Slow Progress

August 10, 2018

Sometimes progress is measured in inches. Before remodeling the downstairs bathroom for my son, it is necessary to install an upstairs shower if every friend they have is not to get tired of the family “borrowing” their facilities. Were I a professional, the remodeling might take but a few days, but being the amateur that I am, I fully expect it will be a month-long process. Before each step, I have to stop and think about it so I don’t end up making costly and unfixable mistakes. It’s an old house with all sorts of surprises waiting inside the walls. Tear off the sheetrock, and you discover wires that go nowhere, wood that is right in the path where the plumbing needs to go—for no discernible reason.

My plan for today had been to drill a hole in the upstairs wall plate down through the first floor header and through the first floor wall plate into the basement. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Silly me! Four hours later, with the downstairs wall removed so I can see where the drill bit is coming out, the good news is that I didn’t have to snake the shower drain through floor joists; the bad news is that the wall plate on the first floor sits right over the 12” main support beam for the house. No way are we going to drill through that! But a little creative engineering solved the problem, and tomorrow is a new day. I might even be able to set the shower base! 

Sometimes progress is measured in inches. Sometimes it seems like you’re going backwards. But when everything is a mess and there are broken pieces to the life you once knew lying all around your feet like so much trash, you really are moving ahead. The mess you see doesn’t look at all like the future you envision, but it’s a necessary part of getting there. I haven’t even started on the real project, but we are going to get there. It will take time, patience, and a willingness to ask questions of people who know more than I do, and to learn new skills along the way. Life is like that, too, and I am thankful tonight for life lessons learned the hard way in a bathroom remodel.