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BigV · 05-29-2013, 11:23 AM

On a different note, today I am making trouble for myself. I've decided to improve my very small bathroom by installing a larger medicine cabinet.

Here's where the trouble starts. I have wall mounted lighting that was alongside the previous surface mounted cabinet. The new cabinet will be large enough to cover these lights completely. I don't mind losing them, I've never been really happy with the light they provide. However, rerouting the electrical is going to be a challenge for me as I have very limited experience in this area and a strong allergic reaction to electrocution.

Next trouble, I am exploring the idea of flushmounting the new cabinet. The old one was a surface mount (I installed it twenty years ago) because I wanted a cabinet wider than the space between two wall studs. So I put a plywood patch on the hole left by the previous flush mounted cabinet, surface mounted the bigger cabinet and moved on. Now, that surface mounted cabinet is removed and I'm looking at the guts of my wall, thinking about how I'm gonna safely make a bigger hole in it.

My old house has walls made of lath and plaster, it's pretty unforgiving. I'll have to remove sections of at least two studs. I looked in the hole and I see the pipe for the vent for the sink drain very close to where I want to put the cabinet. I'M NOT MOVING ANY PLUMBING. So, if I choose to make this hole bigger, the bottom edge of the hole is going to be no lower than the top of that vent pipe plus the thickness of a 2x4. Enlarging the hole will also give me more room to move the electrical, so, side benefit there.

More trouble/complexity. I want to install an exhaust fan in the ceiling. The bathroom is very close to a vent in the attic that I can route the exhaust through. But, more electrical, yikes. Also... well, how can I say this. My house was built before electrical grounding was invented. Is it a giant deal to run a whole circuit from the bathroom through the walls/ceiling/floor/basement to the electrical panel in the basement? I have excellent access to the basement and the modern 200 amp electrical panel. Should I run two circuits? I expect to have to power in the bathroom one electrical outlet (GFCI, right?), one light circuit (maybe two fixtures, perhaps a third if the fan I get has a heatlamp in it), and one ceiling mounted exhaust fan. That doesn't seem like a very heavy load. I have lots of room in my electrical panel for another breaker for just the bathroom.

Then there's the carpentry needed to demo and create the opening for the cabinet. I won't be able to fully flushmount the cabinet, my walls are not as deep as the cabinet is and I don't really want to be hammering against the plaster keys on the other side of the wall. But a bit of flushmount would help, since my bathroom is really tiny. I've even contemplated getting a very narrow/shallow (measured from the wall to the edge of the sink) sink to facilitate ingress/egress. But I digress.

Demolition, enlarging wall openings, moving electrical circuits, installing new fixtures, lath and plaster renovation and preservation. All in the sole bathroom. No biggie, right? I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

...

Actually, that is my question (perhaps a new thread is in order...) What *could* possibly go wrong and how should I avoid it?

05-29-2013, 11:23 AM	#339
BigV Goon Squad Leader Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 27,063	On a different note, today I am making trouble for myself. I've decided to improve my very small bathroom by installing a larger medicine cabinet. Here's where the trouble starts. I have wall mounted lighting that was alongside the previous surface mounted cabinet. The new cabinet will be large enough to cover these lights completely. I don't mind losing them, I've never been really happy with the light they provide. However, rerouting the electrical is going to be a challenge for me as I have very limited experience in this area and a strong allergic reaction to electrocution. Next trouble, I am exploring the idea of flushmounting the new cabinet. The old one was a surface mount (I installed it twenty years ago) because I wanted a cabinet wider than the space between two wall studs. So I put a plywood patch on the hole left by the previous flush mounted cabinet, surface mounted the bigger cabinet and moved on. Now, that surface mounted cabinet is removed and I'm looking at the guts of my wall, thinking about how I'm gonna safely make a bigger hole in it. My old house has walls made of lath and plaster, it's pretty unforgiving. I'll have to remove sections of at least two studs. I looked in the hole and I see the pipe for the vent for the sink drain very close to where I want to put the cabinet. I'M NOT MOVING ANY PLUMBING. So, if I choose to make this hole bigger, the bottom edge of the hole is going to be no lower than the top of that vent pipe plus the thickness of a 2x4. Enlarging the hole will also give me more room to move the electrical, so, side benefit there. More trouble/complexity. I want to install an exhaust fan in the ceiling. The bathroom is very close to a vent in the attic that I can route the exhaust through. But, more electrical, yikes. Also... well, how can I say this. My house was built before electrical grounding was invented. Is it a giant deal to run a whole circuit from the bathroom through the walls/ceiling/floor/basement to the electrical panel in the basement? I have excellent access to the basement and the modern 200 amp electrical panel. Should I run two circuits? I expect to have to power in the bathroom one electrical outlet (GFCI, right?), one light circuit (maybe two fixtures, perhaps a third if the fan I get has a heatlamp in it), and one ceiling mounted exhaust fan. That doesn't seem like a very heavy load. I have lots of room in my electrical panel for another breaker for just the bathroom. Then there's the carpentry needed to demo and create the opening for the cabinet. I won't be able to fully flushmount the cabinet, my walls are not as deep as the cabinet is and I don't really want to be hammering against the plaster keys on the other side of the wall. But a bit of flushmount would help, since my bathroom is really tiny. I've even contemplated getting a very narrow/shallow (measured from the wall to the edge of the sink) sink to facilitate ingress/egress. But I digress. Demolition, enlarging wall openings, moving electrical circuits, installing new fixtures, lath and plaster renovation and preservation. All in the sole bathroom. No biggie, right? I mean, what could possibly go wrong? ... Actually, that is my question (perhaps a new thread is in order...) What could possibly go wrong and how should I avoid it? __________________ Be Just and Fear Not.