Variety Pack: The Master Bathroom.

 

Fact:  a DIY'er is perpetually DIY'ing.  As I suck at wrapping projects up too, the bits tend to linger.  Please tell me I'm not alone...   Regardless, here I was cornered into pulling together loose ends in the master bathroom involving the shower, floor, and toilet.

Last we left off in that master bathroom, I finally finished the shower.  Fi. Nal. Lee.  Oh wait, the last last we left off, I poured self-leveling concrete right over that icky tile floor.  

But the main task was the shower.  To see from the beginning, click here.  If you're impatient and only want the final result, ok fine, you can click here.

Veering back to where I mentioned come back in the future and hear what went awry with the drain, we're now at that future present.

If you remember, I used tile mortar to set the drain.  Guess what?  It didn't work.

Time undetermined later, weeks?, I'm in said shower doing ya know shower things when I step on the drain and it moved.  Yeah.  Whoa.  Bad.

After finishing shower things, I peek and discover the tile mortar was wet, not set, not solid...mushy.  Ew.  Bad.  Even though it had set originally.  Weird.

Soooo I pop over to Menards to find a drain fixing solution.  Thankfully I was clean so talking to someone wasn't awkward.  He said, "instant patching cement.*  Sets fast, will fix your problem."  

Let's patch this ahem right back up, people.

Lil' nervous about that word "instant" and re-querying the friendly guy, he said I'm good.

mmmm.......Mmk!

Back home I clean the drain of wet mushy yuck...

What a freakin' mess.

...dry the situation with a heat gun,* reread the patching cement label a few hundred times, get myself set up for triumph in case "instant" is, well, Instant, and mix a small batch.

Shaping the cement in there, shifting the cover in and out to help, I had more time than I was freaking about, then it was done.  Whew.  

Top, if you're doing a drain, plug it up so cement doesn't fall in and cause other problems.  Bottom, tada!

Ok, but Becky, how did you set the drain cover back in securely?  Glue.

Wait the prescribed time for the cement to dry and set.  While at the ol' second home, I grabbed a tube of rawr Gorilla Heavy Duty Construction Adhesive* that touted its waterproof, seriously monster grip self.

Spurt spurt, smoosh the cover in and?  It's been two years since I've re-set that drain and it has not moved. Huh.  Product that does what it says!  Nice!  

It didn't take much either.

Done and done.  

Heh, before and after.  Well this is before but it looks exactly the same after plus additional caulk.

The toilet.  Ew, I know.  But, these tips are worth the ew.

It totally refused to go back together on that pouring-the-aforementioned-self-leveling-concrete day, just outright threw a fit.  Like, what the hell.  The concrete was only about an eighth inch thick.  Get over it, toilet.

So I turned it into the Cadillac of Toilets.  Changed nearly everything out except the porcelain itself.  Teach that thing a lesson.  Mess with me, mmrpphh mrph, mrrph.

First, to get the damn thing attached to the flange...    and I'm relaying this so casually.  At the time I was swiiiifftly running out of time before Mike came home.  Pan. Icked. as I was determined to have the floor poured, finished, in, as a total surprise, tada look what I did with my day, babe.

But first I had to run to Menards about four times, no joke, as no wax ring was working, not even the extra tall nor adding an extra ring to the double size....I seriously don't know what went awry with this dumb thing.  Like it totally stopped toileting.

❮ ❯

Ended up with this uber super duper fancy adjustable wonder, that while a bit of a bitch to wrestle with, I won.  

What's so uber super duper about this contraption, the Perfect Seal?*  No wax.  No mess.  It's one hundred percent adjustable and works with any situation.  Repositionable.  You rest easy knowing it's leak-free mad snug.  It's just infinitely easier.  Attach, plop on toilet, done.  Ew, toilet pun.  

Point being, if you're gonna be popping a toilet up any time soon, consider this gizmo upon reinstallation.  It is, I'll give you, pricier than a wax ring but, this will last forever and you won't need a new one any time you pull the toilet up, unlike a wax ring.  Product endorsement number two, wow!

The tank wasn't sitting snugly, properly, jeez wtf, I dunno why, this was so bizarre, so I ran out for some thing, some tank gasket* and that solved that problem.

Lastly, at this point because why the heck not, I tossed in a new quieter tank filler.*  

Those are positively straightforward to install and the instructions are simple to follow so please don't ever be intimidated by that home repair.  You can do this without a plumber, I swear.  Really. 

And Korky, best customer service too.  This one crapped out unusually (omg, another toilet pun) and they shipped me a replacement free of charge.  Product endorsement three!

It's as artless as taking out the old one (uh, turn the water off first and empty the tank), unscrewing it from the bottom outside the tank (that white plastic part in slide three above), and screwing in a new one.  Yeah.  Really.

There are a few settings to wiggle with but it truly is that effortless.

Mike came home exactly as I wrapped up, me wiping frizzy hair off my tense brow, him oblivious to the expletive-filled chaos that occurred while away at work.

Lastly, the floor.  And I cannot find my dangnabit photos.

If you recall, I had used car wax to seal it and was incredibly remorseful.  A wee bit of internet sleuthing to remove car wax:  mineral spirits.*  So it was.

It was stinky but I ran a fan and the bath exhaust and voila, car wax gone.

Poured the spirits on the floor in puddles at a time, lightly scrub brushed, and with a roll of shop towels,* wiped it up.  That's it.  Whewie.  Solely it gone resulted in a butt wiggle dance.

In the end, I sealed the floor back up with tung oil* and buffed it with a cheap a** power buffer,* same buffer as the laundry room waterfall counter.  Is tung oil the best solution?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  But, it is working for me currently.

How do I clean it?  Spray some hardwood floor cleaner* on and towel by hand, gentle natural disinfectant* in critical spots.

A German Shedder-free spot!  Yep, more small cracks are forming but honestly, doesn't bother me a bit.

So yeah!  I wrapped some stuff up!  I was sizeably proud of myself just for that alone!  Ha, it's the little victories, amiright?!

Oh, yes, this is a kind of Variety Pack post after all, you're right, so here's a very delicious recipe:  Sticky Maple Barbecue Chicken.  And ooh, bonus recipe, this is our go-to homemade BBQ rub.  If you're looking for baked goods, c'mon over to The Bake Dept, that's where the sweet at.

Ok!  What's on tap for next time?  Let's get back to the laundry room?  We'll see!

*The instant patching cement, heat gun,  Gorilla Heavy Duty Construction Adhesive, Danco toilet seals, tank gaskets, tank fillers, shop towels, power buffers, hardwood floor cleaners, and natural disinfectants are Amazon affiliate links.  The mineral spirits is a Home Depot affiliate link while the tung oil is a Lowes affiliate link.  Mwah, thanks!  Please see the "boring stuff" tab for more info.