A hard, dirty day

Today was probably my most discouraging day yet. I continued on with the bathroom demolition, and made more progress, but it is so slow. I think my first day went so well it may have set too high a bar. I have learned that I can only demolish for about 3 hours a day (with an hour for cleanup). After that, it's just too hard physically and mentally. When I left yesterday, I had half the tub surround wall down, and couldn't imagine how the rest would come down. But today I went at it with renewed strength and mental clarity, and got it completely down. Interesting. I left today thinking the soffit over the tub will never come down. I also managed to get rid of the bathroom vanity. It was not fun when I couldn't get the trap unscrewed under the remaining sink and had to whack at it with the sledgehammer and the water sprayed me! Yuck!

The bathroom vanity before:

and now: (I guess it's too late to change our minds!)

The tub surround wall before:

and now that it's gone:

Believe it or not, this picture gives me hope. The bathroom looks so much brighter and bigger without this wall.

Finally, an interesting surprise. This is a hole in the subfloor I found uner the vanity. The bright light is my flashlight beam. Visible in the hole is the sewer line, and around that is, you guessed it, the dirt under the house!


We need plans drawn for a window I want to enlarge. Our whole bathroom plan hinges on it. I called an architecht last night, who didn't call me back. I called another one today who said the job is too small for her, but that a contractor might be able to give the city enough information to make them happy (instead of full architectural plans). This was a good idea. But, she said some things that really concerned me. Because our house is old, we may run into problems. She had a situation where the homeowner wanted to change a window in an old house. The current code would not allow for a window there. So, if they even tried to replace the window, they would lose the right to have one. So, they were forced to leave a rotting, falling down frame in place in order to keep the window. She also said that even if the permit office gives you a permit and you've done everything right (pictures, plans, forms, fees, etc) that the field inspector can still opt not to pass you. Ugh! We're really stuck. Without knowing for sure we can get our window, we can't finalize the bathroom plan, which means the plumber and electrician can't work and we can't order anything. Sounds like there's nothing we can do to know for sure if we can get it.

After demolishing for a few hours I did a lot of cleanup. Our first dumpster is being picked up Thursday and you pay the same whether or not it is full, so I wanted it full. Also, the city is picking up the 24 (!) tires left behind by the previous owner on Friday. They want to come look at the stack to give me a price tomorrow. So I rolled and carried all 24 tires out. Some of them are huge truck tires. I can't imagine how long the pile has been in the backyard. There were vines growing into it, and one tire spilled out some really nice compost. I was glad I did this job last - many of the tires were filled with filthy water that splashed all over me and my shoes until I got the hang of tossing them as I took them from the pile so the water didn't spill on me. By the time I was done, I was filthy with black muck, wet from the waist down and cold and tired. It took over an hour to get all 24 tires out on the front lawn for the inspection and then I have put them out on the curb on Friday.

I'm glad to be home!