Day 21: Bathroom Remodel

Much was accomplished today, so my bathroom is slowly being transformed from a construction shell back into a working bathroom... but not without a struggle.

We knew that the bathtub was scheduled to go in today, so last night Rick and I put down three layers of paper to protect the newly polished floors. That turned out to be both good and bad.  More on that later.

While we waited for the plumbers and the tub, Rick worked on finances and on watching what will happen to the world now that Donald Trump is President-elect.  I was upset, and when I get upset, I either clean or bake (or garden where I can kill things!)  Today I chose to bake, making 83 fresh peanut butter cookies.

The first batch of cookies cools on the rack.

The plumbers finally arrived and started by taking out the old drain.  What should have been a fairly easy job -- chip out the inch or so of old tar, expose the old drain fitting where it meets the cast iron pipe, remove the old drain, and install the new -- turned into a two-hour ordeal.  For a reason long lost to history, the one to two inches of tar that plumbers used to seal out termites while they sealed in the drain pipe was in actuality about eight inches of thick, black tar.  And under the tar was cement encasing where the drain connected to the main cast iron pipe.

Eight inches of tar reveal concrete at the bottom
of the drain pit.

What a nightmare! The two plumbers took turns with a hammer drill chipping out enough huge chunks of tar to fill a five gallon bucket.  Then they found the cement.  Getting rid of all of that took them the better part of two hard-labored hours.

A five-gallon bucket is filled to the top with
chunks of old, smelly, sticky tar.

The excavated drain area with layer of tar, concrete,
and dirt looks like an archeological dig. (We found
no dinosaur bones, however.)

After lunch, the men returned to bring in the tub.  I am glad that we put paper down from the front door to the bathroom.  The tires on their dolly left dirty tire tracks all through the hallway, and I would not have been happy having the dirt ground into the newly polished floors.  I give the men credit for being very careful about maneuvering the tub around hallway corners and doorways.  We opened the front doors widely, but the bathroom door took a bit of precise movement; however, none of the walls or woodwork was damaged.

Sadly, when the men were turning the tub into the correct position before they put it flat, one corner of the tub caught a little of the paper, ripped through, and scratched the floor.  We have not removed all of the paper yet, so we have not assessed the full damage.  When we remove the paper, we may have to call Finish Line Flooring back in for a small repair job.

Once the tub was in the room and down, the men had to slide it into position.  This is where the paper got in the way.  Most went well, but the paper ripped in two places and the ripped pieces got stuck halfway under the tub.  Since the tub weighs 316 pounds, lifting it to extract the bunched-up paper was no easy task.

The new tub, still sporting packing patches on top, finally
rests in place.

Then they discovered that the floor was not level, and the tub rocked from -- of course -- its back, right corner.  Rick and the lead plumber finally were able to add some plastic shims under the tub to even it out, so all should be fine, now, for the tilers to add backer board.

Sarah actually called us this afternoon.  She has the plan for the tile complete and was waiting to get it back from their estimator.  She said that she would call us tonight to set up and appointment to see the plan, but since she has not called back yet, I think chances of hearing from her yet today, once again, are nil.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

We did learn that a 60 x 30 inch tub really is NOT 60 x 30.  This Kohler tub is about 3/4 of an inch short, so the tile people will have to add a double layer of backer board at the head of the tub.  Thank God that Rick had not added the shower valve yet!  I will have to come out further from the wall than anticipated.

One other small task we completed today was changing the filters under the kitchen sink for our filtered water.  Why is it that everything one wants to reach under the kitchen sink is always in the back corner behind something else?  At one point I thought Rick would have to stand on his head to get the filters changed; however, the filters now should be good for about two years since we only live here part time.

After the plumbers left (the labor was more expensive than the parts!), Rick brought in and installed the last of the drywall.  He taped it and mudded it twice today, so it should be ready for sanding and painting tomorrow.

The completed wall is the last of the drywall
for this room.  With a bit of sanding and paint,
it will look as if it has always been there.

Like a large jigsaw puzzle, the pieces are starting to fall into place as we reassemble the bathroom.  Once we complete the painting, we can carry the vanity back into the room and affix it to the wall.  Then we can call in the granite people to measure for the vanity top and sink.

We can put the toilet back into place, install the shower valve, and schedule the tilers.  After three weeks of labor,  the room is starting to resemble a bathroom again.