Wednesday, October 7, 2009

My bathroom is getting me back

We've lived in our house for seven years, and I have always hated our upstairs bathroom. I haven't even tried to disguise my hatred from the bathroom and it is now paying me back . . .

When we moved in, the tub was disgusting. In an effort to "pretty it up," the previous owner* had attempted a DIY refinishing, which peeled off in big chunks. The Girl was just about 3 at the time, so disgusting peely tub was a big bad. Because we had just bought the house and money was a bit tight (to say the least!), we went the path of least resistance and got a tub liner put in. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't anywhere near what it would cost for full renovation. We figured we'd wait a couple of years and then do the bathroom over.

Fast forward seven years to me scrubbing the tub and realizing that there is water, lots of water, between the tub liner and the old tub. Hmmmm, that can't be good. Call the tub liner people. Our warranty has (not surprisingly) expired, but they can come out and take a look and drain the water for $130. Okay, they come, they drain, they say, "it could be this" or "it could be that" and "we recaulked so you should be okay for a while." I'm happy with my ugly bathroom again. Until I realize a couple of days later that the water is back. And that the water is leaking through the floor to the ceiling of the downstairs bathroom. ACK!

I issue a cease and desist order to The Girl and The Mailman relative to use of the upstairs shower. Thankfully, we have another shower, so we begin the slow deliberation process - do we attempt a fix or do we just rip out the old bathroom and start fresh. I vote for total re-do. The Mailman votes for fix attempt. I tell Mailman that fix attempt will involve removal of tub tiles and walls (a good number of tiles are cracked and may be our issue) and that any "fix" may end up being an issue with the tile floor, the other walls, etc. We're doing a total re-do. We call a couple of guys and a friend of a friend that is a plumber

So, starting tomorrow, the Sunshine household will be in more than its usual amount of disarray. Now I've got to get rid of seven years of accumulated bathroom crap from the shelves and under the sink. *sigh*

On a side note, Doofus cat is quite happy. He has a deep love of boxes and cardboard. Right now, there is a large box in the living room with our new vanity in it. He is king of the mountain!Did I mention that he's a Tub of Goo? Yeah, I think I did.


* The previous owner bought our house at foreclosure, never lived in it and "re-did" a lot of it himself. He was NOT a craftsman, but on the surface, things looked fine. A lot of what he'd done very badly we have had to fix. He also caused us to have the closing from HELL. Two days, me crying in the lawyers office (without tissues, because who brings tissues to a real estate closing?), all of my worldly possessions on a truck with nowhere to go, our other house already sold and people living in it . . . He is not popular around here.

1 comment:

  1. Love the "tub of goo". There is something to be said about a cat who lays like that.

    The bathroom trauma seems like such a mess, but good on you for winning your way and taking the time, energy and money to rework the place.

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