The Green Monster

I'm not even sure where to begin with this post.  It's just so . . . gross.  Here goes.

When Cory and I bought this house we didn't plan to do anything to the current master bathroom / closet other than paint it and freshen it up a bit.  I knew our kids would NOT be using the time capsule of a shower because it was just . . . gross.  But it wasn't in our budget to gut the space so it was deemed a "down the road" project.

Fast-forward to today and this is what the space looks like.

The Green Monster is gone!

My clever little sister suggested that we split the bathroom / closet space in half to make better use of the space and give Dixon a bigger bedroom.  So Dixon's bedroom will be to the right of the doorway all the way to the back wall where the mirror hangs.  We will build a wall at the doorway which will allow Tessa to access the bathroom area which will be reorganized and modernized.  In the space to left we will have a laundry area for the upstairs bedrooms.  Confusing, I know.  If you look closely you can see the shower head and controls between the studs.  That is where the shower used to reside.

But let's talk about that shower for a moment.

That thing was a beast.  I'm almost certain that it could have served as a bomb shelter if needed.

And it was so attractive.  In an ugly sort of way.  Don't even get me started on the stains, mold, and soap scum.

Anyway, my job was to take off the tiles.  I was hoping that they would pop off easily like the tiles in the downstairs powder room.

No such luck.

I used a hammer and screwdriver and chipped away at those tiles.  But like everything in this house, they were set in thick concrete and didn't want to budge.  I was able to get most of one wall off bit by bit but it took for.ev.er. and I was not a happy camper.  It was time to bring in the big guns.

I called my burly man and he came over with a sledgehammer.

Cory took a different approach to removing the tile.  He first knocked down the plaster wall on the outside of the shower and then slammed the concrete and tile from behind.  Hard, sweaty, dirty work that was awesomely effective.

However, that was just one of the shower walls and there were several more that couldn't be knocked down so easily.  The tile was everywhere: walls, shower seat, floor, and even the ceiling.  It took a few days to get it all out of there and I think Cory gained 5 pounds of muscle in the process.  One evening we were watching an episode of Property Brothers on HGTV and Jonathan Scott was removing a similar shower.  He said, "Imagine breaking up and removing a sidewalk . . . that is on your wall."  Yep, that's about right.  Our sidewalk ran up four walls and the ceiling.  Cory deserves his own HGTV show.

So one project always tends to lead to another and that was the case in this bathroom.  We decided would need to remove the linoleum flooring because there would be a height difference between the current bedroom area / laundry area and the bathroom area.  Cory can't stand that.  And of course under the linoleum is more of the dreaded tile.

UGH.

I'm fairly certain that removing heavy flooring (once again set in concrete with metal mesh) is the most laborious and difficult task on the face of the planet.  Cory got it started and made good progress, but he was beginning to resent the house and dreaded going there because of how much work it was for him.

Thankfully we have an amazing church family.  AMAZING.  We put out word that we needed help one Saturday and we had a slew of awesome people show up to help us work.

These guys were able to remove almost all of the remaining floor and rubble.  Thanks, guys!!!!

So now the space is nearly empty.  The built in closet drawers and shelves are gone.  The two vanities are gone.  The Green Monster is gone.  The floor is gone.  The only thing that remains is the tub, and it will see a makeover as well.  It literally took weeks to get to this point, but I'm excited about how the room is transforming and about how much better it will function for our family.

And I'm SO very thankful that we tackled that mess during the renovation instead of waiting a couple of years.  I can only imagine the dust and rubble that would have permeated the house had we done this after moving in.  Yikes.

So long, Green Monster.  Enjoy your new life in the landfill.