Bathroom Reno: Day 4

This picture pretty much sums up Day 4: Chaos. It started around 8:30am when first the city showed up again to give the water thing another shot (you'll recall they said they'd come back Wednesday - today is Tuesday) and then the electrician showed up. Shortly after, Lowe's showed up. Then the city people wanted me to call the plumber back, so he returned around 9am. I pretty much ran up and down the three flights of the Bangor Foursquare for about two hours. By 10:30am, however, all was squared away: new GFCI in the bathroom, new shut-off valve for the water, and almost all materials delivered. Yes, I said almost - they said they didn't want to bring me the beadboard they had in stock as it was not in good shape (which is nice), so they said they'll bring it on Thursday when they get more (which is not nice).

I guess it's okay, though, as I can't seem to get the remainder of the tile in the tub-surround to come off. Despite what I said about Harry the other day, I appreciated how easily the tile on the drywall came off. I don't know what this stuff is behind the remaining tile but it's' not so much coming off easily. It appears to be like drywall but this stuff isn't budging.

I'm so close now I can feel it, but, alas. I'm too discouraged to even bother cleaning up for tonight. I'm officially calling it now - the upstairs bathroom is out of commission for the next few days. We were still using the toilet and I had some semblance of a sponge bath last night but no more, peeps. Besides, the toilet is seriously wigging out now. It knows the end is nigh.

It also occurs to me now, as I pick out tile shrapnel from my hair and I try to stave off this nagging cough, that I should have been wearing a hat and a dust mask . Yes, I know this but I honestly hate wearing them - they both make me sweaty. And, let's face it, I'm getting sweaty enough as it is. I am at least smart enough to have been wearing goggles and long sleeves. I give myself credit for that. If you're keeping score, that's minus one for being stupid and plus one for being smart. In other words, I'm somewhere in between.

So, despite having not had more than an hour this morning to work on it and three hours this afternoon, I still feel like I accomplished something. I also got to observe some masters in action - I got a quick tutorial in soldering as well as one in fishing wire and adding a new breaker. Tomorrow is an uninterrupted day of work. I'm hoping to finish pulling out that tile and to get the toilet out and the floor up - the last of the demo...I hope.

Day 3.46-3.99

Boy, am I glad I never offered to go on my favorite reality show: Renovation Realities on DIY Network. If I had, you would have been able to watch me break down on the bathroom floor and cry like a big baby. It was that kind of day. After the whole city water/plumber thing, I finally turned off the other shut-off valve to the house and went upstairs to remove the vanity. This was no easy feat - it appears they installed the plumbing after they installed the vanity so I had to cut out the bottom to remove it.

Then I attempted to install the new shut-offs for the sink but the size I got yesterday was wrong. I went back to Lowe's and attempted to find another one that fit. An employee thought I couldn't read so he proceeded for another 30 minutes to come to the same conclusion I did - they didn't have the right size. So then I drove across town to Home Depot, where a nice 20-something thought he could rig something to make it fit. I then returned home and tried to install it. It did not work again, to my sincere regret. And this is where I started crying, I believe. I then realized that if I cut the pipe a bit lower it was a standard 3/8" (I have no idea what the other size was or why there were two sizes of pipe). I dryed my tears and drove back to Home Depot and got the right parts - all on my own, thank you very much. So, our water is back on (which = Happy Thom) and the vanity is out. While I was at it, I also removed the medicine cabinet, which Thom had vetoed as a keeper. You can see below the result - all of this work seemed to have only taken a few hours but with all of the interruptions it actually took all day.

To feel like I had accomplished a bit more today I then removed the tile under the window.
I'd like to say that I'll try to knock out the rest of the tile tomorrow. However, the electrician is coming in the morning to install the new GFCI and breaker and then the delivery guys are coming with my stuff from Lowe's. Then I have to go to work in the afternoon for a student's defense. So, tomorrow is probably going to be a wash. Although, it does feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel. Once the tile and drywall is down in the shower I'll be ready to pull out the floor and get rid of the toilet. It seems to sense its demise is near; it was gargling while I was cleaning up a bit ago. The toilet death knell.

Day 3.45

I got some more tile and drywall removed this morning but took a couple hour break as I waited first for the city to come to shut off the water to the house and then for the plumber. Why, you ask? I wanted to turn the water off so I could install the shut-off valves to the sink and remove the vanity. Upon two people trying to turn the supply valve this morning, it snapped off. I called the plumber who instructed me to call the city. After almost an hour of trying, the city informed me that they cannot turn it off but will need to have to come and dig it up...which will be in a few days. Luckily the water is back on so we can use it in the next few days and luckily there is another shut-off to the house so I can get the work done. Unluckily, having the plumber sit around and wait for 45 minutes still cost $60. This is on top of the $114 he quoted me to replace the valve later this week. I am hoping this is the only unanticipated issue for this project. Off to chip away at some more tile. Sigh.

Bathroom Reno Day 2

A few updates since yesterday. Thom and I drove around to the box stores yesterday looking for a vanity with which we were both happy. Here is what we picked - it doesn't have drawers like we wanted but the color is right and so is the shaker style. It comes with a granite top and sink so I don't know if we'll keep it or use the one I got from the ReStore a few months ago. I'll donate whichever one I don't use.

I also had Paul come over last night to give me a second opinion on the tub issue. After taking turns jumping up and down in the tub (no, really) and not seeing any movement, I feel a little better. It appears while they did cut into the top of the floor joist, they only did so to accommodate the drain so the rest of the joist is intact. I guess we won't have a bathtub falling through the kitchen ceiling after all. Which is nice.

A little bit more progress today with the tile, but just a bit, as I have a church function for a few hours this afternoon. The rest of my morning was spent scheming - trying to figure out the sequencing of what I need to do in the next two weeks - and spending money at Lowe's. Since we do not have a truck (nor do we know anyone who has one -- I know it's hard to believe), I just decided to get everything I needed at one place so they can deliver it all. I guess this way I don't have to do that part of the heavy lifting. They say it will be delivered Tuesday morning, which gives me tomorrow to knock out the rest of the tile.

You can see what's left for me to tackle tomorrow. I'm hoping to get the tub surround and ceiling tile taken down as well as the tile wall that goes behind the vanity.

The rest of today we're going to find the breaker for the bathroom (poorly labeled box) and I'm going to go ahead and install some shut-off valves for the sink. Paul also thought we would be fine leaving the plumbing under the sink as is. It's not pretty but he thinks it's a waste of money to just get it re-routed. So that's that. I think I might instead just call an electrician to help us put in a new breaker and run wire to a new outlet. I hope that is cheaper than a plumber.

To Mildred From Harry (Bathroom Reno Day 1.5)

> I don't know who Harry is but I'd like to give him a swift kick in the ass.

I did decide to start pulling down tile after all and starting with my smiley face tile (see earlier post) I got a good pace going, mostly because the tile was stuck to drywall, which as you see below, got moldy. Nice one, Harry.

After that, it came down relatively easily until I got to the wall by the vanity. Again, because it was stuck to drywall, trying to pry behind the tile to loosen it only made holes in the drywall. So, I went to HD and got a drywall saw and just cut along the top of the tile and then pryed out the whole wall (and subsequently found the nice note to Mildred). It appears Harry just decided to use drywall for all of the tiling backer. Here's what else I found behind the wall:

I don't know if you can see this very well but it appears that when they did the bathroom renovation (circa 1970 I would guess from the decor) they cut a hole in the floor joist and through the subfloor to accommodate the plumbing. This looks to me like the tub is really just balancing precariously on a few shim-type things that Harry the Boob put underneath it. I'm having a second opinion (Paul is coming by) before I start freaking out but I'm pretty concerned about the tub falling through our kitchen ceiling and I'm also concerned that fixing this mess will be beyond my skill set. Seriously, Harry, you can suck it.

Not smiling (Day 1: Prep for Demo)

This may look like a smiley face but I'm not smiling. After about a 45-minute battle with the safety rails (they used drywall anchors) I came to find what appears to be drywall under the tile. I'm hoping that I'm wrong and that I'm not going to find a big, moldy mess under the tile when I pull it out. After complaining to Thom about this he remarked, "Well, maybe this is our thing." I asked what he meant and he replied, "The one thing we find in each room we work on where we say, 'Why did they do that?'" Indeed, this may be it. Idiots.

In the meantime, I'm just doing some other prep work: removing base boards, removing hand rails, etc. I may deign to start pulling out tile on the walls today but I'm not sure I'm mentally prepared. I started to feel a little sick to my stomach this morning thinking about the project and what all can go wrong. I'm mostly going to tackle this puppy myself (with the help of Paul and Thom to do some lifting of wallboard, etc.) so I'm hoping it will be okay. I am also trying to map out a schedule of what I'm going to do and in what order. I will need to bring a plumber in because of this mess:
Once I pull out the tile wall I hope that the plumber can then reroute the plumbing through the wall so we don't have to cut a huge hole in bottom of our new vanity (which Thom assures me he will be going today to help pick out). You'll also notice there are no, I repeat, no shut-off valves. I know I could handle putting those in myself using those compression fitting kind we used in the kitchen but I do not at all feel comfortable trying out my blowtorch skills for the first time to be able to pull off running new pipes. So, this Bangor Foursquarer will be calling in a professional for the first time (well, if you don't count the floor refinishing people). I admittedly feel a little wimpy about having to do it (as well as a bit miserly) but I will certainly rest easier knowing there is not water running down my walls...and that's worth $300, right?

So, the rest of today is probably going to be dedicated to filling the coffers of the box stores. I need to get the rest of our supplies including the vanity, the beadboard, the plywood for the subfloor, and the backerboard for the tile.

Speaking of backerboard, I am feeling lured in by what appears to be a DIYer's dream - EasyMat. If you'll recall, we have quite a height differential currently going from our bathroom floor to the hallway floor. I am hoping that a thinner subfloor will help (I think it's just the old hardwood under there, but we'll see) to bring that down but I also know that installing DensShield or Hardibacker or the like plus the height of the tile will be much too much. EasyMat seems to do the trick in terms of height and ease of installation but I've read mixed reviews on the web. So, I'm torn right now. I think I've learned by now that what seems too good to be true in home repair generally is, but maybe this time I'm wrong. Any thoughts, fair readers?

Bathroom Reno: Before Pictures

In preparation for the Bangor Foursquare Bathroom Renovation 2010, I thought I'd give you all a quick overview of why the renovation is needed and what's on its way outta here.

Let's start with the hideous vinyl floor:
See that nice burn mark on the bottom left of the picture? Nice one. You can also see the front of the existing vanity with its gold highlighted paint and those classy 1970s-esque pulls.

Then we move on to the closet. First, let me say that I'm ecstatic that we have a closet in the bathroom and one so large. Nevertheless, these doors have to go with their gold hinges and gold knobs.

Here's an inside view of the shower/tub. This cream with gold flecked tile goes all the way around the shower, including the ceiling. This should be fun to remove. You'll also notice the multiple safety handles throughout the bathroom. We bought the house from an elderly woman's estate and there were tons of these things throughout the house when we bought it. These are the last two.

Another shot of the inside of the tub surround. We'll also be getting the tub resurfaced in white at some point - probably this summer.

Here's a shot of the overhead light, which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the gold. Too much gold!

Here's one thing I can't WAIT to get rid of: the toilet. This thing usually takes two flushes and seems to run at strange times. It's also just nasty and beige. Ick.

Here is the vanity (see tile that surrounds it - goes all the way around like wainscoting) with the beautiful gold faucet. Double ick.

And last but not least are the vanity lights. I like the placement of them and height of them but the olympic-torch theme has got to go. You can also see the edge of the medicine cabinet. I'm honestly not sure if I'm getting rid of it. I might try painting the frame silver and see how it looks first. You'll also note the switches - two for the lights and two for the exhaust fan and light. I'm interested to see how the rewiring goes for those. Since these vanity lights also have electrical outlets in them we're also going to need to run some wiring and put in a couple new outlets. Hopefully with the tiling taken out it will be a bit easier to run the wire (famous last words, right?). Finally, I'll probably be replacing the door with one of the original doors we have in the basement, the door trim, and the baseboards in the room since they don't match the rest of the house. Of course, these will be the last things to be done.

So, these are the collective challenges I have laid out in front of me in the next two weeks. Wish me luck as I'm sure I'll need it. I'll keep you posted with the ongoing saga.