With much solo wrenching and excessive force, the old bathtub is out (and sitting on our living room floor). I shored up the water-damaged subfloor and made at least eight trips army-crawling through fifty feet (round trip) of fiberglass in the crawlspace below our house to get things in order. Lying on my back in the dankness with a flashlight strategically propped, trying to operate a drill while fiberglass sprinkled my retinas was not the most pleasant thing I’ve ever done.
I also cemented in new cement board to the subfloor in preparation for the tile floor to come and for a little more support for the floor I didn’t yet completely trust. Good and solid now though. I installed the plumbing for the new tub and with Mary’s help was able to hoist the beast into place. One more trip through the crawlspace to reconnect the plumbing and check for leaks and we now as least have a functioning tub again. I have no idea how long it’s going to take to get the rest done though.
wouldn’t it have been easier to put the walls in before the bathtub?
Doesn’t work that way. Bathtubs are actually built into walls. The tub fits between the wall studs with about a quarter inch to spare on each side, but wouldn’t fit between the drywall-covered walls. The three sides of the tub by a wall each have an inch tall lip sticking up (see the picture with Nora in it). So when I put in a backerboard for the tile above the bathtub, that backerboard actually hangs down over the lip, locking in the tub and making it a permanent part of the room. It’s crazy. So any future repairs that I couldn’t reach from the crawlspace would mean ripping out the walls again.
Boy, I’m impressed, Josh, by all this complicated work you’re undertaking. Congrats on your progress so far!
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