Here is the weekend recap:
Saturday, Dec. 12:
Friday afternoon was hard work--lots of crawling around on the subfloor driving screws. We own knee pads, it was unwise to decide not to use them. A slight complication is uncovered that one corner of the new subfloor doesn't meet up flush with the existing floor. We sure can't tile over that! So, we'll have to get the carpenters to fix that on Monday.
Today we are getting off to a slow start. We go get the remaining tile products from the distributor and, after we return, we split up, and Jake researches exactly what type and number of nails we need to properly block in the tub alcove (ESR 1539 is a fascinating read, if you LOVE nails), and Sue heads to consult the "Tool Oracle" at the Home Depot tool rental.
What we are looking for is to rent a pneumatic framing nailer that fires common round head nails. Home Depot doesn't have the right nails. Well they do have the "right" nails but the quantities will supposedly cost us "hundreds of dollars." saith The Tool Oracle. He advises hammering all the nails by hand with a look that says "What, are you a wimp?". Two hammers and some boxes of ten penny common nails later, Sue is on the way back home, and we're ready to go.
It's 5pm, and we start blocking. We each drive a nail into the side of our first block. Five minutes later we have two nails in. Forget this! We're cranky, Sue's hand hurts and we are done for the day.
We consult our carpentry catalog McFeely's and here we read: 1600 nails of the correct type cost $50. It looks like we got hood-winked by the "Tool Oracle" and we probably could have just gotten the nails and nailer after all. Hey, we are new at this, but fool me once....
Sunday Dec 13: Geesh, are we ever going to get a day off!?!?
Getting off to a slow start again, we design the final dimensions of our tub niche (where the soap and shampoo go). Ironically, this "icing on the cake" is the first construction task that we need to do; it may have been divine providence that we had some time to think a little before getting started. The first task is to slice a stud in half.
Amazingly it took three different saws to get through that stupid stud. In the end, we cut the stud "perfectly" to the dimensions of the niche cut out. Now, to put in the header... Whoops.
...Turns out, you need to cut the studs not to the size of the niche opening but bigger so there is room for the frame that goes around the niche. Our niche will only fit tiny little hotel shampoo bottles at this rate. Here is a candid shot of us cutting the darn stud a second time. We cut the stud perfectly again to the dimensions of the niche cut-out plus the header and the bottom shelf. That's better.
Now to block in the area where the tub gets mounted, but first these hammers and nails are going back to the Depot; we're going to have to make do with what Home Depot can rent to us. Or not... fooled me again.
We are back at the rent-a-tool and there is my buddy the "Oracle" with a look of disappointment, his eyes saying "yep, you are a wimp". It turns out that the nail gun he was going to rent to us wasn't even going to be the right one after all so I guess it is karma or something that we didn't go down the rental road.
But we are still without a nailer and, as the "Oracle's" eyes indicated, we are wimps. So, we suck it up and buy a new framing nailer (we already have a compressor) and the one box of round head nails that actually work with the gun and that they have in stock (of a quantity less than 5000) . Cost of Nailer: $200, cost in nails: $15, Home Depot: priceless... Its noon, and we start blocking. Eight hours later we have the niche and most of the blocking to mount the tub in place. We are not pros, but darn it we're going to save a buck if it kills us. We are frustrated with our slow pace, but this bathroom is our Great White Whale...
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