Before the Storm

This has been a high-drama week, about which I will write in more detail when I have it all together. When you're in the thick of things it can be hard to write coherently about what is going on, and sometimes it doesn't help to have too much out there. Anyway, look forward to that.

Life must go on. We're taking a bunch more plaster down tomorrow so I can get started on the bathroom replumbing that is high on this year's goals. This evening Noel and I cleared out the work areas, which have predictably been piled with things (including the Japanese Robot Toilet to be installed in the downstairs bathroom).

And here is that downstairs bathroom, cleared of stuff and ready to be firmly and clearly addressed with a sledgehammer. We're taking down all the plaster in there, the better to do the vent pipes (since the previous downstairs bathroom had no vents, which is not generally considered to be a good idea).

We may have to take out the furnace return to get it all worked out. This is the time to do it, since it's now nice and warm and will be for a while (if I write that, it will drop to 40F with a dense fog for a week, just you watch).

Also in service of the plumbing, we will be taking down the ceiling in the back hall, and the walls for about 14 inches. That's because the shower drain is going to run inside the house, instead of outside. Those of you in northern climates are probably confused, but the deal is that in California we seem to be inordinately fond of running plumbing along the outside of the house. I think that looks stupid and ugly, and all my plumbing is going to be run indoors, through plumbing chases, one of which will run across this ceiling.

Also, a fair amount of water came in from the hole in the roof at this point some time ago, and it's be nice to get the rotted stuff cleared out and see what the wood looks like while everything is a mess. And the access will make it easier to put in fire blocking (chunks of wood that keep fires from traveling around the inside of the walls; very important to add in a balloon-framed house like this one).

Upstairs we will be taking down all the plaster in the upstairs bathroom. That's not all the wall because we have this wood paneling, but it does include a ceiling. That's mainly because we're going to be putting in a tiled shower and taking out plaster and wood paneling to do that (we'll reuse it elsewhere, do not worry), and the new tile would be a different thickness than the plaster.

I also want to do this as a wet room with waterproofing installed up the walls and a central floor drain, which will be much easier if the plaster and wood paneling are not there.

Not sure if we'll remove the wood paneling tomorrow; it's a little fiddly and tends to fall apart, and also it might just be the only thing keeping the cats in the attic where they will be locked up for the event.

Depending on how many people show up and how fast the plaster gets busted up and taken out, we may move on to cleaning up plaster tomorrow as well. Just in case, we moved Noel's harpsichord out of the hallway. The cats are very interested. Goldie is a little scared.

posted by ayse on 07/20/12