inside the wall from the office side
One thing always leads to another. While trying to remodel our front bedroom into an office, Jeff wanted to repair a vent stack pipe in the wall between the office and the bathroom before closing up the wall for good.
The innards of a plumbing wall
Jeff had opened the wall for replumbing, previously, when he was putting the plumbing overhead to replace the underslab pipes that had already leaked at least once. He had replaced the wallboard temporarily, but now that we were remodeling he office he wanted to finish off all the plumbing and close the wall for good. He knew there was a crack in the vent stack pipe for the tub drain (far right in picture), which he had discovered during the replumbing, but hadn't repaired yet. Since it was just a vent stack and not an actual drain pipe, his plan was to put a rubber sleeve over the crack and clamp it in place, easy fix.
the culprit - not just a crack anymore
When he got into the wall, however, he discovered that the pipe had more than a crack. It had developed into a large hole that just a sleeve would not be adequate for. Worse, the drain had at least a partial clog, so every time we emptied the bathtub, the water would rise in the vent stack and overflow out the hole in the pipe, which explained why the ground in the flower bed in front of the house was always wet.
outside access
Since this vent stack was only about two feet in from the front of the house, Jeff dug under the front of the house to reach it and see how far down the damage went, and if he could repair it from the outside. He decided that he really couldn't reach it completely from the outside, but that if the bathtub was out, he could replace the damaged section. Since a new bathtub was in our overall master plan, that seemed reasonable, but there weren't funds for a new tub at that exact moment. He was able to unclog the pipe below the break so the tub would drain down the drain like it was supposed to, not into the flower bed, so we decided to hold off for a while.
A change in plans
Then our hand was forced sort of. The tank on the toilet in the laundry room bath cracked (spontaneously, not with any help that I'm aware of), so Jeff decided to use the tank from the front bath to replace the cracked one, and buy a new, nicer commode for the front bath. The tax return check had come that week and there was money for the tub, so the decision was made to order the tub also. Of course Jeff didn't want any old tub, and the one he chose was enameled cast iron and weighed 400 lb. Luckily the next door neighbor is in construction; he got us a contractor's discount, and picked it up in his truck, where it sat for 3 days, waiting for the weekend.
the "before" - on its way out.
Finally D-day arrived - there would be enough people around to move the tub in, but first the old tub and surround had to be removed. As you can see, this tub (already in stages of removal, so it really wasn't quite this bad all the time) and tile surround were in need of replacement - chipped, rusted, and in disrepair, it was not worth saving.
beginning the job
I left to pick up Christie from bowling about 9:45, and this is how it looked
an hour's work
Jeff wasted no time. In the hour or so I was gone, he had the hardware out, the tile off the wall and was starting on the concrete backing
self contained trash receptacle
It was a messy job, but the old tub served a purpose - it contained the debris, at least temporarily.
good looking bathroom !?!
With the actual demo done, the tub had to be emptied and the debris carried outside. We bagged the little stuff and carried the big pieces out by themselves.
outgoing tub
The old tub only weighed about 100 pounds or so - being stamped steel, so Jeff could stand it up on end and get it out without too much trouble
The remains of the old bathroom
The window on the left is the office we're remodeling. The neighbor wants to know if we're going to use it as a planter.
Possum exploring
It wasn't exactly our cat Possum's idea to get in the tub, and it took me four times putting him in to get him to stay long enough for a picture, but he finally did.
exit Possum
After he posed for me once I didn't make him get back in again.
finishing the demolition
The old tile only went part way up the wall. Jeff plans on making the new tile go all the way, so the old dry wall above the tile had to go also.
The empty spot
With the tub out now Jeff could get to the problem pipe, which had to be fixed before the new tub could go in.
another surprise
Not really a surprise, but behind the tile was termite and dry rot damage. A spray bottle of bleach was employed to treat all spots that remotely looked like they had ever been wet.
more dry rot
Isn't that wall paper lovely? NOT! - Haven't decided what I'm going to do long term, depends on what kind of tile we get for the tub surround, and we plan on moving a wall between the bathroom and a hall closet at some point, so I don't want to do anything that will be too difficult or expensive to redo, but now I have to do something.
finally ready for the repair
After all that work, Jeff could finally turn his attention to the actual repair. You can see at the right that, as expected, there was a hole in the floor under the tub, the reason he had decided to change the tub rather than jack hammer out the floor in the office for access to fix the pipe.
looking down the drain
We found this straggly plant growing underneath the tub. As Jeff suspected, there was enough of an access hole under the tub to work on the broken pipe, though the actual pipe was partially encased in concrete, probably part of the original problem, as concrete against cast iron can cause corrosion problems.
enlarging the hole
In order to be able to remove and replace the pipe, Jeff had to use a chipping hammer to chip away the concrete around the pipe. It's nice to have friends - again the neighbor was able to loan us one.
finally ready for repair
After much noise and dust, the pipe was finally freed of its encasement, and you can see all the way out to the front of the house down the hole.
The broken part removed.
Here is the part of the pipe that was removed - the hole is 7 inches long.
Repaired
The new vent stack, without a hole, and you can't see to the front of the house any more either.
Ready and waiting
Looking through the wall from the office to the space that is now ready for the new tub. The drain is fixed, a new valve in place, time to bring in the tub. Getting it in was quite an undertaking.
Getting it off the truck
A 400-lb chunk of cast iron is not something you just throw over your shoulder and lug into the house.
Off the truck
Slide it off the truck onto the furniture dolly
stand it up
stand it up on the dolly so you can roll it into the house. As you can see, we did have lots of help - neighbors, friends from church, and Mike was home from UCLA for the weekend. Even Kevin got into the act, though his doctor might not approve, with a broken collarbone.
into the house
It was nice and steady, standing up on the furniture dolly.
uh-oh - back on the truck
Realizing quickly, as they approached the door, that either the tub or the dolly would go through the door, but not both, the way it was on the dolly, it was back to the truck.
off the truck again
With the dolly turned, it was off the truck again for the tub. It wasn't as stable on the dolly with the dolly turned that way, but at least now they would both go through the door. And we had enough muscle to keep the tub upright if it wanted to tilt (hopefully). To give credit to the help - from left to right - Ray, Mike, Matt, Steve, Jeff, and Kevin (the supervisor).
now to the house
With plenty of muscle and lots of supervisors, the procession made its way to the front door.
through the front door.
They managed not to knock the door knob off, or any pictures off the wall.
making the turn
As they debated which side they wanted to go into the bathroom first, they realized that they really needed the part that was on the bottom to be on the top, so it would lay down right when they got it in the bathroom. That entailed laying the tub down in the family room, bringing the dolly around to the other end, and standing it up again. Better to figure that out now than after you have it down the hall.
down the hall.
Now arranged properly, there was only one more turn to go, and then the fun part.
in the bathroom finally.
It's made all its turns, just needs to be uncrated and laid down - piece of cake, right?
ready and waiting
Out of its crate, now it needs to be pushed back against the wall and put down on the floor. Easier said than done. You try laying a 5-ft long, 15-inch high, 400-lb piece of iron down in a 5-ft space, without letting it drop or crush someone, or hit the wall.
laying it down.
With four people in the room, it was a little crowded. The plan was to let it down a little, push it against the left hand wall as far as it would go, let it down some more, then push it back against the wall again. At some point the people at the right of the tub were going to have to move or get crushed, and then the action would have to shift to the other side of the wall.
thankful for a hole in the wall
That hole between the bathroom and office came in handy. With a rope tied through the overflow hole on the tub and wrapped around a brace, Mike to guide the tube, and three people still in the bathroom, Steve let the rope down a little, they would adjust the tub, let out a little more rope, and adjust again. Because the wall was open, that gave a little leeway for the front skirt of the tub as it swung down. (Did I tell you that Jeff can figure a way to do most anything?)
done
With the tub finally in place, Jeff took a well-earned rest. After a short rest, he hooked up the drain and water, and took a well-deserved bath. A full day's work.
worn out
He did put the drywall back on the wall in the office before he took his bath :-)