See, that part? The part about the water leaving? It has sort of been an issue for me. The tub always drained slow, but that was in part because it was pitched improperly. I could live with it, mostly. Lately it had become a real issue - I snaked it and sent gallons of boiling water and Draino down the trap, but it just refused to do more than a slow trickle of a drain.
Back when I added a washing machine to the mix in early June, everything that had been in delicate balance went right out the window. The system wasn't designed for it - the venting situation was just all wrong, and for most of the summer I wound up running a drain line out the back door so the washing machine could drain onto my parched lawn.
This wasn't going to work into the months where things freeze, (and when I don't want the back door cracked open.) I called in the pros to deal with it.
Once again, I forgot to pause and take a good before picture before I started tearrng things apart.
Demo really is my favorite part. That, and the final results.
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| This wall here where the vanity backs up shares the wall in the mudroom that contains all the mechanicals that supports both rooms (plumbing and electrical). There's a big mucking beam right under this wall. |
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| OMG, SO GROSS. CLEAN IT! CLEAN IT NOOOOW! |
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| Ok, that's better. What we're looking at there, from left to right - 1) the outside water feed with shut off. 2) Combo sink and washing machine drain with water risers over old weird 1" tile-look laminate tiles. I'm guessing this is the 4th or 5th sink situation in this bathroom's life. The last one certainly wasn't original. 3) toilet water feed/toilet |
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| At the end of day 1 - the cast iron is down and detached, all kinds of new drain lines are up. As you can see, there's only about 40" of working room in this area. Felt sort of bad for the guy stuffed in the hole all day, but he was paid well for it. |
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| The only cast iron left is the toilet (top center) and the trunk it all feeds into. |
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| New tub drain! |
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| The end result of Day 1 - separate drain lines for the sink and the washing machine. |
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| After a comedy of errors, I got a vanity home that would work. It was very heavy. The carpet made sliding it over the cardboard easier. |
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| My friend Jessie came over and we managed to get it in the house without anyone getting hurt. Then I took a nice socially distanced walk in the woods with his family. |
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| The plumbers came back a week later and hooked the whole thing back up! I'm so very happy to be able to brush my teeth in the bathroom again! Someday soon I'm going to paint that upper tongue and groove either white or a very light grey. That would get rid of one more shade of green in the bathroom. |
Next up for the bathroom - getting a quote to deal with the tub area.
Exciting times, I tell you what.