The Skeletal Structure

After the demolition was complete we were faced with the daunting realization that we had just destroyed our bathroom, and the equally daunting task of beginning the process of putting it back together. A few things were discussed and we decided that neither of us felt comfortable with the plumbing situation, as we had also decided to put in a tub as opposed to the crazy shower stall that had been in the room. The shower stall was an awkward, non-standard creation in all regards. It had a lip that had to be stepped over, 90 degree sides, it was a foot deep, and yet had no door, so required a long curtain. It was stupid. Engineering a tub to fit in the space, however, was a feat of creativity, ingenuity, and paying Cal to do the plumbing. Everything had to be moved slightly more than a foot to the right to fit into our scheme of how the new bathtub would fit into the space. A luxury tub with arm rests and adequate shelving. We often drooled at the prospects. But, at the time, they were so, so far from being realized that we could only piece the bones together.

This image is the before image of the piping after the demo. It has the old faucet on it, see? Not so pretty, I guess, but beyond our abilities to adjust.


Before Cal was to arrive we were challenged with several problems. The first was to create a sturdy footing for the new tub (the reason the stupid shower had broken was that one entire side and foot had not been supported at all) and because of that we needed to either affix something into the concrete, or add more concrete for the tub to rest on. We also needed to frame in the back wall. As it stands in the previous picture, the "back wall" is a concrete retaining wall as this bathroom is embedded in the side of a hill. One problem with this is that we wanted to frame out a shelf that went the length of the tub, which meant that we needed to fix wood into the concrete without breaking into the outer layer of the wall which would let in moisture and creepies. (I do not care for creepies.) So, we found a way to create the framing and created an additional small frame to protect the drain fixtures and we poured new concrete for the footing.

This image is one bit of the handiwork of Cal. Tremendous plumber. Gifted, creative, professional, and, my favorite, prompt. (His card says Master Plumber of the Universe, I do not disagree.) He gave a quote of the time it would take, and had the entire process done in that exact amount of time. The first tasks were to reroute the shower nozzle (which had to be raised almost two feet because, as stupid as the previous shower was, it was made for Lilliputians) the tub faucet, drain pipe, and water pipes. Too big a job for my meager soldering skills, and one that SPF wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. So, again, I mention Cal. At that point, we called Cal to install of not only the new tub that we had ordered, but the Hansgrohe fixtures.

You can see in this image the wood framing behind the tub, and some additional supports under the back feet that Cal installed. You can't, unfortunately, see the concrete that we laid, but it was very nicely done. Functional, crude, but cleverly prevented from intruding onto the drain fixtures so that they are still free to move and can be reviewed from the wet wall if any problems arise. Look at the glorious, glorious tub.


Here is another view of the plumbing work by Cal and at the Kohler drain system that we bought. The funny thing is, we hired Cal and told him to call us when he wanted to install the tub so that we could help, but the next thing we knew, he called us down to see the finished product. He is amazing. Glorious, glorious tub!


Our next individual goal was to frame out and insulate the remainder of the tub. We had heard that you could keep the water in the tub warmer for longer if you insulated the surrounding area, which makes sense, and I do love to have a long, languorous bath. So, we factored in some insulation and created enough framing on the outer edge for a small seat and additional tile. We didn't want an apron front tub because we thought that a tub with tile all around would be prettier, so we conceptualized the additional framing as a rest for more tile that would visually frame the space and match the tiling along the back wall. At our grandest moments we also visualized creating steps leading into the tub that curved around in front and still somehow matched the back wall spacing. Thankfully for us, the space was too small, so we were forced to limit the installation to the back shelf and front seat framing, which is what you see below.


I will freely admit that, at this point, I had SPF install the shower turner onner thingie temporarily and I took a bath in our new tub, filled with hot water directly from the copper pipe sticking through the wall. It was actually both amazing and creepy, because when I leaned my head back, it sat nicely between two studs and I could look up at the electrical box and contemplate my electrocution in heavenly, insulated, tubby bliss.