Since the demolition Slav has been working on upgrading the electrical in the bathroom. And today I’d like to show you some progress:
The first task was actually to remove the old bathroom ceiling. We decided to install recessed lighting and a new exhaust fan for this bathroom, all of which would be integrated into the ceiling drywall. The existing ceiling drywall was moldy to begin with. So Slav took the old drywall down.
At the corner was an old vent for basement water heater. Since we installed the tankless water heater three years ago, this vent has not been used. Slav simply terminated it inside the attic, and cut the rest out of the bathroom. Removing this vent and the framing around it gained up a few sqft in this bathroom.
The only inconvenience of removing ceiling drywall was the attic insulation. Our attic does not have any flooring – the main floor ceiling drywall is the only barrier separating the insulation and the main floor space. To make sure the attic insulation does not fall into the bathroom, Slav had to crawl into the attic and rack the loose insulation away from the bathroom ceiling area.
Slav then put down some plywood underlayment to prevent the insulation from falling into the bathroom. At this point, he started working on the electrical from the bathroom below.
First, a new exhaust fan was installed. It has sensors for not only motion, but also humidity in the room. Based on the humidity, it can also choose between two flow rate automatically (80 and 110 CFM), both of which are higher than the required flow rate by code for our small bathroom. Slav positioned the new exhaust fan between the future vanity and shower, almost directly below the roof vent.
Slav then wired the new fan independently. The old fan was piggybacked onto the vanity lights, which meant that whenever we turned on the light, the noisy ceiling fan had to come on as well. The new exhaust fan is on its own circuit and can be operated independently from the lights.
Next, Slav wired for three recessed lighting on the ceiling. They are also wired on an independent circuit.
Now the original circuit was only for the vanity lights. He kept this circuit and simply brought it to where the switches would be. We will be upgrading the vanity light down the road – Slav is entertaining the idea of a light-integrated mirror and I am dreaming of a pair of vanity lights. No matter which direction we go with, I cannot wait for the stage of picking out fixtures!
We will be adding a couple outlets at the vanity height to accommodate things like hair dryer and electrical toothbrush, as well as an outlet for the bidet behind the toilet. For now, the electrical on the wet wall was left unchanged. We need to finish the plumbing upgrade here first.
The switch used to be on the left side of the door, next to the vent we removed. We have decided to install a pocket door here, so the switches would have to be brought to the other side of the door. Slav extended the original switch controlling the vanity light(s) over the door, and installed the switch on the bath/office wall immediate next to the door. The switches for the new exhaust fan and recessed lighting circuits were also brought here:
We now have three switches in this bathroom: one for the vanity light (left), one for all the recessed lighting (middle), and the last one for the exhaust fan (right). The metal box is the light switch facing the office.
Speaking for the office, I have long wanted to relocate the router to the corner of the room. I could not find a recent photo of this wall, but from the picture I took during the office renovation below, you could see the outlet and the Ethernet cable connection were both located in the middle of the wall, determining the location of the router:
This was what the original Ethernet connection and outlet looked like from the bathroom side. Having the bathroom side of the wall open provided a wonderful opportunity to relocate them with ease:
Slav kept the wall outlet and simply added a new outlet near the bookcase. The Ethernet connection box was moved right below it on the same stud:
To patch the drywall for the Ethernet box, Slav screwed on a piece of scrap wood from the bathroom side.
Here is a close shot for the new outlet and Ethernet connection, now next to the bookshelf:
After making sure that everything is working as intended, Slav patched the drywall and mudded it smooth:
Followed by some leftover wall paint.
It looked like the Ethernet box was never there! Now I can tuck away the router (on top of the bookshelf)
To date we have crossed off 90% of the electrical work in the bathroom, except installing the ceiling cans and adding a couple outlets on the wet wall after plumbing upgrade. Another big progress in the bathroom is that the new window was in!
To make sure we won’t have water issue around this window, we opted for a fixed panel window. The window is obscured for privacy, but still lets in plenty of light in the mornings.
After the window was in, I insulated the wall cavity. It was done just before a snow storm and I was glad that the new window and insulation kept my office warm! We also installed sound insulation between the bathroom and the office/guest room for privacy.
With most of the electrical work done I am happy to report that the bathroom reno to-do list is a lot shorter. The next big job? Plumbing!
1. Demolition – removing all the fixtures and wall/floor materials;
2. Assessing the water damage and mold control;
3. Installing new bath window and insulating the exterior wall;
4. Removing the ceiling drywall from the attic, wiring for new recessed lights;
5. Installing a new exhaust fan;
6. Upgrading wall electrical, including adding outlets and rewiring for switches;
7. Installing recessed lights and ceiling drywall, taping/mudding/priming ceiling;
8. Pocket door framing;
9. Upgrading plumbing for toilet and shower;
10. Ordering new toilet, sink/vanity, and shower fixtures. Upgrading/installing water lines to the fixture;
11. Installing new subflooring, closing up the walls, and waterproofing;
12. Tiling the floor;
13. Tiling the shower wall with a shower niche;
14. Installing new window stool/trims;
15. Priming and painting drywall and ceiling;
16. Installing glass shower doors;
17. Installing shower fixtures, vanity/sink, and toilet/bidet;
18. Installing pocket door, mirror, and lighting.
19. Door trims inside and outside/updating nearby closet trims at the same time;
20. Accessories, plants, enjoy!
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