Demolition Derby, Part 1
April 5, 2007
It all started when I fell in love with this shower fixture, and decided to replace the unit myself. All is possible with my side-kick and my boys, right? Keep in mind — this is our only functional shower.
Before (Saturday March 24th)
With my trusty side-kick open on the floor, I ripped out the old fixture.
After realizing that the new fixture wouldn’t fit into the hole, I called Wifey (at the grocery store) and asked if I could rip out the tub surround. She said Yes. Remember that.
When was the last renovation, you ask?
Wifey arrived home in time to see me throwing shower pieces out of the window.
Once the surround was ripped out, I noticed the mold. Mmmm…yummy. So I decided to replace several sections of the sheetrock. What’s the best way to cut a nice long straight line? Yep, a quilting ruler. They should make rotary cutters for sheetrock.
Yuck. More mold. Off with the wallpaper.
Then I decided it would be easier to hang all new sheetrock, so I ripped it all out, and tossed it out the window. Then I looked up, noted the weird dropped ceiling, felt a little constrained by it, analyzed the placement of pipes, and decided there was nothing up there. The reality is - there’s only one way to know for sure. Hello crowbar, my old friend.
Gone. Better, right? By the way — sheetrock is hard to demo, but 2×4s are harder. Especially 2×4s attached to the ceiling. But I have some Amazonian biceps now. Hot.
Notice Little Man and the Kitty-Lugh in that photo? The photo was taken mere moments after he returned from the grocery store, took one look at the bathroom, and said:
Little Man: Moooooommmmmmy, what are you doooooing to my bathroom?
Mafia: Fixing it.
Little Man: No, Mom. It’s all broken.
Mafia: Yep, and I’m fixing it.
Little Man: Eeewww, what’s that? (pointing to the mold on the wall)
Mafia: Mold.
Little Man: Huh? . . . Did Lugh-Lugh poop on the wall?
(to be continued)
Entry Filed under: It's All About Me, Little Man, Ms. 1890. .
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1.
britt | April 5, 2007 at 6:06 pm
I am madly jealous of you and your demolition. I want to do that to a house but I would have to quit my jobs and convince my husband that it would be fun and worth it (never gonna happen) Good luck keep us posted
2.
Kellee | April 5, 2007 at 6:55 pm
See…..now….THIS is exactly why the words ‘No, seriously honey - it’ll be SO fast and SO easy. I only have to do this ONE TINY THING.’ no longer have any sway with me whatsoever.
3.
Kellee | April 5, 2007 at 6:56 pm
LOVE the old wallpaper, btw. It’s fantabulous.
4.
Kim | April 5, 2007 at 7:13 pm
You go, you brave demolishing-rebuilding knitter you! Mold is gross.
5.
nina beana | April 5, 2007 at 7:43 pm
i’m drunk and blog=stalking you. life is good and i just got out of the tub. can’t wait for our date in two (one?) weeks.
6.
Thorny | April 5, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Holy crap, girl. You have a talent for this stuff, don’t you?
Also, is it just me, or does that wallpaper pattern really belong on a quilt somewhere?
7.
roro | April 5, 2007 at 7:44 pm
“Tub surround”? “Sheetrock”? “2×4’s”? I LOVE it when you talk dirty on your blog.
8.
Ashley | April 5, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Hardcore. Totally hardcore.
Although I’m telling you, next time you have to wash the dog you’ll be sorry that you got rid of the shower hose…
9.
Mel | April 5, 2007 at 9:28 pm
My inner lesbian is so turned on right now. Want to come fix our house up next?
10.
Sparkles | April 5, 2007 at 10:28 pm
What? Stopping there? I gotta’ know what happened next! And, seriously, no matter what happened? I’m so freakin’ impressed! The most I’ve done is replace a bathtub drain stopper “thingy” (though it did require a trip to the hardware store and I ended up getting new knobs as well!)…
11.
Kimberly | April 5, 2007 at 11:17 pm
OhOhOH!! Can I get lessons from you? Rich won’t allow me to demo our downstairs bathroom. Something about my tendency to get bored from my small attention span. (I think he’s still waiting for me to add the ceiling and doors to my cedar closet since I revamped the thing in 2002…
=:8
12.
Rhonda the Stitchingnut | April 6, 2007 at 7:52 am
LOOK at the work you’re doing! You’re not afraid to try anything are you? I need someone around the house that can do stuff like that. Gosh, would you marry me? Opps, we’re both married already … well if you ever want to stop by sometime … I have a CRAFT room that needs a redo
13.
maryse | April 6, 2007 at 8:00 am
you are my hero. i’ll admit that had i noticed that my fixture didn’t fit, i would have put the old fixture back in and called it a day. but you! awesome!
14.
Danielle | April 6, 2007 at 9:52 am
Wow! You continue to impress me. No wonder you haven’t had much time to knit…
15.
Becca | April 6, 2007 at 10:51 am
This is probably a naive question, but who puts wallpaper behind a tub?
16.
Maritza | April 6, 2007 at 11:04 am
Hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Funny thing about the wallpaper. I guess people used to wallpaper their bathrooms in the 70’s like it was the thing to do. When we had to do some repairs on our shower, we found a layer of the funkiest psychedelic wallpaper behind a wood panel.
17.
Cheryl | April 6, 2007 at 11:21 am
Ooh, I want this story to have a happy ending, but I have that bad feeling that it involves several days with no showering . . .
18.
Martha | April 6, 2007 at 12:06 pm
You are so totally my hero. I wish I had the guts to do that.
19.
Jill | April 6, 2007 at 11:58 pm
I wish I could have been there to help with the demo work. I LURVE ripping out sheetrock and 2×4s. LIttle hint for the next time you have to tear out 2×4s…try using a recipicating (I cannot spell) saw to cut it in half, then whack at it with a hammer or sledge hammer if it’s safe to do so. It’s easier for me and DD2 to do it this way. Only if you aren’t going to need to reuse the lumber as a long length later.
You’ve got me missing massive remodels and my father’s incredible stash of tools. Guess I might have to spend some time at the farm in the workshop to get a “fix” now. lol
20.
Elinor | April 7, 2007 at 8:07 am
Yeah, so can you come to my house? We’ll feed you and give you lots of yarn and stuff. I’m so impressed with your willingness to take on that kind of project. I think if I did that, I’d end up on the bathroom floor in the fetal position crying about how I couldn’t fix it.
I’m looking foward to part 2!
21.
Christy / Not Hip | April 7, 2007 at 9:39 pm
I love little man’s comment. Good luck!
22.
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