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High Vaulted Ceilings and Plumbing the Toilet

DIY Renovations

30 Nov

The high vaulted ceilings in our small fixer upper and plumbing the toilet were both quite the surprise. Ceilings were great, toilet not my cup of tea!

vaulted ceiling frames exposed in small fixer upper

CLAWFOOT TUB HUNT

I wanted to make sure our clawfoot tub would fit into the bathroom and asked Nate if he measured the space to confirm. He assured me that it should be fine. 

bathroom frames exposed in small fixer upper
The clawfoot tub would be placed next to that wall in the bathroom.

As we started to scope out the bathroom for placement of our plumbing, my mind wonders off to clawfoot tub land. It’s something we talked about for a long time and now we would be really starting to look for one!

We were on the hunt for an old antique clawfoot tub around the era that our house was built in 1934. Nate looked mostly on Facebook Marketplace to find the right one for us after he did a lot of research on the different types and sizes there were. We ended up finding a local business that acquired old antiques and refinished them for sale and so we stopped by to take a look. 

antique cast iron clawfoot tubs

Although they mostly carried clawfoot tubs and refinished them, they also had old antique sinks and fixtures as well. 

antique cast iron clawfoot tub

When you start getting into these old gems, it’s like being a kid in a candy store! You just can’t get enough. You want everything in that store!

GETTING READY FOR THE PLUMBING

Now we are finally working with the plumbing contractor! Nate found some contractors to also help dig more dirt around the perimeter of the house so that we could begin to install pipes for the plumbing. 

They dug down real deep to almost like their height! Incredible how many hands actually do make light work. 

man digging foundation around small fixer upper house

The framing of our high vaulted ceilings and plumbing the toilet were coming together.

HOUSE FRAMING STATUS

Now back to the framers! They continued to make several trips to Home Depot for wood to finish up the framing in the house. What a huge task and a lot of wood! Again, it’s like we are really rebuilding this house from almost scratch. We were definitely not sure what we got ourselves into, but at this point, we had to just finish. 

two men buying wood frames at the store

Our entire house looked like one huge open concept studio or something now as the framing contractors were basically rebuilding all the frames from scratch. We tore down practically everything except for the shell of the house to only rebuild it back with a few tweaks from the original design. 

two men working on framing small fixer upper house and small fixer upper framing work exposed

The contractors blasted their music super loud while their machinery and tools added to the sounds in the air. At the same time you could hear them shouting out measurements to either themselves or each other. It was quite the site to see and hear!

FRAMING HIGH VAULTED CEILINGS

The framing of our high vaulted ceilings and plumbing the toilet were shocking and exciting at the same time!

Nate brings me to the house for yet another tour as I haven’t seen it in a while. I’m hesitant to go in and a bit scared of the progress so far. I suppose because we’ve somehow developed a theme of making the place look worse (and more worse) before we make it better!

woman in small fixer upper house with framing exposed

Nate warned me that I should be a bit scared as the house was a total mess. I knew it! So I enter the house slowly and with a bit of caution, hoping for the best, but really wondering if I would fall through any walls or something random like that! 

My first reaction was, “Wow!” And second, “This is weird!” 

I hadn’t been to the house for a while so when I came to look at the framing work that was done, it was crazy. 

Nate wonders if I think the house feels smaller because of the frames, except for the ceiling. I thought it actually felt bigger and more open because the wall between the living room and kitchen was removed.  

woman looking up at vaulted ceiling frames exposed

The house actually looked a lot larger, of course, with all the walls removed and everything open. Nate also pointed out that it feels a lot bigger because of the high vaulted ceilings, which we never had before that the framers worked on. 

VAULTED CEILINGS? YES, PLEASE!

“So the question is, do we want to leave the ceiling vaulted?” Nate asked me as we were looking at the exposed frames. Right away I’m like, yea, this makes it look bigger and it was so pretty! 

Nate wonders if we should keep the vaulted ceiling instead of the normal ceiling we had before, which was more like a box and made the house feel a lot smaller. I was totally down for that. How exciting! And another thing I didn’t think could be possible – high vaulted ceilings to open up our space! 

walls and ceiling of small fixer upper living room
What the ceiling looked like before.

Nate explained how the vaulted ceiling above the living room and kitchen area would be finalized. The original wood we were looking at would no longer be visible and actually have frames and drywall beneath it, yet would still maintain a vaulted look. But man, I really wanted the original wood to be exposed.

That was not possible because the framers needed to put braces on the ceiling and it needed to be more secured. Plus, it would get really hot or cold without the insulation and drywall beneath it. Darn. 

vaulted ceiling frames exposed in small fixer upper and man holding up wood frame under vent at the peak of small fixer upper with vaulted ceiling exposed

So the vaulted ceiling would start below the vent at the peak of the house. 

TWO CLOSETS IN ONE

It was fun to walk through all the framing work that was completed like our new closets. We decided to place one large closet unit in between the office and bedroom and split it in half as two closets. So from each room you can access one closet only. 

woman in closet frame of small fixer upper house

I walked in both of the closets to check them out and process the type of stuff we could store in them. It was so cool to finally figure out our closet situation since we tore down the one in the bedroom to make the bathroom larger and also tore down the one in the office.

I did note though, that the placement of the two closets in the middle of the two rooms made them a bit more smaller. 

woman in closet frame of small fixer upper house

CHECKING OUT THE PLUMBING  

Now I get to see what has been done with the plumbing so far. Nate points out all the pipes in the foundation and what they connect to. This was incredible for me as I’ve never seen the inter workings of a house like this before! 

plumbing pipe in kitchen for sink

He showed me where the plumbing pipe for our kitchen sink was placed and how it would be the sink drain. The actual sink would be placed under the kitchen window. We were super excited to get our antique cast iron farmhouse sink back from the local business that was refinishing it. 

PLUMBING THE TOILET

plumbing pipe in bathroom for toilet and man gesturing toward window framing and toilet plumbing pipes

Then we run into a little snag about the window in the bathroom and where the toilet should be placed! Nate worked with the plumber to install the pipes for the toilet and with the framers to move the window to the right so that it would be lined up with the bedroom door entrance and placed right above the toilet. Umm.. yea.. no thank you! Plus, wouldn’t that be cold in the winter? 

man gesturing toward window framing and toilet plumbing pipes

I know that there are many bathroom designs just like this and maybe to maximize space, but since we have a much larger bathroom now, I really wanted to make a special space for the window. Instead of having a toilet in the way of the window, I thought we could just have an open area for it or place a shelf or cabinets underneath it and add plants to it. Maybe also add a basket with towels, candles and essential oils on the shelf or cabinets, and just do something really special with that window. And not have a toilet in front of it!

I’m not sure if my idea was better or not, but it just made more sense to me. And that’s where Nate and I had to really figure it out before we finalized our plans with the contractors. One challenge after another, just learning as we go!

The framing of our high vaulted ceilings and plumbing the toilet would propel us into the next fixer upper adventure!

Psalm 20:4

May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS

Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic home mostly on our own. Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead!

You can also watch a video about this here.

To see more adventures of our tiny fixer upper journey, click on the links below.

DIY REPAIRS TO OUR BROKEN UP FOUNDATION FOOTER

FRAMING PROGRESS OF OUR SMALL FIXER UPPER

Check out our YouTube channel here!

Read more about my story here. 

Stay tuned as I share about simple and minimal living in small spaces, DIY renovation projects while living simply in a literal construction zone, and how we’re learning to urban homestead in a small space.. all while working full time jobs!

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Previous Post: « DIY Repairs To The Broken Up Foundation Footer
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Megan says

    December 1, 2022 at 11:10 am

    The high vaulted ceilings and clawfoot tub are lovely! They will add so much charm to the home. Love seeing this update!

    Reply
    • JourneyDownTheRoad says

      December 1, 2022 at 6:05 pm

      Thank you and they certainly are! 😉 We do love bringing the old charm back into this sweet gem!

      Reply
  2. Brittany says

    December 1, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    This has me so excited for the future! We are moving across the country next year and it will almost certainly be to a fixer upper! Subscribing to your youtube to keep following along!

    Reply
    • JourneyDownTheRoad says

      December 1, 2022 at 6:07 pm

      That’s so awesome to hear! I’m also looking forward to following your homesteading journey. Can’t wait for you to experience the fixer upper life ☺️

      Reply
  3. Nikki Ruskofsky says

    December 2, 2022 at 9:55 am

    Love the tub and the high ceilings are all going to look great. You are doing such a nice job on this house.

    Reply
    • JourneyDownTheRoad says

      December 6, 2022 at 6:36 am

      Thank you! 🥰 It’s amazing how high ceilings really do open up a space and look beautiful.

      Reply
  4. Barbra-Sue Kowalski says

    December 2, 2022 at 4:21 pm

    How exciting to be putting in a claw foot tub! A gem indeed. Can’t wait until the big reveal!

    Reply
    • JourneyDownTheRoad says

      December 6, 2022 at 6:37 am

      It is exciting! 😍 Yes, you can’t have an old historic home without a clawfoot tub, right? ☺️

      Reply
  5. Juliea Huffaker says

    December 5, 2022 at 12:25 pm

    What a fun process! Love the vaulted ceilings and love claw foot tubs too! Wish I would of found one for my master in time! Beautiful!

    Reply
    • JourneyDownTheRoad says

      December 6, 2022 at 6:42 am

      Thanks so much! ☺️ It has been such a fun process! We also love the vaulted ceilings and clawfoot tub 😍

      Reply

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Hello, I’m Charlene! My husband Nate and I are excited to have you journey down the road with us as we restore a historic 1930’s minimal traditional house (only 744 sq ft!). Join us while we talk about simple living in small spaces here.

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