So Mike thought he was being really awesome last night - fixing the leaky bathroom faucet. Me? I was sure it would lead to disaster.
Why? Well - history, my friend, history. Every single time we open up a wall in this house, it's like one of those fake cans of peanut brittle. The minute you open it, the stupid thing blows up in your face and you break your nose and there's a mess of little unexpected things everywhere that you now have to clean up.
We take down walls - we discover old chimneys. We take down ceilings, we discover bat poo. We take down the kitchen and there's a big hole behind a clock. We take off floors, we discover wood rot.
It's just not a happy scene every time.
So Mike opens up the little access door behind the shower, and, sure enough there's a problem. One that I expected, but was not looking forward to staring right in the face. Home owner's worst nightmare - MOLD.
Like, put on your haz-mat suit and run for fresh air kinda sh*t.
"Just spray some bleach on it," Mike said as he wrestled with the pipes. And I just shook my head and said, "It's too late for that, this bathroom just needs to be demolished."
For a brief moment I wanted to pick up that hammer so bad and destroy everything in a fit of mad bathroom-hating rage. Because I do so hate that bathroom anyway. And I want to rebuild it soooo bad it pains me whenever I go in there. But instead I held in my urge, went back into the living room and sat down.... imagining dollar signs all over the place.
If we demolished the bathroom, there would be no turning back and consequences would be financially dire - especially since this is our only bathroom.
Despite all the disaster's we've discovered in this house - we've never turned our back on them or walled them back up, or said, "eh, we'll tackle this later." We've always dived in, no matter what the cost or labor involved. So it pained me when Mike put the little access door back on.
Part of me really wanted him to say, "Well, we can't wait any longer. We need to do the bathroom." Because with one little push, I would have been all over that like hobos on a ham sandwich! It's always easier with Mike behind me, pushing me over the edge to get things done - especially when its urgent.
Maybe we should call this guy - 1966 Bathroom remodel. Forty so odd years ago... I think it's definitely high time for another remodel.
It's a shame that the potta-potty people haven't invented porta-bathrooms for just such situations.
And since you've already opened up the wall, you might as well finish the job. Or at least get rid of the mold. Did you try bleach, or is the wall soft from excess moisture too?
My now husband Mike and I purchased this quaint home back in spring of 2004 - our first home - and, being the handy folks we are, expected to have the entire thing renovated in about a year or so.
And here we still are... renovating away.
This house needed a complete overhaul. Its plaster walls were uninsulated, its attic floor covered in 2" of bat guano, its basement - dirt and snakes, its exterior - asbestos siding, and lead paint windows in every room. The electric had not been updated and light sockets hung bare from the ceiling. Plumbing featured cast iron radiators - and only one for the entire upstairs.
We began by gutting almost the entire house from top to bottom. (sans bathroom - we needed to pee) We rebuilt the entire upstairs, with a new floor (not new carpet or wood - the once unstable framing underneath) and turned 3 small rooms into two. We reinvented the downstairs by turning a closet into a hallway and eliminating interior exterior windows and doors from old half-assed additions.
New insulation, windows, electrical wiring (including phone and CAT-5 internet), plumbing and baseboards, and drywall were all added.
We purchased kitchen cabinets from a yard sale. (None existed previously.) Our families helped us replace and purchase new appliances including the once also missing washer & dryer.
Then we had the entire house lifted - straight into the air - dug out the dirt, and had a real basement foundation poured. We updated our oil tank and burner and created heating zones.
Outside, we took down trees and planted grass. We dug out an awkward hill to create a 2nd part to the driveway and used the rocks our house once sat on as a retaining wall. We electrified and repainted the garage.
And of course, we spent many an hour on finish work like paint, trim, closet doors, lighting fixtures, hardwood floors, curtain rods, dimmer switches, and many other things everyone else takes for granted. We are still working to complete all this final finishing, but happy to report that we are FINALLY nearing completion of all little things in all rooms!
In 2008 we began overhauling the exterior by creating a new french door entryway and building a farmer's porch and garage addition. We replaced our roof and then stripped off our siding and replaced with new clapboards. We then planted two new flowering trees and a maple in the front yard - our first major landscape purchases. I'm happy to report that here in 2011, the porch is nearing completion and the back yard is on the road to recovery with some new loam and grass. More plantings soon to come!
In 2012 we plan to attack the last MAJOR (emphasis on major) job in the house - the dreaded BATHROOM! We plan to first add a second bathroom in the basement. Then, demolish our current bathroom and rebuild it, adding a second bathroom on top for the upstairs.
And that pretty much brings you up to date. The battle continues day to day as we try and complete everything.
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3 comments:
Yeah, that sux if you don't have another bathroom. Taking showers in the gym gets old after the second day.
Ha! It sounds like you and I were doing the same thing at the same time.
Good luck. Go ahead, knock out that bathroom.
It's a shame that the potta-potty people haven't invented porta-bathrooms for just such situations.
And since you've already opened up the wall, you might as well finish the job. Or at least get rid of the mold. Did you try bleach, or is the wall soft from excess moisture too?
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