Bargain House Progress: Large Bathroom

The large (originally the ONLY) bathroom in Bargain House is truly finished. Has been for a while. The Pony was just dusting it off. A little scrubbing and toilet cleaning, mainly.

Hick has even decorated THIS room with art, heh, heh. I stand by my approval of the flooring choice, and only regret that structural issues under the house prevented the vent from being in a less prominent location. Hick was not going to move a support beam to relocate a vent.

That's a brand-new tub and shower enclosure. No reason for a buyer to feel squeamish about using a used tub. The toilet and sink are also new. This bathroom got ripped down to the studs, and was completely re-done. Of course, everything in the small bathroom is also new, since no bathroom existed there before Hick framed it out of part of the front bedroom.

The fancy lights add a nice touch. I'm hoping in reality that they make the bathroom lighter than The Pony's picture! That's just a mirror, but there's a medicine cabinet on the wall to the left, out of the picture.

The good news is that there's no clutter piled in this room!

Bargain House Progress: Small Bathroom

Over the next few days, I'll be showing you parts of Bargain House. I don't want to load all the pictures at once. HIPPIE has been overheating and shutting down several times a day. Also, I'm lazy, and lose interest after a couple of photos.

On Monday, Hick picked up The Pony, who was going to do some cleaning while Hick was without Old Buddy, and putting up trim board.

We'll start with the small bathroom that's off the living room, and also opens into the front bedroom.

Looks like Hick has been doing some interior decorating! I don't think I'd be wanting to use that towel to dry my hands. Especially after Hick's instructions to The Pony.

"I told Pony, 'You have to clean the toilet, too.' And Pony said, 'There isn't a toilet brush.' 

I said, 'Just use a rag and get down in there and scrub it.'"

"EWW! I wouldn't do that! Not without gloves!"

"Why not? I do it. It's just water."

"Not after you've been using it all this time while you're working there! And Old Buddy, too! I don't blame Pony a bit. That's nasty to do with bare hands."

"Well, we found the toilet brush in the big bathroom. So it got cleaned anyway." (Which was obviously after the picture was taken!)

The shower looks nice and sparkly. Though The Pony didn't take credit, saying it was already pretty clean, and will just need some Windex on the outer side, once Hick is completely done with raising dust while sawing and hammering. Hick finally put on the shower door, which he had to special order from Lowe's. The door there leads into the front bedroom.

This is the only room from the pictures The Pony sent me which actually looks ready for Bargain House to be listed for sale. Hick has been a bit misleading (shocker) about the degree of "done-ness" of Bargain House. 

Which you will see as I show the other rooms...

Making a Bathroom While the Floor Dries

Hick used his time at Bargain House wisely. While waiting for the floor in the front bedroom to dry, he and Old Buddy completed the main bathroom.

The shower and fixtures are done.

Here is the door, and the flooring, both untrimmed in this photo. There's the new medicine cabinet.

The new vanity is in place, with the lighting fixtures. The new toilet here was waiting for a wax ring, which Hick just happened to have a spare at home.

Here's the completed main bathroom, except for a cover on the heating/cooling vent in the floor. Hick says they come in a grayish color, but he might paint it brown, to match the trim. I think leaving it gray would be fine, since it would match the flooring. Which Hick says is like the laminate wood flooring, just with different-shaped pieces. It snaps together. Hick said that to move the heating/cooling vent, he would have needed to cut through a floor joist and change the ductwork. This is where the vent was originally, so he left it there.

Anyhoo... considering that the bathroom used to look like THIS:

 

I think Hick and Old Buddy did a really good job with this room!

A Productive Day 2 for the Bargain House Bathroom

Hick continued work on the Bargain House bathroom on Wednesday. The picture he sent said, "Half drywall up."

That's the special blue board used for bathrooms or damp areas. Looks like Hick has the drain and water ready to connect when he puts the new toilet in place. The sink will be where the fan is sitting, with a mirror over it. Hick can't put the new medicine cabinet above the sink, due to the low ceiling. The doors won't open when he installs the new light he got for FREE with the lumber and two doors he got from that storage unit crony. The medicine cabinet will go in that hole in the wall.

Here's an old picture again:

Hick also put the bathroom door on later in the afternoon. He and Old Buddy work three hours a day, and Hick does more sometimes before coming home, if it's a one-man job. 

Anyhoo... he was home by 2:00, so I'd say he's made a lot of progress this week so far, considering the man-hours that went into it.

Hick, the Bargaincutioner

Hick went to Lowe's on Monday to pick up everything he needs for the main bathroom of Bargain House. You might recall that it needed to be gutted and re-done. Even though people had been living in it, and Hick's buddy had said he would just clean it up, paint, and rent it, or list it for resale. 

Here's what the bathroom looked like when we bought it:

I would feel dirtier instead of cleaner, after a bath in that tub!

Anyhoo... Hick sent me a picture at 9:32 Tuesday morning, saying "Tub installed."

Only Hick would call that "installed." I would say it has been set in place. Then again, I'm not an unlicensed contractor, nor a bargain-finder.

Hick had gone to Lowe's on Sunday, with a list of what he wanted. He talked to a girl at the counter about his special Lowe's Pro credit card that he had gotten a while back. The one I didn't like, because it came as a separate bill, without any send-back stub, and was quite confusing. So Hick had stopped using that, in favor of the regular Lowe's card as he needed to pick things up.

"The guy who was helping me said I ought to go talk to the service desk, because I could get my discount on an order this much. So I did, and I can. It's a BIG discount. So from now on, I'll get my order ready so it's big enough for the discount."

"It's not going to be that weird bill, is it? It never shows where to send it, or what's been paid on the other card. Maybe you should just use the debit, or I'll give you a check."

"No, I have to use the other card to get the discount. But a few days later, I can go down and pay it in person with a check or debit, like I did the last time I went to get it straightened out. I'm down there all the time. It ain't no problem."

When it comes to that discount, Hick wasn't a-woofin', as my grandpa would say. He had 118 items! Tub, toilet, vanity, sink, medicine cabinet, plumbing supplies, fixtures. Everything! The bill was $2933.14. But because Hick got that discount for using his Lowe's Pro credit card, it only cost us $2317.23. That's a savings of $615.91.

Hick has a nose for bargains. I have a brain for keeping records of expenditures.

Bargain House Bathroom 2 Nears Completion

The second bathroom that Hick is adding to Bargain House is almost finished. Hick sent me a picture on Wednesday. He says "Done but painting trim." You have to be a little psychic when reading communications from Hick! Is it done? If so, why would he be painting trim? That would point to the bathroom NOT being done. I think Hick means it is done, EXCEPT FOR painting the trim.

This bathroom is turning out better than I expected. It looks to me like it might still need a little bit more than painting the trim. Like it still needs trim along the floor. And a face plate for the electrical outlet over the sink. And the handle on the shower faucet. And a shower head. And a door for the shower. And a good cleanup. Oh, and the water isn't hooked up to this bathroom yet.

But yeah, I suppose compared to when this area used to be a closet off the bedroom... 

THIS BATHROOM IS DONE!

Almost, anyway.

Yes, You Know the Bargain Man

Hick bemoaned a bargain that got away this week. He's been working on Bargain House again. He got the shower set in place in the bathroom he's adding.

Now it needs a door and the faucet put on. I don't think Hick has the door yet, but I'm pretty sure he has the faucet.

"I could have had a 5-foot shower for only $500! The guy I know who works at Lowe's told me about it. Lowe's donates stuff to the VA Store so they can make money from it. I almost went and got it, for the main bathroom. It would fit just right. Then I got to thinking, did I really want a house with two showers and no bathtub. It's a nice shower, like the one we have."

"Still, there would be no bathtub. If the person who wants to buy the house has little kids, that would be a dealbreaker. When you want a tub, you don't spend all your money on a house that you'll have to remodel to put in a bathtub. So I think you were right not to get the shower."

"Yeah. I hate it, though. That shower would be $1200 full price. But we don't have a house to put it in right now. So I couldn't see buying it."

I'm sure other bargains will come Hick's way. He's a bargain magnet.

Bargain House Bathroom 2: Mini Progress

Hick has the basic fixtures for Bargain House's second bathroom. He set them in place, just to show the layout. He had originally told me the shower and vanity would be in opposite places. Not that I care where they go. I just don't want him to make a liar out of me!

It wasn't my misunderstanding, or Hick's roundabout way of explaining. The shower WAS supposed to go in that other corner, but when Hick was working on the plumbing in the cellar, he discovered that it couldn't fit. The pipe for the shower drain would have been over a floor joist. With the sink, it's not an issue. The drain for the sink is 2 inches in diameter, while the shower drain is 4 inches.

That's a new toilet. They cost about $100. It's nothing fancy. Apparently Hick had his light source sitting on the floor, judging by the shadows cast on the toilet rim and behind the vanity. He has not wired the bathroom for electricity yet. No problem with the toilet drain pipe being on a floor joist, since it juts 12 inches forward, according to Hick.

It's a small bathroom, but still, it's a bathroom! A second one that will surely be a welcome addition to the people who end up living in this house.

Bargain House Begins: Bathroom

Bargain House, our newest flip property, has one bathroom. Hick has started his renovations there. All fixtures need to be replaced. He said it's not really that big of a job. One of his flip buddies looked at Bargain House, and said he would just clean it up, do some painting, and rent that house pretty much as it is, since everything works. That's not Hick's plan!

You never know what you're getting into until you rip it down to the wall studs! That's what Hick and Old Buddy have been doing this week. Hick will be putting in new pipes. Not because he's reconfiguring the plumbing, but because, as he says, "The old stuff is junk!" He will use PEX pipe, which is plastic and can expand and contract without breaking. He can access the pipes from the cellar, so it's not a difficult procedure.

There will be a new toilet. Hick said he's leaving this one for now, so he has a place to take his potty breaks! I asked Hick if he was leaving the bathtub, and he said no, he was putting in a new one.

"Like a one-piece kind?"

"No. It comes in four pieces. The tub, and three wall sides to surround it. Like I put in the Beauty Shop."

Okay, so it's not one of those molded one-piece things I was imagining.

Looks like there's no damage or mold in the walls. Hick will use USB board, I think. Whatever that waterproof stuff like plywood is, that's meant for moist areas like bathrooms. I saw it on the Lowe's bill. So he's gathering his materials.

Hick found a 24-inch door to replace the old one. He got if for $15 at the VFW store. Hick say's it's pre-hung, which I think means it has the framing with it. Hick certainly has a nose for bargains.

This was only from a couple days' work. Now Hick's off to sell his wares at his SUS2.5 (Storage Unit Store 2.5) for the weekend. Then I suppose the remodel will resume.