Monday, June 10, 2024

This is why sometimes you just hire professionals

They showed up at 8:30 am, exactly when they said they would. 

They have been nice and polite, and have tried to keep the mess to a minimum. 

By noon, half the crew had to leave because all the heavy stuff was done, and it's down to noddley demolition. 

By 1 pm, when the last two went to take their lunch, this is where we were at.

Tub is on the lawn!
No, it will not become a water feature.
The view from the door. Vanity used to be to the right (being re-used), tub to the left.
This is the wall between the bathroom and the laundry
The view in from the window into the corner where the tub used to be. True 2x4's!
The rafters, which are sort of just toenailed into the house with hopes and dreams.
The wall out toward the dining room from the window.
The tub corner again. There's a bunch of posts here, and I'm hoping to get a better look at it once they are done for the day.  I suspect some of these are just emotional support posts for hanging the plaster/lathe on. If you zoom in and look super close, there's a wooden peg through a mortise/tennon at the top of the corner.

Thursday, June 6, 2024

Here we go again

 Well, friends, it's been a minute.
The bathroom is finally progressing again.
The old contractor has skipped out with the deposit, and the courts, having ruled in my favor, can't actually enforce anything. So that was a lot of time and hassle for nothing.
Karma will catch up to him someday.

I found a new contractor, ironed out a bunch of details, and now finally we're getting started. 

First, let's remember where we left off.

I'd removed the molding and the door to be refinished, and cut open the "mystery box" to the let of the door.

I'd had to replace the vanity, because the one that came with the house was literally crumbling.

I'd jerryrigged a shower situation with the help of my former partner so I could at least shower.

I'd started to demo the walls and ceiling to figure out what was going on inside of them.

I'd pulled the old, badly warped medicine cabinet off the wall, but installed a new light and mirror over the vanity.

I had explored the weird box at the head of the tub, only to find out it really only houses the plumbing.

I'd pulled all the green tile off the wall I could reach - it ends about halfway up where the chair rail used to be.

I cut lots of holes in the ceiling.

More holes in the ceiling.

Just this weel I removed all the temporary insulation so that Tad and crew didn't have to mess with it.
I'm going to pull down the fixtures I want to reuse too.

The shower/tub stripped of all it's protections.

It started getting real again earlier last week when my very own Porta Potty showed up. I wind up using these a lot in the summer, because it's the easiest thing to get to service campgrounds with several hundred temporary residents. I'm well acquainted with them.

The fact that it sort of matches amuses the heck out of me. :)

 Then Tuesday the dumpster showed up. I swear we could just rip the whole bathroom structure off and fit it in the dumpster. That had been an idea for a minute, but I couldn't afford that level of construction.

To no one's surprise, they couldn't make the turn, and instead parked the dumpster partially in the hillside. There will be landscaping to do when this is done.

The game is afoot, as Sherlock would say. Permits pulled, plans drawn, and ram board laid in the traffic areas. They will be back Monday or Tuesday (depending on weather) to start in earnest. I'm replacing the whole dang roof at the same time, so that will be nice not to have to worry about.

This has been a long time coming. I'm a little scared, a lot apprehensive, and at this point just want it over with. 

Someone is displeased with the upheaval of routine.