Deconstruction continued….

With the wiring in, the trench had to be repaired, or, shall I say, covered. The fix was to attach new sheet rock over the old plaster ceiling, not an easy job as the powder room is the size of a narrow closet with deep inaccessible space. The two men assigned the task needed two ladders in there, but since there wasn’t enough room, one of the men stood on the ladder, and the other climbed on top of the toilet…a very ancient Standard toilet, the kind where the tank is attached to the wall.

They got the sheet rock up on Friday, hurried home, and on Saturday, water began pouring out of the toilet after the first flush. A chunk of porcelain had cracked off the back of the toilet. I sent an emergency text with pictures to the contractor, who was in another state (naturally), and he called the only plumber he knew who was available that weekend to get any cheap toilet at Home Depot and bring it to our house. By Sunday afternoon, we had a new functioning toilet, and that’s the best thing I can say about it.

By this time, however, we decided that as long as the ceiling in that room still had to be painted, it was worthwhile to spend a little more to have the room rehabbed—which meant buying the toilet we wanted, stripping off hideous paper, and pulling up flooring that was even more hideous than the wallpaper.

Floors were laid and grouted in the new bathroom and mudroom/laundry room. On a frigid Friday (why is it ALWAYS on a Friday?) The tiling in the shower and on the walls in the bathroom were finished and joints sealed. As soon as the workers left for the weekend, the house began filling with throat-burning fumes. I walked into the addition and almost passed out.

After another frantic emergency text to the contractor, he came over with a pair of fans and the sealant they had used. Written all over the tube were the words, “Use only in well ventilated area.” The addition has two windows in it, which could have been opened during application. The bathroom also has a brand new powerful exhaust fan, but it was never turned on. It took two days of running all the fans, and leaving the windows open during sub-freezing temperatures to make the air breathable.

Sometime during the week that followed, a new toilet, vanity-sink combo, sink faucets, and a washer and dryer were delivered. The original, often errant, plumber magically appeared and hooked up the radiators, which was good because it was still freezing outside. He also put every fixture in the new bath, among which was a shower arm that he placed so high neither of us could reach the massaging head to use it.

We were getting closer, but there was still the matter of a trench drain for the curbless shower that had been “On order” for months, and was now in a supply store in Chicago and ready for pick-up—except there was always an excuse why it couldn’t be picked up. And there was that shower arm, which we were told would be replaced by a longer one “Soon.”

Then there were the superior, cast iron, baseboard radiators, which didn’t seem capable of heating more than a doghouse. Why, you may ask? Because the Contractor had instructed the plumber to use 1/2″ pipes to bring the water from our boiler to the radiators, even though they were sized for 3/4″ pipes….

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