I Can Wash Dishes!

Nothing like a little plumbing on new year's eve.  Pipes were connected for the drain and on New Year's Day, the water was connected.  Now I can wash dishes by hand!  Next step... dishwasher!

Plumbing for the double sink 

Running water!

Kitchen Cabinets

Kitchen uppers and lowers were installed.  Filler boards and side panels were put in for the dishwasher.  Got these lovely red Ikea cabinets on sale over a year ago!  Finally they are put into use.  Backsplash was tiled with white glass.  Note the new shiny appliances!

Kitchen cabinets

Peninsula

Quartz countertops installed

Glass tile backsplash

Get The Stink Out!

The kitchen range hood and the bathroom fans both need to be vented outside.  A bulkhead was built to accomodate the ducts.  Flexible one for the bathroom and rigid for the range hood.

External vents

View of the ducts to the vents

Bulkhead with the ducts

Brand New Bathroom

The final touches included painting with mildew proof paint, installing the bathroom fan and ceiling tiles and adding in fixtures.  A small but functional bathroom/laundry room has finally materialized!

Before - with just the framing

After - shower and all-in-one washer/dryer

Vanity and Toilet

Tiles Tiles

The shower enclosure and floor were tiled and grouted.  Tip: wear gloves when grouting.  After about 4 hours of grouting the floor, the grout ate through my finger tips.

Grout is corrosive?

Shower enclosure

Carrera marble!

Meet Kerdi & Ditra

The bathroom need to be water tight to keep nasty molds away.  To do this, cement backerboard was installed at the shower enclosure and humitech drywall was installed throughout the rest of the bathroom including the ceiling.  To waterproof the shower enclosure, Kerdi, an orange fuzzy layer, was installed over the backerboards with mortar.  For the floors, Ditra provided both waterproofing as well as decoupling between the subfloor and the tiles.  Bands of Kerdi were also installed around the floor of the bathroom and up the wall to create a waterproof "tub".

Plumbing and wiring in the can

Washing machine hookups

      

Sound insulation for a little privacy

Cement backboard and humitech drywall

Kerdi to keep it watertight

Ditra to waterproof before tiling

Floors Floors Floors

The living/dining/kitchen area that is now an open concept space had hardwood and tile flooring.  Removing the tiles revealed various types of plywood and subfloor.  The subfloor had been be levelled with plywood in varying thicknesses before flooring installation.  I chose a strand woven bamboo, one of the hardest flooring and much cheaper than  exotic woods.  Looks cool and great for dogs to play on!

Tiles being removed

Closing up the staircase to the basement

Levelling out the subfloor

Finished flooring