Excavating Bog

Last night I arrived home in some depression over the fact that the work outstanding in getting the subfloor of Bog up hasn't done itself, so I got changed, went upstairs and began hammering, levering, chiseling, swearing and sweating and as a result have finally managed to uncover the entire sub-sub floor of Bog, a rather substantial inch-thick hardwood plank affair. Well done those builders for doing something right.

Since there was absolutely no chance of uncovering any new wonders in what is left of the Bog/Bog II/Bog III complex I spent the weekend feigning illness, wandering around muttering to myself and generally not doing stuff with the result that Mrs Stevie became increasingly optically communicative until I was forced to install a hall light¹. There is still some stupid problem, but I don't know if it belongs in my cheap multi-meter or in the wiring. Basically, with the switch installed I'm showing 30 volts on the open circuit. Not when the switch is out of circuit though. A quick test showed the light fitting and switch combo worked without fires breaking out, lights remaining on or other non-lighting manifestations of loose electrickrey so I went with it (new switch I might add, bought fresh from  Home Despot  and not the old one on the off-chance water had gotten inside it and was finding a path to ground)

When I pull out the downstairs bathroom walls I'll run new Romex back there. Short of tearing out the hall wall there is no other option.

Now I get to put down a new layer of plywood for the foundation of New Bog, followed by a layer of backer-board that is the preferred material owing to it being a) waterproof, 2) strongish, when backed by an inch of hardwood and another 1/2-3/4 inch of exterior-grade plywood and γ) highly dangerous in dust form, a significant point when one considers that I will probably need to break out Mr Spiral Saw to shape it around the flange fitting. Clean-up of the dust is said to require the "wet method" to avoid the hideous diseases it can cause if you sniff the stuff. Presumably, this involves getting someone wetter than you to vacuum it up while you are safely somewhere distant. I'll probably do all my cutting outside so the neighbours from hell can share the joy.

Next will come wall installation interleaved with a phase of pipe reconfiguration sure to test my patience as I attempt to solder in confined and flammable spaces. I refer to this as the Time of Plumbing and Wall Fitting, and regard it with much superstition and dread.

Then it is time for breaking out the highly toxic petroleum-distillate-based glue in the teenytiny confines of New Bog to stick down the no-wax floor and I should be pushing up daises no later than the second week of December if my calculations are correct². Assuming that against all odds I am still "enjoying" my health after this, it will be time for commode installation, sink installation and the ever-looked-for chance to get soaked while connecting up the faucets and so on.

1: I also replaced the drop ceiling installed in the downstairs bathroom five years ago as a "temporary measure" but since the job involved several embarrasing screw-ups I am not going to detail it. Suffice to say that I continue to believe no-one will notice the black dots on the ceiling tile that was marked up exactly back to front in permanent marker before I re-measured the gap and noticed the mirror image (in a mirror as it happens).
2: Not a foregone conclusion, as the mound of earth in the driveway still attests to