Ballad of the One Bathroom: Archaeology

The medicine cabinets were installed on the wall in the standard way, with two large bolts in each upper corner, plus big screw anchors for good measure. The crafty DIY-er who was here before me added an L bracket to the bottom for good measure. I simply unscrewed all the bolts, and the cabinets easily came down (they were kind of heavy though, and I probably could have benefitted from a helper).

One cabinet down:



Both cabinets down:



I knew I was going to find some sort of hole in the wall (I assumed from a former small, recessed medicine cabinet), but I wasn't sure what form it would take. Many different approaches had been used over the years to cover up this hole, from a gypsum-board-and-skim-coat-of-plaster patch to these small fiber boards, almost like artist panels for painting, lightly tacked up with finishing nails.

Fiber board panels removed:



After removing the small panels, I found interesting evidence of the Ear's history and construction.

A scrap of fancy old wallpaper, with a shiny black finish and shiny gold accents:



Many different surfaces and materials, from gypsum board to plaster and lathe: