tis the season

just another reason why halloween is so awesome..

I voted today

now Chara is threatening to make me sleep on the couch.

New window

nothing is easy with this project. This window especially caused me to say some bad words.

Here is the old hole for the shower window.

Here is me making that hole bigger.cutting stucco is super messy too
nice new big hole.
luckily i have the best neighbors in the world and Don showed up at just the right time as my wife ditched me to go shopping. Don and i put in the window. Here is Don's hand
and the window installed.
i need another day off already.

I am Joe the Plumber*

*but i do not owe any back taxes and do not support John McCain

Project update:
Did some of the plumbing for the new shower. here i re-routed the water lines to the new valve

Here is the new valve. Its on the opposite wall from the shower head so i had some crazy pipes going to and from. a lot of plumbing but hopefully it will turn out cool.

Here is the pieces building for the new shower body sprays

Here it is completed. I had to create a loop to have it all pressurized correctly. fun times

almost done with all the plumbing. i don't like plumbing that much.

Concrete is just messy

whether i'm cutting it out or putting it back it its just messy and not that fun. Especially the lugging around 90lb bags of concrete from the floor onto a cart, from the cart into the truck, from the truck through the window into the bathroom etc. Its just not fun.

Anyway finished the plumbing and put in the concrete to fill in the holes.

Safety First

so among the many blisters and bruisings i've sustained from this remodel this was the worst injury thus far. Working late into the night and very tired i was finishing framing up a wall. I had put a clamp up on a beam and then stood up on a step ladder to do something and WHACK stepped up right into the clamp with my forehead. my glasses went flying and i was very dizzy. That was a good sign to call it a day.

now i got this sweet cut on my forehead.

The major remodel project of 2009

I have too many projects going on but this one i've been putting off for a long time. Its one of the last major remodels and one of the last rooms in the house we haven't touched yet. I've been putting this project off for a while because A. its huge, B. its a lot of plumbing work (and i don't like plumbing work), and C. its HUGE.

I've been taking pictures thus far but have not blogged yet so here is a quick update as to where i am on the project thus far.

Here are some little before pictures:

Chara came home one day to all of our bedroom furniture distributed throughout the house and thus began the great project. she was not happy with this surprise.

our very tiny bathroom

Here is our tiny bathroom before. i need a wide angle lense
took the shower door off and gave it away on craigslist.the shower
and i started tearing into the shower


removed all the tile on the floor and unhooked the toilet
dismantled the vanity and removed italso gave this away on craiglist
and here we started tearing into the walls
all the tile and drywall removed from the showermore drywall removed and shower pan removed
that thing was heavy
old bathroom shower area gutted
old bedroom gutted. carpet gonethe dog helping

removed old shower wallmoved the toilet water feed. Yes i'm moving the toilet on a concrete slab.

and now the big fun of the project and one of the big reasons why i put it off for so long. moving a toilet on a concrete slab is not fun at all. at all.

I rented this beast. gas powered concrete saw. super loud, super messy and the exhaust fumes almost made me pass out every time i used it. so much fun.
first cuts
more cuts
after many hours of cutting and taking breaks to breath fresh air i got the main area cut for the toilet. those concrete chunks are heavy!

I have a video of me cutting i'll try to put it up later. But this was definately the hardest part of the project. The saw hooks up to your hose to allow water to the saw. but the water feeds were broken and had holes everywhere so water sprayed everywhere but the saw it seemed. I was a complete mess.removing the concrete
I'm also moving the sink so i had to make way for a new drain line. that means more cutting.took it out in one big heavy piece because i was tired of cutting
a sledgehammer in the right place broke it up
and here is the final trench
here is the re-worked toilet and sink drain plumbing

framing up the new shower/bathroom wall
moving another wall for the new sink area
moved the wall switch to accomodate for the new wall location
installed a new light/vent for the water closet area
and here is a random shot of the new wall in place with some of the old wall removed.

and thats mostly where i am to date. I got the lights installed in the shower. Today i am finishing the plumbing of the toilet and sink drain and filling in the foundation with concrete. then i'm finshing moving the second wall and getting the new sink area wired in with electrical and move the water lines to that area as well.

Lots of fun thus far. More pics to come i'm sure.