Ratdog68
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A buddy of mine needed a hand for a couple of days. Some poor soul (probably early 60's), living in his mother's basement... in a semi-converted (apartment) in an unfinished basement. Not being mean, but, I don't think this poor soul's elevator reaches the top. The filth/stench of urine is just over powering down there. The kitchen sink drain doesn't work, who knows what's slopped/dried on things? Anything you touch (plumbing) starts leaking.
Some plumbers installed a tub, moved a toilet, and then just left... telling the elderly lady: "No, we don't fix walls and such." So... this new tub needs a surround after the walls are closed back up. We found wiring disasters that we couldn't just "leave it like we found it"...just wouldn't be right. So... we cleaned that up while we were at it. Romex with a plug wired onto it, plugged into an outlet, running over to feed into a junction box (metal), wire insulation rubbing on the bare metal box... wired incorrectly. Just a mess. So, it's all properly wired now, new box, a GFCI outlet (which has resided between the tub/sink) now, new wiring (CORRECTLY) wired to the light fixture (light fixture didn't even work when we got there). No more bare studs in there, all buttoned up/primed and ready to paint.
Only thing left with our phase of repairs is some caulking to do on Monday (once things set up). Of course, NOTHING was plumb/level/square.
To "fit" things, we had to strike a level and a plumb line, and take all our measurements off those two lines to reference back to places we needed to make cut-outs, and scribe edges of material so they'd fit. Each of the three walls we closed/installed surround need the same fitment. No flooring down there, just bare concrete. Good thing too... since the supply line for the toilet started leaking and running across the floor (we never touched that side)... so that needed fixing. The (fairly new) water heater started leaking where the supply line attaches, and where the hot water exits the top of the tank... so, we had to fix that as well.
But.. we enjoyed someone's piano playing today... someone was upstairs banging out old hymns (and doin' a pretty good job of it too) that I haven't heard in a good many years.
Some plumbers installed a tub, moved a toilet, and then just left... telling the elderly lady: "No, we don't fix walls and such." So... this new tub needs a surround after the walls are closed back up. We found wiring disasters that we couldn't just "leave it like we found it"...just wouldn't be right. So... we cleaned that up while we were at it. Romex with a plug wired onto it, plugged into an outlet, running over to feed into a junction box (metal), wire insulation rubbing on the bare metal box... wired incorrectly. Just a mess. So, it's all properly wired now, new box, a GFCI outlet (which has resided between the tub/sink) now, new wiring (CORRECTLY) wired to the light fixture (light fixture didn't even work when we got there). No more bare studs in there, all buttoned up/primed and ready to paint.
Only thing left with our phase of repairs is some caulking to do on Monday (once things set up). Of course, NOTHING was plumb/level/square.
To "fit" things, we had to strike a level and a plumb line, and take all our measurements off those two lines to reference back to places we needed to make cut-outs, and scribe edges of material so they'd fit. Each of the three walls we closed/installed surround need the same fitment. No flooring down there, just bare concrete. Good thing too... since the supply line for the toilet started leaking and running across the floor (we never touched that side)... so that needed fixing. The (fairly new) water heater started leaking where the supply line attaches, and where the hot water exits the top of the tank... so, we had to fix that as well.
But.. we enjoyed someone's piano playing today... someone was upstairs banging out old hymns (and doin' a pretty good job of it too) that I haven't heard in a good many years.