Rhonda Bracey: At Random

7:30 am Day 1 of bathroom renos. Strip-out boss and project manager arrive right on time.

By 9am, the strip-out crew had removed most of the fittings—shower screens, vanity cupboards and basin (not sure about the bath yet [updated: bath was removed around 9:30]), and have just started on some noise-making stuff. So far, no need for noise-cancelling earbuds or headphones. But brick cutting will come…

And they tented off the main hall with blue plastic to reduce the dust, as well as the insects that would likely come in through the wide-open front doors. With the internal doors closed, it’s like going through airlocks to get to various parts of the house.

By 10am, the bathroom was looking like a demolition site.

And the front of the house was looking like a storage yard. I like how they’ve put dropsheets down everywhere to protect floors, concrete paths etc.

More updates to come… we’re only 3 hours into a 3 week reno…

As at lunch time on Day 1. All the tiles have now been stripped from the walls and floor, and the toilet removed. Next comes the brick cutting to widen the doorways.

The brick cutting started around 1:30pm, and with luck the strip out will all be done today (the project manager said 1 to 1.5 days), so 1 day would be excellent!

The brick cutting was all done within an hour. Not as bad as I expected it to be. Next up is some jack-hammering to cut a recess in the shower to allow the appropriate fall and a few other bits and pieces, then clean-up. They expect to be finished today!

3:30pm: I’m hoping they’ve finished the jack-hammering! It goes through your bones, and I’m a room and a hallway away! You can tell I’ve never been involved in extensive renos before  The noise-cancelling ear buds aren’t much use against jack-hammering. I feel for the guys doing this sort of work—it would certainly rattle your bones!!

5pm: And the strip-out people have finished their part of the job! The skip bin is getting full..

There are no more tiles…

And the doorways to the bathroom and toilet inside the en suite are MUCH wider!

Day 1 is DONE. We were told it would be the worst day for noise and dust. The dust appears to be at a minimum and the noise, while bad at times, was mostly bearable.