day 3

Monday the 27th,
didn't do anything today, I found a rusty nail the hard way on Sunday and didn't think much of it. This morning I thought a bit more and realized I couldn't remember my last tetnus shot so I decided to get one.

day 2

Sunday the 26th. Worked on removing the window and as a result most of the tile and plaster on that wall. Not quite sure what was going on when this was built but it looks like the window was constructed in place before the brick was put up. The wood sill plate extends past the studs on the sides as do the side and top frame(?). The sides and the top extend past the studs behind the brick and the outside trim was nailed directly to this as was the interior frame. I didn't think to take pictures as I was removing it. I was trying to salvage as much as I could. With so many historic homes in Elgin there are some dealers that buy old windows and refurbish them. But the way this window was built I ended up breaking some pieces and cutting others. I did take some pictures after the window was removed.



The opening between the studs is 2 inches wider than the brick opening (1 inch on each side).


This may make my life easier or harder. We want to put in a glass block window and have the interior tile go to the window. A quick mock up is:


I don't have the tile in hand yet so planning will have to wait on the sides. The top is going to be a different problem. Its the opposite problem from the sides, the brick opening is 1 inch higher than the stud. The bottom of the window opening has the stud below the concrete sill by 3/4 inch.


I was going to board up the window to keep the elements out, but then I spotted the storm window and decided to try and mount it using a 2x8 cut into pieces for a temporary window....

day 1

Saturday the 25th, I purchased materials:

• concrete board and green board
• conduit, connectors, boxes, gfci outlet, gfci outlet w/switch, exhaust fan
• shower fixture, new drain and overflow kit
• glass block window bits
• more little bits I can't remember at the moment

I took a page from my father's book, I deliberately bought more than I think I needed. For example with generous estimates I am going to be using less than 8 10' pieces of conduit, and the only reason I am using so many pieces is because there are several runs > 6'. I bought 10 pieces of conduit, just in case. So now the worst case scenario is that I have to take the extra materials back. This is preferable to finding out in the middle of doing some work that I am short 1 or 2 items.

I also did the pre-demolition. Removing towel bars, shelves, etc and the pedestal sink.

the permits

Firday the 24th, I went down to the city offices and after asking a raft of questions I walked out with 4 permits. I have permits for electrical, plumbing, windows, and building. The building permit was because I am planning on going down to the studs. The window permit actually includes the basement windows I want to replace.

the plan

I am going to be doing some work on my bathroom. I'm not quite sure what the correct name for this is, remodeling, rehabbing, gut and build? I am going to be removing all the walls down to the studs, fix any electrical and plumbing issues found, add an outlet and exhaust fan, replace the window, put up concrete board in the shower and green board elsewhere and putting up new tile.

The house was built in the 1930's, 1934 I believe. So the original construction reflects the time. The walls are plaster and lath, there is a wood frame window in the bathroom over the tub, and the original electrical was knob and tube. Over the years there have been some updates. As far as I know there is no more knob and tube in the house, there is still some in the detached garage however. I don't believe the tile in the bathroom is original. Over the years water has permeated the walls and some of the plaster in the shower is starting to fail. We noticed that some of the tiles were swelling out, but until they were removed I didn't realize how bad the damage was. The tiles were the only thing holding the plaster in place. As I removed tiles, plaster power fell out of the wall. The good news was that it was a limited area that was failing. Other area appear to be fine.