Thursday, December 13, 2007

The Eighth Wonder of the World


It is weird how when I start on a project it always becomes a massive undertaking. Oftentimes it overwhelms all other aspects of my life. In the case of my most recent project, the bathtub replacement, this is more true than ever! Recently I have started to wonder if I am building the 8th Wonder of the World.

All I did was set out to replace my bathtub and re-tile the shower, at the beginning of November, and now I am wondering if I should take time off work (my real job) in order to finish my project. For certain the project is taking longer than it probably should. But for the most part this is just due to the fact that I don't know what the $&@! I am doing most of the time! It may also be due to the fact that I decided I had to tile the ceiling and the skylight above the tub. Why you might ask? . . .
Probably just plain stupidity! At the time I reasoned that water vapor will damage the drywall in the skylight (like it did previously). Now I think, who cares??

Anyway, due to my poor judgment I got to macgyver a couple of platforms to work above the tub and plan out a series of steps to complete the project. Here is the 2nd and more difficult platform below. I will have to remove the platform and tile at the platform connection point after the rest of the project is complete.

Fortunately, I think I am nearing the halfway done stage (2 walls have been tiled). I just hope that I don't make a mistake and have to re-do something. Things I have learned so far:

1. Don't try tiling on a totally crooked, out of plumb, wall.
2. Keep it simple. Don't tile ceilings, outside corners or the neighbor's dog.
3. Pay a buck more for Hardiboard instead of Wonderboard. The Wonderboard makes you wonder how much extra work you will need to do to fill and sand all the screw holes and damaged spots.
4. Don't worry so much about the small defects. They might just add character!

Here is the old tub: