Outdoor Temporary Shower...

Wrestling the shower into place on the back porch

And it fits!

When you dismantle, and by dismantle I mean gut down to the studs, the only full bathroom in your house, temporary measures must be taken to ensure members of your family are still able to bathe.  Believe me, the children of this household would happily go the entire summer without touching a bar of soap. It wouldn't be quite so joyous for the adults.

We intentionally timed this renovation during the summer months when an outdoor shower is ideal. And yes, we are hoping to complete the project, at least to the stage of being able to shower indoors again, before fall, when an outdoor shower becomes not quite as refreshing.

I have to take credit for the location of the shower.  It is on the porch, but steps outside the kitchen door and it FIT.  The location does require disrobing outside the glass slider door, on the porch, but the location is out of eyesight of the neighbors. You might want to stay out of the kitchen during evening bath time!

The children are enjoying showering outside on the deck and my youngest couldn't wait to be the first to try it out.

During this past weekend amid dirty, itchy demo work it was a life (and skin) saver!  Much, much more enjoyable than our current bathroom, even in its pre-demolition state!

I highly recommend installing one.  You don't know what you are missing!

The view from the back porch

Christmas in August...

Santa Larry (aka Dad) came for a visit about a week ago.  I don't know what happens when your Father visits, you, but mine brought with him a new shower valve.  Ok so maybe you aren't instantly jealous, but you have to understand that we have been using this

for the past almost three years as the old one broke/rotted off during our first week in the house.
We wanted to replace it, but also wanted to gut and remodel the entire bathroom and so kept putting it off...not thinking it would be three years later and now the vice grips are also starting to fail...

The funny thing is that the kids are so used to the vice grips that they didn't know how to work a shower dial!  My older one said, "wow that looks like a real shower knob".  It is!  My middle one said "how do you use it?".  My younger one said "don't think I am taking more baths."

The other fabulous side effect is the water no longer dribbles out, but is a torrent.  Water pressure, oh how I have missed you!

Here is an action shot of the newest hole in my wall...well worth it!

But wait...there is more...

We have these deck supports that are concrete footings.  There is no longer a deck, and the posts stick up just enough to trip you every time you walk by.  I have been asking the husband to get them out of here for three years now.  He spray painted them orange, but that doesn't help at night.  He also brought home some sort of gadget pry bar, but they are deep and did I mention, set in concrete...

So, my Dad has a Jeep, with a tow hook.  He hooked up a chain to the posts and ripped them out of the ground.  It was awesome.  We pulled out five big posts and also two tree roots that tripped you when walking behind the duck pen.




Woo Hoo!  Love you Dad.  Your vehicle is pretty cool too.

Kitchen faucet ousted from bathroom...

Very exciting news, our one bathroom no longer has a kitchen sink and sprayer... 

Before:

Here is it the bathroom sink with the kitchen faucet.  Unfortunately the arc of the faucet causes a lot of spraying and splashing.  Also the sprayer nozzle does not work.
The sink is an interesting shape.  I think it may have come from the kitchen (there is evidence of a remodel in that room).  Some think beauty-parlor (although there is no neck rest)...some think it would make a good sink for bathing an infant.

I have no issue with the sink.  Just the faucet.  And the cabinet...and the stenciling...

Bup and his side-kick

Here is a photo of "during" where you can see my wonderful plumber (aka Dad) and his side-kick doing some serious work.  Note the matching sweaters (hmmm....). 

We cleaned a lot of guck out of the drain.  Rory really enjoyed the sprayer nozzle.  It made a nice small gun and even squirted water at times.  Such fun.  He kept it trained on Bup to make sure he stayed on task... 

The job went surprisingly well - only two gliches (really!  only two!).  We found out one of the pipes by the trap is undersized.  Dad got a little wet with that discovery when the trap came off in his hand.  We also added a soap dispenser where the sprayer was, but need to sawzall a board to attach the soap bottle...




After:

Ahhh...now doesn't that look better?  Almost like an actual bathroom sink!!!

Why carpenters hate plumbers...

Isn't that a great line?  Alright I lifted it from George Nash's Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes which if you live in an old house I highly recommend getting a copy!

Anyway, to answer the question "why carpenters hate plumbers" we just have to pause a moment and take in my living room ceiling...

Can you count the number of joists that were cut through to make way for piping?  Yup, makes you wonder...  Quite a sight to behold.

plumbing is a pain in the a@@!

That is my favorite quote of the day...from my favorite professional plumber (aka Dad) when asked why I can't just put a toilet wherever I want...  I am learning a lot about vent pipes (and how do you get them from floor one up through the roof) and how big they should be and what type of pitch ones needs to properly let the good waste flow.

Oh yes and important question #2 - just how many floor joists can you cut through before the structure starts to sag?  I am counting at least seven - but do notice a definite pitch near the upstairs toilet suspiciously near where the pipes run through...

These are NOT from my house.  Gee don't I feel better now...

The Septic Is Done

It only took two months, but the new septic system and leaching field has been installed. The plumbing in the basement has been fixed (pitch and leaking) and tied in so we are good to go (literally) in our one bathroom...

The installer said it was done in the nick of time as the old cesspool pipe was packed full of juicy stuff that you just don't want backing up into your basement. Phew! We will have to wait to reseed until the spring and until then will be dealing with a big mud mess...starts to make you think about walkways and driveways...add that to the list!

Here is a lovely picture of the side yard and the trench you must cross to enter the house.