Demolition continued

We are very inconvenienced by my dreams of bathroom glory. We have one bathroom, but I've taken the sink out of it, so we are now brushing our teeth at the kitchen sink. We also had to take the door off, and although it's only Ross and me, it's a little weird. One is used to a certain amount of privacy during their bathroom moments. So, I've committed to this and have to keep going, and get it done fast, because I really need to be able to read on the toilet in peace.

Beginning on the great project "Bathroom" today, I fixed the broken trim with wood glue and rubber bands. And I sealed the slate, which is laid out on the guest bedroom floor. It's too cold outside for the sealer to work effectively, and I'm also afraid if I left it outside on the patio, my crazy girl dog Sam would run all over it, breaking it or at the very least putting dog prints on the freshly sealed surfaces.




Then I turned to the serious task of pulverizing tile.



I decided to break all the tiles up and get them out of the way before tackling the cement board underneath. I worked for a couple hours at the tile and then Ross did the last four when he came home. Check out how he's not heeding my advice to use the towel on top of the tile and just hammering away while chips of tile are probably flying everywhere. Luckily, he is heeding my advice to wear eye protection.




The cement board was harder to get up than I thought it would be. I used my trusty flat-edged shovel to pry it up, but I was constantly interrupted in my progress by the many nails that are, unfortunately, necessary to fasten the cement board to the subfloor. I could get little sections at a time, by popping the board off the nails, sending showers of cement particles down on me and the entire bathroom. I found myself wishing the person who had installed this floor had done more of a half-assed job and not used so many nails.

Another obstacle to getting the cement board up was the adhesive that the installer used sporadically in a few places. This stuff has bonded quite effectively to the cement board and nothing will get it off. I can scrape the topmost layers off, but there seem to be permanent bumps on the subfloor where the adhesive and cement combination will just not come off. It's like chipping away at concrete.


Tomorrow the plan is to remove the toilet, take up the last of the tile and cement board, cut and install the new Hardibacker, and install the tile. At least I'll try to get to that last part, but I'm not guaranteeing anything. We want to get it all done so we can put the toilet back in, since it is the only seat in the house, but I really doubt it will happen. I suspect I might take up a lot of time chipping away at some glue/cement until the floor is level. Or maybe I'll say screw it and just use mortar to level the floor. We might have to be happy with the Hardibacker and then put the toilet back on temporarily until next weekend. There's only so much a poor girl can do in one day. Although, today seemed REALLY long. I did all the above, managed not to hurt myself in the process, and had the time to do four loads of laundry, get some railroad ties for the vegetable garden I'm planning, and go see a guy about a pedestal sink.
Speaking about the guy with the pedestal sink, I found him on craigslist. He sold me a sink for $60 that will fit exactly in the space, but that's not the best part. We drove up to his house in Lakewood, and I immediately fell in love with the craftsmanship of his home. It really looked like the guy has spent a lot of time lovingly make it his personal palace. He also bought the house next door that he is renovating. He took the flat roof off and made a beautiful peaked roof in its place. There were these awesome metal sculptures too, near the driveway and the pond down in the ravine. He came out and took us to his garage, which looked like a storage for the most awesomest treasures on earth, filled with chandeliers and light fixtures, doors, sinks, faucets, and more that I can't remember because I was too obsessed with the chandeliers. There was a wooden one that was intricately carved with dragon heads. We loved that one, but it probably wouldn't fit in our house. John told us he was about to retire from contracting but he would try to renovate a couple houses a year since that was really his passion. I got such a warm, super vibe from him that I couldn't help entertaining the idea of him adopting me, maybe just so I could live in that house. Alas, we had to tear ourselves away finally, but not before he sold us a cool Moen faucet for the sink for $25. He has a little side business auctioning off the surplus building materials he has in his garage, called Howard's Garage. His number is 720-320-1492. He'll probably be a good source for renovating advice for me in the future.

My hands hurt. So I'm going to bed.