We started demo yesterday on our primary bathroom! Everything is coming out- floor tile, tub, shower tile, vanity, toilet, medicine cabinet, etc., none of it stays! I am very pleased with the progress that we made.

Tools needed:

• sledgehammer

• prybar

• contracter bags

• hammer

• drywall cutter

• SOMEONE TO HELP WHO HAS EXPERIENCE (we wouldn’t have made 1/10th of the progress yesterday without his dad, who has done several total bathroom remodels on his own and is very knowledgable).

Jordan’s dad came down to help us, so there were three of us working- this helped tremendously as one person could be doing demo while the other two were clearing out/removing debris etc. We started with the old vanity. Before ripping the entire thing away from the wall, we made sure the water lines were disconnected so that nobody got an unexpected shower. The vanity came out in one piece for the most part, then we started on the shower tile. This was trickier than we expected! Due to the age of the house, some of the tile were set with mortar and also on plaster- there was extremely sharp metal mesh that made it hard to break into small enough pieces that were easy to carry out. After completely removing the walls, it was time to tackle the tub. The original, made in Louisville, 1950s cast iron tub. A few people have asked if we were going to keep the tub or not- we decided not to for a few reasons. One reason is because we have a tub in the guest bath/main floor bathroom. Additionally, water was leaking around the bottom of this tub drain and in behind the tile so we wanted to start completely fresh to make sure everything was clean, dry, and new.

Back to the tub demo…

These cast iron tubs are extremely heavy- several hundred pounds. Jordan and Cheldon (his dad) tried to pry it up, but they could only get it to budge an inch or so. I’m not sure what they would have done with it if they were able to scoot it, it is a LONG way down stairs and a hallway to get to the front door haha. They decided busting it up into a few smaller pieces was the way to go! One of my friends, Caleb (who is also a serious remodeler, check out the talented St. Matthews Remodeling) recommended safety glasses and gloves for the demo of the tub and he was right! That thing busted into thousands of teeny shards of glass and they went everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Like confetti. In our hair, clothes, everything. The boys were, however, able to break it in half (longways) then into quarters for easier removal. To keep the shards from going all over the house on their way out, we wrapped the sections of tub in canvas drop cloth, and it worked pretty well for containing the mess. I vacuumed the path they took through our house a couple of times because I don’t want our bare feet or Maker & Lincoln’s paws to find any sharp pieces!

While I cleaned, the boys disconnected some more of the old plumbing to that bathroom and took a few more loads of debris out.

What I wish we had done:

• Dumpster! Get a dumpster. We waited too long and then weren’t able to get one in time. We have a tarp laid out in our driveway with everything dumped on it, and will hopefully get a dumpster dropped off this week. Transferring everything from tarp to dumpster should be fun, HA.

• Plastic floor sheeting/tarps. Knowing now how tiny the shards of tub are once it is hit 50x with a sledgehammer, I would definitely make a covered path out of the house that protects the floors and makes cleanup easier.

• Box fan: this would have been helpful to blow the dust out of the bathroom window, as the plaster/mortar/drywall/tile dust was THICK.

Plans for today:

• Lowe’s shopping trip

• Run new PEX plumbing lines to primary bath (from 2nd story all the way to the basement)

• Start demo on the floor tile (maybe)

Total time spent yesterday was about 7 hours- with 3 people!

That’s it for now, I will update you again soon. I will also be sure to dedicate a post to the cost breakdown of everything once we are finished.

Thanks for stopping by!

Gretchen