Ahh, the bathroom.  It’s been one year and nine months since I’ve last posted about it.  It became such a bitter thing for me. See, I never could decide how to do the tub.  Then we finally got a tub with the surround.  We hired a plumber to come in and do the pipes, then he asked if he was to do the tub as well.  I said sure, knowing I’d never get it right.

What a waste of money. The tub was loose, the surrounds had a lot of give and none of it would ever have been waterproof.  And he use plain drywall screws to attach the surround. That would have lasted a year or so. After months of doubt, I tore it all out and returned it.  Well, I tried to anyway.  On two separate occasions I stopped at the front desk and asked if I could return it, even though it had been installed, and holes cut in it. They said sure, no problem, just bring it in.  So when I finally did they said no, it has holes in it, we can’t resell it.  Ass hats.  I didn’t use their store for months afterward. Well, they did refund the tub price.

But let me back up a bit.  I never did post about installing the CBU and tile.  Here’s the floor after it was slathered in mastic and covered with backer.

Here’s the tile layout.

Cleaning up after grouting.

Here’s Madison, thinking she will have a new bathroom soon. Guess I fooled her, huh. -sigh-

So basically, the bathroom has been used as a storage closet for the last two years.

After much harping, complaining and snide comments, I went back to work. First, I had multiple Skype conversations with my friend who used to work construction. And who is, incidentally, a member of Mensa. He showed remarkable restraint and gave me a few pointers.

First, I had to get a tub. Before it was finally placed (set in cement as it were) I must have set it in its alcove and removed it 15 times.  Good thing too, as it can’t be slid in; it has to be set directly on top of the pile and smooshed until it’s resting on the ledger board.  Doing this isn’t as easy as you might think. I couldn’t drop it straight in as the spout and handle protrude out from the wall. So you have to tilt one end, then schooch it over and drop it in. It’s a tight fit; I ended up sanding some of the 2x4s for that little extra space. Anyway, practice made perfect and it seemed to work fine.

I didn’t want to use cement for the bed. The instructions said to use paster of paris or casting plaster.  Well, that’s $60 I won’t ever see again.  You see the white rings on the felt above?  That’s about as far as I got.  The stuff turned to stone while I was still mixing it. I tried to dump it out by upending it, but it was too late.

So I ended up using cement. Much easier to mix and plenty of working time.

So I placed the tub, then nailed it in.  Had to use shims everywhere. Between the settling of the house and the careless construction, there’s nary a straight or even board to be found.

Today I started furring above the tub. This allows the backerboard to come down over the lip of the tub without bowing.

I had the insulation stapled directly to front facing part of the 2x4s. Today I decided it would be better to staple it to the sides instead. This would make it easier to work with the furring strips. There’s a lot of guess work with this process.

When I was done, I noticed all the dark spots on the wood where water had penetrated. Mostly it was where the drywall had been nailed.

It would probably have been fine, but I erred on the side of caution. I took a large drill bit and cleaned out that nasty stuff.  Then I filled with wood filler.

After I sand that down, I’ll continue with the furring and hopefully the backboard!