I took down one small cabinet (one that ought presumably to be over a refrigerator, but wasn’t) to see to what level of plasterwork hell I was letting myself in for once all the old cabinets were out. Eh – not too heinous – yet (though those are some lovely bits of hardboard sticking to the wall).
But first things first – the floor. I need to find out if the wood that’s below the tile (and probably a layer of hardboard, two layers of lino and goodness knows what else) is salvageable (it was in the living room, dining room and hall – but that’s no guarantee of success here). If I have to install new flooring, that will affect the rest of my (miniscule) budget).
With a cold chisel in one hand and a hammer in the other on Friday morning, I was literally seconds away from breaking out the first tile when my phone chimed with a text. It was my realtor; “Could a couple who’d seen the house in the fall come see it again on Sunday?”
I came to a screeching stop on the tile work, then had to scurry to patch and paint the plaster (and the exposed “wood” on the cabinet against which the removed one had hung). Oh – and there was a massive pile of towels, bath mats and sheets to wash because I’ve just said goodbye to the house guests I’d had for almost a week.
So of course, my dryer belt snapped. The new one I had to order will arrive in 5-10 business days. (Thank goodness for kind neighbors and the use of their fancy new dryer.)
So on one hand, the timing was good, by seconds – the tile is all still in place. I wouldn’t have been able to mitigate the ugly had that text come minutes later.
On the other hand, the timing bites – I’m off work until the first Monday in January, and had planned to use that time to pull all the hanging cabinets and demo the floor down to the original wood.
So unless today’s viewers make an extremely quick decision, I find myself with a few days free. If only I could remember where I stashed my dissertation research…and if only I could recall a damn thing about it. I think it has something to do with Shakespeare?
Rude Mechanicals Press Blog 
Megan,
Looks like you put the wall back together beautifully. Good luck with today’s viewing.
Thanks Dyami! I admit, however, that I’d prefer to not have had to become (semi) skilled in that area.
Shakespeare!? Very cool! Love the Bard.
Literally; “Saved by the bell, eh text!” You certainly did a fine job of the referb on the wall patch/paint/color. ABTW, your articles in the Dec/Jan and Feb PWM are outstanding as always. I read your works first nearly every issue. Love the interjections fron your English studies. Sometimes hard for me to recognize at first.
Good luck! If you do have to pull up the tile, be aware that, given the age, what’s underneath may contain asbestos. Just be sure to wear a face mask and use a spray-bottle to wet down what you are pulling up. That will keep the dust down.
Nice Save!
Wow, this looks great. If it were me, I wouldn’t have had the paint to match the cabinet or the wall, or I would have the paint but it would have gotten all crummy since I last used it, or if I did manage to have what I needed, when I was repainting I would have spilled a gallon of paint across the floor. All those things that could have gone wrong and didn’t seem to bode well for you, or you’re being told to take a few days off and hit the ski slopes instead of Shakespeare.
Nom de plume for Bacon, evidently.
Well you certainly have Irish luck. Lucky enough to get the call before the floor demo, but not lucky enough to get it before the cabinet test demo. Funny how it works that way. It’s a half empty half full kind of thing.