Demo Day!

It has taken awhile for Studs and I to start demo-ing the bathroom.  Things have been crazy at work for Studly and he was hoping to be able to just pay someone to come in and finish the bathroom for us.  So we had someone come out and give us a bid for the entire bathroom renovation...demo, plumbing, tile etc.  But when the bid came in at over $7,000 we decided this project was going to be a DIY'er.  

We've tentatively scheduled a completion date for the beginning of April.  Fingers crossed we can do it.  Things could get pretty hairy {and smelly} around here with seven people trying to share one teeny, tiny bathroom.

Here's how everything looked right before we started demo.

 Note the disgusting, dirty grout.  I'm surprised none of us ended up with some sort of flesh in eating bacteria or other skin disease.

Studly took on the demo of the bathtub.

And I took on the demo of the shower and floors.

And the kids took on the role of getting in the way...they are actually kinda helping in this picture...kinda.

Eventually, the novelty of it all wore off and the kids resorted to the other thing they do best...making messes.

Here's what I encountered in the shower...

Lots and lots of mold!

 That's when I decided it was probably time for me to don...

protective gear.  

The jury is still out on what is more toxic...my morning breath or the black mold.  If you ever find yourself wondering how your breath REALLY, TRULY smells, just put on one of these respirators...you'll find out pretty quick.

Turns out my breath and black mold weren't the only dangers in the bathroom.  Tile removal can be quite bloody 

Yes, the wipes are there just for mopping up my bloody messes.

Eventually, I decided to don a pair of work gloves.  DUH!!!  But not until after receiving six, painful cuts all over my fingers.  They hurt even worse the day after.  

Studly continued on with his business of tearing out the tub, whilst I nursed my wounds and wiped up blood spatter.

 Aside from a leaking faucet, we encountered little trouble removing the tub and it's accompanying surround.

 Together, we tackled the job of taking down one of the shower walls.  And by together I mean, Studly ripped out drywall, while I documented progress with the camera.

The idea is to the install glass doors along this entire wall, thus creating a more open feel in the shower space and the entire bathroom as a whole.  It may seem a bit exhibitionist of us, but that's what bathroom doors are for, right? 

By afternoons end, we had successfully removed  a wall and ripped out a shower {except for the floor}

removed all of the disgusting, floor tile, along with it's accompanying disease-laden grout.

and removed a corner, garden tub along with it's accompanying surround.

Here's a reminder of the before.

Not too bad for a days work.  All we have left now is to remove the vanity, shower floor and toilet and we will be ready to start the fun part.

All said and done, we ended up saving ourselves over $1,000 {as per the quote we got} by opting to do the demo ourselves.  It was bloody, frusterating{at some points} and labor intensive, but boy did it feel good at the end of the day knowing how much we were able to accomplish and save.  

Sweat equity, or bloody equity in this case...it's a good thing!

Tip Of The Day:  Should you choose to take on a project similar this of demo-ing a space in your house, be sure to call someone and have a dumpster delivered PRIOR to starting, or your garage may end up looking like this.

It's the first thing on my to-do list tomorrow.