Dust and Studs

This was the most physically exhausting week that we’ve had in a long time and of course this will be a very picture-heavy post. It all started on Monday evening when we began demolition of the closet. In order to understand the extent of this challenge you have to know a little bit about our walls. Unlike new construction, our walls have a ½ inch gypsum board that is covered with up to 1 ½ inch plaster. Each corner has a thick wire mesh that is insanely hard to remove.


It took us 4 full nights and a part of a 5th in order to remove all the walls, ceiling, and floor. The worst part of the whole demolition was the bathtub and surround. The bathtub is a huge, heavy cast iron tub that took quite a bit for Chris and my dad to get out. The surround was a full wire mesh with extremely thick plaster – Mom and I couldn’t even lift small pieces of it.

When we removed the ceramic tile, we found three more styles of tile and another remnant that matches our ugly upstairs bathroom (oh, the horror!).





We took Friday off of work and spent some quality time with my parents – doing home renovation! Dad and Chris continued demolition of the tub and walls while Mom and I took trips to the dump. Out of the three trips to the dump, we moved over a ton and a half of debris from the bathroom and closet.




On Saturday, my parent’s friend Jerry came down to help out with the rough in plumbing for the bathrooms. We made quite a few trips to Lowe’s in order to get all of the materials we needed. I was banished to being the “go-for” and cook. Chris and Dad installed subfloor and walls while Mom helped Jerry with the plumbing (which included removing the old cast iron drain pipe – yuck!).

Sunday was much more of the same. By the end of the weekend, we had all the walls up and the drain lines and vents installed. Fortunately we finished early enough that everyone could drive home early.

Now we have what is starting to look like a couple bathrooms. Here are the before, during, and after pictures – we still have a long way to go!












This week we plan to finish the plumbing rough in, get the electricians in, and get the rough in inspections. If all goes well, we could be installing some drywall next weekend – we’ll keep our fingers crossed!