Flyover, I'm glad your daughter enjoys it. I always got excited when my dad built something new. He used to let me "help" by letting me hold the screwdriver & try to turn screws and stuff. I was more helpful handing him screws, nails, and tools though.
Which brings me to today. My friend decided since he's unemployed & depressed bc his bathroom sucks, he wanted help fixing it up & putting in the new tub & shower. I swapped out attachments, handed him tools, helped him line things up, and did my best to assist. There were a few troubleshooting issues that came up as well. I gave him some tips for shortcuts to make the job easier (like using the scrap wood to get the thickness of the board for marking). He's a smart guy, but his planning isn't great-- especially after the brain injury he suffered a few years back. Months ago I said to him that he was going to have to take the old shower out the back & he insisted he'd be able to get it out the bathroom door, through the bedroom, through the kitchen & out the front door. I reminded him that he'd brought it in through the back & I didn't think it would fit, but he dismissed it. So today he starts measuring & realized that the doorways were all too small for the shower to be taken out. Another friend wants to re-use the shower so he wasn't going to smash it up. He had to set it in the back room & will mess with trying to get it out of the house later. The whole back wall will have to be taken off in order to get it out now.
Plans changed a bit because the only good spot to put the toilet was right over a massive beam. If he put it to the right of the beam, it would fit, but the beam went so low he wouldn't be able to attach it to the rest of the plumbing. If he put it to the left, people on the toilet wold hit their knees on the shower. So, he ended up having to leave the toilet where it was & turn it to face a different direction. It's tight, but it works.
It's a good thing I picked a tub drain that is modular and can do direct drain bc the overflow was over a joist. Since we did direct drain, it didn't get in the way.
I had to head home to take medicine but my friend's fiance is sending me pictures & updates. I sent schematics & specs for things to help him find the right placement for stuff & gave suggestions for reinforcing stuff. I had to explain to him how to frame it out & how to hook up the plumbing & such. I also knew what parts were called so I could tell him what to ask for in the hardware store.
My brother bought us some fried chicken from a small business in town. They are only doing drive-through now & the employee was very happy to have customers.
I think tomorrow will be painting day. Whenever my friend needs something painted, he calls me. I will need to get cat food tomorrow as well. The cats were trying to spill condiments on me earlier & were giving me strange looks.
