do another update with the fence and other stuff as I find time to collect and organize all the pictures lol. Multiple devices complicate matters.

 

Here's the starting point. The first floor powder room was by far the most dated room in the house. Luckily most of the house is pretty much a blank slate but the powder room got an extra heavy dose of the 80s for some reason. The toilet rocked and leaked underneath into the basement below, the wallpaper (which I hated anyway) was peeling and had water damage by the sink, etc. My wife refused to even use this bathroom in fact.

 

Just look at that beautiful vanity cabinet, lol. I was flipping through the channels a while back, and an episode of Full House was on.... they had the same cabinets.

 

 

 

None of the switches in the house are grounded, and they're in plastic boxes. I've had to run ground wires to every switch as we've replaced them with modern white switches. Tedious to say the least.

 

 

We got started by removing all the wallpaper. This stuff sucked. The top layer was vinyl, so you couldn't wet it or use steam, so first the vinyl layer had to be peeled off, then the bottom paper layer had to be soaked and scraped off. Thank God this is the only room in the house that had wallpaper. This was a long, miserable step for sure.

 

 

 

 

The exhaust fan was very dated and all the replacements that would fit into the housing installed in the ceiling weren't much better. We planned on a pretty modern theme for this bathroom so it had to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much better.

 

 

Next on the list was to get rid of the vanity, sink, and mirror. We also wanted to change the single fixture above the mirror to two fixtures, one on each side of the mirror.

 

 

The mirror was especially rough to remove. Once I finally got it pried off the wall I found it was held in place with... big dollops of tar, lol.

 

 

Goodbye Full House cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The plywood section is there to make life easier mounting the mirror.

 

 

 

^ Forgot to take a finished pic but that got a couple more layers of mud after that pic was taken.

 

Goodbye toilet. Hard to see in the picture but the flange was broken in 3 places, hence the rocking. Unfortunately the previous owner must have left it this way for a very long time.

 

 

And the tile removal commenced.

 

 

 

 

This picture doesn't fully show how much rot there was. There's a sheet of 1/4" luan that I hadn't peeled up yet in this picture, but it was hiding a very large area of rotted subfloor.

 

 

By the time I got the rot cut out, I ended up with a little bit of a hole in the floor lol. This uncovered what I think is part of the reason the toilet rocked and leaked all those years. Some poor planning when the house was built resulted in that drain being in the middle of a floor joist so they crudely cut a huge notch to clear it. What they should have followed that with was plenty of bracing to tie it into the other joists, but alas, not everyone gives a shit about doing things right. This area of the floor had very little support because that joist basically had no strength.

 

 

 

I started bracing the joist and building a frame to support a new subfloor panel.

 

 

 

 

I was bored one day and decided to brace the hell out of the floor under the toilet. There's also a double layer of 3/4" plywood where the flange gets screwed into the floor. Pretty sure an elephant can sit on this toilet now, lol.

 

 

After some measurements and figuring, the toilet flange was sitting too low to sit on top of the tile, so I decided that rather than trying to use some aftermarket "fix it" kit I cut it off and built a new drain to raise the flange. This also let me use a brand new stainless flange.

 

 

 

 

The next part of the plans was an accent wall that consisted of floor to ceiling mosaic tile. This was a shit ton of work, but worth it IMO. It's definitely easier to say that now... when I was doing it, my feelings were probably a bit different lol.

 

First step was 1/4" hardie backer.

 

 

Here's what $600 worth of mosaic tile looks like lol.

 

 

To make things easier on myself I set up a mock up of the wall span, then pre-cut all the mosaic pieces before I was on the thinset time clock. Trying to cut all the small end pieces to fill in gaps and such is too time consuming when you're trying to beat the clock before the thinset isn't workable anymore.

 

 

Then a seemingly endless, stressful process began.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fisheye time.

 

 

We went with Laticrete Spectralock epoxy grout so we would never have to scrub grout lines. Definitely trickier to apply and more expense than conventional grout, but worth it for its maintenance free finished product IMO.

 

 

Floor tile was next. We went with 12x24 porcelain tiles in a graphite color. First up, hardie backer.

 

 

Since these tiles were large format and I wanted to be sure I didn't have any uneven tiles (OCD remember? lol), I used these super cool Proleveling System tile spacers. They worked perfectly. This pic shows how they work.

 

 

 

Went with Spectralock epoxy grout again for the floor.

 

 

Installed a new door. Old door had one shim on each side, two screws total holding it in place lol. Other than that the casing trim was the only thing holding it. Must have been the same guy who cut the floor joist. You can also see the tile in the hallway outside the door that I HATE, but, that's a project for another day.

 

 

New window.

 

 

Finally painted the walls.

 

 

Then started the trim work.

 

 

My wife went a little heavy spackling the nail holes, but I wasn't gonna complain. I appreciated the help and the company.

 

 

Three piece crown molding

 

 

Coming along...

 

 

Installed the floating vanity, vessel sink, lights...

 

 

Toilet also... I think the top flush buttons are pretty cool too. Left button for number one, right for number two lol.

 

 

 

The mirror got hung, and some other details like the towel bar and toilet paper holder joined in too.

 

 

 

 

 

All said and done, it took me 6-7 months start to finish. I worked on a bunch of other projects simultaneously, including the fence (which I'll cover in a future update), so that made it take much longer than it should have. Hit a bunch of snags like waiting a month for the new window to come in, replacing a cracked vessel sink we discovered when opening the box long after the return period, buying another new toilet when the first one didn't fit (also long after the return period had passed), etc. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out though, and my wife absolutely loves it. Not having to walk upstairs anymore after not having a bathroom on the first floor for so long during the project is a nice bonus too lol.

 

Stay tuned for coverage of the 4 month long fence build...

[Tony]

I'll be damned if that isn't HGTV or DIY Network worthy right there IDK what is! Looks amazing, my wife would leave me for you if she seen this 

[Yeahloh95]

dan I will have to pick your brain on my bathroom project in my basement I am thinking about tile for it also

[Steve@CJPP]

@95riosnake I love house projects like this so don't worry that this isn't just covering your shop, honestly a lot of different car sites that have DIY remods on their houses I tend to follow more than anything else because it's just cool to watch these transformations and get idea's or learn something new for that day I grow up and actually buy a house lol.

[95riosnake]

Thanks guys, I definitely expanded my skill set many times over through the project lol. I wouldn't have it any other way though. Sure it would have been done ages ago had we hired it out but I'd have zero pride in the finished product and I guarantee I wouldn't have been happy with the results. I have a lot more remodeling ahead of me, which is both exciting and daunting at the same time lol.

[Psychorugby]

I love your bathroom!  Can't wait to see the fence update!

[Tabres]

The bathroom looks outstanding.  Trim work looks great and I love the crown molding.

 

I used the same grout when I did the backsplash in our kitchen.  Definitely worth the additional cost to never have to mess with it again.

[SublimeRT]

Damn Dan.......great work on that bathroom!  If you were local, I'd hire ya.  We've got a bathroom here....it's not original Full House bad, but it's pretty bad, haha.

[95riosnake]

On 11/28/2016 at 8:23 PM, Psychorugby said:

I love your bathroom!  Can't wait to see the fence update!

 

I'm working on posting that update, possibly this coming weekend. It's a lot of pics to sort through and organize. You have heard/seen the play by play of that project, it felt more like a stage of my life rather than just a project. Literally every weekend, 10+ hours a day, for almost 4 months (rainy weather delayed progress here and there of course). And it still needs a few finishing touches that will have to wait until spring... ugh lol.

 

On 12/3/2016 at 8:19 PM, Tabres said:

The bathroom looks outstanding.  Trim work looks great and I love the crown molding.

 

I used the same grout when I did the backsplash in our kitchen.  Definitely worth the additional cost to never have to mess with it again.

 

I debated using regular grout and many people in our families said the epoxy wasn't worth the extra effort/cost, but in the end I went with my gut. My gut is always to go 110% on everything and the thought of sealing and scrubbing grout was enough to make the decision for me.

 

7 hours ago, SublimeRT said:

Damn Dan.......great work on that bathroom!  If you were local, I'd hire ya.  We've got a bathroom here....it's not original Full House bad, but it's pretty bad, haha.

 

Thanks Blaise! If you hired me you would quickly grow tired of how slow I work lol.

 

Update your thread with some tool stuff!

[SublimeRT]

I'll get in there and post up soon.  I can't remember where I left off, but I've got a few things coming together.  Hopefully this coming weekend, I'll be taking the knife to the Cobra.  

[95riosnake]

7 hours ago, SublimeRT said:

I'll get in there and post up soon.  I can't remember where I left off, but I've got a few things coming together.  Hopefully this coming weekend, I'll be taking the knife to the Cobra.  

 

Awesome man, both about the tool updates and finally getting to tear into the cobra. If you pull off your plans that car will be hands down the baddest SN on the planet IMO. I for one truly look forward to following along as you get moving on it.

[SublimeRT]

Comments like that help keep me going with the car, even though as of late it may appear I've given up on it.  The whole project will be a huge test for me in many different ways.  So I appreciate the support.

[Josh@RideTech]

Awesome work on the bathroom, Dan!  I really need to spend the winter doing the same thing to my house!  

[95riosnake]

Thanks Josh! It was a ton of work no doubt, but well worth it in the end.

[Josh@RideTech]

17 hours ago, 95riosnake said:

Thanks Josh! It was a ton of work no doubt, but well worth it in the end.

 

I bet!  Thanks for giving me some motivation/inspiration to do mine  lol.

Edited December 28, 2016 by Josh@RideTech

[Prokiller]

k-mart (of all places) had spray paint on clearance.  i picked up a bunch and remembered about your storage system @95riosnake.  i'm stealing the idea.  other than the painting overboardness you did, is there anything design wise you would have done different?  roughly what angle do you have the faces at?

[95riosnake]

15 hours ago, Prokiller said:

k-mart (of all places) had spray paint on clearance.  i picked up a bunch and remembered about your storage system @95riosnake.  i'm stealing the idea.  other than the painting overboardness you did, is there anything design wise you would have done different?  roughly what angle do you have the faces at?

 

I wouldn't use MDF, because it's a pain in the ass. I would use plywood, probably 1/2". Not sure what angle they're at but I'll look tonight. Design-wise you could probably just make the end plates rectangles with two rounded corners (leave the corners against the wall square), unless you just like the look of the end plates I made.

[Prokiller]

7 hours ago, 95riosnake said:

 

I wouldn't use MDF, because it's a pain in the ass. I would use plywood, probably 1/2". Not sure what angle they're at but I'll look tonight. Design-wise you could probably just make the end plates rectangles with two rounded corners (leave the corners against the wall square), unless you just like the look of the end plates I made.

definitely wasn't going to use MDF, that's for sure.  your end plates do look nice though...

[Psychorugby]

4 hours ago, Prokiller said:

your end plates do look nice though...

 

That's what she said.

[95riosnake]

On 7/11/2017 at 9:58 AM, Evilcw311 said:

This thread is long neglected...........  ?

 

Tell me about it. I've only had enough time to work on stuff, there hasn't been enough time to put together an update. I need to do that soon before I get too far behind.

[95riosnake]

This coming weekend should be a bit calmer than recent weeks so I am gonna try to find some time to get a proper update in here.

[95riosnake]

Well here is somewhat of an update. My scion served me well for the past 8 years, but had gotten to a point of needing almost weekly maintenance. It was getting to the point of being a money pit and was taking up entirely too much of my free time to keep it in good working order. Add to that my constant need for a truck, a for sale sign found its way onto the scion in May. Took me about a month to find someone who wasn't just wasting my time, and all told I ended up getting $5k for it. Not bad considering I paid $10,500 for it 8 years and 82k miles ago. Once the scion was sold I moved onto looking for a truck. I've been leisurely shopping for a truck for years now, so I was already pretty much set on what I wanted. Finding the actual truck proved much more difficult. I went back and forth between buying new and CPO (certified preowned) and it all came down to numbers. The only dealership that was willing to deal on a new truck to the level I was shooting for was all the way out in Illinois, and the 10.5 hour drive was less than appealing. I ended up finding the exact truck I originally wanted up in Ft. Gratiot, MI and picked it up on July 20th. I actually wanted to hit up @Det_Riot as I was cruising right through his back yard but it was a very long day and my dad rode up with me so it didn't really work out. Hit the road at 3:30am and got home with the truck at 8pm, lol. So here are the specs:

 

2015 GMC Sierra SLE All Terrain, 5.3L V8, 4x4, 6spd Auto, 13k miles (!), plenty of GM warranty remaining, CPO warranty on top of that, etc. The truck was originally from Tennessee and is a one owner, so it's about as mint as a used truck can get. There's not one spec of rust anywhere under it whatsoever. I know some people here aren't big GM fans, but this truck is by far one of the nicest vehicles I have ever driven. I actually look forward to going places again lol. The truck needs an exhaust pretty bad. As much as I intended to just leave it stock, it's just too damn quiet lol. Here are a few pics.

 

The day I picked it up (reppin SN95Source son!)

 

 

Gave it a full detail yesterday and snapped a few iphone pics. I love the color of this truck! You can see the OCD Machine lurking in the background covered in dust, patiently waiting its turn. Not having to keep wrenching on my daily all the time will hopefully open up a bit of my schedule to get back on the poor old girl.

 

 

 

 

 

I know this wasn't technically a tool or shop/house update, but it is definitely a tool I will be using, and by far the most expensive tool I've ever purchased, lol.

[Tabres]

Love it.  Nice purchase!

[Det_Riot]

Damn boyyyy! Congrats on the purchase! Fort Gratiot isn't too far away, Definitely would have linked up with you guys if you had time. I often (almost bi-daily) think about dumping the f350 and getting back into a f150 similar to what @prokiller just picked up. Just unnecessary and uneconomical for what I'm doing with it 98% of the time. 

 

[ttocs]

nice truck 

[Blackmage]

nice dude! if you ever need any wiring diagrams, build info, warranty info, etc. for it, let me know!

[Yeahloh95]

nice truck dan

[Bryan96GT]

Nice truck Dan! One of my buddies has the same truck just different color and it is legitimately a luxury vehicle lol 

[SublimeRT]

Any new developments??

[95riosnake]

Yea, I need to get around to posting an update. I've been going through transferring from my old, ailing laptop to a new iPad Pro so I need to get all my pictures organized still. Been working endlessly on the family room. Redoing it pretty much top to bottom. Building some pretty large built in cabinets that also serve as an entertainment center, did a porcelain tile hearth, new flooring, etc.

[SublimeRT]

Good deal.  Transferring and organizing pics from an old computer on its last limb is always fun.  Haha.

[SniveTroll]

ne

Quote

needs moar.