Banging my head against a double wall...

[HoleshotHolset]

First of all - my house is 'special'. You know... like handicapable. :-laf I fully believe that the former owner should be subjected to random beatings for doing some of the things he did.



Here's a couple of pics I took tonight... enjoy.



Yeah - the wall is doubled up... It is an outside wall, but its the only wall on the whole second floor that is double thickness. Why? I think he had a phobia involving cold bathrooms. (Worried about shrinkage in the winter?! :-laf ) There were two layers of R-13 in there. (one layer was unfaced... which is a good thing!) By the way - that's where the shower is supposed to go. The rough opening was 30" wide before I tore out the second set of studs. The smallest shower you can buy (other than custom made units... ) is 32". #@$%! Check out the insulation job on the bottom bays below the fire block; looks like it took 2 hours and a 24-pack of Old Milwaukee to complete.



Yes, those are very old 94lb portland cement bags; they were folded up nice-nice and jammed into one of the bays and nailed to the studs with love. I saw a 1935 copyright on one of the bags...



I can't wait until this stuff is done and I can go back to hacking on the Jeep.



Matt



On edit: The first floor of my house is pretty old, but the 2nd floor addition was added in the late 90's and left pretty much in studs/insulation since then. I'm taking on the task of finishing off where someone else left off.

 

[jwilliams3]

I feel for you.

House work is evil.

 

[rbattelle]

House work is evil. Why is that? Why does it always seem like you're the only one who does things right, and the previous owner was a zombie?



I think I got lucky with my current house... most of it seems to be pretty well constructed and the previous owner was not a DIYer. But I am, so I feel bad for the next guy who owns it.



Ryan

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

10 bucks says that the MEAT CRANK that did this house did yours :-laf

 

[Sled Puller]

Hehhe! Matt, I have done a lot of fixing to "Tim Taylor" specials, if you get into a jam, let me know!!

 

[Alphacowboy]

Matt.....



Welcome to my world my friend, welcome to my world! Lately I have had many calls from people with leaking showers, mainly due to idiots that didnt do it right the first time... sad thing is, these are showers built by "professionals" in the 90's. Irritates the hell out of me, but its work right? But, if you need any advice or help, let me know... what your doing right now is my job. If ya'll only would have seen the stuff I have had to fix over the years that was done by Mr home owner, and worse yet by "professionals" you would all shake your head.

 

[rbattelle]

If ya'll only would have seen the stuff I have had to fix over the years that was done by Mr home owner,

This is why I always try to research my repair/construction projects ad nauseum. For some reason it would bother me if someone in the future thought I did something poorly.



Ryan

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Thanks for the kind words, dudes. I could definitely use some help/advice.

Free keg beer to any volunteers! I converted my refrigerator to a kegerator last night. No beer until the end of the day, though. :-laf



I picked up a 32" wide 1-piece fiberglass shower yesterday afternoon. The wife and I got the sucker up the stairs and mocked it up where it needs to be. Neither of us thought we had a snowball's chance in Hades of getting that thing up there without personal injury or damage to the domicle - but we did it.



I'm cool with sweating fittings or even 'welding' PVC, but something's telling me that I could use help getting the shower installed in such a way that it won't cause issues down the road. From what I can tell, they want you to screw the thing right into the studs. The drain is something I really don't want to mess up. All of the drains I saw at Menards yesterday just used a big hex nut and rubber washer... that just looks like a leak waiting to happen.



All the things that I may do or have done to this house that can be considered to be un-professional will be far outweighed by the complete hackjobs the previous owner did.



Thanks again,



Matt

 

[DJW]

Why put the shower stall in the house in the first place? why not shower outside? afraid of someone seeing anything? Reminds me of our house when our boys were small, once when turning the water on in the bath one of my sons rushed in to rescue his frogs afraid of them being drowned. Another time when going to use the bathroom my wife cautioned that there was a snake in the bathroom, when I asked what it was doing there, she replied it''s after the boys' frogs. My wife used to say, "Percy (her cat) brings snakes into the house, and I have to take them outside again". I told her to talk to her cat as I had no control over it. Our house must be over 100 years old, as a few years ago during alterations my son found a newspaper dated 1900 pasted on one of the walls. They used newspapers to insulate and reinforce the walls years ago. A few days ago we had a Tremor? Shake? Quake,just a little one (Waiting for the Biggie) 4. 4 of whatever. I was sitting watching TV and it felt as if someone bumpted the easychair twice, the floor moved around a bit as in a wave, quite minor but nothing to get excited about, house did not even shake or creak at all, sometimes in a quake it sounds like and old sailing ship that needs oiling.

 

[BarryG]

I feel for you. Before we moved our house in downtown denver was built in 1878. While as you put it the house was "special" due to over a hundred years of remodels and diy fixes it did have character. I also cringed everytime I had to fix something or just wanted to change something. I could always count on the cost of the project doubling after I got started because I would always find something else that would have to be fixed to accomplish the original task.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

BIG thanks to my Dad for all his work last week... I'm at a point where I'm hanging sheetrock in the bathroom and bedroom! The shower is done - valve all installed and drain hooked up (haven't tested the drain yet, but it should be fine... ), closet in bedroom is all framed up, etc.



I'll get some pics up at some point - the place is almost starting to look like a house... scary thought.



Matt

 

[JoshPeters]

Your gonna get it all done and sell it though aren't ya?



JP

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Your gonna get it all done and sell it though aren't ya?

Yup. Just so that it is legally considered a 2-bed/1. 75-bath house. Right now it is legally considered a 1-bed/1-bath house. Gotta get the stats inline so I can get more resale value out of 'er.



Matt