In reply to Parker with too many Projects :
One step at a time! Plan out what the next steps are and try and do a little bit at a time.
I got another coat of mud on last night, it felt like it took forever. Hopefully it's all dry by the time I'm home from work tonight.
Mud on my inside corners isn't fully dry from last night yet. Did a bit of sanding elsewhere, but I'm gonna try and get to bed a little early tonight. Tomorrow I'll get back to it.
The mix yourself bags (hot mud) are nice since they set faster, but mixing one tray at a time sucks, and it dries really hard so sanding sucks.
The premixed mud buckets spread nice, and the lightweight stuff sands easily, but on inside corners it takes forever to dry.
Tradeoffs... Anyway, stuck a space heater in there for now. Hopefully that helps.
In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :
Put a box fan in the room.
I don't care for hot mud. It's really hard to work with. If I'm in a rush, I use it occasionally for filling flats or corner bead, but never for finish coat, and I don't think I've ever used it for inside corners.
On a small job like that, I do however use a corner trowel (2nd final coat). It lets me cut a clean corner and lay both sides of the joint at the same time (which means I don't have to wait for drying to do the 2nd half).
In reply to SV reX :
Like I said before, setting joint compound is for the first coat and to fill large voids only. And, cannot be slopped on so as to require sanding.
I stole the wife's cake mixing bowel, spatula and one of her hand mixer paddles inserted into a drill to quickly mix up each batch of setting or regular mud. Works great for the small jobs I do. I also water down regular mud in the mixing bowl so that it is easier to work with.
I also have to apply 4 coats of mud and sand the last two coats because I don't know how to texture and I'm not that good of a mudder. 
Yeah, I have the corner trowel, but I'm not quite there with the skills to get it right the first time.
I've always been bad at mudding but the last time I tried I had an epiphany. You want to push hard at the outside edge to make the taper super thin. Do that from both sides. Don't try to press in the middle of the joint.
In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :
The corner trowel took a little getting used to...
I apply the mud with a flat 6", then use the corner trowel to run the corner. The trick is don't worry about the right and left outside edges. Let the corner trowel make a nice corner, and ONLY that. Then I use the 6" bent a little bit at each edge to feather it out. It usually leaves a tiny ridge about 3" outside of the corner (where the 6" pass overlaps with the corner trowel pass). But that ridge is super easy to knock down with a VERY light sanding when it dries.
As long as the corner is good.
With any luck, this afternoon I should be able to do a little more sanding, and then prime the walls. I've found after primer it's easier to see where might need touch up mud.
Since I'll have wall tile on the bottom 3' or so of the walls, should I leave that bare drywall, prime it, or get some redgard?
Also, any recommendations for the tile tool brands? I'd like to get one of those diamond cones for the grinder at least.
More mud, more sanding, more mud, more sanding. PRIMER!
Finally got the room to the point that it's close on drywall, so me and my wife did a coat of primer (KILZ) last night. Now my wife shall use the red pencil to mark where I need to fill in pinholes, or touch up other mud spots. It's a lot easier to see with the primer on. After touch up mud, I'll do one more coat of primer before paint. Should be picking up paint tonight after work.
Small update, didn't have much time last night. I got a little bit more mud on the spots the primer highlighted. Not sure I'll have much time tonight either, but I'm hoping to do a little more to be ready for the 2nd coat of primer.
Looking really great. Do you have any photos of your plumbing stub-ins before you laid down your subfloor? For historical purposes.
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
Not as many as I should have, but the ends are still accessible. The shower stub ins are on the hallway wall, which will remain unfinished until after the bathroom is complete. The sink and toilet are in the wall shared with the bedroom which will also be finished later. The tub is actually not stubbed in yet, that will be done fairly soon. Once paint is on, and before I start laying the cement board for the flooring, I'll stub in the tub drain and feeds, and cut my hole in the floor for the central air vent.
In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :
Sorry, I meant the sewer lines.
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
Yeah... I meant to and then I had help the day we leveled the floor and laid the subfloor and kept moving along and I forgot. I have a pretty good idea of where all it is, but obviously a picture would have been better.
First coat of paint on last night! Drywall finish isn't perfect, but it's not bad. Glad to be past that part, at least until I finish the hallway and bedroom walls. Hoping to get the second coat of paint on tonight and move on to cabinets and flooring this weekend!
Bottom part of the walls will be getting a wall tile. Little bit of research seemed to say that priming the drywall would be a benefit before the tile so that the drywall wouldn't wick the moisture and dry out the thinset too quickly. Tile height will line up with the countertop of the vanity.
It's a little harder to tell in these first two pictures, but the ceiling is the same color as the walls, the work light just washes it out, even in person. Last picture was this morning in the daylight. It's different than we've done in other rooms of the house, but I think it makes for a cozy aesthetic. So far we like it at least!
How much room do you have above your tall linen closet to the ceiling? I think that every bathroom needs a small fan to move are around the room to help dry off moisture build up. Just a nice 6" fan will work. It should be on a timer and separate circuit. If the room on the other side of the vanity wall is still open, now is the time to address it. If not enough headroom, build a little shelf to set the fan on.
Cabinet is 80" tall, and the room is ~96" tall. I would thing the exhaust fan being fairly central should dry things out pretty well though.
The wall on the other side to the bedroom is still open, and likely will be for a bit. I do want to finish things in, but I think I'll get the knob and tube fully taken care of before that, and the bathroom fully operational before that. It really never does end.
AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) said:Also, some people should not be allowed to touch saws...
I'll be sistering some support to that joist.
I know I'm a couple weeks out of date, but these things work pretty nicely: Metwood Joist Repair Reinforcer
In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :
The exhaust fan is just removing air, you need air movement to evaporate moisture.
In reply to Duke :
That's fancy!
VolvoHeretic said:In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :
The exhaust fan is just removing air, you need air movement to evaporate moisture.
Hmmm, I see what you're saying, but I can't say I've seen it done in any bathroom I've been in. Might just see how it goes as is to start since the wall will be open for a bit on the backside.
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
If the exhaust fan is removing air, then air IS moving.
It pulls makeup air from under the door, etc. If the fan is located poorly, then it just short cycles and doesn't evaporate moisture well. But if the exhaust fan is sized properly and located well, then it does help evaporate moisture.
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.
Fairly productive Saturday. Slept in, mounted the lower cabinets and get the cement board down.
So I opted to not tile under the vanity for two main reasons. 1, It keeps the counter height a little lower, which my wife will prefer, and gives more room for the mirror once the upper cabinets are in place. 2, if I ever have to replace them I'm going to need to stick with the same footprint, or do some work anyway since I'll have wall tile as well. Not going to wall tile behind the vanity... Anyway, that's my thought process, and why I did it.
I laid out the cement board for the floor "dry" so I could make sure I had it ready to go and wouldn't need to stop once the Thinset was mixed. Numbered each piece, then removed them in reverse order so I had them ready to install easily. This picture is the dry layout, not that it looks much different now other than a bunch of screws. I did make sure that my seams all overlapped my subfloor seams and everything. Oh, and I did figure out my tub drain and supply holes too, so they're all good.
Tomorrow I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do, I have a few things to take care of in the afternoon, but my evening should be open. Next step will be installing the shower pan, then the uncoupling membrane and heat wire.
You'll need to log in to post.
