I am an idiot. I wrote that really long post about bathroom demo, but left out the first phase of it – removing the sink and the vanity. Oops. We even got this step on video … I blame it on the ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-alcohol.

Here is The Boy, detaching the sink’s plumbing:

Show me whatcha workin’ with …

After that, it was simply a matter of cutting under the metal ring with a utility knife, and lifting the sink out. The Boy wanted me to point out that he did this ALL BY HIMSELF, but he is a liar, and I have proof. Here I am in hallway (in my pajamas), standing by the drawers I removed, handing him tools. Uh huh. Best demo assistant ever.

We took a video of The Boy removing the sink. I have to admit, I expected it to be more exciting. Interesting, even. Nope. It is pretty lame, but I am going to share it anyways:

Master Bathroom Demo Video

Still awake? Good. The removal of the sink revealed a disgusting hidden secret:

Our sink is a cat. Hairball anyone?

The Boy took a hammer and chisel and chiseled through the screws holding the sections of the vanity together, and then beat the sections with a hammer until they were small enough to be crammed into our trashcan. (Brute strength, he says.)

One section left!

We are very sure that our trash men hate us. They have to. You know, because strangers keep putting really big and heavy stuff in our trashcan. Not us. No way. Who does that??

So there you have it, the full picture. Segmented. In reverse order. More like a collage. Or … a blog run by drunk monkeys.

If I never see avocado green anything again, it will be a delight (except for guacamole). The Boy and I managed to demolish most of the bathroom, leaving only the toilet and the tile surrounding it, but we both dreaded the cast iron bathtub – and for good reason.  On Sunday night I said, “Hey, The Boy, I’d like to soak in a nice relaxing bath tonight,” and he replied, “Ok, well come help me with this real quick.” So I went into the not-quite-a-bathroom-anymore-kind-of-just-a-toilet-room to assist with some small task, which turned into removing a tub three (four?) times my weight.  The Boy was batting at the thing with a rubber mallet, which in hindsight, is very laughable.  That tub wasn’t going anywhere.

Me: “Hey tub, we are gonna move you now.”

Tub:  “Oh really?  You and what army?”

Me:  “Ummm, just me and The Boy.”

Tub:  “LOL.  I hope you have good health insurance.”

Here are some pictures of the progress removing tiles, which seems exhausting until you encounter a cast iron tub:

Mirror taken down (but saved!)

We don’t need no stinkin’ medicine cabinet.

Shower tile coming down.

We saved some fish!

The Dog loves to help…

… and to photo bomb!

Our trash men despise us.

This is how The Girl does tile demo.

This is how The Dog supervises tile demo.

The Boy: “You should be wearing gloves!” Me: “Pish posh, Boy!”
Boy: 1, Girl: 0

This is how The Boy does tile demo.

Once we removed all of the tile in front of the tub, it was time to tackle the beast. The Boy was trying to figure out how we would disconnect the drain to lift the tub out, and could not solve this problem.  I said, “Well what about the access panel in the closet?” and got a blank stare. “There is an access panel. In the closet. On the other side of that wall.” You would’ve thought I’d invented fantasy football. We trekked into the master-ish bedroom, removed six screws, and had an all-access pass to the plumbing under the tub.

The VIP room.

We had to cut the drain pipe to free the tub, which we accomplished using the Sawsall.  I was the Flashlight Technician, while The Boy was the Sawsall Operator.  Together, a great team.

The Boy, looking like Tom Cruise (in the closet? get it? hah)

First cut (drain coming from overflow).

Overflow drain.

Then we cut the actual drain. Can you see that cut?

That pipe is entirely too long.

Fixed it.

And then, the grand finale: removal of tub. These photos might make it look easy.  IT WAS NOT.  Do not be fooled.  It took us at least 2 hours to even get the tub out of the alcove, and then another 45 minutes to get it into the driveway.  It weighed easily 350 pounds, likely much more, and it was lodged in there exceptionally well.  After way too many “1, 2, 3, pull!”‘s, we had this:

So you’re saying there’s a chance …

After removing some stubborn drywall, we were finally able to wrench the tub from its resting place. We went with the path of least resistance, and rolled the tub onto its side (the apron front).

From there, we stood it up lengthwise, and then laid it back down on its side in the hallway (required four hands and four legs, and The Dog doesn’t have opposable thumbs, so no pictures of that step.)

Ugh. What now?

From here, we set up a trail of towels to avoid scratching the tub. We were under the (terribly mistaken) impression that this tub was worth money.  Like, actual cash that someone might be willing to pay us for the privilege of owning this disgusting tub. Yet again, we were very wrong. I wish we had taken a sledgehammer to it. Kohler tubs from the 50’s or 60’s? Very collectible.  The 70’s? (suppressing vomit). Live and learn.

After 45 minutes of lifting, grunting, cursing, moving towels, and sore backs, we got this beast into the driveway.

The trail of towels.

Victory.

Ouch. After all that effort, approximately 12 hours listed on Craigslist, and 4 phone calls to scrap metal yards (we would have to haul it ourselves to earn maybe $30), we gave up the dream of selling the tub. Instead, we called Chris at Precision One Mobile Metal Recycling, who very promptly came and gave her a new home. He even folded up our tarp and left it on our porch. Thanks, Chris! Two sore backs, a scraped up hand later, and we were free from this oppressive beast. Let the rebuilding begin.

I am very excited to share the progress of our bathroom demo, but I hate to show tasks that are not quite complete, and we have a little ways to go (like, I don’t know, removing a bathtub?). Therefore, The Boy and I will finish up demo this weekend and share it next week.

In the meantime, I have been furiously Googling, Craigslisting, Pinteresting (Pinning?), and thrifting in an effort to find the things I want/need for this bathroom. Budget is tight, ya’ll. I was not able to share all of those gritty details for the last bathroom, because this blog wasn’t born in time (she’s a late bloomer).  This time around, you just TRY to stop me!

Here are the big ticket items we need:

1. Tile (for floor of bathroom and walls of shower):  We are pretty sure we have settled on these tiles at Floor & Decor Outlet.  In the last year of us stopping by to say “hello” to them every time we are in the store (which is embarrassingly often), they haven’t gone on sale.  We may have to pay full price, but they are actually very affordable in the expensive world of tile.

2. Tile (for floor of walk-in shower):  We purchased this tile at Floor & Decor’s end of year clearance last year.

I loved it (picture me petting it while talking sweetly to it, because that happened), the price was right, and I cannot resist a deal. I had to pull the picture from my Master-ish Bathroom Pinterest board, because I cannot find this tile on their site anymore. Discontinued I suppose? Thank goodness I bought it when I did!

3.  Vanity:  As we did with the last bathroom, I am looking for a dresser/buffet/sideboard we can transform into a vanity, and I think I have finally found it on Craigslist (fingers crossed!). Here is the picture from her ad:

I have been emailing with the very nice owner, confirmed that the hutch detaches, and will head over today to check it out. I am not saying I will definitely buy it, but I am bringing the truck and the blankets and the tie downs and the cash and praying for no rain JUST IN CASE.

(Update:  She is mine!!  I played hopscotch with two adorable little girls waiting for someone to get there to help me load it.  You never know what you will encounter when buying on Craigslist, but so far I have had nothing but really positive experiences.)

I was hoping to use the hutch as a cabinet and hang it above the toilet, but it is much too large. I love it, though, so we will figure out a use for it:

4.  Sink (or 2): Now that we have the “vanity” picked out, we can figure out what kind of sink(s) we want. The one green rusting sink we previously had was causing a rift in our relationship twice daily, with both of us pushing and screeching “moo eee!” (that’s “move it!” with your mouth full of foamy toothpaste). I look forward to the day when we can both brush our teeth while staring longingly into each others eyes (ok, maybe just without throwing elbows). Practically speaking, since we will be altering a piece of furniture to accomodate, it makes more sense to have a large sink with one drain, but two faucets.  I found this sink, and we both fell in love with it, although The Boy is probably not sitting at work picturing himself bathing in it (doesn’t it look like a tiny version of an amazing giant free-standing bathtub??).

We would put two faucets, near the back corners, to make it a two person sink. Normally I find the item I want, and then search the internet high and low for the best deal. Everywhere I look, this sink is still $419.95. EVERY. WHERE. That would be quite a blow to our budget, so we will see how it pans out.  (I WANT THIS SINK.)

5.  Toilet:  We have strange names for everything, and have been calling our puke green throne the “turtle.” This turtle’s gotta go. I know what you are thinking – “Whaaaat?  They don’t want to keep that lovely green turtle??”  This may be a surprise, but no, we don’t.  Especially not after this incident:

This is a FROG in the TURTLE and it scared the BEJESUS out of me!

Imagine getting out of the shower, after having used this turtle, only to see this ENORMOUS frog hanging out in there. He is lucky I didn’t pee on his huge green head. Really, I am lucky he didn’t jump on me mid-stream and scar me for life. Small miracles. The point that I am trying to get to is that I purchased a toilet at Home Depot not long after buying the house, and it has been sitting in its box in the garage ever since. It is nothing fancy, but it is new and white and was on sale (a year ago, when I imagined we would replace the green turtle, but we ended up just replacing the toilet seat as a temporary fix).

6.  Fixtures (faucets and shower):  I have probably done the least research in this area so far.  I know we want oil rubbed bronze, and we would like to splurge on some body sprays and a rain showerhead, as cheaply as one can possibly “splurge.” (Oxymoron? Probably). I do anticipate that this group will be the most expensive of all the purchases. I have pinned a few fixtures I like, but I have not conducted a full hardcore search for the best prices.

7.  Lighting:  I will be making two hanging pendant lights for this bathroom, and ideally I would like to find two large glass urns or something interesting like that.  I have been casually browsing at HomeGoods, Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, thrift stores, etc., but I will know them when I see them.

I love seeing a project come together. It doesn’t always turn out the way I envision it initially, but ultimately I am always pleased with the results.  Here is to hoping this bathroom doesn’t take 10 months to finish! Now back to demo …