Demo - Day 2

Day 2 went a lot smoother than Day 1. AND! I actually got to contribute this time. We started off with Matt removing the toilet. Man, was I glad to see that nasty thing gone. It was quite embarrassing to have to tell our guests to hold down the handle for at least 5 seconds after you go. And, if I’m being honest, my preference would be to buy a new toilet every time the old one needs cleaning. I hate cleaning bathrooms…

So the toilet came out without a hitch and into the dumpster it went. Next, we busted out the hammers and crowbars and started attacking the flooring. The tile came up pretty easily, and sections of the 2-layer linoleum pulled right up without a hassle too. There were some areas where the linoleum was “like $*#@ing concrete” to put it into Matt’s words. But we managed to get the floor pretty clear during that first hour.

We still had 30 minutes left before our stopping point for the day, so we decided to have some fun and pull some of the shower tiles off the wall. That is one of my favorite demo tasks – Matt and I work like a well-oiled machine and get it done very efficiently. He takes the crowbar and gives a few taps of the hammer to loosen the tiny tiles, and then I pull them off the rest of the way and throw them into a waiting trash bucket. Some of the tiles are not too attached to the wall, so they come flying off and make for a fun game called “Catch the Flying Tile Before it Hits Someone in the Shin.”

Matt Working Like a Stud... Me Working in my Stunna Shades

Bucket o' Tiles

Funny story: as we started on the shower tiles, Matt said “I guess I don’t have to be too careful since we are replacing all of this green board with cement board.” Not 5 seconds later, the green board gave way to his crowbar and popped a nice little hole into the wall. Who puts together a SHOWER with GREEN BOARD?!! Apparently people who mistake “water resistant” with “water proof.” Green Board is actually fine for moist areas like bathrooms, but it is terrible for actual wet places like, oh I don’t know… showers? So you end up having these weak, crumbly walls after a few years of exposure and that can quickly become a breeding ground for mold. So yeah, we made about a half a dozen holes into the stupid green board. Today, we plan on cutting it out
completely.

*Note: at first, I was going to be forgiving of the people who installed the green board because Google wasn't invented back then. And how the heck do you know how to do stuff without Google's help? But then I remembered that they were professional contractors. So no excuses, I stand by my original mockery of their choices.

Try to spot all of the green wall holes! This is why we covered the tub before starting...

So that was it for Day 2. We got the toilet out, flooring up, and as a bonus started on the shower tiles. Matt commented on how yoga has made this remodel a lot easier – bending over flooring with a crowbar and hammer is eerily similar to Mountain Pose. More to do tonight – more updates to come.