Water Closet Complete

Another room down, small, but complete.  I actually finished the room 4th of July weekend, but I’ve been crazy busy with client work that I haven’t had time to make the post.  My confidence on woodwork projects is growing by leaps and bounds.  My first finish carpenter started this projects last summer.  The door was a salvage door I got from the Cincinnati Reuse Center and it is the only painted door upstairs.  It was in

pretty bad shape and already painted when I bought it for $100.  I had serious size constraints given the water closet was built in a dormer area (that same space originally housed a 4′ tub, toilet and sink, crazy).  It came with its jamb, but had to be flipped for right swing orientation.  He did all that.

I filled holes and cracks with wood putty, but did not strip original paint.  I sanded what was flaky, but allowed it to be my “primer”.  I applied Sherwin Williams Pacer White semi-gloss and the door turned out great.

The challenge I had was closing.  It closed perfectly when originally set in place, but I guess from sitting in basement it swelled and with the additional coats of paint it wasn’t close closing.  I took it off the hinges and used my hand planer to get past the paint and into the wood to reduce the size where it hit the jamb.  Messy, but it did the trick.

My next challenge was installing the strike plate.  I bought my first set of chisels for this project and although I went a little too wide, that project was much easier than I thought. I’ll be hard pressed to hire someone to do it if I need another (which I will).

The idea for the toilet sign came from my mecca to Waco and visit to Magnolia Market at the Silos.  They had similar on their bathroom doors, which they didn’t sell.  I found mine on Amazon and use furniture tacks to attach it to the door.

With the door hung I turned my sights on the floor moulding.  Since it would be painted and I knew I’d need the original to make up for missing pieces in the Master Bed area, I bought all new from Home Depot, primed pine that was close to original, and the shoe moulding came from Menards.  I tackled my couping cuts again.  Thank goodness I could hide my imperfections with paint and caulk.

One coat of paint was all these needed, but I took countless trips up and down two flights of stairs making the cuts.  Well worth it to get another room off the list.  The only thing left in the Master Bath is the shower and tub tile and that gets kicked off on Monday.

Tease for next post.  The Master Bed is one window shy of being complete.