This may seem like a never ending story, but I’m still making progress. Today I put the moisture resistant drywall into the shower stall.
After that, I started with the tiles;
It’s not difficult, just a bit labor intensive. I guess that’s the downside of choosing a small tile. My plan is to tile to the height a little bit under the rafter. Above that I will paint the wall white.
Small steps as I had to code and get materials first.
The shower and valve are now hooked up to the water lines. An intricate set of rings will limit the hottest and coldest temperature that can be set.
The line going down from the valve is for a bath tub, but since it’s only a shower it’s just capped.
Also got the moisture proof dry walls; they’re heavy to lift by myself, but for now they’re inside. I will cut them to size downstairs and only haul the needed sizes up.
With an intermission of visiting my friends the Klockman family in Alpine (West Texas) and a short visit from Arnoud, today I have recommenced the work on the bathroom. It was a bit of double work first, as the pipe joint compound I used wasn’t compatible with the pipes, causing them to not be glued at all. But no harm done; all could be restored and is now in place with the correct compound.
The picture above shows the new vanity, which now is hooked up to the septic and the hot and cold water lines. Going through the 12″ solid cedar wood walls was a challenge, but doable.
The shower now has the Pex lines coming to the valve, and the shower head has been mounted. I won’t be able to connect the Pex water lines to the valve, or the valve to the shower head, as I don’t have those parts yet.
From constructing the downstairs bathroom I knew that bathrooms take a while, especially when you don’t want pipes to go down through the floor. 
The pipes with P trap ( an illogical name in my opinion as the intention is not to trap pee but water) are in and the center pipe aligns with the drain.
With a few shims, the shower base was level, so it’s now in place, bolted down to the studs and with the drain connected.
The shower stall does not strike me as small; I can easily dance around in there without hitting the walls. I’ll be doing that dance when the whole thing is finished 🤠
Today I drove to Home Depot, and picked up a shower pan and most of the other items needed to build the shower; pipes, connectors, tiles thin-set and grouting.
It’s a 36″ alcove shower pan, so between the toilet and the shower I will frame a wall to support the tiles which will then be on all three sides. A simple shower curtain will prevent water from making the tiled floor wet.
I will raise the pan, to allow the pipes to go underneath it, and a water lock to keep smells away.
Home Depot didn’t have any shower heads I liked, so I will order one at Amazon.
During the winter of 2019, an exceptionally long cold front passed the hill country. The deck on the east side suffered some damage; a few boards had frozen up and lost their structural integrity.
These boards have been replaced and after a new coat of stain should last years and keep the deck safe.
Today I picked up some more plumbing material, and forgot my caliper (schuifmaat in Dutch) so it was another guessing game, which I lost; there’s several sizes pipes and connectors which are almost the same diameter.
I did get the correct size to connect the toilet exhaust, but the parts I got to continue to the shower on the right were too large.
Next time I will take a piece of the pipes with me so I can fit them in the store.
The Pex line I got was correct, so the connection to the cold water supply is almost in. I still need some T connectors to finish it.
The last remaining paper wasp nest openings were under the roof at the front of the house.
Today soffit boards were installed to close off these gaps.
The paper wasps were definitely looking for their front door. I have seen many in a state of confusion finding what used to be their front door is now blocked by the soffit.
Any small gaps were filled with transparent silicon (now showing white as it’s still drying)
I almost got stung by a paper wasp, but managed to make my way down the scaffolding before it could sting.
With all likely nest spots filled, Ozuye should no longer have a wasp issue.
The last unfinished room is the upstairs en-suite bathroom. This one has some practical challenges, as it’s on a single layer wooden floor with the kitchen beneath it. Obviously I don’t want sewage pipes showing over the stove. So I opted for a toilet that can be built into the wall. The toilet exhaust will go down at an angle, then straight for a bit, before going vertically down to the main sewage pipe under the house.
This pipe goes through the log wall, which is solid and thick, but with some long drills, chisels and reciprocal saw I managed to get a pipe through the wall.
All pipes here are temporary and unglued, as I also need to connect the shower pan to this pipe. The shower will be to the right of the toilet.
To prevent toilet water going to the shower pan, the pan will be elevated from the floor, which is also needed to be able to add a water lock to prevent sewage smells coming into the bathroom through the shower pan.
Since the top two boards of the west side were already put in with the help of my friends, I could now easily and safely finish the lower boards on that side. Just in time, as I could see 3 paper wasps looking for the front door which I had just blocked with boards.
As they landed, I could shoot them with the anti-wasp spray. Vengeance is mine 🐝🤠
For those of you unfamiliar with paper wasps; above is a picture of one, with a 9V battery for size reference. They’re roughly twice the size of European wasps. Everything is bigger in Texas.