To catch up on our plans check out previous posts. Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3. Weeks 4 and 5 of the One Room Challenge have been I what refer to as the Money Pit weeks, particularly when working in an older home like this 1888 Victorian. The week after demo when all the issues and weird choices of previous owners have been revealed and you learn just how much of that contingency will be needed to get things up to code. And goodness, did we have some issues.
Up first, the expected. We knew there was plumbing in the exterior wall that we wanted out, but we didn't expect hidden shut-off valves in that wall. We were glad to see that it was all copper. We knew the basement had been upgraded but weren't sure if there were copper risers up to the second floor. Degraded/missing insulation is also pretty typical. And expected some floor joist damage, but having just 2" left on a couple of them was not a great find.
What we didn't expect was an entire tiled, concrete shower pan under the existing weird tub situation. So that was fun.
We also didn't expect to find FIVE layers of wall. Drywall, drywall, plywood, plaster, lathe. Why? Who knows.
In between looking at all the chaos we needed to fix, I went to my fabricator to look at marble remnants for the vanity top. Totally scored with this Carrera marble slab that the owner was only using a portion of for another project. This will be a gorgeous update to our budget vanity.
I also started gathering some of the accessories for this space - bath mat, counter organization, etc. Adding in some vintage unexpected items - like a chinese noodle cart that will serve as storage. Now that we're through the worst of this I'm ready for it to all come together!
Back in demo world - all the old plumbing was pulled so there isn't anything in the wall that will unexpectedly leak. Removed the extra concrete shower pan. Sistered all the joists so that everything is sound.
Then things began going back together. New plumbing and electric were run to their new locations. Subfloor went in and the tub was framed. All 16 feet of the new wall went up on the ridiculously vaulted ceiling.
The tub was framed and installed, dura rock is up and everything is ready for tilling in week 6. Things are really rocking now! Next week should see some pretty updates as we head into the home stretch.
