Being female, over 50, rather cheap and having already removed many many trees by myself, here is what I would do. #1 ask around and see if you have a friend or neighbor willing to loan you a ladder and a lopper. If they had some spare trash cans this would be a plus as well. I would use the loppers at the point closest to the maximum diameter the loppers can cut safely while you are on the ladder (have the friend help steady it). This should get the top of the tree down. If the tree is taller and thicker than you can cut with the loppers, move to the next step. Next, I would use the loppers to remove all the branches you can reach for the next section, once again safely with some one steadying the ladder. This should leave you a rather odd looking main truck that you can now use the bow saw to cut off in safe sections removing the branches as you go The branches could be cut up and used as mulch or put in those trashcans to transport through the house. Once you only have a stump left, you could put a level line on it and cut there and use as "decor" or start digging out roots. Trust me, "decor" starts looking pretty good about this point especially if you only have a bow saw. Over there there are products that will kill stumps or so they claim. Not sure what your options are over there, but that fresh cut will be sucking in any herbicide you might want to use. I would also wrap with a black plastic trash bag or two and try to seal it off from light and hope it dies rather than dig. I hesitate to use salt or vinegar because I do not want to ruin the soil too. Using gas and a match will probably land you on the front page of a few news stories...............

Those old tiles break apart and come up fairly easily. Trust this- you are NOT releasing any asbestos into the air unless you grind them and have clouds of dust all over the place. The only real issue is the type of fluffy asbestos that are wrapped around old pipes and looks like a dust storm when you demolish them. Asbestos CAN be an issue for people that are around it in dust form EVERY DAY FOR YEARS. This topic comes up often and is a "No Issue" for the average homeowner. Don't stress over it. You have no problem here...

Hollysprings, if molding is being run beneath the mw, then you are saying run the electrical into the back of the cabinet above, and then into an adjacent cabinet, is this correct? Aesthetically, this may be the preferred method. However, I would think from a mw replacement standpoint it would be better to run the electrical thru the 3" bracing between the mw and the cabinet above, and then into an adjacent cabinet. This would eliminate the need to unintall and reinstall molding below a mw every time a mw is replaced. Is there anything wrong with this logic? Electrical can always be run into the above cabinet if a taller mw is purchased later. Is there anything wrong with this logic? Trebruchet, thanks for weighing in on the subject. I would think that in the long run it would certainly be less expense to pay the initial $$$ of increasing wall depth rather than continue to pay someone to install new otc microwaves over the years since they all lack durability. In my home, electrical does not appear to be in that area on the garage side but electrical outlets are below on what will be the coffee bar side. However, there is a pull down attic ladder about 4 ft. past the door into the garage which is immediately adjacent to the area being discussed. Therefore, there is easy access to all the framing in this area. I don't know if this helps, but I thought it might. Is it structurally OK to install a header and jack studs if this is a support wall? At this point it appears I need someone who knows what they are doing to come in and advise me regarding my best options. I don't want to get into an electrical "hornet's nest." We may need to open up the wall to see what the situation is in that area. I'm deeply grateful to both of you for your professional advice.

The nut you speak of probably does clamp the drain to the bottom of the shower. Don't worry about that since the shower is now missing! The drain looks to be plastic which means that, likely the drain body has been glued into the abs drain piping below; you will need to cut it out. But, before cutting have a plan in place, in other words, have things completely figured out as to what parts you will buy (have them bought and in your hands for examination!) and how you will reassemble the shower drain. That way you can make judicious cuts and minimize what further repair work you have to do to the subfloor plumbing. If you are planning to reinstall another acrylic/fiberglass enclosure, you may want to use what I did installing our showers. The link below shows the drains I used. Look at section 2 and you will see a rubber gasket that is driven downward around the drain pipe between the drain pipe and shower drain. To install to a shower, the drain pipe is left extending up above the subfloor an appropriate distance. Then, the drain is installed onto the bottom of the shower and the shower unit placed into the alcove and over the drain pipe. Then from above, the rubber gasket is driven into place. Simple, easy and it works! There are other similar drains suitable for tile installations as well. https://www.us.kohler.com/webassets/kpna/catalog/pdf/en/1114755_2.pdf