The contractors had another job to finish up on Wednesday March 18, so we had an extra day to move all of our stuff out of the bedroom, bathroom and closets. This may sound like a simple task, but keep in mind that the only rooms that are not being renovated are the living room and the family room addition. It’s crowded and uncomfortable and by the end of the project we should all be pretty miserable. But it will be worth it.
On Thursday , the breaking began.
There were no real surprises with the electrical. I had already disconnected everything from the basenent, and I already knew about the one hidden junction point (I could see it under the floor upstairs). The biggest surprise came from the ceiling.
We already knew that a supporting wall had been removed by the previous owner and we already knew that the ceiling had been dropped down to hide the top plate of that wall (again, this was something that could be seen under the floor upstairs once some floorboards were taken out). The curious thing was the amount that the ceiling had been dropped.
Two by fours were nailed around the perimeter of the room below the top plate of the wall that had been removed. The new ceiling was at least 7 or 8 inches below the old ceiling, so the previous owner had room to beef up the structure if he had so chosen. Instead, he installed a framework of 2x4s that did nothing more than support the drywall ceiling.
Framework for the drop ceiling in the master bedroom
The first ceiling came down easily enough, but the original ceiling was plaster over gypsum and was much heavier and more difficult to remove.
Once the room was gutted it was easy to see just how much sagging had taken place due to the removal of the supporting wall.
Sagging top plate
On Friday, the bathroom was completely gutted. Again, there were no real surprises, except for some water that had seeped under the floor tiles. I also got some validation. The repair that I had done to the bathroom wall in the tub/shower had stood the test of time (well, at least for the few years since I did it). No water had penetrated the area that I had fixed. It’s almost like I know what I’m doing, sometimes.
