Hello Folks! I'm back again to tell you about another project
that is being done simultaneously with the Shop Project in the barn. I'm also building a Master Bedroom Suite in the house
that my wife wants to add downstairs. We have this large room that was used by the previous owner as a game room. It has heavy
wood paneled walls and is 18'X36'. We've talked about this and decided that it would be better (in the event one of us get
decrepit and can't get up the stairs) to have a mater bedroom downstairs. Well, if you know me, if I'm going to do something
I try to do it right AND also consider the resell value AND what we will need. So, the first thing to do was to design the
room plans with a Master Bath and fix it in the room while leaving enough room for a good bedroom and a very large walk-in
closet. You married gents out there will know that a woman NEVER has enough closet space. So, I decided to hire this guy we
met at Lowe's who seemed to be knowledgeable and available to help me out on it since I'm a little rusty on a few of the issues
such as plumbing and electrical and shower and tub enclosures. Well, that was my first mistake. He was good in helping me
take down and move the old wall paneling; AFTER I showed me how to use a crowbar. That should have been a hint of things to
come but he was eager to learn and had a strong back. The biggest thing was this kid TALKED all the time and really got on
my nerves. Gee, he had diarrhea of the mouth bad. Anyway, we got it down and took it out to the barn. I'll use the old paneling
to cover the walls of my new shop I'm building (see the other pages). Here are some pictures.
After we got all of the paneling down and carted
off we pulled the carpet and pad up and took it outside for someone to have for free. There is another thing about this kid;
he was never one time. This boy was always an hour or so late for one reason or another so I was pleasantly surprised when
I got a knock on the door and this guy politely asked if I was giving the carpet away. I told him that I was and he asked
if I was doing a little renovating and I explained what I was doing and he asked if I needed a little help. He explained that
he had some experience. I took his card and phone number and said I'd let him know but that I had someone at the time.
I continued to let the first guy help me because he said he'd built
a lot of jetted tub surrounds and we'd bought a nice 60 inch corner one that my wife wanted to put a 6 inch surround of tile
around. We, we got it built and he built it where it fit up inside of the edge of the tub. You had to be really careful in
fitting the tub or you'd pinch you fingers. I later found out that it was completely wrong after I read through the instructions
and decided to call the company and talk to their technical support people. I'm currently in the process of refitting this
surround to properly fit the tub. As an aside, the second guy I hired built onto what the first guy had started and I'm redoing
his work too. It is really hard to get good workers. Both of these guys seemed to think that you didn't need to have your
Sheetrock or backer-board supported at all joints. BUT, you do! Everyplace there is a joint there should be a support for
it because the joint edge is the weakest part and it prone to movement.
