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bathroom follow-up
It’s been four years since we finished our bathroom and about time for a good ol’ fashioned follow-up post (in fact, a draft version of this post was started nearly a year ago). We’ve had some crazy rain here the last few days, but this morning there was a fleeting moment of blue skies (and decent lighting) so I snapped some fresh photos for you.
Besides a few accessories, we really haven’t made any changes to this space since its completion. Our house is small so we opted for a modest yet efficient layout. However, since it is our only bathroom (yeah, the basement bathroom is still on the to-do list!) we wanted it to feel a tiny bit luxurious too (deep tub, radiant heat, etc.).
Despite the many doubtful comments I’ve received on the subject, my toilet paper roll art is still going strong! We used a clear acrylic spray on the pieces and our bathroom has a good exhaust fan, so moisture has never been an issue. I’ll probably grow tired of if at some point, but not yet.
The IKEA full-length mirror on the back of the door has been well worth that Liquid Nails experience. With only a small mirror above the sink, the full-length version also doubles as a make-up mirror on days when we’re both rushing to get out the door.
Back in 2008, IKEA didn’t have nearly the number of bathroom vanity options that they do today. Our solution was to attach a simple cabinet unit to a 3-drawer unit and wrap the top and side with teak plywood. (We like to put vanities on legs in small spaces, which makes them feel more like a piece of furniture and not so bulky.)
Our faucet and sink are from Kohler. No complaints. The only thing that slightly annoys my OCD side is that the faucet handles aren’t perfectly horizontal in the off position (we tried to adjust it but no luck so we’re not sure if it’s a flaw in the product of what). Another pro tip: if your sink is non-directional, install it backwards so you hide those ugly overflow holes. Genius, right?
We had a hard time sourcing simple, modern and inexpensive wall sconces, but finally found these from Restoration Hardware. Although they are pictured on the website with the shade facing up, they are designed to go either way. Or not. One of our sconces has failed twice in four years (with the shade separating from the housing as shown in the photo), so we’ll probably just replace both once we find a decent alternative. (Suggestions?)
Over the tub we vaulted the ceiling and installed a small skylight. With the small window above the toilet, there is typically enough natural daylight to avoid using any artificial lights. It’s a good way to start the day.
Opposite of the skylight is our exhaust fan. It’s a Panasonic Whisper Quiet and my only complaint is that sometimes it can be too quiet for guests. If you know what I mean.
One of the smartest moves we made in our bathroom was to add a 2×6 pony wall between our tub and the exterior wall. This allows for a small ledge that runs the length of the tub. It’s only 6″ but it makes a world of difference for storing items and avoids those ugly shower caddies. Better yet, the height means it’s easily accessible while showering or in the tub. Originally, we finished the solid teak ledge with teak oil but after a year switched to a spar varnish. It’s probably time for a fresh coat, but has held up remarkably well considering that it gets blasted with water on a daily basis. The white subway tile is affordable Dal-Tile. For the price I like this tile but every once in a while I have a pang of regret upon seeing higher quality tiles. (This was our first tile install job too so that might have something to do with it.)
We purchased our Kohler Tea-For-Two tub on Craigslist. It was barely used and we got it for about 1/3 of the list price. We love its depth and clean lines, but let’s be real – this is not a two person tub. Sorry Kohler. Although we only had space for a shower/tub combo, we’d definitely recommend going with a deep tub instead of the more standard hotel style. (Y’know, the kind that are so shallow that no one actually ever takes a bath in them.) Our shower fixtures are a combination of Kohler (Purist) with a Hansgrohe valve. Love it all. The valve controls both temperature and function and it’s nice not having a diverter on the tub spout.
The medicine cabinet was from the IKEA Molger line (though has since been discontinued). I like the design but sometimes I wish our more frequently used items weren’t on display. The back panel is a piece of masonite with a mirror attached, which I never really understood because it just multiplies the visual clutter. I’ve toyed with the idea of flipping the masonite and painting it a fun color, but it’s a low priority (obviously).
This IKEA hack was a spur of the moment idea, born from a desire to hide the exposed fasteners on the IKEA Grundtal towel rack. We had a scrap piece of teak plywood lying around so we just cut it to fit with two slits that go over the towel rack. Shortly after finishing the bathroom a friend commented that we should have made the teak plywood a bit longer and installed two hooks. Damn. That is a good idea. Oh well.
Ok, a serious topic – shower curtain rods. At first we reused our inexpensive IKEA rod, the kind that friction fits into place. Well, there is nothing more frustrating than your shower rod and curtain collapsing upon you during a shower and after a few times of this happening I turned to the interwebs for a better solution. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much. I finally found a Moen rod (through Amazon) that both screwed to the wall and had seamless cover plates. Victory. I also finally gave in and traded in my stainless steel shower rings for the kind with ball bearings. Go figure, they do work better (thanks physics!).
For our bedroom and bathroom, we experimented with a window and door reveal detail that involved installing (and painting white) a metal u-shaped reveal between the jamb trim and drywall. We like the look, but the install was a pain and there are some functional aspects that drive me crazy. Like, how do your terminate the reveal at the floor? Well…not this way. Basically we have a small dirt collector that can only be cleaned with a Q-tip. Word to the wise, don’t design stuff that requires a Q-tip to clean it. (Everywhere else in the house we axed the metal reveal and instead butted the drywall up to the wood jamb trim.) Those with a keen eye will also notice the abuse that the door jamb trim has received from the middle drawer. Despite our best efforts, I guess we can’t make a 102 year-old house perfect.
Ok, moving on. The floors! We chose a simple large-scale tile for the floors which we still love. But what we love even more is the electric mat radiant heat underneath. A small splurge but worth every penny. The system is on a timer so it kicks on early in the morning and then again in the early evening. If you do a system like this, you absolutely need it on a programmable timer. (We used to live in a rental house that had it but on a twist timer, which was frustrating because it takes a while to heat up.) The electric mat is only under the portion of tile that you walk on – the only part we goofed on was not running it under the vanity six inches or so (cold toes!).
We haven’t touched the teak plywood countertop yet and it’s starting to show some wear. The issues with using a plywood like this is that the teak is only the top ply so there’s only so much sanding that you can do before exposing the blond middle layers. So, another item on the to-do list. We’ll likely do a very light sand and then add a new layer of finish and cross our fingers.
Other miscellaneous items:
Paint: It’s not as apparent in the photos, but the space needs to be repainted. We must have been tired at the end of this project because for some reason we purchased pre-mixed white paint from a big box store. It looked ok, until we painted the rest of the house and realized it was quite a yellow white. Also, we bought cheapy foam rollers which shed in certain areas. Argh! NEVER BUY CHEAP ROLLERS. Felix also did some damage to the walls so a new paint job is needed. (See how we now need to redo rooms we’ve already done?)
Baseboards: We used a simple painted MDF for the base trim (held off the tile about 1/4″ and caulked between). It’s ok. Ideally I’d like a tile base but the MDF does the job.
Toilet: I never thought I could have such love for a toilet, but I do. We have the Toto Aquia and have never had a single issue (we don’t even own a plunger!). In fact, I’ll go as far to say that rarely do you even need the #2 flush. Best of all though, the streamlined design makes cleaning the thing SO easy. (No Q-tips needed!) We splurged on the soft close seat (which is awesome but does present awkward moments when you’re at a friend’s house and forget that not everyone has your same toilet). The finish on the seat is starting to fail but a new toilet seat every four years doesn’t seem too unreasonable.
Finally, several people have asked us about our sliding door and how we deal with privacy. Well, considering we didn’t have a proper door for the first two years we’re probably not the best advocates of privacy. However, it didn’t take long (ok, actually it did) for Bailey to figure out how to open the door with his nose. For this reason, we bought a door bolt to prevent people/dogs from creating awkward situations. Do we like it? I don’t know, we haven’t actually installed it yet. Furthermore, we’re not even really sure where it is. So here is a picture from the website we ordered it from:
Basically, we’ll need to router out part of the backside of the door (to the left of the mirror) to install the bolt flush. With the door in the closed position the bolt can be kicked out to prevent the door from sliding. It’s meant for a pocket door, but the idea is the same.
Ok…and this concludes a long-winded post about the smallest room in our house!
Want a comprehensive list of everything we’ve used. Here ya go. A play-by-play summary of how we remodeled this space? Boom!
side yard roof
Here’s one thing we’ve learned in our 6+ years of remodeling: tackle the crappy jobs first. (Trust me, your future self will thank you.)
When we bought our house it was very much in a need of a new roof. Unglamorous but necessary, that became our first major project the following summer. At the time, we were young(er) and had lots of pent-up DIY energy, so tearing off a roof seemed like a moderately fun time.
Or not. For a few anxiety-ridden days we literally had no roof over our heads. (Our previous neighbor took this photo from her second story window, probably thinking “those crazy Zerbeys!” all the while.)
Our initial strategy was to shovel debris directly into the dumpster in the driveway. This worked fairly well for the north side, but not so much for the south (where we optimistically thought we could just toss shingles up over the ridge). Before we knew it, we were knee-deep in layers upon layers of old shingles, intertwined with rusty nails. By this point we were exhausted and hadn’t even started the actual installation yet.
Our poor little house. When we need perspective in life, Kyle and I look at these photos.
All this to say that when it came time to tackle another roof project, we were glad it was a substantially smaller one.
One of the things on our pre-winter to-do list was to build a small roof over the basement stairs. Although there is a drain at the bottom landing, it often gets clogged with leaves and needles so during heavy rains water ends up finding its way under the basement door.
So, we decided a new roof was in order. It seemed like a quick, knock-that-out-in-a-weekend-or-two project, but of course it never works out that way. Kyle started this project a month or so ago, but progress stalled as we switched our focus to Studio Zerbey. Fortunately, we had a break in the rainy weather earlier this week so Kyle spent an afternoon wrapping things up.
The design we came up with is fairly simple and reflects our goals to create something functional, aesthetically pleasing and affordable. The roof’s size and shape were dictated by the location of the dining room window sill and maintaining adequate head clearance going down the steps. Kyle used two cedar 4×4 posts that are attached to the existing concrete wall. To reduce the depth of the beams, we used two 2×8’s (bolted to the columns) and tapered the outboard edge to avoid a head-knocker situation. (We considered applying a finish to the cedar, but opted to let it gray out to match the fence and gates.)
For the sheathing and rafters, we matched the main roof using painted beadboard plywood and 2x’s.
At the house, the rafters are attached with Simpson clips to a 2×4 ledger board that is attached to the wall framing.
The tops of the beams were cut at an angle to account for the slope of the rafters (we decided this would be easier than bird-mouthing or notching each one).
In lieu of standard building paper, Kyle used Grace’s Ice & Water Shield to protect the plywood sheathing before installing the shingles. This is a more durable product and better suited for low-sloped roofs susceptible to wind-driven rain.
It’s a sticky-back product so installation can be a bit more time-consuming, but you also don’t have to fuss with staples.
With the underlayment on and fascias and flashing in place, Kyle installed the shingles (the easy part!). We used shingles leftover from the main roof project and because it was such a small area Kyle simply hand-nailed them in place.
It’s not so bad, right? This is definitely one of those projects where we could have done something fancier and more “architecty” but couldn’t justify the added costs or creating a focal point of what is essentially a service entry. Eventually (and before Avery is walking) we’ll add a guard rail that will match the design of the adjacent gate. It will be constructed as a removable panel in case we need to move things in/out of the basement at some point.
Where the roof hits the wall of the house, Kyle tucked a piece of flashing up under that row of siding and secured it with a series of nails. The flashing protects the joint between the two surfaces and helps direct water out and away. We still need to install a gutter and downspout, but Kyle picked those up today so y’know…maybe they’ll be up by Thanksgiving?
Obviously, this area still needs some landscaping and hardscaping magic as well.
Here’s a glimpse of how our front yard landscaping is fairing. Our neighbor’s Horse Chestnut is dropping all of its leaves in our yard (the nerve!) and our red-flowering currants pooped out on us, but other than that we’re pretty happy with how the plants are transitioning to winter.
The only plant remaining in the backyard portion of the side yard is the Winter Daphne. In fact, I think it is the only plant that has survived our six years of remodeling.
There has also been discussion about preserving part of this side yard for a future hot tub. (For hydrotherapy purposes of course.) Hmm, maybe that was a purchase that should have been made before six years of manual labor?
basement progress: electrical + subfloor
I’m just going to say it – June in Seattle is depressing. While the rest of the country is swimming, sunning and generally embracing summer, we’re still wearing sweaters and crossing our fingers that our tomato plants don’t keel over due to lack of sun. (The joke is that summer in Seattle doesn’t start until after the 4th of July and that’s usually about right.) But, if there’s a silver lining to the gray permacloud at least it makes it easier to work in the basement.
So with the crappy weather on our side, last weekend was a productive one and Kyle was able to finish the framing and electrical and get started on the subfloor.
For a small project like this, we just talked through where we would want outlets, switches and fixtures instead of producing an electrical plan. Our main goal was to come up with a layout that would provide the most flexibility whether the space is being used as a TV room or bedroom. Because of our short ceiling height, the biggest challenge to figure out was lighting. Obviously, you don’t want anything hanging down and recessed cans wouldn’t work with our exposed joists. So the plan is to install a couple of wall sconces (you can see the round electrical box for one in the photo above) that flank what will eventually be a built-in media/storage unit.
Kyle also framed out the little closet that contains the sewage ejector pump and access to our under-the-mudroom storage.
To make the space feel taller we’re leaving the joists exposed but the actual detail is a bit trickier. Unlike our living room ceiling, in the basement we have to contend with all the exposed nails coming through the subfloor from the old oak floors above (that are now covered with plywood and cork). Our solution was to furr down with 2×4’s and then attach sheetrock to that. Finally, we’ll sand up the joists a bit and then paint everything super white.
Here’s a shot looking back the other direction. Above the window, we’ll have a soffit with three recessed cans. There is likely to be a couch or bed against this wall so a little direct lighting made sense. The round electrical box in the foreground is for a smoke detector (required in every bedroom!) and the rectangular duct goes to the nursery above. When we had our new furnace and ductwork installed nearly 4 years ago, we had a feeling this space would eventually get finished out and made sure that any ductwork was as minimal as possible (same goes for the electrical, which is run only along the perimeter where it will be covered).
On the opposite wall Kyle roughed in power, data and cable. The TV/DVD/Xbox are in the living room for now, but the plan is to eventually move everything downstairs. I’m hesitant to use the words “media room” or “man cave” but we do see this room as a cozy space to watch movies.
Poor Bails, spending his weekend watching Kyle work. He might be the only dog that willingly will nap next to an air compressor.
Before the weekend was over, Kyle also got started on the Dri-Core subfloor (he’s actually installing the last pieces as I type). The 2’x2′ panels are comprised of a layer of OSB over a black dimpled plastic. Even though we installed a moisture barrier under the new topping slab, the plastic backing provides an airspace and keeps any water that might find its way in from coming up through the floor.
The panels have a tongue and groove slot on all four sides so they click together and form a floating floor system. They can be easily cut on a table saw and the whole process took a couple of hours max. At the edges, Kyle used wood shims to hold the panels away from the wall (to compensate for any future expansion and contraction).
For a snug fit, he whacked each panel in place using a few 2x’s and a mallet. (It’s hard to tell in the photos, but the seams are staggered for a more uniform installation.)
At the edges, he used a pry bar pushed against the sill plate to ensure a tight fit.
Naturally, Bailey was on hand to supervise. (I know, he is SUPER shaggy right now and is going to the groomer on Saturday!)
“A little to the left dad…hey, watch my paws!”
Kyle finished the subfloor tonight so the next step will be to frame the rest of the small hallway at the bottom of the stairs and pour a leveling slab. This weekend he’ll insulate and install the interior doors and then we’ll be ready for inspections and sheetrock. My mom has a feeling that zerbebe will come a week early and she tends to be right about these things so no dilly-dallying for us.
[Random side note – we were in the basement tonight hashing out a few details when Kyle nonchalantly tossed a pry bar on the floor. The sound made zerbebe jump, which is the first time that’s happened. Better get used to that kiddo. =) ]
basement progress: adding a bathroom(!)
Earlier this week we showed you how replacing our old washing machine and dryer turned into this epic project and now we’re back with round two of “Zerbeys Gone Crazy”.
Here’s what happened: while planning for the new laundry area we decided that it might be a good idea to go ahead and rough-in the plumbing for that second bathroom that we thought we’d add someday. SOMEDAY.
Well, someday is today. Sort of. (Let’s just call it male nesting.)
Even though we’re not planning on having a finished basement bathroom for a while, roughing in the plumbing feels like 80% of the job, especially when you’re dealing with the challenges of a below-grade loo.
First, we had to remove the existing basement slab. In lieu of removing the entire slab, we could have jackhammered out trenches in which to run the new plumbing, but because the space is so small and we needed some extra ceiling height anyway, we decided to just go for it. So Kyle rented a concrete saw (like this one from last summer), snapped some chalk lines and got to it.
Our slab is unreinforced, but still about 3″-4″ thick so it was no easy task.
See the joy and excitement in his face? It seems like every time we work with concrete we get through the ordeal by saying, “well, at least this is the last time we have to do this!”. HA.
After cutting the concrete, Kyle returned the saw for a jackhammer and busted out and hauled away the rest of the slab.
The soil under the slab is extremely hard (good for our foundation, bad for Kyle’s back), so Kyle rented this spade bit attachment for the jackhammer to help loosen things up.
To get a 6′-8″ ceiling height (code minimum in Seattle), we had to remove about 8″-9″of dirt (plus several feet for our sewage ejector pump, but more on that in a bit).
Kyle found that the best method for removal was to shovel the loosened dirt into 5 gallon buckets and then transport them to the back of the truck via the future bedroom window (turns out egress windows aren’t just for humans…they also allow 5 gallon buckets to exit safely).
Because our sewer line is above the floor level of our basement, we needed a way to get drain water and, err…”waste” to flow upstream. After a bit of research we decided on a sewage ejector pump that would be located in the future closet adjacent to the bathroom. The pump is pretty hefty in size (like a regular size keg) and thus required a sizable hole to reside in.
Kyle LOVES digging! (Actually, the seriousness of this photo is counter balanced by the fact that Kyle is wearing Bailey’s “Furry 5k” bandana.)
But after countless hours of back-breaking labor, the digging was done! (I kid you not, a couple of weeks ago I had to talk Kyle down from tearing out the basement slab under the future bedroom too. Something about “you’ll be digging dirt and changing diapers…”.)
The next step was to build and install the formwork for the new footing. To tie the new concrete into the old, Kyle drilled holes into the cut face of the existing slab (you can see one in the top middle of the photo above) for rebar that would connect to the new footing.
Next, Kyle cut 12″ lengths of #3 rebar and used two pipes to bend the bars into 90 degree angles.
I do love a good simple machine.
And where you find rebar, you’ll usually find concrete. The pour was too small to warrant ordering pre-mixed concrete, so this was option #2. [If you were wondering just how many bags of Quikcrete you could fit in the back of a Volkswagen, it’s apparently 20.] It’s still 1200 lbs worth of concrete. Ridiculous.
The formwork for the footings mostly came from scrap that we had lying around, but Kyle also used some plywood to scab a couple of smaller boards together.
When you grow up in a state with a distinguishable shape, you see it in all forms for the rest of your life.
Yes, our house is fully detailed in AutoCad and we use it as a construction tool to check dimensions and measurements as we work. I guess it’s one of the perks of being both the architect and the builder.
Here is an above shot showing the formwork in place and rebar set for the new footing. The right angle pieces that you saw earlier are now epoxy-doweled into the existing slab and then tied to long horizontal bars that wrap along the perimeter.
Here’s a quick shot of the sewage ejector pump in its new home. The manufacturer recommends using pea gravel to set it (instead of concrete) just in case it ever has to be removed.
Felix’s litter box keeps getting displaced depending on where we’re working and once we saw that Bailey had discovered its new floor location (so disgusting) we had to relocate again.
This is the remodel life Kitty, get used to it!
…and then we realized that just two feet away we had constructed what looked like a giant litter box. Oh, you can tell he’s thinking about it. Fortunately he didn’t follow through.
In the photo above you can see the stub outs for the supply, waste and vent lines poking out to the right of the dryer. After the footing and slab are poured, we’ll build-out the furring walls and install the rest of the plumbing rough-in.
We need to get an updated floor plan on here, but the basic idea is (from left to right in the above photo): tub, toilet, sink. Kyle used pea gravel (from our backyard stash) to help set the slope of the ABS pipes against the weight of the concrete.
The next steps are as follows:
1. pour footing
2. strip formwork, prep for slab pour
3. pour slab
4. frame out furring walls
5. install rest of plumbing rough-in
6. get final plumbing inspection and close-out that permit!
7. move on to the original basement priority (the guest/media room) and hope we can finish before the baby comes(!)
I’m crossing my fingers for co-gender nesting super powers.
basement progress: laundry + scope creep
[A quick note to say thank you all for your support and votes in the Small Cool contest. Even though we didn’t win the big prize, we’re glad Daniel did and can’t wait to see what kind of awesomeness he creates with all that moolah.]
Ok, the basement. It’s been a while since we’ve given you an update but that’s not to say there hasn’t been some major progress. Get comfy, because we’re about to dive in.
Back in early April we talked about getting a new washer and dryer to help with Kyle’s allergies and the upcoming onslaught of baby laundry…
…and while I was out of town the following weekend, Kyle did just that.
But as that post alluded to, buying the washer and dryer was the easy part – actually installing them involved new plumbing, electrical, framing and for good measure – concrete. (Because what’s a project without a little concrete pour?) To jog your memory, we last left off with the installation of that steel channel (that you see in the photo above) and the removal of a pesky interior column that was getting in the way of a more efficient use of the space.
Column gone, concrete curb still there. How was that for a blog post cliffhanger?
Nothing a little jackhammering couldn’t take care of though. (We later filled the hole with fresh concrete.)
Next, to create a level surface for our fancy new appliances to sit on, Kyle poured a concrete plinth (using welded wire mesh for reinforcement). The washer and dryer come with adjustable legs, but we had too much wonkiness in the existing slab.
Oh Bailey…we know. It’s your “what the hell guys?” look again, but just trust us on this.
For the formwork, Kyle used some scrap pressure-treated lumber that we had on hand. We also had an old floor drain (covered by the concrete above) that we decided to plug. The drain was more of a nuisance than anything, especially since our sewer line tees into our neighbor’s before connecting to the main line in the street. A few years ago, when a bunch of college-aged guys were renting the house, they had a back-up in their basement bathroom which resulted in a back-up into our basement. Not cool. Actually, it was pretty disgusting.
To deal with the indentation of the slab where the drain was, Kyle used a strip of flexible black sticky flashing to keep concrete from seeping out between the old slab and formwork. A quick float, a little canine supervision, and it was done.
With the slab in place and cured, it was time to frame up some walls and start on the plumbing. We eventually want to semi-finish the laundry space, so it only made sense to run all the new plumbing through a framed furring wall instead of the willy-nilliness that existed before. Because of our shared sewer line, Kyle also installed a backflow preventer in the main line (it’s the thing under the neon green level). Basically, it’s a one-way valve that lets our drain water flow out but keeps our neighbors’ (or anyone else’s) from flowing in.
Before all this magic could happen though, there was a lot of researching, diagramming and code checking. And I have to give full credit (and a huge THANK YOU) to Kyle for being both the brains and the brawn behind this operation. We generally take a tag team approach to remodeling, but with the baby timer ticking we’ve delegated out entire projects between the two of us and are on a go-go-go schedule till d-day.
That being said, taking on plumbing as a DIYer is no easy feat. Not only do you have pipes that supply hot and cold water, but you also need pipes to vent out of the house and pipes to take the waste water away. Of course, you also need power and a way to vent warm, moist air from the dryer. Oh, and all these things must coexist within a relatively small space. A washer and dryer are one thing, but since we were already subjecting ourselves to this level of complication and head-scratching, we decided to also plumb for a utility sink…
…and a future bathroom(!) (Hello scope creep!) It was quite an effort to coordinate everything, but we’re glad we did. It might not seem like it now, but planning ahead will save us time, money and sanity.
To support the new countertop, Kyle installed some steel angles along the back wall and then welded up this steel bracket support for the end. (We needed to be able to pull the washer and dryer out periodically, so the countertop couldn’t sit directly on top.)
As usual, Bailey was on hand to provide support and supervision.
The small portion of basement next to the exterior door is quickly becoming our mechanical/electrical room. Kyle installed the supply lines and drain hose for the washer in this zone so that they could be easily accessed after the laundry room walls get covered up. Hot and cold water (the red and blue pex lines) tie into water hammer arresters, which are common to laundry areas and act as shock absorbers as water flow starts or stops abruptly within a cleaning cycle. Flex lines then run from the arresters to the washing machine and the gray hose is a flexible drain line that runs from the washer back to the black drain pipe which connects to the main sewer line.
In a nutshell, clean water in, dirty water out.
(He also relocated the thermostat for the tankless hot water heater. It’s the small box between the drain hose and Apple Time Machine.)
For the utility sink, we bought a basic 36″ IKEA cabinet box. The stainless steel sink was actually purchased a few years ago as a maybe kitchen sink (we ended up finding another one on Craigslist that was a little bit better quality), so we were glad to finally find a home for sink #2. In lieu of the flimsy cabinet back that comes with the unit, Kyle used a piece of plywood with a generous cut-out to allow room for the sink p-trap and access to the plumbing beyond if we ever need it.
With everything finally in place and all systems a-go, Kyle installed the cabinet doors (we used the affordable Applad line from IKEA). As you can see, the washer and dryer are quite a bit taller than a standard counter height of 36″, so Kyle built a wood plinth that the sink cabinet sits on top of. To give everything a more seamless look, we purchased an extra drawer front, trimmed it down a bit, then glued it to the front face of the wood plinth.
The countertop is a 3-0 x 7-6 birch door that was cut to fit and then coated with a few layers of polyurethane. A space to fold clothes that’s not our bed? Winning!
The faucet and soap pump are Kohler (the model is Simplice). It’s a great faucet that’s well-made, affordable and has a pull-out spray for hand-washing clothes or ornery cats. We considered it for our main kitchen sink but I could never come to terms with the slightly flared handle. For the basement, it didn’t seem to bother me as much. As mentioned earlier, we bought the sink a few years ago off Craigslist. It came from a generic supply store south of Seattle and actually has no brand or product name on it. The whole thing seemed a little sketchy, but we bought it anyway. Because we had plenty of depth but were crunched on width, we decided to install it perpendicular to how you normally would. We’re crazy like that.
So here’s our “finished” laundry space, for the time-being at least. Of course it all took longer than expected (which was especially challenging for me and my limited wardrobe options), but after a week or so we finally ran the first load. Bailey and Felix both made an appearance for the inaugural run, mesmerized by the swishing and whirling behind the clear plastic portal. I was just happy that I would not have to resort to wearing sweat pants to work.
But we’re not done. OH NO. I couldn’t cram everything that Kyle’s been secretly working on into one post, so we’ll be back later this week to talk about our current endeavor. Hint: it involves busting up concrete and digging dirt – inside our house.
Oh yes we are!
