The Back Door to Adore
The kitchen was a long and tedious project. We removed a wall, took out part of the fur down, changed the position of some appliances, created a breakfast bar and pantry, and closed up a doorway. It was kind of a big deal. I have decided to leave that post for last.
So today's post is about the back hall. There were cabinets hung on either side of the back door (up high), with built in cabinets with long doors below. The lower portion was cheaply crafted out of plywood (by hand). You could see that they were plywood on the rough painted edges, there was no finish work, and they didn't open very well (the doors drug across the floor).
Side note: you can see the hole in the garage roof through the back door in the center image. Also, the image furthest to the right is looking into the back hall from the den (the louvered door goes to the second bath, the light is coming though the back door, and the area with dark wood cabinets is where the washer used to sit.
In a previous post, I mentioned that our family friend (I call him Paul Bunyan) did the demo on this step. He thought it would be a simple task with his saw that cuts concrete. Unfortunately, it was more of a giant sledgehammer and a lot of sweat kind of job. I was super thankful to have his help, because I definitely couldn't have done this myself.
This allowed for the floor to be all one level. Although it looks like there's still a step in the lower right photo, we closed up that portion of the wall that leads to the breakfast room. A stackable washer/dryer all-in-one unit, or stackable front-load machines would fit here easily. Since the dryer used to sit in the breakfast area, I also had an electrician move the plug to this area.
I removed the lower built in cabinets that were to the left of the back door. My mom and step-dad assisted with building a bench with cubbies and putting up bead board in this corner. We trimmed out the bottom of the upper cabinets, and sanded, primed, and painted them. This area of the house was the second thing I worked on coming back from almost dying (three months prior). So the work was very slow and tedious as I technically was still taking meds for sepsis and my energy and stamina levels were kind of... well... kaput.
You can also see part of the new back doors I had installed in the far right photo (by the company that refinished the hard wood floors). My mom and step-dad said "NEVER AGAIN" after hanging the new front entry and screen doors. The back doors match the front.
We used the 2x4 studs that were already ram set into the floor as a base. We cut up 1x12 boards to build the rest. This was a pretty easily constructed project where we used the compound miter saw, nail gun, wood screws and very careful measurements to build a box with partitions.
It was at this point that my mom suggested to me that we should remove the cabinets on the other side of the back door instead of reworking them. There was already plenty of storage with some of the other additions I had made, and it would open up the room to maybe add a little entry way table in there. It didn't seem like a bad idea considering the terrible craftsmanship on them (you can see that awful edge and the gaps in the picture below).
BUT, there was something I didn't know until AFTER we took them all out. The wall behind them was bowed out into the hallway. On the other side of the wall behind these cabinets is the tiny second bathroom with the shower that looked like a closet. Whomever built this addition, didn't set one of the studs correctly in this wall, which made the sheetrock bow out. It was hidden by the shoddy cabinets.
It was completely obvious even with the broken mosaic tile floor that was in there that this wall bowed out into the room. I knew when I put in my 7x20 rectangular tile, it would look even worse. I decided that if I was going to have to rip out the wall to reset the stud and redo the sheetrock anyhow, I might as well make good use of that area as additional space in the bathroom, rather than just walling it back up and having space in the hallway.
What we actually did with the space will be included in the post about the second bath. But we framed out the wall 12 inches into the room. Instead of hanging sheetrock (and starting the never ending cycle of mudding and sanding), I opted to enclose it in matching bead board (like on the opposite wall with the bench). This wall, that my step-dad and I framed and built, was the only square corner in this whole house. One square corner with easily cut trim out of... well... a lot. There's another shot of the new exterior door.
Bead board is really easy to hang with the assistance from a nail gun and an air compressor. There are inside and outside corner pieces to cover all of the transitions, crown moulding at the top, and baseboard at the bottom. You only have to putty the holes from the nail gun, sand, caulk, prime and paint. The pictures above were taken before the outside corner trim was added.
The only trouble I had was finding crown moulding to match what they had originally installed in this room in the 1960s. It was two inch cove moulding and I was only short by about four feet (the part of the wall we bumped out). Instead of spending weeks going to lumber yards or looking online, I stole some from inside the closet in the den. No one will ever see that anyhow.
I opted to paint all of this room white (walls, cabinets and trim) and my sister provided the new light fixture. In the photo below, you can also see the decorative trim we put at the top of the cabinets on the left to finish them out. There used to be a gap (about 2 inches) between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling. My step-dad referred to this area as spider hell.
After we built the bench, framed the wall, added all the trim, and painted; it was time to cover up that lovely broken tile mosaic floor. I knew I wanted to use the same tile that I used in the main bath, but when I went to Floor & Decor, I had some trouble finding it. It was in the back corner, on clearance, and they only had a few boxes left. There was absolutely enough for my project, AND it was 75% off. Total score on that one.
Tiling over existing tile is a bit of a complicated process. Typically, there are two reasons for removing the old tile before putting down the new. First, if the old tile is not adhered and stable, the new tile won't be either. It will be a matter of time before the grout is crumbling and the tiles are popping out of place.
In a bathroom with smaller tiles, I would absolutely recommend removing the existing tile (and possibly the mortar bed - depending on the condition). However, this floor, was a broken tile mosaic that was mostly concrete (in between the tiles). It was a nightmare just to remove the three inch step where the washer was. This floor was absolutely not going anywhere and the stability of the floor was never a question.
The second reason (for not tiling over existing tile), it is not exactly easy to get thinset to stick to the slick surface of the existing tile. Fortunately, they make some products that make tiling over tile possible. In the square where we took out three inches of floor under the washer, I first laid some concrete to even everything out (it was pretty rough). I used Quikrete regular concrete mix.
After that cured, the first step to tiling over a regular tile floor is the primer. After you have thoroughly cleaned the floor (according to the directions on whatever primer product you buy), this goes on like paint. You can roll it on or paint it on with a brush. I just poured a little out at a time and spread it with a chip brush. Once it is dry, it almost has a textured sticky feel to it, so don't walk all over it or whatever debris happens to be on your shoes will be stuck in your primer.
After the primer, I used the same self-leveling underlay that I used in the main bathroom. This creates a smooth and level surface to apply your new tile. It filled in all of the rough area over the concrete where the washer was, as well as any little variances in height between the tiles and grout that was already there. And it self-levels (obviously), so you don't have to be a masonry expert to make it work.
This is what it looked like immediately after my husband and I poured the self-leveler. This photo only shows the hall part, but we continued this into the second bathroom, and also in the nook where the washer used to sit. It's only shiny because it's wet. And that is not a huge drain, it's a reflection of the light fixture.
The primer and underlay both have cure times (I don't recall what they are). But we did them on different days in the week leading up to tiling. I decided to lay the tiles perpendicular to the door because it accents the walls that are not square the least. In the picture on the right, you can see the cute wallpaper my sister chose for the laundry nook.
I opted to start in the corner where the washer goes. I knew this was going to be a tiling project that took more than one day, so I was planning for working out through the back door. In general, it shouldn't be more than a one day project. But I was still recovering and could only work on this stuff for maybe 4 hours at a time.
I started in the corner by the laundry because I wanted whole tiles right in front of the doorway leading from the breakfast area into this room. I worked to the row at the edge of the doorway to the bathroom (doorway in the top right of the picture on the right). I then worked my way into the bathroom, leaving out a tile so I could get back out of the room once the rest were down. You just have to keep all of this in mind... or stay in the bathroom until it cures. I grouted using the same charcoal colored grout I used in the main bathroom.
The last steps to finishing out this room included installing the quarter round (the little piece of trim next to the baseboard) and then repainting the baseboards. My sister also added these cactus decals to the bottom of the wall by the laundry.
This project took far longer than I ever anticipated. Mostly because of my own health issues. But I am happy with the before and after.
UPDATE: We now also have a brand new washer and dryer. I figured I would add the before and after on that area as well.
So today's post is about the back hall. There were cabinets hung on either side of the back door (up high), with built in cabinets with long doors below. The lower portion was cheaply crafted out of plywood (by hand). You could see that they were plywood on the rough painted edges, there was no finish work, and they didn't open very well (the doors drug across the floor).
Side note: you can see the hole in the garage roof through the back door in the center image. Also, the image furthest to the right is looking into the back hall from the den (the louvered door goes to the second bath, the light is coming though the back door, and the area with dark wood cabinets is where the washer used to sit.
The first thing we did for this project was remove the dark wood cabinets and the three inch step where the washer was. I knew we would need to have a stackable unit for this room, and having them sit three inches higher than the rest of the floor does not work for a shorty like me.
In a previous post, I mentioned that our family friend (I call him Paul Bunyan) did the demo on this step. He thought it would be a simple task with his saw that cuts concrete. Unfortunately, it was more of a giant sledgehammer and a lot of sweat kind of job. I was super thankful to have his help, because I definitely couldn't have done this myself.
This allowed for the floor to be all one level. Although it looks like there's still a step in the lower right photo, we closed up that portion of the wall that leads to the breakfast room. A stackable washer/dryer all-in-one unit, or stackable front-load machines would fit here easily. Since the dryer used to sit in the breakfast area, I also had an electrician move the plug to this area.
I removed the lower built in cabinets that were to the left of the back door. My mom and step-dad assisted with building a bench with cubbies and putting up bead board in this corner. We trimmed out the bottom of the upper cabinets, and sanded, primed, and painted them. This area of the house was the second thing I worked on coming back from almost dying (three months prior). So the work was very slow and tedious as I technically was still taking meds for sepsis and my energy and stamina levels were kind of... well... kaput.
We used the 2x4 studs that were already ram set into the floor as a base. We cut up 1x12 boards to build the rest. This was a pretty easily constructed project where we used the compound miter saw, nail gun, wood screws and very careful measurements to build a box with partitions.
It was at this point that my mom suggested to me that we should remove the cabinets on the other side of the back door instead of reworking them. There was already plenty of storage with some of the other additions I had made, and it would open up the room to maybe add a little entry way table in there. It didn't seem like a bad idea considering the terrible craftsmanship on them (you can see that awful edge and the gaps in the picture below).
BUT, there was something I didn't know until AFTER we took them all out. The wall behind them was bowed out into the hallway. On the other side of the wall behind these cabinets is the tiny second bathroom with the shower that looked like a closet. Whomever built this addition, didn't set one of the studs correctly in this wall, which made the sheetrock bow out. It was hidden by the shoddy cabinets.
It was completely obvious even with the broken mosaic tile floor that was in there that this wall bowed out into the room. I knew when I put in my 7x20 rectangular tile, it would look even worse. I decided that if I was going to have to rip out the wall to reset the stud and redo the sheetrock anyhow, I might as well make good use of that area as additional space in the bathroom, rather than just walling it back up and having space in the hallway.
What we actually did with the space will be included in the post about the second bath. But we framed out the wall 12 inches into the room. Instead of hanging sheetrock (and starting the never ending cycle of mudding and sanding), I opted to enclose it in matching bead board (like on the opposite wall with the bench). This wall, that my step-dad and I framed and built, was the only square corner in this whole house. One square corner with easily cut trim out of... well... a lot. There's another shot of the new exterior door.
Bead board is really easy to hang with the assistance from a nail gun and an air compressor. There are inside and outside corner pieces to cover all of the transitions, crown moulding at the top, and baseboard at the bottom. You only have to putty the holes from the nail gun, sand, caulk, prime and paint. The pictures above were taken before the outside corner trim was added.
The only trouble I had was finding crown moulding to match what they had originally installed in this room in the 1960s. It was two inch cove moulding and I was only short by about four feet (the part of the wall we bumped out). Instead of spending weeks going to lumber yards or looking online, I stole some from inside the closet in the den. No one will ever see that anyhow.
I opted to paint all of this room white (walls, cabinets and trim) and my sister provided the new light fixture. In the photo below, you can also see the decorative trim we put at the top of the cabinets on the left to finish them out. There used to be a gap (about 2 inches) between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling. My step-dad referred to this area as spider hell.
After we built the bench, framed the wall, added all the trim, and painted; it was time to cover up that lovely broken tile mosaic floor. I knew I wanted to use the same tile that I used in the main bath, but when I went to Floor & Decor, I had some trouble finding it. It was in the back corner, on clearance, and they only had a few boxes left. There was absolutely enough for my project, AND it was 75% off. Total score on that one.
Tiling over existing tile is a bit of a complicated process. Typically, there are two reasons for removing the old tile before putting down the new. First, if the old tile is not adhered and stable, the new tile won't be either. It will be a matter of time before the grout is crumbling and the tiles are popping out of place.
In a bathroom with smaller tiles, I would absolutely recommend removing the existing tile (and possibly the mortar bed - depending on the condition). However, this floor, was a broken tile mosaic that was mostly concrete (in between the tiles). It was a nightmare just to remove the three inch step where the washer was. This floor was absolutely not going anywhere and the stability of the floor was never a question.
The second reason (for not tiling over existing tile), it is not exactly easy to get thinset to stick to the slick surface of the existing tile. Fortunately, they make some products that make tiling over tile possible. In the square where we took out three inches of floor under the washer, I first laid some concrete to even everything out (it was pretty rough). I used Quikrete regular concrete mix.
After that cured, the first step to tiling over a regular tile floor is the primer. After you have thoroughly cleaned the floor (according to the directions on whatever primer product you buy), this goes on like paint. You can roll it on or paint it on with a brush. I just poured a little out at a time and spread it with a chip brush. Once it is dry, it almost has a textured sticky feel to it, so don't walk all over it or whatever debris happens to be on your shoes will be stuck in your primer.
After the primer, I used the same self-leveling underlay that I used in the main bathroom. This creates a smooth and level surface to apply your new tile. It filled in all of the rough area over the concrete where the washer was, as well as any little variances in height between the tiles and grout that was already there. And it self-levels (obviously), so you don't have to be a masonry expert to make it work.
This is what it looked like immediately after my husband and I poured the self-leveler. This photo only shows the hall part, but we continued this into the second bathroom, and also in the nook where the washer used to sit. It's only shiny because it's wet. And that is not a huge drain, it's a reflection of the light fixture.
The primer and underlay both have cure times (I don't recall what they are). But we did them on different days in the week leading up to tiling. I decided to lay the tiles perpendicular to the door because it accents the walls that are not square the least. In the picture on the right, you can see the cute wallpaper my sister chose for the laundry nook.
I opted to start in the corner where the washer goes. I knew this was going to be a tiling project that took more than one day, so I was planning for working out through the back door. In general, it shouldn't be more than a one day project. But I was still recovering and could only work on this stuff for maybe 4 hours at a time.
I started in the corner by the laundry because I wanted whole tiles right in front of the doorway leading from the breakfast area into this room. I worked to the row at the edge of the doorway to the bathroom (doorway in the top right of the picture on the right). I then worked my way into the bathroom, leaving out a tile so I could get back out of the room once the rest were down. You just have to keep all of this in mind... or stay in the bathroom until it cures. I grouted using the same charcoal colored grout I used in the main bathroom.
The last steps to finishing out this room included installing the quarter round (the little piece of trim next to the baseboard) and then repainting the baseboards. My sister also added these cactus decals to the bottom of the wall by the laundry.
This project took far longer than I ever anticipated. Mostly because of my own health issues. But I am happy with the before and after.
UPDATE: We now also have a brand new washer and dryer. I figured I would add the before and after on that area as well.
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