Day 1: Easy demo
Popping the old tiles off the half-crumbly backer. They came down surprisingly quickly and easily.
Day 2: Real demo. It requires power tools and a little more exertion, thus I take breaks to rest. And upload pictures.
The creepy closet revealed! Thank heavens it’s warm-ish out (mid-40s!) so we can open a window for ventilation.
The creepier closet revealed! Mostly.
Man wields saw, fills air with dust. Masks come in handy.
Ta-da! Ready for rebuild!
Day 2.5: The Bane of My Existence
Oh, all the pieces went together just fine. No extra plumbing parts needed–a real shocker since I’m putting new fixtures onto old-as-hell pipes. The only problem was I didn’t use enough pipe dope. Then I didn’t tighten them down tight enough. Thankfully, I have a burly husband. Get married, kids! It doubles your chances of being able to successfully perform feats of strength around the house!
Update: One tiny bead of water. It’s going to kill me.
Day 2.75: Fatigue sets in.
We got the sistered studs, vapor barrier (i.e. 4-ml plastic sheeting), and 1/3 of the backer board up, and are calling it a night. The fact that nothing is square in our house has nearly done us in, and we’re going to have to put up the rest tomorrow, plus get the tile up. This pushes back our schedule considerably, but oh well. It’s not like we have a ton of other things to be doing this week. Oh wait! We do!
Anyway, we do what we do as we can do it. Blarg.
Day 3: Falling way behind schedule.
Well, here it is 4:30pm and we’ve spent the better part of 7 hours on the two remaining pieces of backer board. Utterly demoralizing. But it’s done, and it ain’t half bad.
That seam on the back wall visited me often in my dreams last night. I did not place it on a stud, because you’re not supposed to sink a screw within 3/4″ of the edge of the backer board. And I thought because the backer was so rigid, it’d be fine. I was wrong. And to rectify my mistake, I spent a half hour of quality time this morning constructing a brace and fake stud to which I could attach both edges of the seam. Lest you think this was an easy-peasy fix, I will remind you that behind the shower is a sloping roof and a crawl space filled with God knows what kind of creatures (based on the skittering around we heard last night, wombats). So it required a lot of hunching and grunting with a growing belly, and at one point, stepping on a roofing nail. When they put on a new roof several years ago, they left all the debris in the crawl space. And no, we haven’t gotten around to cleaning it up yet. It is the creepy-creepy closet, after all.
You want to know the most f-ed up part of the whole backer-board deal? The piece we thought would be the hardest went up the easiest. I think it must have been due to the “Please Jesus, please Jesus, please Jesus, please Jesus” I uttered as I was following Spouse as he carried the big sheet with four carefully-cut holes up the stairs. Which is kind of hard to imagine after I spent two full days of cursing anything and everything in sight.
Now, with that said, if you’re doing anything like this in the future, for the love of Pete, buy a hole saw bigger than the fixtures you’re trying to get around. Because this:
While perfectly placed (I know, right?!), is not exactly the easiest thing in the world to deal with when getting all the bits and pieces of the fixtures on. Go bigger than the 1 1/4″ hole saw. That’s all I’m saying.
We still have all the layout and actual tiling and grouting to do, but man alive, does it feel good to have actual non-rotted shower walls up again.
Day 4: Tile! Finally!
The first wall minus the bottom row (tiles to be trimmed to accommodate the sloping tub) and top cap is done. It went up in about an hour and a half, and with surprising ease once I got the hang of handling the thinset. It helps tremendously to have an expert pair of hands trimming tiles for the ends of each run. I am extremely pleased with the look of it so far.
Also, tile spacers are for the weak. Or at least those using larger than 1/16″ grout lines.
The other walls to be done tomorrow, grout on Tuesday, and functioning shower on Wednesday if all goes well.
Day Eleventy-Seven: In Retrospect, We Could’ve Lived a Little Longer with the Pink Tile.
Still not finished with the tile. But! It’s two-thirds done.
This is the point at which I remind all who trespass here that this shower project is my first attempt at the whole tiling thing. Hence, I overlooked the need for a 2×2 corner cap, and didn’t do such a tremendous job with the layout on the second wall (note tiny pieces in corner on every other row. On second thought, don’t.). Also, I counted and/or measured wrong on the 2×6 trim pieces, so Spouse has to drop by Lowe’s to pick up more tomorrow, along with white silicone caulk (not clear, as I’d originally planned). The white will cover a multitude of flaws in the corner. I’m hoping for the same effect from white grout.
My class meets earlier in the morning on Tuesdays, and my schedule is clear afterwards except for a block reserved for that pesky fellowship proposal, so I’ll have a bit more time to finish this thing up tomorrow–or at least get everything prepped for Spouse and me to tackle the last bit together. Go Team Grimsaburger-Doodle!
Day 6: Oh, You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me.
All tiles up, minus two square corner caps. Would’ve gotten those up too, but they come in a package of two and one, unbeknownst to Spouse, was broken upon its arrival home. Grout and caulk tomorrow, along with fixtures and pictures.
Day 7: Sometimes Your Motivation Up and Leaves in the Middle of the Night.
As promised, photos of the now all-but-two-tiles complete shower surround.
This. This will be the death of me. Oh, I suppose it could be worse. We could’ve had to replace actual plumbing to install new fixtures. But the fact that the fixtures are about 1/4″ too far behind the new backer and tile to accommodate the collar and flange, thereby preventing me from installing everything until I find flatter flanges… well, if I had any more energy I’d be working up a tear or two of pure frustration. And the tub spout? It works, and nothing leaks, and I swear to you that the stream of water that pours out of it looks prettier than any water that’s ever come out of our tub spout. But as it is, it can’t be screwed onto the pipe tightly, lest I do damage to those gorgeous tiles I just installed. I suppose I will be counting on the caulk to sort of glue it in place so it doesn’t go spinning around at random.
And yes, two of those tiles are trimmed so neatly around the holes that they in fact overlap the holes in the backer board. I will be attempting to punch out the excess tonight, and praying that I don’t take out the whole tiles. But if I do, I’ll just have to chisel out the cured thinset and put up new ones again. And that’s okay. I can do it.
Argh. I may not get to it tonight, but this, and the corner matching it on the other side, are waiting on unbroken tiles to fill in the blank space.
In fact, we may not get to the grout at all tonight since I can’t remember being so exhausted, and I’m pretty sure Spouse is right there with me. I recall being exhausted last fall, but then I was merely bloated and not hauling around 10-15 lbs. extra mass on my front end. Now, I get the additional enjoyment of bringing on Braxton-Hicks contractions by being tired and continuing to move around as though I wasn’t gestating a very active baby. It’s time for a break. Besides, Lost is on tonight, and while I can catch up with Battlestar Galactica or Fringe on Hulu later, I refuse to watch Lost any time but its actual air time.
But! We have a working tub spout, a momentarily clean tub, and enough plastic sheeting and tape to protect the ungrouted tile from any errant splashes, and I feel pretty sure in saying that the bath I take tonight will be the best bath of my life.
Day 8: No, Really, You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me.
That there is a $33 accident. Sonofabitch.
In the interests of focusing on the positive, however, I give you this:
Grouted tile on the right, yet-to-be grouted on the left. I had some panicked second thoughts about going with the bright white grout, as opposed to some light gray that would’ve given a contrast-ier look, but when I espied with mine eyes the less regular gaps between the ends of runs and the trim, I concluded the bright white was the right choice.
Also, grouting is easier than I thought it would be. I imagine sanded grout is much worse to work with, but the unsanded is pretty pliable and easy to work into even the smallest of gaps.
And last but not least, I managed to solve the fixture problem by coming to my senses and realizing I could just tug on the plumbing ever so slightly to get it to jut out the 1/8″ to 1/4″ I needed to grab the threads on the assembly behind the wall. It’ll be a snug fit, but the even pressure across all three knobs and tub spout (which, coincidentally, will not be spinning freely anymore) should keep it from doing any damage to the tile. So we’ll be in business for showers tomorrow night after all–no tape-and-plastic extravaganza necessary.
Now, back to it for the final lap.
Day 9: Done. Really. I swear.
First, a trip down memory lane.
Mmmm. Pink tile peeling off the wall. Mildew run amok. It’s a wonder we ever hit upon the idea of making any changes at all.
Oh, wait. You mean the wall behind the tile is basically plaster molecules holding hands?
But look what a ton of work and a week can do!
And look at those lovely fixtures! FYI, the tiles under the hot and cold were split down the middle, nipped off in a u-shape, and jammed back together almost seamlessly. It’s our crowning achievement, I think (crossing our fingers that the super glue holds the middle knob together).
