Middle (No) Ground

The bathroom renovation started last week. I have to admit that after the first day of demolition, it was really cool to go down and open the door and realize that there was no bathroom left. It was completely down to the studs. 

I stood there for a while and stared at it. I had seen all of the drywall out in the dumpster on my way inside, but it was still kind of a shock. 

I was also surprised to notice that, although we'd have a bunch of issues with the shower backing up and getting the floor wet, there didn't seem to be any mold anywhere. Yes, there were a couple of studs which seemed like they had a little water damage, but no mold. There's definitely something to be said for having a big humidifier running in the basement all year. 

On the third day PD (Post Demolition), the changes were a bit more subtle. Part of me actually kind of thought that all they had done all day was put down some protective cloth on the floor. But then I looked a little more closely. 

The most obvious change was that the hole in the floor around the shower drain had "spread" and now went under the bathroom wall into the utility room. How did I notice this? By opening the door to the utility room and almost stepping into it. That was a surprise. And as I was standing there marvelling at how there was no ground beneath my feet, I noticed that the water-damaged studs from a couple of days earlier had been replaced by pristine new ones. 

The other change was a bit more subtle - and much more exciting for me. They actually removed part of the former dropped ceiling's joists, so that the full window is visible. Before, because the ceiling had been put in low enough to compensate for the ducts running above it, the window was only about half visible. The rest of it was hidden behind ceiling (unless, of course, you were standing right next to it and looking up). I'm not sure how much of that will still show when the new ceiling is in, but any "extra" is exciting. 

So now we have to wait to see what's next. We've been quoted a total timeframe of about 2 weeks, but I'm honestly not expecting completion until the end of the month. (I figure that if I keep my expectations low, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.)