February 2025 - Cosmetic Details

In February the main project was the bathroom in my unit, but did several other little touchups around the house. We also got brand new water heaters, the old ones were both leaking, not holding consistent temperatures and at the end of their life.

Before installing the tiles, we started by applying a latex primer over the Hardie board. I then carefully cut and installed the tile.

The existing lathe and plaster on the wall was quite uneven, with about a half-inch of plaster over the lath. To create a smooth base for the finishing beadboard, I screwed in 1/4-inch drywall directly over the lath. If you don't already own one and plan on doing any trim or finishing work like this, I highly recommend buying a brad nailer. I learned this the hard way downstairs, where I spent two hours carefully hammering in nails to avoid damaging the paint or finish of the bead boards. The brad nailer, which cost only $30 at Harbor Freight, saved me several hours and neatly buries the nails, making them easy to fill or paint over. Once the beadboard and trim were up, we moved on to caulking and painting the walls. After the vanity base and toilet were installed, I added an extra rounded corner piece on the left wall to seamlessly bridge the gap between the wall and the tile.

Due to a crooked and old cast iron toilet base drain, I had to use two wax rings and an adapter to ensure a good seal. Before painting, we scraped and applied joint compound to several spots on the ceiling where the paint was peeling due to water damage. For the new paint, I used the same semigloss finish as in the downstairs kitchen. We applied two coats of primer and three coats of the semigloss paint to thoroughly seal against water and steam.