Thursday

Do you recognize this? Comfort food. Did I mention how much I miss you?

The puppies miss you too!

The damaged wood is now replaced.


I wanted to make sure the curb did not move or rock so I chose a side of the 4x4 that fit the floor and secured it with 4 concrete anchors. Then I picked a side of the second 4x4 that fit the bottom one and secured it with 4 lag screws. It shouldn't move. Any movement could compromise the tile/grout.


At last the pan liner. The trick is to get this thing in straight and with as few wrinkles as possible. I remember NOW walking through Home Depot and seeing this on the shelf and thinking, "Man, I hope I never have to put one of those in."

Wednesday

Oh thank you Jesus. I was able to fix the drain. The alternative was to open up the foundation a little and cut away pipe to replace it. Here's what I did.



Now is a good time to remember Plumber's rule #3. Don't chew your nails.

The south wall is now ready for sheet rock!

This piece of wood has evidence of some sort of past critter residence. The holes seem too big for termites. I wonder if it is carpentar ant trails. I do not believe they are recent and it was only on this 1 foot stretch of board.

The wall below did have one stud with evidence of termites past all the way up. The trails were external. The last piece to be replaced is the footer. I may be replacing this whole wall tomorrow.

Mike took me to Bubbalous and Star Trek for my birthday. I really enjoy our birthday outings. I miss you all terribly!

Tuesday

Now for the big plan. I removed the curb last night and I'm ready to take on the slab. Dave says he does these all the time. He suggested I pry up one corner of the pan and it should crack. I believe the small sledge is one of the best tools ever invented. And it's been around a long time.


It looks like we have a bit of wood damage. This is too much work just to sheet over. I will pick up some treated wood and replace the bad studs.













The next step is to disassemble the three part drain. The top part screws out and the second part is bolted to the third holding sandwiching the liner. I managed to get it apart without cracking the pipe underneath but the imbedded nuts came out of the third part. I will try to repair it before I call Dave to replace it.














Hey look we are now officially down to one bathroom. There is nothing left to pull out of this space.

Monday

I started the tearout last night. I didn't do much but later I rubbed my eyes and I must have had some mastic dust or something around my eyes and they started to burn and turn red. I flushed them out with some saline and the swelling went away. Needless to say its gloves, glasses and respirator for the rest of the day.
My goal was to have the tear out done by noon. I got close.









I finished the walls and found that carpenter ant nest I was looking for. I'm not sure what worries me more at this point, the liberal dose of demon pesticide now coating the south wall or the slight mildew smell from the pan.


It seems the carpentar ants like the safety and heat of the aluminum window frame in close proximity to the water.


So far I've been running on a bowl of Oatmeal squares and a cup of coffee. Nothing says power lunch like a Publix sub. Back to work. I love you guys.
















After lunch I began to tearout the floor.


















The big question now was how to rip out the 2" thick concrete slab (pan) without breaking the drain. Thanks to Dave the plumber he gave me the answer. I'll do that tomorrow.

Sunday

Started the day off right with a small breakfast. I'm so glad I can cook.
Now that I've had my fill of brain food. It's time to layout the tile. I used Visio to draw the walls and the window and then create tile sized sqaures to arrange them on the wall. It took me a while but it was key for me to see how the pieces would line up in the corners.














Here is the design I am going with.












I saw this pattern on display at Lowes. This uses 6" and large 18" tiles. I am putting a 3" border of small tiles all the way around just under the window. Tile goes all the way to the ceiling and finished on the sides with a bullnose border.