Boys Bathroom Part11: Remodel Delays

Delays, injures and illnesses oh my..

Well the euphoria of the tub install didn't last long and massive delays set in. Son #1 needed back surgery and the suspicious spot on my hand turned out the by skin cancer.

scoliosis surgery scar

Squamous skin cancer cut out

I couldn't really use my hand for about 2 months. And after that, it's been a little hard to start up again. We also went on vacation (cruise to Alaska) and had to get ready for the new school year. Really need to get back on this!

Boys Bathroom Part10: New Tub

Maybe we can stop right here?

Took the day off of work and the plumber Leo is here to install the new tub.  We had to add furring strips to the south wall to compensate for the double drywall. We added a new 2x4 for support. We mix a 1.5 bags of cement for the tub bed. And of course the plumber did a bunch of stuff by himself - new copper pipes!
And 6 hours and $750 later, we have a new functional beautiful tub.

Boys Bathroom Part9: Demo Last Touches

Did I enter a time warp here?

Several setbacks delayed that last pieces of demo. (sickness, diy depression, kids stuff). But the last pieces got finished with a few minor disasters

The bucket under the tub faucet fills up every 2-3 days. Guess what happens when you forget to empty it? Water water everywhere. Totally forgot to empty it for like 6 days. But got the dehumidifier from the garage and everything eventually got dry

The last thing before the tub went in was to remove the thinset from the floor. I think I cried.

A word about this chisel tool. The hand guard cost 2 extra dollars. I guarantee it saved me several hundred in medical bills. I whacked the guard at least 10 times - so that's at least ten times my fingers did not get smashed!!


But now the rebuild can begin!

Boys Bathroom Part8: Sunday Demo

How can one little bathroom create so much garbage?

Now it Sunday and I need to get to work. The boys are with their dad so I'm doing this alone.  I had to spend quite a bit of time cleaning and redistributing a few bags because I can't even lift some of the bags to move to the garage.  After that I worked on the vanity...

Boys Bathroom Part7: Monday Demo

Demoing tired and hungry, so not a good idea..

Okay Son#1 is really into this. The minute I walked in the door from work he wanted to start. So we attempted to remove the vanity.

In theory, unhooking the water is easy, but not so much in practice.  I had the right tool, but there was no space to move the wrench. We took turns trying to cram the wrench in. This took about 30 minutes before I was finally able to loosen the nuts.

Then total moron moment #1 occurred:

For some reason that I can't remember I thought we needed to remove these bolts as well. So we tried - but it was not actually physically possible.

Then I had another bright idea: cut the bolt down, allowing me to get a socket wrench in there. This was a perfect spot to use my brand new reciprocating saw.

Then total moron moment #2 occurred:

We could not get the blade in. We both tried and tried and nothing.  I thought there must be a part missing. I packed it all back up and prepared to take it back to Home Depot.

(Luckily, before I got it back to the store and faced sure humiliation and ridicule from the HD staff, my DIY friend looked at it and in 2 secs got the blade in - apparently you have to lift the blade lever ALOT)

My excuse? I was really tired and hungry...

But luckily at this point, I realized that those bolts didn't need to come out and we could just remove the vanity top. The mirror was resting on the back splash so we took that down first.  Miraculously, that came off easily and in one piece. (Of course this only happened because I didn't need to keep it. If I wanted to reuse it, it would have shattered in a million pieces) The vanity top was not too hard, just cut the caulking and hammer up. Rounded up Son#2 from the computer and we moved it to the garage.  This all took 1.5 hours.  We had to stop so I could make dinner.

What I learned?  I do not have the fortitude to do this after working all day and the long commute.

Now we are at this point:

Boys Bathroom Part6: Demo Weekend

If it takes this long to pull down, how long to put back up?

As planned, everything is taking 10 times longer than on any DIY show. According to the internet, demo should take an afternoon - surely they jest...

Got a late start (forgot to set alarm). Had to clean out all the cabinets. Have no idea how we accumulated so much crap it this one small bathroom. Then I figured the boys needed a big breakfast, so biscuits, eggs and bacon (oh my). Then the garage door repairman arrived... and $205 dollars later I finally have a garage door that opens correctly after 4 years of dysfunction.  So around 10:30 am we finally suited up and got started.
Photo essay of the demo

That was the weekend. Didn't get as far as I hoped, but more than I had pessimistically thought so HOORAY!

Boys Bathroom Part 5: Vanity Update

shopping for vanities really sucks.  

Okay, I changed my mind one last time - its too late to go back, because its already ordered.

I decided on this...

Its not as wide as the available space (36" new vanity versus 47" old vanity) but maybe I'll just add a plant in the corner.

Like this

or like this

I also ordered the rest of the tile.

I also changed my color choice and ordered the grout and caulking in pewter. I hope it looks good after it dries, there are a lot of reviews that say the grout comes out lighter so I got a dark grout.  And I hope I have enough. It was either the 7 lb bag or the 25 lb bag. 7 lb bag claims it goes over 196 sqft and I only have 120ish so we'll have to see.

eek - I'm scared about the weekend "Demo or Doom"