The Dead Marshes
Who knew that Tolkien could be relevant to interior design? Granted, it had been 17 years since I read “The Two Towers,” but the way I felt throughout the entire bathroom renovation was how I felt when I read the passage about the Dead Marshes. The dreariness was interminable. It took every ounce of my determination at 16 to get through that book and it took every ounce of my determination at 33 to get through this remodel.
I would much rather tell you that, even though this was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, tackling this challenge was exhilarating and inspiring. But then I would be lying. And it wouldn’t be fair to anyone who decided to take on a bathroom remodel them self, only to discover that the process can be a total drag.
Scraping the popcorn, removing the wall paper, and pulling up the carpet were pretty much a breeze. But then it was time to demo the shower. I watched 2 or 3 tutorials on YouTube and it looked easy-peasy. Just whack the wall with a sledge hammer and the tile pops right off. Fun! Enter mortar and lath backing for the tile.
The word “sociolath” popped into my head as I tried to imagine how much someone had to hate humanity to come up with a way to install tile that was so painful to demo.
Instead of cement board, there was basically concrete and metal mesh that did not want to let go of the tile. Two solid days of a total body work out later, all of the tile, mesh, and concrete had been removed. I thought I was over the roughest part. Nope.
The roughest part was actually just the amount of time it took to complete the project and how many of the tasks did not result in an immediately more beautiful room. I’m so glad I dealt with the shower early in the process, though – taking out the closet felt like skipping through a meadow after the torment of demoing the shower.
Whenever the unanticipated amount of difficulty and labor started to feel demoralizing, I would climb into the yet-to-be-installed tub that we stashed in the back bedroom to envision the result and remind myself that this was all going to be worth it.
The dreaming tub.
I am so deeply grateful to our friend and contractor for the work he did to get the shower prepped for tile, the plumbing for the bath and shower installed, and the framing for the bathtub built. While SCM and his helper worked on the complicated skill requiring stuff, I took out the vanity cabinets and furr downs, ran electrical wiring, then patched in drywall, and taped and bedded (I sanded when they weren’t there).
Oh! And they put up a wall between the new bathroom footprint and the former “his” side.
It was fantastic to have a professional around who was willing to advise me when I got stuck. By the end of the week, the space was starting to resemble something that could be called a bathroom again.
All I had to do then was tile the shower and tub deck, texture the walls and ceiling, paint, lay flooring, and install the vanity sinks, faucets, light fixture, and fireplace (yes, a fireplace). With that in mind, I allowed myself to be lulled into a false sense of security, thinking it would be all down hill from there. Three more weeks seemed like a totally reasonable time line. Optimism strikes again . . .