Bathroom Reno: Day 5.60-5.99

After finishing the last of the drywall removal (woot!), I took a nice break and got me some of that there iced coffee from Tim Horton's. Then I mentally and physically prepared myself for Toilet Removal 2010. I had done a lot of reading, a lot of This Old House and DIY Network watching preparing for this moment. I went in assuming the worst - expecting all sorts of floor bolt nonsense. I was prepared. I was prepped. I was one with the toilet removal. So, how long did it take, you ask? About 15 minutes. It came off so easily it made me think that the Universe was apologizing for the hornet episode. It was nasty business, don't get me wrong, but I'll take toilet removal over hornet abatement any day. I think the most time consuming part was getting the water out. I used an old turkey baster, which worked well. So, we're calling it a day. I'll take out the floor and start working on the new subfloor tomorrow. Maybe I'll get a new toilet in, but we'll see.

So, demo is prettty much all done - at least what I would consider the worst of it is done. I pat myself on my back for getting at least this far. I'm off the gym to find me a nice shower. Good night, hornets. Good night, John Boy.

Bathroom Reno Day 5.5 - Please let this be the last "thing"

Just in case you thought I was overreacting, I snapped a picture of the nest before the exterminator took it away. Icky. I generally consider myself a pretty tough chick but yuck, yuck, yuck. I have no tolerance for that kind of thing. While I was less than thrilled about the $150 I had to spend on the new shut-off for the house yesterday, I am ecstatic to have spent $125 to pay someone to deal with this. Thank you, Maine Pest Solutions.

I now have the cleanest remodel site in the world - I ShopVac-ed the hell out of that bathroom. Nasty hornet carcasses everywhere. He said they got in around the venting for the exhaust fan. I need to go get some caulk and seal off that bad-boy tomorrow when the stuff dries. He says the stuff he sprayed will be good for a year and it's non-toxic - there is no smell or anything either. So I'm back at it. I have definitely learned my lesson about wearing a hat. No need to rain down insect remains on this head twice. Sarah, you offered to let me use your shower. I may be taking you up on that offer tonight...

Bathroom Reno Day 3.40 - Ew!

Oh, #$%&@! I got around my faucet problem by getting around it - just pulling out the tile around it. I was just pulling out the last off the drywall on the ceiling and guess what I found...a huge-ass hornet's nest in the ceiling. Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew. Yuck! I am now cowering like a child in the next room. Do I call an exterminator? I don't know (and I don't want to know) if it's still active. Once the dead hornet carcasses started to fall I headed for the hills. Ew. Yuck. Nasty. I generally don't have a problem with insects (except cockroaches) as long as they're not living in my house.

Bathroom Reno: Day 5.25

I'm taking a break while I call for backup. I finally got the long wall of tile down and pulled down the rotting drywall on the window side, as you see above. Interesting hole cut out there. I wonder what that used to be. A window, maybe?

But now I'm stuck. You can see my handy-dandy pink screwdrivers have only gotten me so far. I got the handles off the faucets but I can't remove the rest. The tile board behind them is ready to be yanked off but I don't want to break anything in the process. So, I'm hoping for a call back from some friends to help. Any thoughts in the meantime?

So, while the water is shut off, I might start on trying to convince the toilet to leave. Once that's done I get pull up the floor. Getting there...

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.