Yes!

We knocked out the temporary shower and I couldn't be happier. Do we have more work to do to repair the wall, the floor, etc? You bet. But we also now have a nice, new, workable bathroom. And, I can't tell you what a luxury it is to have a beautiful bathroom once again. It also opened up the front of the house to the back of the house. I'm a lucky girl. Here are some pics of us dismantling the shower. Exciting, eh?

I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have a working upstairs bathroom!

Well the shower still isn't working but that's okay for now. It's being worked on. Here are a few pictures of the upstairs bathroom. The sink and toilet are working. A mess still, yes, but I can work around it.

Dave insisted on the toilets that we installed - super water savers or something. I feel they were way overpriced and I don't particularly like the style for these baths but during a remodel you need to compromise so that's what we did.

The shower shows the plywood screwed up. That has since been overlayed with the Swanstone. We were petrified we might break it installing it but we didn't. It was a bear to install - very heavy.

This week we have been putting up cement board at the tops of the showers so that we can tile. We are planning the tiling for next weekend. Can't wait! Once the tiling is done we can get the plumber back to hook up the showers. What a grand day that will be!

SLEEPING ROOM AT HARDY HOUSE

Here is a picture from upstairs in Hardy House. I know, the purple on the bedroom wall may seem a little garish but we are sort of looking at Craftsman, Aesthetic, Arts & Crafts decorating/styling and are hitting this room with it. I had purchased new Flokati rugs (I know, not of the same styling but I'm also looking for comfort) for next to the bed but last week I won at auction an almost 8 x 9 foot hooked rug that has a large floral design in it in purples, sages and ivories - same colors as in the house. We have taken it to the Oriental Rug Mart (see link) to have it cleaned. After we get it back we will try it in the bedroom. If it doesn't fit or look right, we will sell it. The rug would also look amazing hung on a wall.

This picture was taken from standing back near the dressing/drawer area at Hardy House and looking dead on into the bedroom. In pictures Hardy House looks very angular and I guess it is, but that's something we like about it.

Oh, yeah. The ceiling light in the bedroom will not be staying. We just couldn't decide what we want to do there so we put up an old light we had. It doesn't go with ANYTHING, but it works for the moment.

CHIPMUNKS CAN'T SWIM

Yuck! We continue to have some issues with our cistern (yes, it still exists) and it holding water - not much - a few inches maybe. I just returned from holding the flashlight so that Dave could use the leaf rake to scoop two dead chipmunks from the water. I assume they got in through the sill and dropped into the water, drowning quickly. I hope so for their sake. I cannot believe we used to use this water, even though it was only for a very short time. I am so disgusted. At this moment, Dave is burying the little critters at the edge of the cornfield.

UPDATE ON STUFF

I realize I said more "stuff" was coming - like pictures. So here are some more.

The Shower
Back in an earlier post I told you how Dave likes to keep things around and then all of a sudden he has found a use for them - and I only think he's a packrat of useless materials. Nope. He really does find needs for things.

As earlier stated, we had quite a fiasco with our shower situation. Well, before we could shower indoors at all, we had to rig up an indoor shower. You see, when you remodel an old home to this extent, sometimes you have to build temporary things. We had to build a temporary shower. And, once again, we were able to reuse old shower parts to do so.

This first picture (above) shows Dave building in a temporary area to hold our temporary indoor shower. This spot essentially closed us off from the front of the house where all the remodeling was taking place. To the right of Dave is drywall that backs to our kitchen cupboards and to the left is the old door to the second floor, which no longer exists. Just ahead of Dave is the entry to the dining room which also no longer exists.

The next pictures show where Dave built a box to hold the old bathroom fan (he wired a switch on the outside of the shower area to turn it off and on) and also the reused plumbing knobs and again we used that wonderful Pex to hook them up. We also reused the shower head. What we did have to purchase was the shower stall. But Dave and I were able to install that with no problems. We had to spend a little more than we wanted to for this but when it is something you must have and you must use it every day, I guess it was worth the cost. It sure beats bathing outside in the winter.

Two-piece shower unit from Home Depot: $339.00
One PVC shower drain from Home Depot: $6.28
Other miscellaneous items from Home Depot: $189.21
These items included drywall, couplings, PVC piping, caulk, etc.

We plan to be able to reuse the shower in the barn after the home renovation is complete.

Oh yes - I did my part. I found some old peach-colored paint and painted everything I could reach in the temporary shower area - even the floor. It really did make a difference and kept the humidity from damaging the drywall. I was also able to add a small stand to hold towels and even a candle. Dave hung our old towel bars, as well, so our towels would dry. It took a bit of time but was worth it.

Welcome to the Living Room

Safety first, of course. I wrote this little article called, "Personal Protection Gear for the Home or Room Remodeler." You might want to take a quick read before swinging your crowbar for the first time.

Since that first hole went into the living room, I figured I would put up some pictures of that room before we really started gutting. The first picture is looking to the north and east. The two-window wall is the wall that faces the road and the one you see in the Hardy House blog picture.

The second picture is from standing in the living room looking into the dining room. To the left of the opening is were a door was, original to the house. This was common and probably went into the parlor, or what we have now, the living room. We also pulled up wall-to-wall carpeting in the rooms and discarded it.

Advice: When pulling up carpet, cut it in strips with a utility knife. It makes it really easy to handle and throw into a dumpster or garbage can.

Get Ready! We'll Be Stepping Inside Very Soon

Here's a little tease of a picture. What the heck is that thing in the picture, you say? Well that thing would be a debris slide or chute that Dave made. More on that later.