Mostly we re-did our bathroom cause of the water damage and rotting sub-floor. But also it is really ugly; sheet vinyl flooring not stuck to anything and sheet plastic surround made to look like tile. This was one of those projects that we were planning for a couple of years down the road…you know once the financial pain of a wedding and buying a house in the same year was a faint memory. Some projects just choose you instead of you choosing them J
So we shipped our cat off to stay at my parents and started ripping out the old bathroom. We started with the easy stuff, taking out the vanity, wall cabinet, toilet and accessories.
Then we moved on to the bathtub and surround. The plastic faux tile popped right of but the plywood backer board was another story. It involved a crowbar and some brute force to pry it out. Still nothing compared to the tub. Turns out it was cast iron, weighed 300 pounds and could not be separated from the drain with any amount of tools or force. So, as is the solution to many home improvement problems, we borrowed a sledge hammer. My husband spent an hour smashing it, not a fun job. Every time the sledge hit the tub the entire house reverberated and the noise was deafening. We finally got the pieces out and into our junk pile but I don’t think my husband could hear for the rest of the day….we plan on getting ear protection before our next project!
The final task for the day was to remove the rotten subfloor. Initially we planned on taking up the entire top level, but after a couple of hours with little to no progress we changed our plans. The installers had used screws every 2 inches in a grid pattern then applied wood putty over each screw. Suffice to say we decided to remove only the 24”x48” section that was rotten!
And now we know: check what your tub is made of before you assume you can remove it. With this house always assume it is built with at least double the amount of screws and nails required.
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