Tye's mom got some money, so we got started on a long overdue renovation of the back bathroom (the one she primarily uses here). The bathroom was a gross blue color (like that blue thing on the back of the door on the photos) and had completely outdated fixtures from the 80's and mold, lots and lots of mold! So it was about time for it to go!
Also it had no windows. Apparently that's usual in many places (specially here in the U.S.), but I can't grasp the concept of a bathroom without a window! So I made the executive decision that I was going to install a window in this bathroom!
We started by gutting the bathroom. Everything had to go! Because it was so poorly built, it was rather easy to demolish. Of course, that's when we ran into some wallboards with mysterious fibers in them, so I took a sample to be tested. Thankfully it wasn't asbestos, just fiberglass. Oh and the subfloor under the shower and toilet is rotted and needs replacing! I say there's a rule about renovations: The moment you start opening up walls, you find horrors you were never prepared for! More on that in a moment...
With demolition done, mold taken care of, I prepared the area to cut a hole in the wall for the window. That's when I found out how horribly built this part of the house was. This bathroom is on an addition that was built by the previous owners who supposedly were contractors; they were also rumored to steal materials from their job sites to do their own projects. Too bad that didn't translate into stealing
quality materials, or
enough amounts of them to build things right! As I cut into the wall I found out that there is no outside wall to the addition! The siding is going right on some thin foam sheet insulation that's nailed to the studs! And there's no way I can fix it unless I take out the entire siding on that side of the house and re-build it as it's supposed to be! Dumbshits! No wonder contractors have such horrible reputation! Oh and I don't think they ever learned how to install insulation inside the walls! Little patches here and there don't do it!
So I remedied the situation as best I could on the part of wall I had exposed to work with, installed the window properly, and now just have to get on with replacing the rotted subfloor... then installing the cement backer boards, drywall, tiles, paint, fixtures, and it will be all pretty and not leaky and not moldy!
03/29/2016
Today the plan was to start work replacing the rotted subfloor boards, buuuuuut when I cut them off I found out the shitheads who built this part of the house had made some horrible structural screw-ups! Most glaring, they cut one of the freaking floor joists and left it dangling with no support and no nothing! Morons! Dickheads! Cost me the entire day repairing the damage they did before I can resume work on the floor!
A very angry fox repairing floor joists.
04/08/2016
Work continues on that stupid bathroom! I've been taking my time with it because 1) I don't have a crew, 2) I don't care, 3) I have better things to do than work non-stop on it.
...specially considering how frustrating it is. We took down the ceiling the other day, just to find out that the ceiling joists and the rafters on that side of the house are built wrong. ....oh and guess what! One of the joists was also cut, so, more time-consuming repairs to the structure of the house before any of the work I set out to do could be done.
But now that all the horrors have been repaired, my new floor is in, new ceiling, I can continue on the work on the walls. I put proper insulation the other day, and did the plumbing for the shower. Now just need to do the cement base for the shower, put the walls in place, tiles, fixtures, and it will be done!
05/20/2016
Well, the floor and walls are all up, or... down in the case of the floor. It's been impossibly humid here so things have been taking forever to dry! And I've been procrastinating! But work continues and maybe by the end of next week I'll be putting down tile on the floor or painting the walls, or maybe both! We'll see!
06/19/2016
After cutting a bunch of tiles the previous days, staging them to make sure everything fits where it's supposed to go, I started laying the tiles on the bathroom floor! Started with the shower area, and I had to get a special thinset because the one I had wasn't recommended for shower floors.
...so I had to mix it myself. I hate mixing my own thinset. But here it is! I ran out of the batch I had mixed at same time I ran out of spacers so I called it a day there. Now have to wait a couple of days for it to dry!
07/8/2016
Work continues, very slowly, on the back bathroom! Since I'm the only one doing it with no help from anyone here, I decided I will do it at my own leisure pace and it will get done whenever it gets done, damnit! I'm not gonna hurry.
So, the floor tiles are all in place, and now all grouted. I also installed the vanity/sink which is on the spot I was standing for this photo (I'll take a photo of that later), and maybe if I feel like it tomorrow I'll install the toilet. The shower walls still need their tiles, but I decided to finish the rest first so at least the bathroom will be usable for everything but bathing.
...and that door will need to have something done to it too, but I'll get to it when I get to it.
