Monday, July 30, 2018

The 1868 House Loses its Loo

Of all the rooms in the icky house, as I so lovingly refer to it, I hated the bathroom the most. The roof was in terrible shape up above it and it was obvious it was a cheap mid-century add on. Over the last several years rain has leaked inside this area and further rotted the walls and floors. I always worried that due to its decay, it would just simply fall off the rest of the house. Keith assured me it was more stable than that, but promised not to store anything in there.

He was right. It didn't simply fall away and in fact when we started tearing that area down this weekend, the old loo gave us quite the fight.

Keith worked hard to gut the inside gutted, tearing out several layers of old plaster board and insulation, plus the tub and rotten ceiling. 




My main job was dumping the tractor bucket when full, into the dumpster and hauling the bad wood via wheelbarrow to the wood pile. 

I do love burning useless things.



We did enjoy uncovering the original door and window frames which had been boarded over and covered with asphalt and then aluminum siding, telling us this was probably a mudroom or storage room before it became the indoor bathroom.


We will be recycling all the aluminum and copper from the house for cash, which is a good since we're thinking we'll need to rent another dumpster later this fall.  The current one is getting full. 







When the room was gutted and all the siding removed, Keith wrapped large chains around the remaining posts and window openings, in the hopes that one backwards tractor pull would send the room tumbling to the ground. 








The wall did come away but the roof portion, clung to life. So he tried knocking the roof down with the tractor bucket but the ceiling was better secured than we thought and only part of it succumbed.





So Keith pulled, sawed, yanked the rest of it apart by hand. Son Jason dropped by to visit and of course his dad put him to work. 

You'd think that poor kid would learn.

Keep in mind the floor beneath my husband was in terrible shape and I worried he'd fall through while finishing the demo on the bathroom roof, but he had no concerns since it was just a shallow space under him about 18 inches deep. Still, I worried and suggested a hard hat. A suggestion that was ignored.

You'd think this poor wife would learn. 


By the end of Sunday (we took a break to visit with relatives from out of state) the back porch turned bathroom, was a distant memory. The snakes nest of copper pipe, aluminum drains and PVC pipe all under the floor however, will remain burned in our memories. What a mess!











14 comments:

  1. Oh my!!! I often ask ... What were they thinking? That mass of plumbing looks like an inspector's nightmare!

    Permits??? We don't need no stinkin' permits!!!

    Good luck, my friend!

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    1. Thanks Cathy, we need all the luck we can get. So happy we're not trying to renovate this sucker to live in. Poor thing has been badly damaged and neglected over the years

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  2. What an undertaking, but seeing the old siding boards was fascinating.
    I must admit, remodeling projects make me a nervous wreck, I hope yours go smoothly :)
    Hugs,
    ~Jo

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    1. The good news is, we have no plans to live in this beast. Just tearing it down in order to reuse material for our new barn. The hose did serve us well though the last three years for storing stuff and the kitchen, Keith used for his workshop.

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  3. Wow! I think I'd start and then have a nervous breakdown, ha. That's some work there! Be careful and even though it's messy, I hope you find something fun, like some neat old object from years past. An old skeleton key, some coins, something like that.

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    1. Nothing fun still! Hoping when we get into the original part of the house we may find something. I'd settle for some post Civil War newspapers or maybe cool silverware.

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  4. Some of it still looks in reasonably condition, are you not tempted to keep it as storage?

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    1. The goal is to use the good wood in the bad house to build nice loft space for storage in the new (but was once old) barn. Got it? Good, 'cause I don't. I get muddled just thinking about it all.

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  5. Will you save the old bathtub for a flower box or drinking trough?

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    1. It was only a cruddy fiberglass tub and had a big hole in it. If it had been a clawfoot cast iron tub I would've used it for sure!

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  6. Wow that is quite the demolition project, Donna, and it looks like there’s a lot more house to come down so you will most likely need that second dumpster,

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    1. Yes, yes we will. This dumpster goes bye bye in a couple more days and believe me, it will be FULL

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