Muchacho Polaco

Today was more productive than yesterday…but the progress seems to be going in slow motion. Tavo began at 8am this morning to complete the jack hammering of the area under the tub to make room for the drain. Then we attached the overflow pipe to the tub.

Then the drain pipes had to be put into place. It is a little tricky to match the drain pipes in the ground to the drain pipe on the tub, mostly because there is very little room once the tub is in place (which is must be in order to connect the tub to the drain line. Here’s Tavo matching up the lines.

The tub isn’t too terribly heavy, but lifting it into place numerous times throughout the day gets old. It was a continual challenge not to bang it into things.

Here’s a look into the hole Tavo is climbing into:

There are two faucets. The main tub faucet which is centered here in the photo, and then there is a second retractable shower head which is on the other side of the tub. Since we circumvented the intended design, we will now be able to run both faucets at the same time. The 3/4″ water lines running throughout the house ensures there is never a water pressure issue.

I had to go dig up a couple wheelbarrow loads of sand to place under the tub. This will secure the tub into place once we’re ready to permanently put it into place.

The water lines have now been connected, but we will wait until tomorrow to set the tub.

I don’t feel very successful today. Tavo was 4 hours late due to Matt having stolen him from me for half the day. I didn’t authorize this, so someone will have to pay for this transgression.

I was hopeful to be able to finish the plumbing in the master bathroom today and to install the bathtub. Not even close. We spent over an hour trying to figure out the bathtub faucet hardware. No instructions were shipped with the package and with the retractable head, it is not a standard design. Finally Tavo came up with an idea to circumvent what appears to be the intended design for the water lines. I then found a diagram online that confirmed my speculation as to the intended design. The intended design was dumb, so we went with Tavo’s idea.

Here’s Tavo cutting a 10′ piece of 1/2″ CPVC so that it will fit in my car.

We made our way to Home Depot. After nearly another hour and $100, we had what we needed (almost). Apparently we missed a couple items. Fun. That’s another 40-60 minutes running back to the store.

Tavo is drilling the holes through the porcelain tile that surrounds the tub. Porcelain is strong stuff. Now we realize that the 1/2″ tile, 1/2″ cement board, and 3/4″ plywood is too thick for the hardware to make it all the way through to have the water lines attached. Great. Now we have to cut out the plywood underneath the holes to make room. Another hour of labor.

A couple weeks ago Tavo installed the vanity, the tile on the vanity, the back splash, the faucets, and then the cement board and texturing on the wall. I just sanded the walls and ingested a couple pounds of the wall. Mmmh. Now to clean my mess, prime, and paint. I think I will leave these walls white to contrast the brown on the opposing walls.

As there’s not enough space for the drain pipes, Tavo is now jack hammering the cement underneath the tub area. That is only going to take a few extra hours.

It’s going on 5pm. I started at 8am. I’m not used to standing all day. I didn’t work that hard, but I am pretty tired. There is a chance, perhaps slim, that the bathtub will be installed tomorrow, along with the sinks. That would be nice.