Day Two-ninety-one: one step backward, two steps forward

We've modified that old saying because that seems to be our approach to the house lately. Two good cases in point.

We've never really been happy with what the first contractors did to the stairs down to the basement. They took our nice maple treads and gunked them up (a non-technical term) by sinking the screws and applying about a 1/4 inch of wood putty that has never dried and collects dirt and grime. Unwilling to live with this any longer we decided to pull up the treads, refinish them (the stain we used wasn't durable enough for foot traffic), and reattach them with new screws and no putty. Sounds simple, right? Here's what the treads looked like unmolested.

There are two steps from the landing up to the kitchen so we decided to start there. Each tread had four screws so we'd just clear out the putty and power unscrew them. Un-uh. The first problem was that our contractors used Robertson screws. If you aren't familiar with these, here's a picture. So we needed a new bit for our drill. We think it was the hardness of the maple and the hardness of the old wood (probably oak) that they sit over but something made half of the eight the screws unresponsive to power or manual screwdrivers. With no ability to take them out the conventional way, we had to resort to using drill bits capable of metal work to weaken the screws. 

Four trips to Home Depot in two days to purchase various needed tools (the screws broke 3 drill bits), several hours of drilling, and finally the assistance of a rubber mallet finally got the treads up. Here's how we started:

Here's the top tread off. The random pieces of wood used to provide leverage for the pry bar.

Here's the offending tread once liberated.

And here's how things stand now. We'll rebuild the steps with refinished treads and new maple shoe molding and risers.

In other news, as we neared completion on the basement bathroom it was painfully obvious that it was too small for normal-sized humans. If we lived in the Shire it would have been just fine. We thought, "let's punt that project until next year" but a feeling of "in for a penny, in for a pound" got the better of us and we've started the process to move one wall about three feet. Our lifesaver contractors are doing this project while we focus on other jobs.

Here's a reminder of what we were working with. To the left of the door the distance to the wall was about three feet.

That translated into a very cramped little room.

Here's the reframed wall that is 40 inches from where the old one used to end.

This is the inside of the new wall. You can see along the cinder block wall how much space we've added.

With the removal of the wall that held the water lines and wiring for the light we'll have to move those and the drain for the sink.

When you dig up a cement floor to move a drain you end up with a pile like this.