[00:00:00] Eric Goranson, CKD: It's around the house. Number three is not using current materials and tile work. I tell you what, I am not a fan of some of the old school methods compared to new school methods. We have come a long way in the last decade on waterproofing in bathroom areas. There is no reason these days to ever use a, like they do in California in other states hot mop with tar in that there's really not a reason anymore to have to sit there and do a custom mud pan with a liner.

[00:00:45] Eric Goranson, CKD: There are plenty of waterproof and vapor proof systems out there that will work great to backup tile in a. Or a floor system when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home. There is a lot to [00:01:00] know, but we've got you covered. This is around the house. Welcome to around the house. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education.

[00:01:12] Eric Goranson, CKD: Thanks for joining us today in the second hour of the show. Now we're gonna talk about our top 10 mistakes to avoid in a bathroom model in 2020. These are those mistakes that you don't want to make that could be a hundred percent avoided if you just follow this list. Before we get to that, hey, make sure you follow us over and around the House online.com.

[00:01:35] Eric Goranson, CKD: That's the website, and there's links to all of our podcast, our social media pages, and make sure on Facebook that you follow us there as well as around the House Nation. Around the House Nation. Is that close group for you to share up that project that maybe you're stuck on or the one you just completed?

[00:01:50] Eric Goranson, CKD: I wanna see. Your projects that you got done and see what you can do and, uh, you'll have a lot of friends over there give you a pat on the back. [00:02:00] It's fun to see those projects. So, uh, I challenge you, what's the last project you work on? Put it up on a round The House Nation on Facebook. Well, the top 10 mistakes to avoid in the bathroom model here in 2023.

[00:02:11] Eric Goranson, CKD: Number one. The first one we're gonna start with not install. That vent fan that's sized for the room that completely exits to the exterior vent fans are gonna be the number one thing that you should be paying attention to outside of water in that bathroom. Ventilation is key, and I'm not tucking a window in most states.

[00:02:36] Eric Goranson, CKD: I say most that is required to have the right size vent fan in there. There are a few states that say if you have a, a window, But guess what? If you don't have a VIN fan and you have a shower in there, I can promise you that's the fast track to a moldy robe and one that's gonna be nasty smelling. So if you want to keep that clean and healthy for everybody, the right size fan.

[00:02:59] Eric Goranson, CKD: [00:03:00] Now I like to put in a large fan for a bathroom. You know, a hundred plus cfm, even for small ones, I oversize my fans. For what I do. But here's the key with this. You have to have makeup air to do that. So think about it. Think of that bathroom that you have. If you put a hundred c f m fan. Now that fan probably is not getting a full a hundred c f M.

[00:03:24] Eric Goranson, CKD: It's probably only getting 80 if you measured it. Because the way they measure fans, because you've got some duct twerk and it's going outside and all those little details. Let's say it's move at 80 80 C F M is 80 basketballs of air in a minute to give you an idea. So you have to have as much space under the door or as vent from another room to come in to make up that air.

[00:03:49] Eric Goranson, CKD: So it gets it. You don't wanna create a vacuum inside this space. So make sure you've got enough space under the door and if you can't there, make sure you've got some air coming in from another space that's [00:04:00] conditioned, uh, in my master bathroom. That is one of those things that I'm gonna do. And let's, let's take a side note here.

[00:04:08] Eric Goranson, CKD: Master bathroom. I caught some grief on this one the other day on a, on a social media post that I was involved in. Master bathroom is still a. You can call it the owner's suite. You can call it whatever you want, but Master bathroom has zero to do with slavery. Master bathroom has everything to do within the 19 10, 19 11.

[00:04:32] Eric Goranson, CKD: Sears using it in a description for the first time in one of their catalogs. It is no different than using Master Electrician, master Plumber, master's degree. It is the. Expert of the home. It has nothing to do with slavery. So there's nothing wrong with using master bathroom out there. And if that triggers you, I'm sorry, but guess what?

[00:04:55] Eric Goranson, CKD: That's not what it's about. And let's not change meanings of words to, in [00:05:00] something that they're not. There is no proof ever. Because there can't be, cuz it was never used for that. That was used as a marketing term by Sears in the teens. Well after that. All right, back off my soapbox, making sure that ventilation.

[00:05:19] Eric Goranson, CKD: In my room, I have a problem because I have a, this is something to, to learn from. I have a problem in my space because I have, uh, heated tile floors and I'm pulling in so much air underneath that door. I need to help resolve that. It's actually cooling part of that floor. Hyper cooling that floor from the airflow coming over it.

[00:05:38] Eric Goranson, CKD: So I am going to, uh, put another duct for intake air in to help bring fresh air into that space that's conditioned so I'm not pulling it all underneath the door into that room. So just think about that, make sure you have that going. Make sure you get a good one. Uh, there are a couple great brands out there.

[00:05:56] Eric Goranson, CKD: Get the best one. Don't get the cheap builder. $35 one. Get [00:06:00] something that's quiet, something that's gonna work. And, uh, there is a little trick here too, if you're putting one in, you're doing our e model, bro. NuTone makes a really great one. Now that has. You know, cuz like right now, for instance, I've got a nice Panasonic fan.

[00:06:13] Eric Goranson, CKD: Full disclosure, the problem is I couldn't, without tearing out a whole bunch of drywall, I couldn't get that multi-speed fan in there where I could control the fan, the light, and all the other controls on it. So mine is light fan only. I don't have all the controls that I like with that, so I'm gonna actually swap mine out here with this bro.

[00:06:32] Eric Goranson, CKD: New tone one, because it has a controller that uses Bluetooth, so you just wire it so the fans always on, and where the switch is, you put in this controller that runs off batteries. And it, uh, doesn't take much to do this, but you basically can control it from that. You can run everything through it. You have all the controls without having to worry about running the extra wires up there to do that.

[00:06:56] Eric Goranson, CKD: So that's what's pretty cool. You can get away with that and not [00:07:00] have to run all those different wires up there. All right, number two on this list. Let's get on not hiring the right pro for the job is licensed, bonded. I'll tell you what bathrooms these days are a tough one. And if you've seen the, uh, the problems we had with the Colorado contractor and many others out there hiring an unlicensed bond insured contractor.

[00:07:23] Eric Goranson, CKD: And, uh, always be careful. I like to see the projects they've done. Here's where referrals get interesting, and this is gonna be one of those pet peeves of mine, especially with bathrooms. I have seen more than once where referrals will either be their friends or referrals. People will feel guilty and give a better referral than what actually happened.

[00:07:47] Eric Goranson, CKD: So I like to see referrals that are friends that had a wonderful experience. Hey, this person did mine. They were amazing. That is an invaluable. I have one contractor [00:08:00] that I've worked with here in the Portland area, r e f Construction Forever. He gets almost all of his stuff from referrals and uh, he gets it from people I know of.

[00:08:10] Eric Goranson, CKD: Well, people I work with were at the TV station that they have done, had him do 6, 8, 10 projects in their home because they're family. That's the people you want to find, stay away from, uh, hiring those people off of. You know, Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, and the worst offender next door. I have not seen good experiences with finding plenty of illegal, unlicensed contractors over there on those platforms.

[00:08:43] Eric Goranson, CKD: That is a hunting ground for those people. So make sure that they are licensed bond insured, so you are not. Uh, caught up in that mess. And in a bathroom, that can mean you spending 20, $30,000 on materials and having to put it all back in the dumpster. [00:09:00] Hey, to have it hauled off and somebody coming back to do that project over.

[00:09:05] Eric Goranson, CKD: All right, when we come back, we have got so many on this list today, much different. Those were kind of similar to the ones in the kitchen model in the previous segment. Now we're gonna start getting into some of the details that are very bathroom specific. That are gonna be, uh, very important because you know, bathrooms, you have different kitchen, you've got, uh, design issues, you've got appliances, bathroom, you've got power, water.

[00:09:28] Eric Goranson, CKD: All playing in the same room, and we want those things to play nicely. So we'll do that just as soon as around the house. Returns don't go anywhere.

[00:09:57] Eric Goranson, CKD: What's up? This is Stick and [00:10:00] Satchel from Stihl Panther and you are listening to Around The House with Eric G. Yeah, we love Eric G and you should too.

[00:10:25] Eric Goranson, CKD: Welcome back to The Round The House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Hopefully all while having a good time here. So thanks for joining us today. We've been talking about the top 10. To avoid in the bathroom model in 2023, and we just talked about not installing proper ventilation and not hiring the right pro for the job.

[00:10:45] Eric Goranson, CKD: Now, here's a controversial one that I know is gonna get some of the old timers mad, but let's just be honest, this is the way the industry is going, not using number three is not using current materials in tile work. [00:11:00] I tell you what, I am not a fan of some of the old school methods. Compared to new school methods, we have come a long way in the last decade on waterproofing in bathroom areas.

[00:11:16] Eric Goranson, CKD: There is no reason these days to ever use a, like they do in California in other states hot mop with tar in that there's really not a reason anymore to have to sit there and do a custom mud pan with a line. There are plenty of waterproof and vapor proof systems out there that will work great to backup tile in a shower or a floor system.

[00:11:46] Eric Goranson, CKD: And I'll be honest, here's my pet peeve and I'm sure there's gonna be people that wanna argue with me on it, and I'm okay with that cause they stand behind this. If I walk in and see somebody installing Greenboard [00:12:00] tile behind. That drywall, that drywall behind tile, you got the wrong person on the job site.

[00:12:09] Eric Goranson, CKD: Seriously, there is nobody there that I want to have on the job site that's doing That green board should not be behind tile in any kind of a damn situation. Green board is a water resistant drywall. It is not meant to hang tile on because the problem is this tile is heavy. Tile is not water. Most grout is not waterproof, and so you have to depend on this, the area behind it, right, to take care of that.

[00:12:40] Eric Goranson, CKD: So this is one of those things that I want you to really make sure that you have the right system behind that. So do your research. Find out the tile installer in your project, what they're gonna be using behind it. I'll be honest, I'm not even a fan of using, uh, hardy backer type stuff below tile anymore on the floor.[00:13:00]

[00:13:01] Eric Goranson, CKD: I have seen too many times Hardy Backer come apart and cause problems. I've had to replace floor systems that were done, where that came apart. So I am much more into using like, uh, art X Weedy, Schluter, these systems behind all the tile on the projects because in a shower you could have something. That is now guaranteed waterproof for the warranty.

[00:13:31] Eric Goranson, CKD: And when I did my steam shower, I did the Wheaty system with the Vapor 85. That is vapor proof because if you look at the details like on Slitter and some of these other ones, they're waterproof and kind of kind of vapor proof, but the seams and stuff are not. So if you're doing steam, I like something that is guaranteed not to let that moisture through, cuz steam getting through something is completely different than water.[00:14:00]

[00:14:00] Eric Goranson, CKD: So make sure that you've got something in a steam shower that you're going to be vapor proof. And that is why I don't like using any of the um, Hardy boards, any of those things are not really waterproofed. You still gotta put a waterproof membrane over 'em. If you have a tile person that goes into that shower and just puts up tile backer and, uh, puts the seam tape on and puts, uh, puts a tile on it.

[00:14:23] Eric Goranson, CKD: Again, not a fan. I wanna see another. Vapor barrier up there on that. So red guard or any one of the other better solutions out there is the way to go. I perfectly love the, I honestly love the foam systems out there where you put up the board, you know, any one of those things that is the, uh, composites.

[00:14:44] Eric Goranson, CKD: And that to me is a better substrate behind that. And, uh, I know there's a lot of old timers out there that love to do the med bed mud beds, but, uh, can't tell you how many of those that I have pulled out now, I have seen. Poorly installed foam systems have to get torn out as well. [00:15:00] And although they're not a hundred percent perfect, you can get a guarantee on that.

[00:15:05] Eric Goranson, CKD: So, uh, make sure your tile person is using the right materials and if they're going to get all their stuff off the home center shelves, that is one of the things that makes me get nervous that they're not using it from a tile place instead of using the lower end stuff that you see in a home. So those are my tips on tile work, and that kind of goes into number four as well, which was using drywall on greenboard behind tile.

[00:15:31] Eric Goranson, CKD: We talked about that a second ago. Um, I see using drywall as a backsplash. I get it in the kitchen or around a vanity, but, uh, make sure that you're using that system behind there. All right, let's go into number five here, cuz this is a big one here. This is a big. And this is gonna be kind of a part two to this as well.

[00:15:54] Eric Goranson, CKD: Not adding added electrical for extra plugs, [00:16:00] heated tile floors, or a bk in that process. Traditionally in an older bathroom, you have maybe one outlet for even two sinks. Everything's sitting there and you've got a. So what happens is, is that your pump, you know, somebody puts in the hair dryer curling iron, off goes the breaker.

[00:16:22] Eric Goranson, CKD: Make sure if you've got two sinks, I love to see two circuits in there. One for each G F C I. Arc fault, whatever's required by code. Definitely G F C I is a minimum. And make sure you've got those there. If you're gonna add a heated towel warmer someday for a luxury bathroom, add a circuit for. If you're gonna add the boy, if you're gonna add a heated tile floor that's gonna take its own circuit.

[00:16:52] Eric Goranson, CKD: I have done luxury bathrooms where I have added five to six [00:17:00] extra circuits, including like an esteem shower, esteem generator. That's a 30 amp circuit, so that's a 30 amp, two 20 circuit in there. So you can add 50, 60, 80 amps to a. The tile floor and all the different things you could have. There's medicine cabinets now that have refrigeration in them for your medicine or your high-end makeup, and that's an important one.

[00:17:26] Eric Goranson, CKD: Now, here's a big one too, and uh, but day toilet seats, even if you're not a purveyor of the bidet, make sure that you put in that outlet, that G f C outlet back there behind the toilet, so you can add one later. Could tell you what there's, even if you don't use the bday function, that heated toilet seat is pretty comfortable when it's cool outside.

[00:17:47] Eric Goranson, CKD: And, uh, a lot of those now too have got the nicer ones, have a filtration system in there. So, um, guys, you don't have to go in there, ladies, stink up that bathroom. It can [00:18:00] change your world by having that in there where it's warm. And you've got cleaner air and even some of these new toilets out there, the smart toilets, I've got one coming up on a segment that I'm putting in that is absolutely amazing.

[00:18:15] Eric Goranson, CKD: That thing has a curtain of air around it, so the stink stays inside the toilet. I mean, this stuff is absolutely crazy. L e d lights. Under the rim. Some of these have, uh, l e d uh, uh, lights. Actually, some of 'em have UV lights to help clean the toilet so it's, uh, germ free when it's done. I mean, come on.

[00:18:35] Eric Goranson, CKD: How crazy is that? All right, we come back. We got so much more to our top 10 list of, uh, mistakes to avoid when you're doing that bathroom just as soon as around the house returns,

[00:18:52] Eric Goranson, CKD: not from you, not from.

[00:18:59] Eric Goranson, CKD: Hey, [00:19:00] this is Ron Keel, the middle Cowboy from Keel, the Ron Keel Band and Steeler. We are rocking around the house with Eric G. Ray is you. Welcome back to The Round The House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and educat. We've been talking today about the top 10 mistakes to avoid in a bathroom remodel in 2023.

[00:19:24] Eric Goranson, CKD: Now, there's a lot of these here that, uh, this is just my top 10. And of course there's a lot of other things to navigate, but as I always say, a designer can help you get through these as well as friends and family that have maybe done this before. Whether you're doing it yourself or hiring the right pro, there's some things to avoid.

[00:19:42] Eric Goranson, CKD: Now if you want any more information about the show, head over to around the house online.com and you can find us there and comment. So if there's something here that you think I'm, uh, wrong on or you disagree with, or even you want to add to it, feel free to send a message there. Now, so far we've been talking about not installing [00:20:00] proper ventilation for the bathroom.

[00:20:01] Eric Goranson, CKD: Of course not hiring the right pro for the job that is licensed, bonded, matured, not using current materials and tile work. Using drywall or green board behind tile and not adding, added electrical for extra plugs in the bathroom or heated floors or a bidet, that extra power. Now here's one of my pet peeves, and this is one of those things that, um, this happens, uh, especially when people are trying to go on a budget.

[00:20:28] Eric Goranson, CKD: But sometimes when you go on a budget, if you have to do it twice, it's gonna cost you more than doing it once. And this is going cheap on a tub or shower. Or even worse, some of those coverups where they come in and do the 24 hour bathroom model and slide the plastic cover in over the top and leave the ugly hideousness behind it.

[00:20:52] Eric Goranson, CKD: Now I see a lot of people out there that are gonna, okay, I'm gonna do a little flip on my bathroom. I'm gonna leave the 1970s bathtub. [00:21:00] I'm going to put in the big. Take out the, well, actually I'm gonna leave is probably the better way. I'm gonna leave the, you know, mint green tile that's probably in style again around the perimeter of that shower, tub, shower.

[00:21:16] Eric Goranson, CKD: And I'm gonna put in one of those plastic kits you get from the home center and glue up on the tile and cover that up. You know, they work a little bit. But to be honest, you're just so much better off long term because those things don't do a great job of sealing up. They don't do a great job of putting things and keeping it together where water gets behind it.

[00:21:37] Eric Goranson, CKD: And many times if you've got like mold and mildew covering up isn't stopping it, it's still gonna keep continuing to rot back there. You've just kind of put lipstick on a pig and aren't gonna fix the problem. So it's something to really consider. Now, I'm not a fan of the, um, companies that come in and you [00:22:00] know that you've got your business model.

[00:22:01] Eric Goranson, CKD: I get it. They come in and do the quick fix 24 hour prem molded covers that they put over your tub and shower. And again, the same kind of thing. I don't like gluing stuff over the top of that. Um, I've pulled many of them out and uh, my experiences is many times people will come do that in a year or two.

[00:22:21] Eric Goranson, CKD: They don't like the results and they come back in and now we're tearing it all out and the, you know, five or $10,000 they spent on that system is now out in the dumpster and they're having to pay for it to be hauled off. So that's never good. Really, when you're doing a project like this, if you're gonna put the a bathtub in, for instance, put in a good quality one.

[00:22:43] Eric Goranson, CKD: Instead of buying the a hundred dollars tub, buy the $400 tub. The extra $300, just making up numbers here. But the extra $300 is going to save you because if you have to go spend another five or 10 grand to put another one in, you'll wish you'd spent a little bit. So that's where [00:23:00] the budget makes a lot of sense.

[00:23:02] Eric Goranson, CKD: Uh, for me, as, as what you can use for a surround around a bathtub combination like that tub, shower. You can do tile when it's properly done. Uh, there are slab porcelain that looks really well, you can use, um, Corin or any one of the, uh, composites that are thicker. Those work great. I'm just not a fan of covering up what's there before.

[00:23:27] Eric Goranson, CKD: So that's a big one. Make sure you're not using that cheap plastic stuff. It just never goes in right. It never looks great and uh, all it takes is a kid to lean up against it or bump into the, the, the little soap dispenser that's molded into it and that super thin plastic's broken. And plus in a couple years, it ends up looking yellow anyway, and nobody likes that look.

[00:23:49] Eric Goranson, CKD: All right, next one up here is a big pet peeve of. And it's just as important today as it is any other day, but more so now with our new energy standards that we're seeing on toilets out [00:24:00] there, you know, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, and we had that 1.6 gallon changeover. None of the toilets were really designed for it, and we had five to 10 years of horrible working toilets.

[00:24:11] Eric Goranson, CKD: Now that's different. They have created technology and they understand toilets well enough that you can get a 1.3 to to one gallon flush. That works really. But however, you just have to buy the right toilet to do it. And I kind of have a general rule when you're purchasing a toilet out there. If you're buying a toilet from a home center that's under $200, it's probably not gonna work that well.

[00:24:38] Eric Goranson, CKD: And here's where it costs you money if you're paying for water. Every time you flush that toilet, that's costing you a few cents. And if you've got a toilet, you have to double flush or you have to plunge all the time and you're wasting all that water. That extra a hundred dollars you could have spent on that toilet makes a big difference and comes back really quickly because a poorly working [00:25:00] toilet can cost you hundreds of dollars a year in many ace, many areas in the country.

[00:25:04] Eric Goranson, CKD: So really putting in the right one. It's gonna be the right way to go. And to me, I like to get something in the, in the $200 north range to get something decent. You know, the Kohler, the American standards, the Totos, the Dxv in the higher end, all those are great toilets. I stay away from the home center in-house brand toilets for a couple reasons.

[00:25:28] Eric Goranson, CKD: One, it seems like every two years they've got a new piece and part inside that's d. And getting the repair parts on those can be tough, and I'm just not a fan of that. And so make sure to get one of the name brand ones and they're probably gonna work better. When you get into the nice toilets, they have a larger trap way.

[00:25:46] Eric Goranson, CKD: The porcelain, you know, the, the shiny part of that ends up going all the way, finished all through the trap. So it's not rough. When it's rough, it likes to grab things and when it's rough it tends to clog up easier. [00:26:00] I mean, I, funny story, and you're gonna laugh about this, we have our new toilet here. Uh, if you've got a really good toilet, the stuff that can be flushed down there is crazy.

[00:26:12] Eric Goranson, CKD: Great example. My, my wife was sitting there putting the toilet paper to dispenser back together, and she hated her hand. And as she goes to, to, to change the toilet paper out, to put a new roll on there, she hit the flush. Well. Dropped one piece of the toilet dispenser. Guess what? That little spring piece and the, the metal tube on the end, the metal tube fell down, hit the bowl, and sucked right out and off it went.

[00:26:41] Eric Goranson, CKD: It did not end up in the toilet. It flushed all the way down. And guess what? It's on the way to the city. Sewer. If you had a cheap toilet, that would've got caught up in the inside, and most likely you'd have been trying to get that out of there. Or buy another toilet. Cuz many times when you get toys or things like that and they get jammed up in there, you [00:27:00] can't get 'em out easily.

[00:27:00] Eric Goranson, CKD: So, and it's in a place where you can't get it. So guess what? You end up buying another toilet. So that's really what sometimes this stuff comes down to is having that larger trap way so it goes through and that makes it a little, that makes a little more sense that way. And that way you get the most outta that.

[00:27:18] Eric Goranson, CKD: Now, here's one of the things that I really worry about when I see remodels done, especially when it's homeowners or you're just trying to stay on a budget. And I've seen plenty of contractors do this as well. Not replacing old plumbing that is pvc. See PVC or galvanized. Now the pvc, that's white. I don't think that should be anywhere in your house for any reason.

[00:27:41] Eric Goranson, CKD: On a water supply side, that is just not meant for that. That's Greek sprinkler pipe. But, uh, you know, I've seen people use the NSF rated stuff for wells on farms. I get it, but there is no reason to use that inside the house. So if that's in there, replace it. C P VC is the yellow [00:28:00] PVC pipe that's rated for drinking water.

[00:28:02] Eric Goranson, CKD: and also for hot water. The PVC really get hot water. It comes apart. The yellow stuff gets brittle, and what happens is is there's been a lot of companies that have gone out of business from class action lawsuits from that stuff being brittle. My last house I had, I could be sitting there watching tv. It could be 60 degrees outside and I could hear a.

[00:28:24] Eric Goranson, CKD: In my crawlspace, and that was a fitting coming apart for no apparent reason. And now I've got a half inch hose of water filling up my crawlspace. We'll talk more about this when we come back, just after around the house returns.[00:29:00]

[00:29:02] Eric Goranson, CKD: Gets the end of the show, the drinking down people, it's time to go. It's that time again, it's last call. Welcome back to The Round the House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. I'm gonna try to help you navigate, like today, this bathroom project, whether you're doing it yourself or hiring somebody to have it done well.

[00:29:26] Eric Goranson, CKD: If you're just joining us, we are talking about not replacing that old plumbing when you're in the middle of that bathroom remodel. Whether it's pvc, C P V. Or galvanized, uh, galvanized pipe, if you've ever had that in a bathroom. As that stuff ages, that half inch galvanized, it doesn't look any different many times on the outside, but it gets smaller and smaller and smaller on the inside.

[00:29:47] Eric Goranson, CKD: So many times when you turn on that faucet, like you're filling up the tub, you'll see that rust come out that's usually failed galvanized pipe. And then what happens is as it fails, it gets smaller. All of a sudden you've got a little tiny straw of water [00:30:00] coming through and you have no volume. So that's where that really causes problems.

[00:30:05] Eric Goranson, CKD: So my goal when you do a ba a bathroom remodel is to get in there and replace all that galvanized, even when it's on a waste. I like to get rid of that stuff, you know, cast iron, if it's good, it's great. Uh, but maybe it's a good time to follow. Uh, And upgrade everything you can that you have access to, especially if you've got things torn apart, whether it's C uh, you know, PVC is a drain or a b, s, whatever is in your current code book.

[00:30:29] Eric Goranson, CKD: Make sure you're following that and get it in there because that's just going to leave a better product for you when you're done. And who wants to go open up a wall that you've just finished up because a year or two later you've got a problem with it, you're just better off going in that. Um, I'm not a big fan.

[00:30:43] Eric Goranson, CKD: Uh, here's another little pet peeve. Push connect fittings like shark bite. I do not use in bathroom projects. I do not put them in the walls. Uh, this is where you sweat pipe and sweat and go to packs. And if you've got copper pipe, you know, I do not like using those fittings [00:31:00] on that. Uh, nothing of those push con connect fittings, like shark bites should ever be buried in a wall.

[00:31:06] Eric Goranson, CKD: And I think it's just a, a regular way of doing it. And to be honest, if I see a plumber coming in and using shark bike fitting, In my house and they're in doing something where other than just a temporary cap fitting where they're trying to shut it off and turn the water back on so you can use it.

[00:31:21] Eric Goranson, CKD: Other than that, I don't trust them. And, uh, tests show how they fail before other fittings. Uh, any, anything else really. They're the first one to fail when you put pressure on them compared to others. So I'm just not a fan of those. And, uh, that's one of those things as well, that if I see a plumber using it, um, I start to figure that I probably have hired the wrong.

[00:31:44] Eric Goranson, CKD: I've just had too many problems with them failing. And the problem is, is yeah, they'll give you a new fitting, but uh, nobody wants to step up and pay for the a hundred thousand dollars of remodel work that has to be done from the flood. And trust me, I have seen this happen many a time when they first [00:32:00] came out and, uh, plenty of plumbers.

[00:32:02] Eric Goranson, CKD: Use them to convert over from C P V C over two packs or something like that when they were the new, the greatest new thing. And guess what? We had to do a remodel completely over on that plumber's insurance, and I felt horrible for 'em, and they had to even installed the fitting correctly. So make sure you got that stuff swapped out and the right fittings put in there.

[00:32:23] Eric Goranson, CKD: Now here's another one, number nine. People love to go in and I'm gonna put in my beautiful marble bathroom. I'm gonna put polished marble on the floors cause I want it to look elegant, classy. And the problem is you have now created a skating rink when someone has wet on, you know, water on your feet, make sure you have the right slip coefficient because the problem is, is that, uh, look for tiles that are rated for floor and are rated for having.

[00:32:54] Eric Goranson, CKD: Water on them. I don't know if you've ever walked on a, a polished tile floor or polished stone floor [00:33:00] and, uh, you want a little bit of water. I tell you what it's like walking on sheet ice and nobody wants that in the bathroom. And these days, to be honest, you can get slab. Materials, like the large format porcelain pieces that look just like marble.

[00:33:16] Eric Goranson, CKD: And the beautiful part of that is that they actually have something that is gonna be non-slip. So when you walk outta that shower with wet feet, and here's one of the problems. When you have a heated tile floor and you have a shower, for instance, or a bathtub and you step out, if you've got that heated tile floor, you don't wanna be using floor mats on it cuz you can overly heat that area because you're now insulating that.

[00:33:39] Eric Goranson, CKD: So I don't like using those. Tile floor. You can't just sit there and put carpets down and expect that that polished floor is gonna get you. So making sure that you have the right texture on that floor is key. And when you're out shopping for tile, it's really easy. You can see what that, uh, what that rating is, so you can get the right one, and that will keep you from getting [00:34:00] hurt.

[00:34:00] Eric Goranson, CKD: And more importantly, getting somebody else hurt that's in that bathroom. Now, here's another one that's important as well. We talked about this in a previous. Episode here before in the kitchen one, starting that project before the materials have arrived. I tell you what, you need to receive materials, inspect them before you start that project.

[00:34:22] Eric Goranson, CKD: And here's why. I can't tell you how many times that I've ordered tile. It's come in and whoever the company was, bounce the hack out of this stuff and there's no way you're gonna use half of those tiles. So what I like to do is have the tile come. Walk around. Make sure that you've got all the right pieces, enough of them, and they're not broken.

[00:34:45] Eric Goranson, CKD: I have had boxes of tile broken before, and then you're having a hard time finding dial lots all while you're trying to get it installed. No, make sure you have the shower materials, the shower valves, the trims, the flooring. Tile, vanity [00:35:00] tops, all that stuff lined up before you start this project because those are the ones that, uh, get you burned and you don't wanna be without a bathroom.

[00:35:08] Eric Goranson, CKD: So these are the things that you wanna make sure you have all the products there and be ready to go, because if you're having to scramble, especially when you're trying to match up, dial lots or something on tile or slabs, if you've got matching slabs going on the walls in the bathroom, you wanna make sure you got that stuff dialed in and have that schedule figured out before you start.

[00:35:25] Eric Goranson, CKD: Great example, in my bathroom, when we started, we had to do that. It took me about two and a half weeks to do the shower walls. And that's with professionals helping. And that's because we had the machine. I had slab walls and a slab ceiling cuz it was that, um, uh, using the DuPont core in Endura slab, porcelain great product.

[00:35:46] Eric Goranson, CKD: What we had to do though, is we had to, to do the back wall and the ceiling is one piece. So we installed the back wall, we slid the ceiling slab in, and then had to build a little framing wall to hold it up there for that to dry. [00:36:00] Then we had to template the side walls. And get them in. And so those side walls came in and we had to template those and then that got put in and then we put the tile floor in and then we had to get all that stuff in that way.

[00:36:15] Eric Goranson, CKD: And then we had to order the shower wall, the whole steam shower door system that sh, that glass wall system so we could do it. So that was almost a month, just trying to get through that process of getting the walls. Then getting in and starting to get in. So you could actually deal with that shower door.

[00:36:34] Eric Goranson, CKD: And then we had to wait for the shower door to show show up. So there's a process you have to follow and you wanna make sure and get that followed so you can make sure and meet your schedule and not be waiting around for too much time because you got things out of order. And that's a key. Now here's some other tips that I've got for you, just in case you're thinking about that bathroom and you've got some things you're considering.

[00:36:57] Eric Goranson, CKD: I don't ever do. [00:37:00] Usually wood base trim around there. If I'm doing a tile floor, I do a tile base around the perimeter. That way I can grout the floor, grout the, the tile base, and then use a nice silicone color match caul between those two surfaces because yes. You do want to use caulking. Anytime you change angles on tile, you never want to caulk that.

[00:37:22] Eric Goranson, CKD: You want to caul that. You never want to use grout, but tile base is another little detail that I like to do. Another thing, when you're planning on a bathroom, another tip here cuz we've hit the things that you don't want to do. Let's hit the things that you might want to consider. Make sure that you've got all the metals matching or no more than two different metals in that bathroom.

[00:37:42] Eric Goranson, CKD: If you're going with a flat. In your shower, make sure you're using flat black on the, on everything else in the bathroom, or if you're gonna go two-tone, like maybe a, a flat black or a polished nickel, or a flat black and a brushed gold. Make sure that you're using [00:38:00] the same or similar colors, cuz the problem is, is a brush gold from five different companies can be five different colors.

[00:38:07] Eric Goranson, CKD: So when you pick out those towel bars or you pick out the other stuff, make sure you've got those pieces matched up because you can have those color variations just like we used to see with oil, bronze oil, rubber bronzes used to have some horrible colors. You'd have one that was brown, one was black, one where.

[00:38:24] Eric Goranson, CKD: Orange coming through. One was copper, and you'd have five different colors in there. So you want this to match really, really well. When it all comes together, that's where those pieces come together really well. So have those pieces matched the handles to the faucets, to the uh, toweled towel bars and that kind of thing.

[00:38:44] Eric Goranson, CKD: Make sure those things all come together and it will give you a more cohesive look. And then of course, making sure that the, the paint colors. You know, paint colors in the bathroom is the place where you can, it's not fun painting a bathroom, but you can go through and let that be your color change if you pick some more neutral [00:39:00] stuff and that way every few years, you can mix it up a little bit with towels and some paint color to make it look good.

[00:39:05] Eric Goranson, CKD: All right, everybody show's over. As always, thanks for listening to Around the House