askjake

Arch door

Hello Jake. I have bought my first home and in the bedroom is a drywall bullnose arch to the bathroom - no door.  I don't really like this.  I have tried to find an inexpensive interior arch top door, but to no avail. 

Ideally, I was thinking arch top white pane glass for light, but it seems now I have to find another route. The arch matches the other doorways, so I did not want to reframe it.  

Any suggestions?

- Kate

Kate,

Whatever you do, it most likely will have to be custom made, based upon a template you make of your arch.  I would assume that the sides of the arch, the point where the vertical sides go from vertical to the start of the arch, are lower than a standard door height, 6’8”.  So if you infill the arch with glass or drywall, the door most likely will have to be cut down. 

You could take a solid core door, hold it up to the arched opening and draw a line on the door.  Deduct ¼” for clearance then install the door.  That would be the easiest method. 

The other idea would be to have a millwork shop make a custom door. That would be more expensive.

Your idea of installing a piece of glass makes sense to me, too bad you can’t make this work.

Good luck.

Jake

Behind the soffit

We are planning to remodel our bathroom and kitchen. We want to remove the soffits in both rooms. What is under the drywall and how difficult is it for us to do.

- Terri

Terri,

Removing the soffits is not too difficult. Behind the soffits, we have found plumbing pipes, heat ducts and wires.  Not always, but sometimes.  Some of these can be pretty challenging to relocate.  If you have reason to believe that you could find some of these things, you could cut a hole in the face of the soffit, large enough to stick your head in with a flashlight and take a good look.  If you find any pipes, wires or ducts, call a professional to have them relocated. 

Space between bed and bath

Our bathroom has bedrooms on both sides all the plumbing was on the right wall ,sink toilet and bathtub, we flipped bathtub fixtures to left wall, My question is the wall that it is now on is only 2x4 deep between bathroom and bedroom was there a minimum space that must be in between that wall.

- Deborah

Deborah,

There is no minimum that I am familiar with, a 2 x 4 is fine, and actually quite common.  We typically install insulation in the wall to help cut down on the transfer of noise between the two rooms.  Other than that, you should be fine. 

Flooring for pedestal sink

My husband and I would like to do a small project in our guest bathroom. We would like to remove the vanity and put in a pedastal sink. The issue is that there is no floor tile under the vanity, just around it. So we have no matching tile for the pedastal sink. Any ideas for flooring that would look good? Thank you. 

- Anne 

Anne,

You have several options for a bathroom floor.  The most common bath floor is tile.  It’s durable, versatile, works well in moist conditions and comes in a variety of colors, textures and sizes.  Tile comes as ceramic, porcelain, and natural.  The natural tile can be granite, marble, slate, limestone, just to mention a few.  Other floor options are vinyl tile, wood or a laminate floor like Pergo.   My choice is tile.  Good luck on the remodel. 

Update a plastic shower base

Marion asks: 

Hi Jake, we have an ugly platsic shower base I want to update, without taking it out. What are our options? Can we cover it with Epoxy or concrete, maybe something else? 

Thank you very much, 

Marion

Jake's answer:

Marion,

Probably the best bet for your new shower floor would be to use an epoxy paint.  Most paint stores will sell a residential packaged epoxy.  It will come in two parts.  One of the parts is the hardener.  Mix up that of which you will use immediately for it will set up with-in 24 hours.  Epoxy can be rather odorous so be prepared to ventilate the area that you will be working in. 

Preparation is important to minimize the chances of the new floor failing.  Thoroughly clean the floor, use a medium grit sand paper to prepare a bond then wash it down with a TSP cleaner.  You should also consider putting a light grit sand mixture in the epoxy to add some slip resistance to your new floor. 

Level a floor for tile

Jake asks:

I'm remodeling my bathroom and had to replace 2/3 of old plywood sub-floor. The floor is still not level. My wife wants ceramic tile. I bought the tile and cement board. Do I need to use self leveling cement to make it right before starting?

Jake's answer: 

Jake,

There are two ways to level your floor.

One way is to shim the plywood as you are installing it.  You can add shims to the existing sub floor or add shims on top of the joists if they are exposed.

The other way is to use self leveling products that can be mixed and poured.  This product can be more expensive but works very nicely. You can check out a product that can self level at Quikrete.com. I hope your wife is happy with the finished product. 

Closing the gap

Question from Chris: 

I am installing a two-piece shower/tub unit. Once the surrounding wall piece was put in, it left a 1/4" to 1/2" gap between tub and wall piece. What suggestions do you have to eliminate this gap?

Jake's Answer: 

Chris,

Two ideas come to mind.  

The first is to look into a mud set type bull nose trim piece.  This trim piece has a lip to accommodate the thicker mud set type installation.  It will leave you with an offset that will need to be filled in, maybe with a matching colored grout.  One has to be pretty adept at tile setting to pull this off.  I feel this will be the best remedy since it will hold up to the extreme humidity that will be present.

 

The second possible solution is to use a wood trim piece.  It will take two pieces.  The first piece will be placed so it is flush with the offset.  The second piece is placed over the first and bridges the first piece and the shower walls lip.  Caulk and paint the trim prior to using the shower.  This method will require more maintenance over the years due to the presence of moisture.   

Matching whites

Question from Deb: 

We are remodeling our bathroom and plan to purchase a Barclay pedestal sink and a Toto toilet. My question is, does the Barclay "White" more closely match Toto "Cotton" or Toto "Colonial White"?

Jake's Answer: 

Deb,

Sorry, I can not answer this question.  To me, whites have to be right next to each other to determine their match.  Why don’t you google Barclay and Toto and ask for sample chips of their whites?  I think they would be happy to send the samples to you. 

Installing granite over ceramic tile

Question from Mike: 

Jake - Can granite be installed over ceramic tile? My wife and I are updating a bathroom and the bathtub is in an enclosure that is covered with ceramic tile. At the backwall of the tub there is less than 2" of clearence from the outside wall which includes a picture window. Removing the tub and tile is one option, but if the tile can be covered with granite tile it would be much simpler and significantly less expensive. So is it possible to do and have a quality final product? 

Jake's Answer:

Mike, 

Yes, you can install granite tile over ceramic tile. You could “ruff” up the existing tile and install the granite with a mortar based adhesive. Another method would be to use a backer board, approximately ¼” thick, over the ceramic tile and then install the granite over this board. Depending on how level your existing ceramic tile is, you might want to install a backer board. You can find out information about these backer boards at usg.com or jameshardie.com.

Installing a medicine cabinet

Question from Jake: How can I install a 30 inch recessed medicine cabinet when the studs are 16 inch on center apart? 

Jake's answer: Cut the stud(s) out of the way. But before you do this, determine if this is a load bearing wall. If it is, then you will need to install a header (beam) over the medicine cabinet. A pair of 2 x 6’s should work just fine for a 30” width, since you most likely will only be removing one stud. If the wall is not a load bearing wall, you can cut the stud out, install 2” x 4”s around the perimeter of the hole then install your new cabinet. You also may encounter a vent pipe in the wall cavity. This is the pipe used to vent the lavatory. If this pipe is present, you will have to reroute it around the recessed area.