This week's project: Plumbing!

Oh my, what a week! We've tried to ignore the fact that the bathroom needed to be "redone", but the bathroom had other plans for us this week! As I turned off the cold water in our little 3x3 cubicle shower on Thursday, I heard a pop ... then water was just surging with a mind all of its own out of the hole that used to be the faucet! SO ... off goes the water to the house on Thursday. We went about our work day, then on to Paul's soccer game. Then, arriving home after dark Paul found the energy to figure out how to cap off the shower (after tearing down a wall and various other contortions) so we could have water to the house. So, we had resigned to showering in the guest bathroom (no big deal - same 3x3 cubicle!) and we just figured it was time to leisurely fix the downstairs bathroom. The plan just didn't come together however, as the guest bathroom shower began to leak into the hallway downstairs. SO ... plan B4 ... fix the downstairs situation. (We'll have to approach the upstairs leak later, when our skills improve! Or when we can afford to hire Shane, the real plumber and bee keeper!) With our best plumbing skills in hand (all 2 of the things we know about plumbing: righty tighty, lefty loosey) we set off yesterday to the plumbing shack and got what we deemed necessary. Demolition began and the wall between the shower and the rest of the bathroom came down (exposing 50 of so years worth of wallpapering and etc.). Then the cubicle came out (unfortunately, had to be disassembled and taken out in a collapsed state as it would not fit through the door) ... then the plumbing project began! OH MY! So ... after contemplating and making "the best way to do this" type decisions, we took off and added to, capped off and prayed ... and managed to get the water to go to the claw foot tub in the right places and not to spurt out of the no longer needed parts of the water source ... and it was also no longer pouring into the basement! So by 8:30, Paul was taking his first bath in our claw foot tub and enjoying the luxury of a bath, as we've only been able to stand up and shower since we moved in last October!!! Now, we have a heck of a menagery to work around ... wallpaper from the 50's for sure (with ships on it) ... and wallpaper from the 70's with stripes. Partial paneling, exposed subflooring, rotten subflooring and all sorts of things! It might be make shift for now, but we have a terrific tub and shower now! We've hung a lovely black plastic shower ring above the tub for a shower curtain, and have all the luxury of being able to move in the shower instead of trying to figure out how to raise our arms above our heads in that little cubicle. It's a great day in the neighborhood!! And now, the clean up begins. Please keep good thoughts of us as we really need some moral support about now! But I'm so very happy to report that in spite of the "funky" decor in there, we are very lucky to have worked it out! The vision here is: the part of the wall behind the tub that is jutting out is another chimney. It begins in the basement and goes straight up through both bathrooms and stops in the attic. It doesn't seem to have a mission, it just is there! So, we will expose the chimney and have the brick showing as opposed to the lovely wall paper and paneling that you see here now. The tub will be on a platform and will be on a diagonal. The flooring will all be replaced after the construction (or before if I can't stand it for that long!) We will put vanity or antique dressers in the part opposite the tub (which is now filled with dressers and chests) and we have yet to decide what we'll do with the walls. Under the paneling and wall paper they are lathe and plaster. We'll think on that for a while! Plenty of time to decide, as we really need to get the floors finished before we launch into all the "redo" on the bathroom(s)!!!!

Stay tuned for the next and continuing adventures ... one of which should happen whilst Paul is in the "Indiana Jones" room this afternoon! I, unfortunately, will be at Lowes ... no doubt helping people who are doing things like I'd love to do! Happy Sunday to all! And more importantly, happy Autumnal Equinox, as today marks the official beginning of autumn. May all of your fall wishes come true! Paul & Cheri