Feeling rather guilty of all take and no give I figured I otta put something up here on the board. Since it hardly classifies as find woodworking I'll put it here.
The last stage of this remodel from he!! finally caught up to me, or rather I finally realized I better attend to it rather than retain an expensive divorce layer. The downstairs bathroom has been begging for attention lo these last 23-13 years.
Demolition started innocently enough but I soon realized that whoever installed the ceramic tile countertop and back splash had no intention of ever having it taken out. For anyone who knows about old school tile work, this was all mud set meaning the tile was bedded in portland cement plaster for the back splash and dry pack mortar for the deck. Once cured out and grouted, the bed and tile become as one, about an inch thick usually. The mortar in both cases is floated over expanded metal plaster lath as reinforcing.
Now in all the years that I worked as a tile setter, I did have the opportunity to work with some older journeymen that taught me the trade as it used to be practiced. But never in all those days did I ever help or install anything like I encountered with this little bathroom vanity. The metal lath for the splash was
screwed! to the studs with 1" screws. It's usually just nailed. The lath under the deck was attached with some of the heaviest gauge and wickedest staples I've ever seen along with nails nails. Quite obviously I ended up destroying the drywall in the process of removing the spash:
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Aside from that, the vanity cabinet itself appears to have been built in place. I say that since the plywood side and back panels were nailed to the wall in places you wouldn't be able to access if it had been installed as a pre-built box. So that came out in pieces and splinters as well.
This gave me some hope that the adjacent shower might be in good condition and be salvageable. Old school mud work like this usually lasts a lifetime. However my worst fears were realized when I removed enough drywall to get a look at the sill plate of the shower framing. At the bottom corner of the door there's some rot that indicates the shower pan most likely has leaked in the past.
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At this point I just don't have the energy to tear the whole thing out and re-do. I'm inclined to have a pint and call it a day.