Guest bath update

 It is amazing how many pounds of stuff goes into building a 5' by 6' bathroom. A 350 pound tub, 450 pounds of cement, 350 pounds of tile, 500 pounds of people working in the space.  That is 1,650 pounds of extra weight on our 120 year old footings. Yikes.

Now I know why the prior owners put in a fiberglass shower, 30 inch tall pedestal sink and the smallest toilet they could find. They didn't want to challenge the footings and potentially find themselves sitting in the cellar.

This is the best "pre" photo I have. This room was down to the studs in a matter of hours. With the new plumbing going in, there was no way to save much of the existing walls. Not to mention the mold and rot that was found under the old shower.

With the tub on the left, the very cute corner toilet won't fit, 

The tub was set in place, across the back wall. It was bigger than expected and completely changed our plans for this room.

With the tub in view on the right, we discover the cabinet we planned won't fit. We found a beautiful replacement, but it required a delicate reworking of the plumbing down the middle of the original support beam.

Our contractor, "M",  loses sleep over the ability of our foundation to hold up this monster tub. And every couple of days I hear the guys adding additional support under the bathroom. I never realized the complexity of the bathroom space. Much more challenging then any other room so far.

Weight aside, the process of water proofing, sealing, supporting and protecting the various porcelain and cast iron elements of our little bathroom amazes me. Since the 350 pound cast iron tub went in first, it's perfect surface has been aggressively protected each day. Plastic liner, cardboard, blankets, whatever we can find to ensure that a rogue hammer doesn't damage the surface. Not that a cast iron tub is easily chipped. It is just that hammers, tiles, heavy plumbing items are just the sort of thing that can ding a tub forever. We will all be very glad when it is safely through this passage.

 Tub on the right, wood framing for the tile "seat" is in the corner and the mock-up of all of the lights, mirrors, towel bars, train rack and electrical is drawn on the cardboard.

It turns out that two small bathrooms, back to back, sharing a wall with the main heater venting is a logistical nightmare. With only 5 feet of wall, the tub, 2 sinks, 2 toilets and heater exhaust was more then that little wall could hold. In the end, every screw or nail that is going to be placed in this wall will have to be per-determined to ensure we don't hit a water line, electrical line or vent. You can see the drawings taped to the wall to help workers measure out the exact dimensions.  The delicate balance of opposing elements like water and electricity, weight pushing down, support pushing up, old 2x4 (actually are 2" by 4") and new "2x4s" (actually 1 3/4" by 3 1/2"). Every day we are glad we have an experienced, slightly OCD contractor who calculates, configures, contemplates and capitulates before making a move. (And I thought medicine was a complicated business.)

This is the view through the wall from the powder room into the guest bath with tub on the right. The tape shows future mirror and cabinet installation locations for the powder room. The shiny vertical tube is the potential heater exhaust pipe that will exhaust through the roof.

We have waited literally weeks to "close" this wall. Not only because the plumbing has been moved three time, but also because "M" is afraid he will cut through the floor, support beams and out through the roof to install the 30 foot exhaust vent for our 25 year old heater and in the end, the heater won't be powerful enough to pass inspection for our new addition. Yikes. We called in an HVAC expert and, using his recommendation,  opted to add a new heating system.  It will vent out to the side, protect the internal integrity of the house and provide the correct amount of tonnage for the full house. He was also willing to put the  intake vent in the floor (rather than the ceiling) saving my broom closet.  That is great news! The broom closet always gets targeted when we need an extra couple of square feet.  I never realized how under appreciated the broom closet is.  I have digressed, back to the bathroom.

The black tar-like stuff will make the wood water proof. Insulated walls should keep this little room more comfortable for our guests and now it is easy to see where the white subway tile will run around the entire room. That is the tub on the right, covered with plywood. 

We get a glimpse of the tub as they add another water proof layer and the wire mesh that will support the tile. The heater vent  will come out of the tile seat on the left.

This is the right side of the bathroom with the wire layer and the tub. The white drywall area is behind the toilet. The wall is closed up and now we just have to make sure we don't hang anything on this wall that hasn't been pre-determined. We took lots of photos of the exposed wall with measuring tapes to ensure we don't hit a water line when hanging the towel bar.

 The  450 pounds of cement goes up as a foundation for the tile. All is being scraped and evened out to get a near perfect sub straight. We have ordered the tile and the "tile guy" is being scheduled. This stage takes a few days to dry, so we just enjoy the reality of our little bathroom getting close to being finished. The wall and floor tiles will really transform it and we just have to hope the toilet and sink will fit after all of these layers of stuff have been put on the walls.

We can now see Kylie's little seat. She can't wait to have her new bathtub and seat finished.

I hope to have final photos by next week.