Demolished

I spent eight hours doing demolition on that bathroom today, and we're both trashed. It took me six hours to get the tile off the three walls of the tub area. This house was built about 50 years ago. So behind the tiles was an inch of cement (what passed for thin set back then) and behind that was a steel mesh which was nailed through drywall to the studs. No easy way to get that off. Just get an 18 oz hammer, a pry bar, a 2 lb. sledge and tin snips and start beating away. And beating and beating and beating. It all comes off in little pieces. Those little pieces get scooped up into 5 gallon buckets and carried outside to a dumpster. At about 2:30 I went to work on the cast iron tub, and there's only one way to get them out. Cover the tub with a blanket to protect from flying shards and then take a 10 lb. sledge and beat away. And beat and beat and beat. The goal is to break a channel through the middle of the tub and remove each end.
It's all gone, and I'm beat!
Tomorrow the plumber comes in to install a new valve, jack-hammer out the slab and move the drain. He'll also pour a new slab about 2" below grade. Then the tile setter will shape his thin set to get the pitch he wants and set the floor tile, then the wall tile. After they're done I'll go back to install the faucet and the water dam that will allow her shower chair to roll over the top. In the meantime I'll be building wheel chair ramps out in the garage that I'll take with me when I return.

This is all being done at the house of the man I mentioned in an earlier post - the Englishman born in India during colonialism. His family had lived there for 150 years. He was 17 when India got independence in 1947 and he and his wife left there to live in the U.S. in 1968. An engineer by profession he now owns and runs a shop here that employs about 60 people and makes BIG bolts for machines, bolts up to 3.5" diameter.
He's a very nice man! He paced the house almost all day; at 78 he's still clearly used to being very active, not to being cooped up all day while somebody works on his bathroom. Every once in awhile he'd come down the hall to see how I was doing. That gave us a chance for some conversation.
He was especially warm and friendly toward the end of the day, expressed gratitude for my hard work, and shook my hand vigorously. He invited me to come see his bolt shop some day. I think he may be a bit lonely. As I drove away I felt almost sorry for him. And I felt sad because, based on some of the conversation we had, I don't think this very nice man has a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. So I'm praying that when I do go back we'll have an opportunity to talk more.

I watched some of the Democratic debate on CNN while I ate my dinner. My, aren't we a bit testy with each other! So much for "plays well with others."

I could probably try to write more but I'm pretty sure it would be meaningless babbling. (I know what you're thinking!) So I'm going to go get another Diet Coke and some cookies. Maybe the caffeine will keep me awake until 8:00.