Day 3: Bathroom Remodel

As the title suggests, today was the third day of our labor to remodel the bathroom.  And as is true for those of us who did little physical labor this summer, Day 3 brought on weariness with the force of a Mack truck going 90 miles an hour.  One moment we both felt pretty good, and then BAM, the energy was gone.

Having done several of these projects before, we know that this is the turning point and that each day we will be a bit less weary.  Our bodies just have to get used to expending energy and moving in ways that we have not done for a while.  Rick has a badly bruised ankle from a run-in with a crowbar and a new scratch across his torso from who knows what, but so far we have had no signs of blood.  I will take that as a good omen.

Since tomorrow a "cold front" is supposed to come through which should drop our temperatures down to the high 70s/ low 80s, ( yes, my Wisconsin friends, I know, I know...), we decided to get as much of the walls down today as we could so we could work in the attic with the electricity and fan tomorrow while it is "cool" out. Anyway, that was the plan.

The "before" picture which shows the walls we worked
to remove today.

Rick decided to tackle the tile around the bathtub.  His goal was to get as much of the tile into the dumpster as possible so the city could pick it up today and bring us a new one for the weekend.  He started his effort with the small wall next to the closet door where the tile wraps around the corner into the tile that surrounds the tub.  He immediately hit three inches of tile, plaster, and wire, all backed by triple studs around the closet door! To make matters worse, we think that this same plaster and wire configuration is under the upper part of the wall also.  Fun.

With much effort, that wall came down, and I hauled it to the dumpster. Then Rick moved on to the wall with the plumbing.  Once again, lots of structure behind the wall gave the builders plenty of surface on which to staple the wire.  Crowbars, small sledge hammers, and lots of pounding slowly surrendered the walls.  Rick was trying to be careful around the bath fixtures, but they were hanging on to the plaster with all of their might.

At last the plumbing was free from the wall, and Rick turned his attention to the back wall.  He had cut out and removed a large section of the wall.  He gave me a big piece to lay aside until he could help me carry it out to the dumpster.  When I went to place it in the corner, I discovered another nasty surprise.

Remember yesterday when I wrote, "Water has always been the enemy of any structure, and Gladys is no exception. " Ah, yes.  I still believe it today.  As I went to set the tile section down, I noticed that the rosin paper on the floor was soaking wet.  I looked down and discovered a puddle at the door, a flooded closet, and a silent, sneaky stream carefully making its way down the floor next to the tub.  I said the words my husband hates to hear: "Rick, we have a problem."

It turns out that the 56-year-old plumbing did not care for his rough treatment around the hot and cold faucets, so both of them decided to spring a not-so-slow leak.  We did not notice it at first because as the water slid down the copper pipes and decided to puddle under the tub.  When the cavity under the tub sufficiently filled to the depth of about two inches, the water overflowed into the closet and bathroom, through the wall under his desk in the guest room, and under the plastic door into the hallway.  What a mess! 

The open wall shows the newly capped pipes that
leaked under the tub and partially across two rooms.

We used every garage towel we owned to mop up the water.  The bathroom was a particular mess because the water was mixed in with plaster dust which turned to a muddy sand.  We lined the hallway with drop cloths, so they, too, were soggy at the door. 

Needless to say, we drastically altered our plans for the day.  Of course, we searched our "plumbing" box and could not find the caps that we needed to cut and to cap off the leaking pipes.  Rick shut off the water to the house.  While he went to the store to buy plumbing supplies, I switched into clean-up mode to take debris to the dumpster, to remove and bag all the soggy rosin paper, and to mop up the puddles throughout the house.  I actually did not discover the flood in the den until I went in there for scissors to cut the old rosin paper.  I hate water!

Naturally, the access to get under the tub is tucked away
tightly in the small bathroom closet.

We certainly did not make the progress with the walls that we had hoped to make today, but I guess that is OK, too.  We both are weary enough that the water crisis was just enough to make us both willing to quit for the day. What does Annie sing?  The sun will come up tomorrow.  We'll deal with the bathroom then.