Creature Comforts: A Tall Toilet and Water Heater Smackdown

A great cup of coffee, air conditioning, hot shower, clean toilet, and a comfortable bed....

These are a few of my favorite things.  Let's get real, these are things I refuse to do without. We all have those deal breakers, the things we think we can not do without for very long. If I am going to live in a motorhome, it better be comfortable.

The original bathroom in the Big Lebowski was way too small. There was no way it would serve our needs. The bathtub/shower combo was, for the lack of a better word, micro. It was large enough to bathe a Yorkie, but since I don't own one and have no plans to acquire  one, it needed to go.

The original toilet was plastic, set low to the ground, and well used. There is just something about using someone else's toilet that makes me uncomfortable. I also wanted one that was more like home. We opted to get a tall porcelain toilet.

Another item we wanted to include in the bathroom upgrade was an on demand water heater. The original water heater had a seven gallon tank and took an hour to heat. That adds up to a lot of propane when two people are trying to get a bath each day. Plus it meant having to take "Navy Showers". I am not in the Navy. When you have a head full of curly hair and girly parts to wash, that seven gallons of hot water does not go far. Even when taking a "Navy Shower".

Bathroom Before: Bathtub/Shower Combo

Bathroom Before: Lavatory and Vanity

Bathroom Before: Toilet (I like to think of it as a
 potty training toilet for two year olds)

We stripped the bathroom down to nothing.

We took out the old plumbing and Tracy went to work making the bathroom as comfortable as possible. While installing the new plumbing lines Tracy took advantage of the opportunity to install plumbing for an RV washer and dryer. Eventually we will add one because frequent trips to a laundry mat are not my idea of fun, but for now we are just planning for the future.

During Bathroom: New plumbing, flooring

We ordered the new shower basin and walls from an online retailer. These cost us just over $600, and shipped out rather quickly. We had to get these installed before ordering the glass surround and door. So for a few days after moving in we had to use a shower curtain. We were able to custom order the glass surround and door from a local retailer, Waco Glass and Mirror, for far less than we could order them online. Plus Waco Glass and Mirror took the measurements for the glass and frame, so if the measurements were wrong we could easily return it. Tracy opted to do the installation himself so that we could save $100. 



After: New shower basin and walls

After: New shower basin and walls



After: New shower walls, marine vinyl covers
the gap between ceiling and shower wall



The glass door and frame took about a hundred swear words and an hour and a half to install.

The glass door and surround came in about 30 pieces. It was a lot like putting together a 3-D puzzle. The written instructions were not too helpful. If we had not had a little experience at this kind of stuff it might not have gotten put together so quickly. Everything we needed from screws to the rubber seals were included. We only needed to supply the clear silicone caulk, and hand tools for the installation.



During Bathroom Remodel: Installation of glass shower door and surround

During Bathroom Remodel: Installation of glass shower door and surround

During Bathroom Remodel: Installation of glass shower door and surround

During Bathroom Remodel: Installation of glass shower door and surround

During Bathroom Remodel: Installation of glass shower door and surround

After: New Shower

After: New Shower, future broom closet.

We decided to get a neo-classic corner shower. We knew that we would have to give up some square footage for a larger shower, but it would be worth it.  While measuring and taping out our options on the floor we discovered that the corner shower gave us more bathing space while taking up less floor space. It is not exactly what we originally wanted but it is far better than with what we started. Shaving my legs is a little challenging, but I have been searching for a reason to stop.

During the construction of the glass shower surround and doors, Tracy installed some small colored LED lights around the top of the glass. They glow either green, blue, or red. The glow is just bright enough to serve as a night light without being so bright we can not sleep. I prefer the blue light, but the green is not so bad either. The red light just makes me feel like I am in a red light district.

The throne for giants.

If there is one thing I have learned, it's how and when to pick my battles. We purchased our toilet from a local RV shop. The original unit sat on a raised platform which was covered with the faded mauve carpet. Being the daughter of a plumber I understood the purpose of the platform, but having worked in a Microbiology Lab for 15 years my gag reflexes started working over time. When I caught site of that faded mauve poop trap I just knew thirty years of C. diff  and E. coli were lurking like a creepy mouth breather, waiting to lash out and kill us.

Tracy removed the carpeting, recovered the platform with some of the left over flooring, and installed the toilet. Hmmm...with the added height of the platform the toilet was more than a little tall. We had gone from a toilet that could easily have doubled as a potty chair to a toilet that was made for professional basketball players.

Tracy is normally a perfectionist, so I was a little surprised when he did not go the extra mile and cut down the drain pipe to lower the platform. In his defense we were getting close to our deadline and moving day was just around the corner.

After: New Throne

I did not say a word. I kept my mouth shut and bought a step stool.

I don't know if it was because Tracy was tired of tripping over the step stool or if something else caused him to change his mind, but I won. I came home from work one evening and Tracy had lowered the toilet.

No more cold showers = No more body odor.

The new water heater came about two weeks after we moved into the Big Lebowski. We had started pricing the on demand water heaters shortly after we got the motorhome. When we first started looking the going retail price was around $1200. We got an Attwood 90205 On-Demand Hot Water Heater for just less than $600 at Amazon in early February.

This is the water heater we bought.

I am so thrilled with the new water heater. We have had a cold, wet winter here in Texas and taking “Navy Showers” was brutal. The old water heater was only seven gallons and we had to remember to turn it on an hour before showering. After that seven gallons was gone it was another hour before we had hot water again. It seems like that would be enough, but it’s not. So both of us taking a bath every day was a ballet requiring planning and coordination.  I felt like I had to choose between washing my body and washing my hair. After the first week I cut my hair.

 After watching our neighbor take two days to install his new water heater, I do not feel bad about it taking six hours for Tracy to get ours installed. The biggest problem was that the work space is small, and you can not always see what you are doing. The next problem was that we misunderstood what "exact fit" means. The specifications listed the new water heater as an exact fit for our old water heater. Not so fast, as it turns out exact fit means it has the same foot print. The connections were on the opposite side from our old unit.

Old water heater: The old water heater was original  the
Big Lebowski and only heater 7 gallons an hour.
It was full of sediment. We joked that it was
really just a 3 gallon unit.

Our biggest mistake with the purchase of the water heater was to not spend the extra $30 to buy the new door. Again, "Exact Fit". The vent was on the opposite side as our current door. Tracy had to modify our old door until we could order a replacement.

 The actual installation only took three hours. The remaining three hours were spent trying to track down the leak. Tracy made about 100 trips to the interior and back out to the exterior of the motorhome. Doug and I sat in a chair outside and watched. We learned a lot of dirty words that night.

New tankless / on-demand water heater.
I am spoiled for life.

A good nights sleep cures everything.

We eventually decided to just go to bed. I figured after a good nights sleep Tracy would feel better and get it figured out. Sure enough, he woke up early, and declared he knew where the leak was coming from.

I bit my tongue as I watched him pull up a piece of the new flooring and cut a hole in the floor of the Big Lebowski. He reached into the hole and held up a piece of piping with a factory screw stuck in the side. We guess with all the pulling on the piping during the installation of the new water heater the screw must have lost some of its grip on the pipe and sprung a leak.

Upgrades and little changes.

Tracy installed black out tint on the windows so you cannot see the interior from the outside. We had some left over from a job he did for a Dollar General store front a couple of years ago. I am so glad we hung onto it. I was a little apprehensive about tinting all the windows. I was worried the tint would make the interior too dark. It is darker, but not so dark that I feel like I live in a cave. The tint has made a huge difference on hot days.

We changed all the light bulbs to LED lights and have been slowly replacing the lighting fixtures as we go. The original lighting fixtures are dated and the covers block the light. We added a couple of extra fixtures while working on the bathroom and dining area. Something about hitting your mid-forties makes your eyes go wonky.

Tracy and I made a new sink cover. The sink cover helps enlarge your counter space because space is at a premium when you are trying to make a sandwich. We cut and sanded a piece of pine. Then we printed out some vintage travel stickers from Google images and used Modge Podge to stick them to the wood. Once it dried Tracy used Parks Super Glaze to seal and preserve the wood. We had a lot of fun working together on this project and I think it is the most beautiful sink cover in existence.

Freshly sanded and ready for stickers.

This is the epoxy glaze we used
for the sink cover and table.
I highly recommend this product not be used around cats.

Finished sink cover.

We used the same Parks Super Glaze to seal and preserve our new dining table. We found a really nice piece of 1” pine and cut it to our needed length and width. Tracy sanded and coated it with the glaze. I ordered two marine folding brackets to mount the table just under the window in the Big Lebowski’ where the old dinette had once been. We had kept the folding leg from the old dinette table and I ordered a matching folding leg to use as additional support. The brackets and legs allow us to fold the table down against the wall when we need additional floor space.

These are the marine brackets we used for the table.
The walls will eventually get recovered with marine grade vinyl.

Our new table a stools.

I don't recommend you use the glaze if cats are present.

I love the imperfections of homemade things, it gives them character and history. The history behind my table? Tracy spent an hour making sure the glaze was even and smooth before he set it out to dry. He must have forgotten about the cats because thirty minutes later we had a cat stuck to the middle of the table. Princess Kitty Princess was not happy. She spent the better part of two weeks trying to get the epoxy off her paws. So if you look very closely you can see little paw prints in my table.

So close yet so far.

The major work on the bathroom is finished, but we still have a little ways to go before we done. There is still work to be done with the old vanity. We had to remove the lavatory, cut the counter, and cabinet down to make room for the shower. There is now an open space where we plan to create a small broom closet and make a small counter top for the remaining portion of the cabinet. We could not just remove the cabinet because what remains houses the water heater. For now I hung our old metal Ex-Lax sign.

Future home of a broom closet and small vanity.
I am thinking of making the top like our sink cover.

New window coverings are in the planning, but I will not be able to finish them until I stop working. I plan on making roman shades for the side and back windows of the Big Lebowski. My last day is this coming Friday, so it won’t be long. 

We have to wait for the weather to warm up to finish covering the walls with the marine grade vinyl. The spray adhesive will not work if the temperature is less than 65°F and it is going to take both of us to get the job done. We have to do this first before we can finish anything else.

I will keep posting as we finish each project so be sure to subscribe to our blog.

I have provided links to some of the items we purchased on Amazon for anyone that is interested at looking into them. If you purchase them please use the link and we will get a small fee from Amazon. It won’t be much but it will help keep the internet on so we can keep blogging.

Let us know what you think of our handy work so far and leave a comment below. Be sure to share us with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. I have also included a Flipboard widget for readers who would like to save our posts for future enjoyment.

Attwood 90205 On-Demand Hot Water Heater

Rust-Oleum 241352 Parks Super Glaze Ultra Crystal Pour On Epoxy Finish Kit, Clear Gloss

Amarine-made Polished Stainless Steel Folding Shelf Bench Table Folding Shelf or Bracket, Max Load: 330lb, Short Release Arm

6 sets of Gold Stars 11568301-06 LED Replacement Bulb 1003 / 1141 / 1156 Base 120 LUMS 12V or 24V Natural White

TRINITY Aluminum Work Stool

Progressive Dynamics (PD782WSBCV) Double Ceiling Light

Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Breaking Bad And A New Coward Pedal

 

Getting a louder horn was not an option.

 

After our hair-raising trip home in the Big Lebowski the brakes were the first project completed. Two days later and twenty visits to the auto parts store, Tracy was on a first name basis with the guys at O'Rileys. I really do not look at being on a first named basis with the employees at an auto parts store as a good thing.

Once Tracy was ready to bleed the brake lines I was the only person around to help him. I am sure everyone that had been standing around watching him work on the brakes decided to hide before they were asked to perform the task of pumping the brakes. This meant I had to sit in the Captains seat and pump on the brakes. I am sure you all know what I am talking about, you pump and pump and pump, and then pump some more. By the time its all done your legs feel like spaghetti and it hurts to walk for two days.

I pumped until my right knee gave out, which did not take long because it was still healing from when I got thrown in the floor on our maiden voyage. I don't normally use my left foot on the brakes and so I felt a little spastic. My brain and left leg would not communicate and so the effort was a little uncoordinated. Tracy was yelling "Pump the brakes!" from underneath the Big Lebowski. All the while my brain was screaming "Pump, Pump, Pump!", but my left leg was screaming "WHAT?"

In total the new rotors, calipers, hoses, pads, and fluids costs us just over $300. I was surprised because if we had taken the Big Lebowski to a shop we would have easily paid over $1,200 and taken about "two weeks". Below are the pictures of the old brakes.

We also spent around $300 on a new custom radiator and Tracy installed it in just a couple of hours.

I still get chills when I look at the photos, and give thanks for our safe return home.

I think we still need a louder horn.

You know the large air horns found on big rigs? The kind that make you jump and pay attention when they get blown. That's the kind I want. I have become convinced we will not die in a fiery crash, but rather get mauled by bears. I think one of those big air horns will be an excellent deterrent when a bear decides he wants to come visit us in the middle of the night.

We have only taken the Big Lebowski out a few times but each time we have had a little car dart out in front of us and slow down, or just stop. I understand people don't realize how much longer it takes for a 12,000 pound vehicle to stop. I think hearing this horn would make some people stop and think, or move out of the way, or at least flip us off. Either way, they are going to want to put some space between us and them.  

 

So when you are out and about and see an RV, remember they may have brake trouble.

Once we got the brakes fixed we moved on to the interior of the Big Lebowski.  We removed all the unwanted furniture, fixtures, and flooring. We opted for vinyl planks and bought the Traffic Master Allure in the Alpine Elm color. I was little hesitant about the color because it is so light. I had to remind myself that I have no decorator skills and Tracy is much better at matching colors than I am. I tease him and tell him he knows far too many interior decorators, but if your a remodeling contractor the interior decorators are your best friends. The floor turned out beautifully, and I love the end result. However getting there was a chore.

Interior with all fixtures removed

 

We were in staple hell.

There must have been ten staples for every square inch. The lead time on the new flooring was two weeks. Which turned out to be a good thing. Since we could only work on the Big Lebowski in the evenings, after work, it took us every bit of the two weeks to get the staples pulled. By the end of the second week our knees were aching and we opted to pay our son $40 to pull the remaining staples. It took him about 5 hours to finish, and he earned every penny.

It took Tracy about three evenings to lay the floor. There were a lot of specialty cuts and some of the pieces had to be molded with a heat gun.

Flooring After: Facing forward -
Dog house and Navigators side unfinished

Flooring After: Navigators side

Flooring After: Dinning area

Flooring After: Facing towards the back 

Flooring After: Dinning area and Galley

 

Flooring After: Hallway and Bathroom

 Who let the dogs out?

The dog house is the large piece that sits between the Captains and Navigators seats. It covers the motor, so taking it out is not an option. After a few days we decided to recover it using some marine grade vinyl. I had purchase a whole roll to recover the walls on the Big Lebowski so we had plenty.

The dog house is made of fiberglass and had been covered in the same faded mauve carpeting as the original flooring. We pulled the old carpeting off and used it as a pattern to cut the vinyl. Before we could apply the new covering the fiberglass needed to be sanded so that the adhesive would adhere to the surface. The process of sanding took Tracy a couple of hours. Tracy did an awesome job recovering the dog house, it matches the floor, and the end result looks great.

Breaking Bad reruns.

The morning after recovering the dog house, as Tracy and I were getting ready to walk out the back door to leave for work, there was a knock on the door. We never have visitors early in the morning. Tracy and I looked at each other, really confused about why the police were knocking on our door at seven o'clock in the morning. The first thought that rushed through my head was that something had happened to one of my kids. My heart raced.

We opened the door and one of the officers informed us that they had received a complaint about our RV. I felt relieved and even more confused. He went on to say that the complaint was that there was a smell coming from the RV and the accuser thought we were manufacturing drugs in our RV. Tracy let our a roar of a laugh. I did not find this accusation funny at all. We offered to unlock the Big Lebowski and let the officers take a look inside, but they informed us that they had already done so. This slightly angered me.

Are there not laws about that kind of thing? Illegal search or something. I mean what were they doing standing on their car hood peeping in the two windows that did not have the blinds pulled?

Dog haters revenge.

 

While speaking with the cops they were eager to point out that we were legally parked and within our rights to have the RV where it was. They asked us a few questions about the RV and the remodeling work. Tracy told them about the flooring and sanding the dog house. That's when the cops determined the smell that was reported was from Tracy sanding the fiberglass and using the spray adhesive. Evidently fiberglass lets off a horrible odor when heated from the sanding and the spray adhesive is a little noxious.

The cops were eager to point out that one of our neighbors did not like us. Tracy was surprised to hear that statement. He was sure all of our neighbors loved us. The instant the cop said that I knew it was the Dog Hater that lived about four houses down. So no, not all of our neighbors loved us. That's all I have to say on the subject.

 

Dog House After
 

City Scape.

I made new drapes and for the Big Lebowski and they turned out petty well. I chose a city scape pattern. What do you think?

 I made new drapes for the Big Lebowski. I chose a city scape pattern. The scissors in the picture to the right are for scale. I was thinking of eventually putting little LED twinkle lights in some of the windows.

The pattern makes me think of all the places we will go. I think they turned out pretty well. The finished picture of the front end with the drapes is below. Let me know what you think.

Finished Front: New drapes, cleaned seats, and recovered dog house.

While installing the new flooring and covering the dog house Tracy took advantage of the fact that we had to pull out the seats. He used this time to relocate the Captains seat so that it could turn all the way around. In it's original location the seat could only turn side to side. By moving it back an inch we gained enough room for the chair to turn completely around. He reinstalled the seats with all new nuts and bolts.

Having the seats out also gave us the opportunity give them a good cleaning and inspect the hardware and seat belts. Everything was in good working order. We decided against recovering them for now because they were in good shape and the blue is not a horrible color. We did look into new seat covers and they were going to cost around $200 each. We put them on the "When We Win the Lotto" list and used the $400 for a new shower.

Let us know what you think so far and leave us a comment.

I will reveal photos of the new bathroom in my next post. There is a subscription option on the right side, near the top. You will be notified by email as soon as a new post is made.  Be sure to share us with your friends and family on any of the social media sites listed below.
 

 

Add to Flipboard Magazine.

The Calm Before the Remodel Storm

We knew right away that there were changes we wanted to make to the RV. 

The bathroom was way too small. The shower would have been impossible for us to use. It was made for tiny people, people who were less than five foot tall and weighed less than ninety pounds. The original shower/tub was for children. The toilet was nasty and I wanted a new one.

The flooring had to go.  The original decor of the motorhome had baby blue furniture and valances with a mauve carpeting that had long since turned a funky orange. There was linoleum flooring in the galley area, but I think linoleum is impractical for us. There is no simple way to repair a tear or rip, and with my crew it would happen. 

We had a goal to get the Big Lebowski comfortable enough for us to move in full time by the end of January. We wanted to get out of our house and into the motorhome full time so that we could pay off what few bills we had left and start socking more money into savings. 

Here are some before pictures of the interior.

Interior before: Captains Seat, "Dog House", and Sofa.
See the ugly orange carpet on the "Dog House"
(the thing between the seats)

Interior Before: Navigators Seat, and "Dog House"

Interior Before: Front and Overhead

Interior Before: Looking towards the back, Galley on right

Interior Before: Passenger Seating 

Interior Before: Galley

Interior Before: Bedroom

Interior Before: Looking towards Bedroom

Interior Before: Left Side of Bedroom

Interior Before: Right Side of Bedroom

Interior Before and During: Looking towards front, Doug and Tracy removing Dinette

Interior Before: Hallway

Interior Before: Bathroom - Shower and Lavatory

Interior Before: Lavatory and Vanity

Interior Before: Bathroom - Medicine Chest looking into shower

Interior Before: Toilet

Interior Before: Location of old Dinette Table I accidentally tore out

Interior Before: Bathroom and Doug

Interior Before: Shower and Skylight

 We knew that some changes were going to have to wait. 

Along with the remodel there were also some mechanical issues that had to be made. As we established in a previous blog post, The Big Lebowski needed brakes. It also needed an oil and fluid change, new tires, radiator, and all new hoses. The furnace, generator, roof, water filtration, and water pump were also in need of repair or upgrade.

In addition to the remodeling we had some large purchases to budget. We needed a new mattress, furniture and drapes, and a solar power system. The windows needed to be tinted and the Big Lebowski needed a good bath and wax job. 

The first thing we did was register the Big Lebowski. 

Before Tracy could dive in and get to work on the Big Lebowski the issue of registration and title change had to be taken care of. These were the easiest tasks to knock off our lists. We also needed a new inspection so the brakes were at the top of the list.

On Monday morning I called our insurance agent to drop my car and add the motorhome. We got the new proof of insurance instantly and then Tracy was off to the tax office to take care of the registration and title change. It took the State of Texas a week and a half to send us the new title. 

Once all the legal stuff was taken care of Tracy dove in and started tearing the Big Lebowski apart. 

During: Tracy and Doug removing the Dinette

During: Tracy removing the dinette

During: Tracy and Doug removing dinette

During: No more ugly dinette

During: No more ugly dinette

During: everything removed

Once everything was removed we were better able to asses any additional repairs or upgrades that needed to be made. We discovered that the sky light in the bathroom was cracked and leaking. I quickly saw that the Big Lebowski was a project that would keep both Tracy and myself busy for quite a while.

I felt anxious about getting everything done and it not costing us a small fortune. We had a budget and needed to stay on track. With every new expenditure I started to think more and more about the movie The Money Pit. Everything we ordered took "two weeks" to be delivered. We had done our research so I wasn't surprised when everything we purchased fell into one of three price ranges - $300, $600, or $1,000. 

Our next post will feature the brake repairs and new flooring installation.

We start our trip on the road March 6 so be sure to stay in touch. We added a subscribe option for those of you who want to be notified by email when the blog is updated. This feature can be located near the top on the right hand side.

Leave us a comment and share our blog with your friends using the share buttons below.

Add to Flipboard Magazine.