Day one of the hall bath tile project has come and gone and I’m always glad to get past the noise and dust of the demolition and relieved that nothing got broken in the process. Removing the old tile did reveal some minimal signs of leakage through the backer board and there was a bit of mold. It also revealed the shitty 1×2 steel framing that was used in that area of the condo. Structural beefing up will be in order. As I suspected, the pan threshold under the shower door was poured concrete, which means Paul will be using a paint-on pan seal as opposed to a mat. The plumber was in and roughed in the valve. The wall with the shower head and valve also contains the plumbing for the washing machine and is a real rat’s nest of pipes. I was a little concerned about the offsets he used when installing the valve and how it would impact the ability to set the valve at the correct depth vis-à-vis the finished wall, but Paul seems to think it’s OK. I shouldn’t sweat this merde, but I hate re-dos and I’ve done enough of these projects to be a bit gun-shy. The drain has not been touched. The plumber’s plan was to see if he could unscrew the existing floor drain head and just replace the screen with a new, shiny one. The drain doesn’t seem to be moving, and I’m not real happy with that idea, so I think we’ll insist digging out the old p-trap and riser and start clean—a lot more work, but not my problem.
Playing General Contractor sure has a way to eat up the day. I seem to be getting little else done and it’s probably time to hit the task list, but first I think I’ll go read the paper. Remod on Hawaiian time.