Fully Functioning (Almost)

Paul has been very good about putting in the time to bring up the bathroom to full functionality, and it has been a very productive 2 weeks.

Towel Rail

Vanity, with switch and power points next to it

Above vanity will be a large mirror and neon light

His principal objective was to install the vanity and wash basin, which he did with a level of expertise and care that I could not have remotely approached.  The vanity is bedded on a bead of polyurethane filler as is the toilet.  It is also bolted to the wall.

The vanity is a good one, with a ceramic top, glass on the doors, and soft-close doors and drawers.

Paul also finished the ceiling work. He had done such a good job with the ceiling edges that I suggested that he finish off the edges with white caulking rather than wood, which he did except for the edge at the high end of the ceiling where he fixed a piece of 20x20mm pine that I had pre painted.  He also caulked around the toilet and vanity.

Inside of door to be painted, bathroom cabinet to be fitted

External view of bathroom door

On the last day he installed the towel rail, which was the same jarrah piece that I had put in the bathroom 35 years earlier.  I had belt sanded it then varnished it with two coats.  I was quaking in my boots at the thought of mounting that heavy piece of timber through a tile wall but Paul knew what he was doing and the job went like clockwork. As before, the rail is securely fastened to the wall studs using four 10 mm (3/8") wall studs 130 mm long.  The old tubular spacers would not do against tiles so I prepared the jarrah spacers under Paul's guidance.  The towel rail is so strong that it can act as a hand rail and long enough so that I can place my towel inside of the shower section so that I don't have to step out in order to dry myself.  Even after a strong shower the towel was far enough from the shower head to remain bone dry.

And we set up the door.  This was not as trivial as one might think.  We went to Bunnings looking for a suitable door but their selection was not good enough to provide a door as narrow as I required and with the appropriate style.  We then visited a salvage yard but could not find anything suitable that was in sufficiently good condition.  So we reverted to my original plan of reinstating the original door, which Paul did like an expert.  The door had to be shortened slightly, new hinges fitted, and the door stops and architraves fitted using the original pieces.  Because the door had been reversed we inverted it.  All this would be slow an tricky work for an amateur, but Paul is a trained carpenter and he has installed literally thousands of doors in his time.  We looked at the result and I told Paul "I'm glad that we saved the door."  When I showed it to Reg he said "I'm glad you kept the door".

I did my bit, installing two new double power points, a new double light switch (overhead light and fan), and a combination light switch (for the neon light over the vanity) and power point (for the electric toothbrush).  I'm a maniac for power points and that bathroom now has 5 plug points.

But I ran into trouble when trying to connect the overhead light yesterday.  The existing light had been working, but the fitting was supplied by two cables, one 2-core and one 3-core.  Try as I might I could not get the light to work and after 3 hours I gave up and decided to engage a professional electrician.  Just as well, too because I then had trouble getting the new neon light to work too.  It is supplied by a 3-core cable directly from the light switch and should have been a trivial task, but the starter cannot fire up the neon tube.  Thinking that I had a faulty unit I purchased a second one and got the same result.

The electrician will visit on Wed 27 Sept and in the  meantime I'll make do with a desk lamp connected to the new power point that has proven to be handy already.

When the electrical work is completed I will order the shower screen and mirror over the vanity.  After that there will be cosmetic work of sanding/varnishing/painting the bathroom door and touching up the wall and ceiling paint.  Oh yes, and I'll look into installing a small towel rail next to the wash basin.

And Paul has a bit more work which he will do after a visit from his uncle next month.  He will build me a medicine cabinet and trim the window above the wash basin.  The medicine cabinet will be done in  jarrah style which should blend in nicely with the original jarrah door and towel rail.