A Hole in the Wall

We are one step closer to finishing the main bathroom in our house.  After church today, we spent a few minutes taking the bracing down from the tub wall trim and stowing the boards in the garage.  We will use them later in some outdoor landscaping projects.

Once the tub was clear, Rick brought in the alcove template that he made yesterday to cut the hole in the wall.  We had previously marked with tape on the tub where the studs were placed behind the Swanstone walls.  We transferred those stud locations onto the walls so Rick could position the template between two of the studs.

We has earlier discussed and rejected the chore of moving the studs so that we could centrally locate the alcove.  For the few inches to the right of center that the alcove is placed, moving the studs was not worth the time or effort.  Yes, the alcove is now located more toward the far end of the tub, but that will keep the soap dry and the alcove more out of the main spray of the shower.

Blue painter's tape protects the Swanstone
around the area that we needed to remove.

Rick traced the template onto the wall, and then he taped around the opening to protect the Swanstone from the bottom of the saw.  He drilled four holes in the corners while I manned the vacuum to try to keep the dust at a minimum.

The task was more difficult than it appeared to be because we had a double wall of concrete board behind the Swanstone into which we wanted to cut.  Rick had purchased special jigsaw blades just for this task, and we were glad that he did.  The cutting was slow-going with Rick using all of his might to keep the saw moving forward.  In the end, though, Rick cut the holes, and I took the waste panels out to the garbage cans.

The alcove is placed a little to the right of center
on the tub wall.

Thankfully, the alcove fit beautifully into the opening.  Lots of glue behind the lip of the alcove assures us that the alcove will stay in place.  The directions called for taping the alcove into position overnight, but I doubt that anything short of dynamite would be able to dislodge it from the wall.

We liked this alcove because it has plenty of
room for tall shampoo bottles as well as a
shelf for soap.

Tomorrow we will caulk all of the seams and then reattach the woodwork in the room.  After three and one half months of work, the main bathroom will be complete.