A bar in the bathroom. What will it be?

When I started this remodeling project I wanted to reuse building materials and have upcycled features.  Also, I did not even know how to do normal remodeling let alone repurposing.  I did manage to hoard a bunch of boards in the barn.  For better or worse, right around the time we bought this place I started a new business with my dad and brother remodeling rental houses.  This opportunity allowed me to learn a lot in a short period of time.  I learned new skills but I also learned how I did not want to do some things.  The downside of it was that I was working all the time and had to hire help.  The help I hired did not always work out so well and this whole place has suffered for it.

Well, now that I am in more of the finishing phase of the project I can get back to my original intent of repurposing and upcycling.  Many of the elements from the bathroom were new but I finally managed to get some of my creations in.  The towel bar and a toilet paper holder are now both a thing; they are all designed and created by me.

It is sealed with polyurethane

The towel bar is a branch that we found on the farm.  I cut it to length and set about figuring how to best mount it to the wall.  The final way may not be the best way but it has not fallen yet.

Thread the needle

My brother though I should save the hardware from a drop ceiling we removed.  A wire is run through the hole, twisted off, and then run through the drop ceiling frame.  I drilled holes at 16" center on the branch and into the studs in the wall.  Pre drilling makes installing the hardware easier.  To make the branch stay put I threaded scrap copper wire halfway through then ran both ends through the branch.  The wires are long enough to wrap around the branch and back around the hardware.

It has not fallen yet

Many of my projects also are posted on Facebook.  After posting the towel bar a friend there suggested using an antler for a toilet paper holder.  There is no antler in my hoard.  I did have some scraps of copper water line out in the garage.  When this house was sitting here abandoned the backdoor was kicked in and all the the easily accessible copper piping was stolen.  It has all been replaced by pex.  When I tore the drywall out of the bathroom it revealed the copper that was left behind.  I threw it in a bucket with the plan of scrapping it myself, when I got around to it.

repurposed from the same house

The long end was a jagged break in the pipe so I cut it and brazed a cap on.  It was not easy finding a way to put it all together.  What you see is a battery terminal clasp; it is bolted into the wood.  The block is held on by a drywall screw and plumbing hardware.  There is a special bolt that is used to keep a toilet on to a wood floor.  It has a wood screw on one end and threaded as a bolt on the other.  The wood was something my brother gave me and already had a hole in the center.  I was able to thread the wood screw end through it and into the cabinet.  The bolt threaded end has a nut on it and it slides into the copper pipe.  This gave extra support and kept the battery terminal clasp from spinning as I tightened the bolt into the wood.

It did not get as many "likes" as other things I have posted but I don't care.  I think it looks good and I like it because I made it from things that were sitting around my garage.  I bet people would like it more if they saw it in person.  It works and that is what really matters.

The rest of the day was spent starting a thing for the garbage can. There will be more details on that in the future.  Also, time was spent clearing vines from a crab apple tree in the back yard.  There is a post on that too.