Our Concrete Home

It’s amazing how many post I can write about a door opening! Nothing is ever simple in a concrete block house. Read about the whole process (1, 2, 3).

With the rough door opening cut, we had to decide what sort of support we were going to install above the door opening. Traditionally, a wood header or metal lintel would be installed to support the blocks above the doorway. Plus, we really needed to extend the header 6″ on either side of the door opening to support the weight, but the wall doesn’t even have that clearance.

Our second thought was just to take out all the blocks above the door frame and the doorway. We knew the wall was not load-bearing, so removing it wouldn’t be too difficult. Once it was out, we could re-frame the entire wall with wood and build the header into it.

All this talk about headers made us start to wonder what support was above the bathroom so we decided to investigate.

What we found was old termite damage along the whole concrete side of the doorway that needed to be replaced. It was very similar to the damage we found in our master bathroom.

With this latest development, taking out the remaining blocks above and next to the door was an easy decision. Now we could replace everything at once.

So early Saturday morning, Nate cut and broke out the remaining concrete blocks (with Dean’s handy diamond blade).

This time, we successfully put up a plastic barrier to keep the concrete dust contained so cleaning was pretty easy.

My dad came over midday to help us with the framing. I know I say this a lot, but Nate and I are total novices at this stuff, so we really are thankful to have knowledgeable family, friends and neighbors around to help us work on these projects.

First thing we did was replace the termite damaged wood above the bathroom doorway with a solid blocked support. It was important to have this header in, so we would could secure the wall framing later on.

Next we built the frame for the closet doorway outside to order.

We laid out all the pieces and then secured them so we could bring the whole framed piece into the house.

Unfortunately, we ran into a snag when we tried to install the frame, but let me catch my breath and tell that story in the next post.

Next up, finicky concrete block throws us a curve ball…

Guess what? We’ve been working on a major bathroom renovation over the course of the last two months. Currently, we’re converting our old shower into a closet accessible from the hallway. You can read the step by step of the whole process if you like (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6).

Wish our wall opening was as cool and awe-inspiring as the original “Open Sesame,” but I think our little hole in the wall is still quite magical.

This part of the project started with a call. Over Spring Break  Nate called me at work to ask if had any reservations about cutting out the hole. Nate and our concrete mentor  Dean had the time and determination to take on the project, so I easily gave my approval. I just wish I could have been there to see the work in action!

First they sectioned off the hallway from the rest of the house with plastic to prevent dust from circulating through the whole house.

Then they got to it. With a diamond blade, Dean cut the length of the opening along the grout lines. Then they broke out the blocks with hammer and chisel.

Everything went quite smoothly except one small problem. When they prepped the space, Nate and Dean forgot to close off the heating vent in the shower. Once the saw started cutting, it only took moments for the dust to move through the vent and circulate through the inside of the house. Major bummer.

Once they realized what had happened, they stopped and sealed up the vent before continuing. After that small incident, the cutting went quickly and all the blocks were removed.

I came home from work to a brand new closet opening. It’s great to see progress on a long-term project like this. Although I was a little annoyed at the dust, it was so worth it to see the closet door cut. Yay progress!

Nate finished up by cutting a  support for the opening with two 2x4s. The blocks above the opening are unlikely to fall, but we wanted to make sure. Remember safety first folks!

Then we cleaned dust off every surface of the house. It ended up being a sort of mandatory spring cleaning. By the end of the evening,  our place was the cleanest it’s been for quite some time. And that’s also kinda cool.

Up next… supporting the door and more surprises!

The last few weeks, we’ve been working on our new closet door. This project is pretty tricky for novices like us, but with a lot of help from my dad and our good friend Dean, we’ve made some solid progress.

I am going to split this into a couple posts to show you our thought process step by step.

By now you have seen how a weekend update project turned into a full blown bathroom remodel. I’ve discussed how our prison bath had a very dysfunctional, dark shower stall that we are making into a closet accessible from the hallway.

Since we have never created a door opening before (wood or concrete), we had a bunch of research and planning to do before a cut was made. For starters, we needed to know where to cut, how wide, what tools to use and what door to install.

The first decision was an easy one. Attach the door to the right side of the opening so it would be easy to access for coats from the dining area.

Next, we talked about where to make the cut. The easiest place on a concrete block wall to cut is right on the grout lines. So we marked the lines we hoped would work and then tested out the scenario with an old 28″ wide door we had on hand.

Nate held the door in place about an inch or so from the right grout line estimating how much clearance we need for the door jam. Then, I measured how far a 28″ and 32″ door would swing out and taped the measurements down on the floor for future reference.

Adding the 2″ standard clearance for the frame on either side, our ideal cut lines on the grout would work well for us. Our opening is 32″ so we should have plenty of room for a 28″ or 30″ door.

All in all, I am glad we did a little “dress rehearsal” with an old door. I love sketching everything out on paper, but it is nice seeing an actual door in the space.

Now, we just need to cut a hole in a wall.