Construction

What a mess! Dust all over. On Monday Dennis Blumhoeffer came by and started in on remodeling the main floor bathroom. The shower floor was shot, as most of you know. So, we wanted a new shower to replace the old. For a project that didn't seem like a very big one, since the room is so tiny, it sure doesn't seem so little any more.

After removing the shower, we decided to remove the walls - lathe and plaster - behind the shower so we could insulate it properly. So, here comes the messy part. Dust, dust and more dust. And sore muscles. Denny started ripping down the walls. But, I had the honor of beating most of the plaster off. I probably would have been done before he came back on Tuesday. But, I decided that I should replace the bath fan (combo heater, fan and light) in the ceiling. So, I took a trip to Mankato and back for that mission. Then, upon returning, I worked on replacing it. In addition to that, I removed the toilet from the room and an electrical outlet box that was no longer used, but still had a hot wire in it. (I took the wire into the basement and wire nutted and taped off the ends so I can use it again, placing a gfi receptacle into the Northwest room in the basement - a job for another day.) By the time I got done replacing the bath fan and the other fore mentioned things, it was after 1 a.m. I chose to go to bed, rather than tear down the walls.

I got up at 6 a.m. and started working on removing the plaster. I was almost finished when he arrived at around 8:30. He worked on removing the lathe and the insulation, dumping the stuff on the bathroom floor. I tried to pick up while he was doing it, but two people in that little bathroom didn't work very well. So, I backed off until he went for lunch.

While he was gone for lunch and also getting supplies, I finished cleaning up the mess and removing the remaining lathe and insulation. Now we have a "healthy" pile of debris west of the house - another project for a warmer day, and when I have the Bobcat back.

After cleaning up that debris and pulling away the old linoleum, we found that the floor was in very poor shape due to the tremendous water leak from the shower. So, the executive decision of replacing the whole bathroom floor was made. Thus, we removed the vanity which caused another executive decision. I will now be purchasing a new vanity to replace that one. So, after removing the vanity, Denny Sawzall-ed the floor next to the south wall and started removing the floor boards. By that time, it was late enough for Denny to quit for the day. The rest of the floor removal was left to me (if I wanted, and I did). I removed the remaining floor boards and vacuumed up the remaining mess.

By the time I was done with Monday's and Tuesday's activities I felt like I could hardly move. Fortunately, today Denny hasn't needed my help much. So, I took some much needed time away from the project to tend to other things - and maybe heal up a bit. Denny will need my help some time this afternoon to place the shower in the bathroom. Until then, he is working on insulating the walls and getting the room ready for the shower placement. At the time of this writing (a little after 3 p.m.), he has most, if not all of the insulation in the walls and the floor laid. I think he's putting up the plastic sheathing for vapor barrior right now. It should be pretty quick that he'll need my help. I'm not sure what other things he'll need to do to prepare. But, he's getting pretty close.