Guest Bathroom Progress Update

Before I offer an update on the guest bath, I want to say, wow! You all really blew off the roof with your interest in our future here at BHH. All of the traffic exploded the blog for about 24 hours. Hopefully, the changes I made to the back end will help with the speed and efficiency of the site. Thanks for bearing with me.

One thing that really surprised me was how many people thought that I would be gone as soon as we sold BHH. It’s true that I started the blog when we bought BHH, but this work is my job. Writing this blog and producing the podcast is what I do for a living. My job is also supporting other old house owners, especially with window restoration education. So although beautiful Blake Hill House is my workplace, it is not my identity. However, all of the comments on social media and the blog made me acutely aware that I need to step up my game to help people see who I am outside of BHH. Tik Tok, here I come. (I apologize in advance. Ha!)

So, how are things going in the guest bath, you ask? They are going slowly–very slowly. When I hired this contractor, I knew what I was getting into. He is very good, but he also has some challenges with planning. We are all wired differently. Then, of course, it doesn’t help that I hired the subs, and they also have packed schedules. We’re basically just tossing the workload back and forth to each other like a beanbag. Right now, it’s in the plumber’s hands.

Demo

At this stage, the demo is 99% finished. The contractor needs to bring his giant shop vac over to tidy up the space. (See planning challenges above.) The shower walls are completely open. I’m not sure why this picture is so awful, but please pretend it is not.

The floor is also completely open and ready for the plumbing rough-in and moving the vent.

There is a ton of debris left, and I’m going to sift through it because I spy, with my little eye, maybe…a handle of something? Do you see it too? The plaster keys in the photo are from the street side entry ceiling below.

The gap is large enough to hide a body or a time capsule. I think I’ll go with a time capsule.

While we are here, let’s take a moment to appreciate these beefy floor joists. BHH is solid as a rock! I should have put my hand down for scale. Considering the updates in this room, I expected some sketchy plumbing decisions with the joists, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Electricity

Last week, the electricians arrived and installed a 100 (maybe 150) subpanel in the attic.

It is fully attached to our 250 in the basement. All of the electrical updates on the second floor will come up to this subpanel. It will be less expensive to run the new wiring up one floor than down two and across the basement ceiling.

There is not much to show in the bathroom yet, but they did rough in the wiring for the light/fan combo and the wall switches. We’re putting the light and fan on separate switches instead of one. During a nighttime trip to the bathroom, fans are loud. With separate switches, we can use them how we like. The electrician is also adding a switch for our adorable little pull-chain sconce.

Next Steps

This week, I expect the plumber to drop by and make a plan. He’ll then get the supplies and schedule a time to return to do the work. The electricians will return next week to finish their part. Once the subs are done, my contractor should move forward much faster. Maybe we will have a new bathroom by Christmas, but I am not holding my breath. Old houses have their own timetables.