Demo Weekend... no, not "demo" as in demonstration. "Demo" as in demolition. This is the weekend I start gutting the bathroom. I'm doing a major overhaul of the bathroom structure. What I hope to accomplish is a leak-free toilet and sink -- something that it is not today -- and a draft-free and rot-free structure. I'll need to replace two floor joists and insulate the exterior wall. I don't have much of a budget and will have to perform a lot of the labor myself. I'm being helped with the reconstruct by the nice guys who came out and handled our septic woes.
As you can see, the toilet and sink/vanity are completely shot. The toilet finally bit the big one when the contractor ran the new line from the house to the septic tank (story below). I've already removed a cupboard and started tearing out the first layer of wall: wire lath and plaster. What fun! I also have to rip out what three nice but inept guys put in when they "repaired" the bathroom 10 years ago. They did such a poor job it's taken me this long to get enough courage/heart to tear it out. I just kept shaking my head and wondered where to start...
Last winter we started having septic problems. Not hard to do when the number of people in your house doubles (from 3 to 6). Trouble was, the only person who knew where the septic tank was buried died 17 years ago. This tank has never been pumped out, and it dates from the early 70's. We started digging last year and decided to call the professionals.
The first man came out to the house and couldn't find it with his probe. The second guys ran a "bug" through the clean out and came to a place where it "probably" was located. We dug (or I should say son Brian dug) and found terra cotta pipe which was immediately immersed in effluent. Son resigned from the labor force on this project, and we tried to get a contractor. No luck.
Until... our zoning officer said we should really do something about the hole in our side yard because the neighbors were complaining. Now, our zoning officer is a neighbor but we like her anyway. She made a recommendation and we called. Spring/summer is their busy season, but they'd call us when they could schedule us in. Fast forward to two weeks ago. They finally got a break and started the dig. Three days later, we had not one, but two tanks pumped out, and a new line running from the house to the septic tank. A couple of concrete rings extend the top of the tanks so that the next time, we'll be able to find them.
Well, back to the task at hand. I'm not looking for a "House Beautiful" remodel -- I just want a functioning bathroom that 6 people can share and keep clean. Utilitarian, I guess. Anyone have any suggestions?
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