To get going on our tub surround project, Rick and I spent the morning setting up a workspace in the driveway, getting the tub walls out of the boxes, and preparing them for installation. The old adage, "Measure twice, cut once" came in handy as Rick measured, measured, measured before he drew the lines on the tub wall panels to cut. By the end of the morning, he had the back and one side wall cut and ready to install. The third wall was cut and had one of two holes cut out for the plumbing.
Rick called his brother Steve to ask him when he might be available to help us with the walls. Although I helped Rick lift the back panel onto the work table, I may not have been strong enough to help him position it in the tub. We also knew that bracing the walls would take a minimum of three people -- as the later pictures in this blog will show!
Steve said that he would be able to help this afternoon, so we finished the prep work on the walls, cut the 2 x 4 boards for bracing, and generally cleaned up the work area while we prepped the bathroom. Rick has just sat down for the first time all day when Steve drove up. Timing is everything!
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| The back wall is stuck to the wall. Tape marks the bottom of the panel and outlines where the studs are behind the cement board and Swanstone panel. |
With Steve's help, Rick and he soon had the back wall in place. It actually adhered to the wall much better than any of us had anticipated, so we were pleased with that fact.
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| The second wall was in... although it moved later on in the process. |
The second wall also went up without a problem. When they brought in the third wall with all of the plumbing cut-outs, the installation took a little positioning, but all of the cuts were in the right place, so that wall, too, fit as it should. Then the hard part started...
The installation instructions directed that we use 13 2 x 4 boards to brace the walls. Getting the side walls braced while still putting pressure on the back wall was a real trick. As they were positioning the boards and putting pressure on certain points, I noticed that the south end wall (pictured above) had totally moved out of place!
OK, that's it, I thought. We are screwed! I thought that the wall was stuck out of place permanently, and that we would have to demo the whole wall to get it out. Thankfully, Rick was able to strong-arm the wall panel back in place. Whew!
With a little more figuring, a lot of persuading, and a few extra shims, we had the side walls where we wanted them. Then Rick resorted to the same trick we used in Green Bay when we put in the shower walls. He braced the back wall against the opposite wall across the room.
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| Steve is in the tub, smiling, but he is probably thinking, "What the heck am I doing in here?" |
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| Two more boards and Steve would have had to spend the night in the tub! |
To accomplish this, Steve actually climbed into the tub among the already-in-place side braces. I am thankful that he did that because, even though he is the oldest, he is probably the most limber of us all. He crawled under and stepped over boards, knocking his head more than once, just to help us get the braces in place. Now that is true brotherly love!
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| Although this looks like a pile of disjointed lumber, the boards actually are bracing the walls. |
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| The reflection in the mirror shows that perhaps Spiderman did, indeed, help us today! |
Our three-year-old grandson Owen loves Spiderman. He would have been so proud of the results of our efforts today because the result looks like Rick, Steve, I, and Spiderman were all in on the act of bracing the new shower walls.
In the end, though, the walls are all braced. The glue should cure by tomorrow, so the web of 2x4s will come down then. After that, we will need to install the corner trim, the outer edge trim, and cut out the back wall to install the soap/ shampoo alcove. But that's tomorrow. For now, we are delighted in the work that we (with Steve's and Spiderman's help) accomplished today. Thanks, Guys!
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