Sneaky Shower

The shower. It helps us wake up in the morning. It cleanses the body quite well. But there is a darker side - a secret sneakyness that each shower holds. Follow our continuing adventures in The Bathroom Remodel....

Of course we did not have a shower in this bathroom. Partially the reason for the remodel really. Here is what it looked like before...



We removed the sheetrock and this is what we saw...



For the most part it is what we expected. So then the discussion turned to how do we do this. Hire a plumber - expensive. Do it ourselves - huh - but how? So which way did we choose? We did it ourselves of course. Still don't know how though. So we head to the Big Box Home Improvement store. Onto the plumbing isle...

Ever been somewhere before and thought "I have no clue as to what I am doing." Yeah that was me. So after wondering aimlessly for about 10 minutes Joyce found someone to at least point us in the right direction. Well he did more than that. We talked for a while about what I needed and gave me very good directions. In my mind though I just as well have been in a Dr Suess book. With all the windicits and howzamps. But anyway the point is that he not only gave me very good directions but I also felt like I could do it.

After a bit we got everything connected and replaced. Here is what it looks like...



Pretty neat huh, yea I was pretty happy with it also. Then I turned on the water. Well it didn't gush out water like you see sometimes in the shows on HGTV or DIY. But do keep that thought in mind. Nope it didn't gush out water but I could here a hissing. The kind like when you puncture a tire with a goathead (hmmm, guess I still need to explain that one - later). So I looked and I listened. Finally I located the sound - still couldn't find the leak but I knew I had one.

We have a house that is built on a concrete slab - so I assumed the leak was in or near the slab. Well can't fix this on my own. So who you gonna call? Yup called the plumber - on the weekend.

The plumber shows up starts his looking. We have to find the manifold he says. Manifolds - the only manifolds I know of are in cars and trucks. Well we found one behind the toilet. The plumber, Tom, did some interesting 'tests' (I think that is plumber talk for - I'm guessing here). Well it turned out that wasn't the right manifold - based on his testing. So we go looking for another manifold. Tom found another manifold where the water for the sink comes out of the wall. Well that wall wasn't really on the list for removing - oh well is now. Nope that's the hot water mainfold - well at least I know where that is located. Tom did find the right one and 'tested' it again and determined that it was indeed the right manifold. He even found the correct pipe and promptly proceeded to cap that line so we could at least turn on the water.



The blue hose is the cap. This did shut the water down to the shower - for like ever. So the plumber did tell me that we could either tap into where he capped the line or we could tap into the line by toilet. Oh decisions decisions. So Tom left with a couple of hundred dollars. But wait it could have been worse. We bought into a program with this plumbing outfit mostly so they would check the HVAC twice a year for free. Well that was about a hundred dollars when we bought it - without that we would have paid about $350.

So back to the shower. We still have to get the water back to the shower. So back to the store. I turned off the water where Tom said, quite convincingly, that would turn off the water to the "whole house man." No really he did say that. Well time to get going on the pipe of choice to tap. With Meganne holding the light and me taking a tubing cutter to the pipe. Remember that thought I told you to keep in mind - Tom was WRONG!! We had water everywhere - a mad dash I made to the water meter. Water on the wall - water on in the tub - water on the ceiling. You know that water was definately cold - just ask my back. Well I had to make another trip to the store because I didn't quite get all the right parts. But here is what the reconnect job looks like now...



The new pipe (its really just a plastic hose - but durable) now goes through just the one wall stud and around the tub. Ever consider plumbing - it really is not that bad. I definately recommend Sharkbite connections and pipe. These connections will connect directly to copper and plastic. Don't believe me - check out the picture man. We now have water going to the tub/shower. I think the tub didn't want to do double duty. Well tough! Now you get to...

We also removed the rest of the sheetrock around the tub. We also removed the wall and built a smaller one. The floor tile was also removed except by the toilet.



Check out the UFO-ish thing coming through our ceiling. Yup that's another project for another day. Tomorrow - Durock...

Later for now.

This plumbing job was approved by Tom the Plumber along with Raymond at the Big Box store. Thanks guys you helped out a lot.