There was an oakum smell...

56-year-old oakum smells good. Is that strange? Mildly remniscent of the smell of Robertson's Real Beef Jerky -- the stuff they sell at the Love's truckstops! My very favorite!

http://www.robertsons-hams.com/store.htm?mode=shop&cid=7

Anyway, I spent a good 1.5 hours pulling lead and oakum from a 4-inch hub in my main DWV stack. I figure I removed a good 4/5 of the stuff before the toilet arm even budged.

No pictures today. I'm cameraless.

What's worse? No camera...or drilling/picking/pulling lead and oakum from an old, stinky hub?

My vote is with "no camera".

"Eat Mor Chikinwire"

Here is what I started with today:
The above is actually how I finished last night. I usually take pictures at the start of the next day's work...after the dust has settled.

My goal today was to remove the 2+ inches of concrete/mortar/whatever, tile and chickenwire:

Mission accomplished! Not nearly as difficult as the tile surround. I really did like this tile...sad to see it go. I retained a small box of these domino-like tiles. In addition, I kept a few unbroken chunks of concrete/tile to use as stepping stones in some corner of the garden.

The floor demo uncovered some good stuff. I've seen this from the crawlspace, but the fact that the toilet and/or my wife or I never fell through this hole is testimony to the strength of chickenwire-reinforced concrete. I managed to get all of the rubble cleared out...a very productive day, indeed.

And finally:

"cohhhh...cehhhhh...cohhhhh...cehhhhh..."

"Luke..."

John Spartan Would Be Proud!

I started gutting the guest bathroom on Saturday. To ease into things I removed all of the shelving and door trim from the closet. Then, I limbered up with a few swings of my 4-pound "mini-sledge" on the drywall. PUNCH...easy enough. Finally, feeling pretty tough, I took a shot at the tile that surrounds the bathroom and shower... CLINK!

Nothing.

Whoa...this stuff is tough. Talk about "built to last". Basically the tile rests in 1-2 inches of concrete spread on a thick metal lathe that is nailed to the studs. No suprise in a house of this age.


Of course, there is no insulation -- this partly explains my A/C over-usage during the hot Texas summers. Not to worry, I'll get that fixed when we replace the siding later this year.

After much pounding, day two of demolition ended with the shower surround reluctantly coming down:

As you can see, this bathroom originally had a window. A big window. It was easy to punch out the siding since these pieces were cut to fill the window space. So far proving very useful for ventilation and for clearing out trash and old-timey fixtures.

I definitely plan to re-frame this "opening" to include an awning window in the upper part. We need the light in this part of the house...textured or frosted glass, of course.

Tomorrow, I'll evaluate the tub and begin to tackle the floor and it's 2+ inches of concrete and chickenwire lathe. Yea!

***High-quality respirator and earplugs...priceless!***

Greenlighted!

The City of Austin gave us the official GREEN LIGHT (literally, a green slip of paper) to proceed with the remodel. The first order of business is the guest bath. Built in 1951, this bath retains a hint or two of its original charm (read: floor tiles and bathtub). Here is the obligatory "before" photo in all its glory:


I'll do what I can to salvage this tub...I love the shape and lines on it. I need to see it from underneath before I decide what to do with it.

Here are the floor tiles. These tiles have served the house well...now it is time for them to go. We're looking for something a little less busy on the floor.


The toilet is not quite original. Judging by the stamp, this toilet replaced the original around 1967. Regardless, it too has also served the house well...for forty years.


Interestingly enough, 1967 marks the same year that American Radiator & Standard Sanitary Corporation Standard Sanitary Corporation merged with American Radiator Company to form adopted the name "American-Standard". The stamp on the toilet in the master bathroom (see below) only reads "Standard".

Outside stamp on the toilet.

We'll pay homage to A-S by installing their Ravenna sinks in both bathrooms. We like the clean lines and the built-in towel rack which makes for a cleaner wall plane which is great for our limited space:

http://www.americanstandard-us.com/Products/productDetail.aspx?area=bath&cat=2&col=&prodID=1243

The stamp in the master bathroom toilet says '56. This coincides with the 1957 remodel where the original owners turned the garage into the master suite -- more on that later!

See, only "Standard":