Day 9: Bathroom Remodel

With the demolition completed, we have moved into the installation phase of our project.  I have to mention how relieved I felt not having to wear a mask and ear protection today.  I could actually breathe and hear Rick when he said something to me!

Rick called the city, and they came to remove the dumpster from our driveway.  If anyone wants to know, our bathroom fit into 4 cubic yards of dumpster space!

The wall before we added mirror supports
and relocated the light box.

A good part of the morning was spent doing the "behind the scenes" work of adding furring strips to shim out the west wall.  The strips were necessary to give room for some wires that could not be fished through the studs.  We also had to measure, measure, measure where the height of the vanity would be so we could determine where the mirror would hang.  All of that was necessary to figure out where to locate the box for the new light fixture.  I am happy that with the soffit gone, the light can now hang on the wall above the mirror rather than hanging down over it like some napping bats.

We had to add extra wood to the studs so we would have a surface onto which we could hang the mirror, and we needed to add support wood for the light box since where we wanted to locate the light was in the middle of thin air between two studs.

The first layer of drywall covers the wall next
to the doorway.

Rick was antsy to get up that first piece of drywall, but before he did the west wall, we had to take care of the north wall with the door in it.  Since we removed about an inch and a half of plaster, we have door jambs that will stick out if we just replace the removed material with 1/2 inch drywall.  Rather than buying expensive shims for that wall, Rick determined that adding two layers of drywall to that wall will be much less expensive.  He added the first layer today and will add the second tomorrow.

All of that calculating, shimming, and scabbing in additional structural wood took time.  We finally were able to bring in the first big sheet of drywall for the west wall.  Rick had gone out earlier to get drywall carriers.  I can  handle a full sheet of drywall as long as I have something to help me lift it and hold onto it.  Without those carriers, this would be a very long reconstruction process!

Rick adds screws to hold up the first large sheet of drywall.

We hoisted the first sheet of drywall up and into place.  Rick secured it with a few screws so it did not come tumbling back down off the wall.  He had cut the hole for the light electrical box perfectly, but once the drywall was up, we discovered that the box stuck out too far.  Rick had measured the depth of that box at least three times.  The math made sense, but the result was not acceptable.  Down came the first large sheet of drywall so he could make further electrical box adjustments.  Thankfully, those adjustments were fairly easy, and we soon had the drywall back up where it belonged.

An e-mail from Home Depot told us that our Sterling tub and tub surround had arrived and were ready for pick-up.  We ordered the Stirling because it was acrylic and easy to handle.  We had seen the whole system at the Kohler showroom in Wisconsin, and we liked how it all went together.  The system we purchased is the first caulkless tub/ tub surround system.  We were a little concerned because online reviews said that the systems were susceptible to damage in shipment.  Off we went to Home Depot, resolved to check for damages before we brought the system home.

Our fears were confirmed at Home Depot when we opened the tub box.  The "lip" of the tub on both ends was broken, two huge scratches snaked across the inside back, and a quarter-sized dimple on the outer front rim suggested that someone had set something heavy and half-mooned shaped on top of the crate.  The worker at Home Depot apologized for the damages even though it was not his fault.  We refused the whole shipment.

In my mind, I could hear my grandfather Will say, "If you buy something cheap, you get something cheap."  He was right.  On the way home from Home Depot, we stopped at the local plumber and asked for a bid on a cast-iron Kohler tub and its installation.  We are done with acrylic, and neither of us regrets the decision. The Stirling system just looked cheap, and we both would have been paranoid for the rest of our life about chipping or cracking it. Will the cast iron tub cost us more?  Sure.  But we do not have to worry about bringing it in or about installing it.  The 54-year-old drain is scary looking, so I am glad that Rick will not have to try to figure out how to plumb the tub to it.

The local plumber has not called with his bid yet.  That will probably be a heart-stopper, but we have decided that this is the right path for us.  Discussions continue as to what we will do for a tub surround.  We need to see what is available and what we can afford.

We have tried to put in the best that we can afford so that our work will last us the rest of our lives.  Gladys may be old, but she is going to be a first-class dame when we get done with her.